Introduction to the second edition:
In the sixties of the twentieth century, divine winds blew over the Antiochian Church, resulting in a flourishing literary and theological renaissance. In the midst of it, I wrote this book under the auspices of the blessed Bishop Alexis Abdul Karim, my close friend. However, my eyesight at that time did not allow for accurate proofreading, and many errors occurred that have now been corrected and refined with clear precision.
Index
Introduction to the Second Edition. 3
Acknowledgment 4
There is a brother that your mother did not give birth to.
Introduction 6
Introduction 8
Chapter 1 11
By what authority do you do these things…? (Matthew 21:23) 11
Chapter 2 18
Creed 18
Constitution of Faith: An Accurate Translation 20
Believe, faith 21
Trust 22
All is void 22
I am not an animal 22
Meaning of Existence 22
Human Creed 23
Worry about being 24
Faith is stronger 24
Active spirit 24
Body role 24
Man is deadly 25
By faith I rise 25
Existential Hunger 26
Jesus in us by faith 26
Faith and Love 26
Company with humans 27
Company with God 27
Compare them 27
Faith is fire 27
Prayer 28
Sources of Faith 29
29 BC
With Christ 29
Church 29
In teacher 30
The Bible for Her 30
Parents 30
Imitate it 30
Heretics 30
Chapter 3 31
Detailed explanation of the constitution 31
1- “I believe in one God” 31
Ignorance in the past 31
Abraham's descendants 31
Jesus 32
God's unity 32
The Oneness of God 32
Humility before him 32
Pride is the enemy of faith 33
2- God is a Trinity of Persons 33
Theological Terms 35
Unit of Essence 36
Hypostasis and person 36
Equal in essence 37
Birth and Emanation 37
open god 38
God of Love 38
The World of “We” 39
Personal Theology 39
Prayer 39
3- The Officer and the Creator 40
In the Church, in the Bible, and in Education – 40
Single capacity 40
Creators together 40
Out of nowhere 41
Creature in the middle 41
Perspective and Unseen 41
Image of God 42
4- Human Circumference 42
Fall 42
5- Internal division and rupture 43
Internal War 45
Spiritual Conflict 46
The brutality of people 47
Dispersion 47
Selfishness, Contrast 48
Instability 48
Preoccupation with God 48
Longing Transition 49
Jesus Prayer 50
Multiple Fathers 50
Detachment from the world 50
Craving for martyrdom 51
Living Conscience 51
Complete asceticism 51
I say but I do not do 51
Prayer is more important than studying 52
Prayer 52
Religion is not a science 53
pious shepherd 53
Sincerely for Jesus 53
Delete Self 54
Asceticism in money 54
6- Did Adam’s nature change…? 54
Adam's Misery 54
7- And in the one Lord Jesus 55
Jesus is Lord 55
Jesus Christ 55
55 penny rope
Depth meeting 56
Body of Jesus 56
In Hell 56
Jesus Unit 56
Spiritual Sonship 56
Word of God 56
Logos 57
8- Equal to the Father in essence 59
9- “Through whom all things were made” 59
Trinity Creation 59
The will created 60
10- “Who for us” 61
Jesus Incarnate 61
One person in two natures and... : 61
11- Who...and for our salvation 65
Why embody 65
Who for us 66
Deification 66
Grace 67
Jesus shaped nature 67
The Cross Begins 67
Incarnation is greater 67
His pain and… 67
12- And he was crucified for us 68
About us 68
Nail sign 68
13- And he suffered and was buried 68
Painful 68
And to death 68
In the grave 69
But with humanity 69
No theology 69
And they did not separate 69
14- And he rose on the third day 69
It does not wear out 69
Jesus' body after the resurrection 70
Meat and bone 70
eat and drink 70
Spiritual body 70
We will be like him 70
nails 71
The Good News of the Resurrection 71
He did it with his power 71
We stayed with him for 71 days.
His resurrection is our resurrection 71
15- And he ascended to heaven 72
God's right hand 72
God is our nature 72
16- And he will come with glory to judge 72
Comings 72
Neighborhoods 73
Judgment 73
73 ranks
After death 73
Death 75
Sparkle 76
In puzzle 76
Death of parents 76
17 - Why all this complexity...? 77
Important Analysis 77
The unreasonable is reasonable 78
Existential vacuum 78
The Eucharist Verse 78
Supplication 79
18- Exchange of attributes: Mary, Mother of God 80
"I" the human 80
God is a person 81
The hypostasis of the two natures 81
Person in both natures 81
No rotation 81
Trinity and Incarnation 81
Undivided Hypostasis 81
Mother of God 82
19- Deification 82
Grace of Essence 82
The Father adopted us 82
His grace is in us 82
We rate it 82
Uncreated Grace 83
Transfiguration 83
Above the Angels 83
20- And by the Holy Spirit 84
waw waw al-atf 84
The Holy Spirit is the 84th Person
Addition to the Constitution 84
Charlemagne 84
Pope Leo III 85
No complex 85
21- And in the one church 91
Baptism 93
Church authorities 93
Heaven and Earth 93
Our Guardian Angels 93
The spirit prays in us 94
Prayer for enemies 94
Prayer is a bond 95
22- The One (Unity of the Church) 95
Fix our brokenness 95
Jesus and the Spirit 96
Church and Trinity 96
No difference 98
No favoritism 98
Contempt for vice 98
One heart 99
Many are one 99
23- “And in the universal church” 99
Catholic 99
Curls 100
Catholic 102
Opinion of the Whisky 108
Multiple Persons in Unit 108
Mouth of Truth 109
Quality matters 109
Difficult labor 109
The truth matters, not the majority 109
Against heresies 110
Transfiguration in the Church 110
The Theologian 110
Unitary development 112
24- Holiness (Holiness of the Church) 112
Pentecost and the Trinity 112
Sanctification 112
25- Apostolic 113
On Jesus and His Apostles 113
Apostolic Bishops 113
Martyrs for the faith 113
Prayer 113
26- And he acknowledged one baptism… 114
What is baptism 114
27- Infant baptism. 119
28-Holy Chrism 122
122 type fabric
Pride is Satanic 123
29-The Holy Eucharist (i.e. the mystery of divine thanksgiving) 123
Delivery 125
Bread is his body 126
The three secrets together 126
Mothers' Responsibility 126
Prayer 126
Beyond Understanding 127
Daily Communion 127
In every face 129
For everything 129
The largest conversion 130
Prayer 130
Communion of the Absent 131
Perversion 138
Priesthood 141
Blessings to all 141
Priesthood of Christ 141
Priesthood Degrees 141
The spirit establishes them 142
Spiritual merit 142
Crucified 142
In the right only 142
The legal priest 142
Holy Icons 143
Drawing is creativity 143
Art in the Service of God 143
Art and Sufism 143
I hope for the resurrection of the dead.. 144
Resurrection 144
Animals 144
Dust 144
What makes us special 144
No to materialism 145
The soul is immaterial 145
On the hope of 145
Meeting the Lord 145
Eternity 145
Cemeteries 146
Prayer 146
Feast of the Transfiguration 147
Conclusion: The light of the Gospel in the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). 149
Books to read 150
I ask God that this book will be an entrance into every home so that its readers may understand the matters of their religion and adhere well to the rules of their great research. (Feast of the Transfiguration 2009) (Spiro).
Acknowledgment:
There is a brother that your mother did not give birth to,
On Holy Spirit Monday, the brilliant Dr. Roger Emile Sayegh took care to examine my eyes thoroughly. He had operated on them on 25 and 29 January 1973 with a clear conscience. All the credit - after God's mercies - for my ability to read and classify goes to his brilliance. This debt in my neck makes him always present in my supplications to God, especially on this great day, the Feast of the Holy Spirit, the most famous day of the year for supplications. Vespers is the masterpiece of Christian supplication.
Therefore, I wanted his name to be associated with this book so that readers would remember him in their prayers and supplicate to the Holy Trinity for my vision to remain sound and enlisted in the service of His glory.
Tripoli 11/6/1984
His loyal brother
On 11/10/1989, he underwent a second operation on his right eye, which was also successful. 100% So I ask our Lady, the Mother of God, on the feast of her glorious Dormition, to be his warm intercessor and to protect him, his family, and his companions.
The Most High, The Dormition of the Virgin 1990
On 2/15/1991, glaucoma surgery on the right eye, on 4/3/92, laser surgery on the right eye, and on 5/8/1992, glaucoma surgery on the left eye. Now, glaucoma dilation on 3/31/1994 on the right eye and on 4/7/1994 on the left eye. And laser surgery many times, most recently on 5/13 and 20/2009.
What remains of my remnant of religion is for God and for him. May God protect him, his wife and children, and have mercy on his parents, Emile and Bahija. This is the compassionate Samaritan. This is true Christianity: great work with a clear conscience, not empty words.
Introduction:
The manuscript lost its way, and the photocopy disappeared from my sight until 3/9/1994. On 11 - 163/ I reviewed it again, revising, deleting and adding. The work is exhausting. The book exhausted me at the time to the point that the page numbering was not without errors. A glance at the lines reveals my exhaustion in classifying it.
The French scholar de Réunion said: The ancient Church Fathers were jurists. I am an old lawyer. So we are colleagues. In my modern legal form, I extract the cream of the Church Fathers’ teachings, to convey to Arab Christians an explanation of the Creed, which they are in dire need of. The patristic notes are sweeter than honey. The style and form are generally my own. The book is a revolution in the field of classifying contemporary “religious education” books, which are devoid of any spiritual, mystical, or ascetic flavor.
The book is a unifying book in general. All Arab Christians can benefit from it if they wish to have the honor of learning about their religion.
Some people argue that my writings are difficult. They are not difficult. My literary compositions are clear and free from affectation and affectation. But a lawyer like me cannot write in the language of old women. On the other hand, I write theology, not recipes. Theology is the science of divinity. It is a science that elevates man above the sensible. On the third hand, taste, good manners, and high refinement require me to say: May God have mercy on his parents because he spent his energies on exhaustion and loss in religious classification instead of profit and ease.(1) In the legal and scientific classification. But…
I am confident that the generations contemporary to Philouni Elian Homsi will be more deeply and seriously in the 21st century in devouring precious religious books. I do not deny that we have achieved great progress since 1969 until today, and that the blessed rising generations care more about religion than previous generations. Religious knowledge has taken off, but the spirit of revolution, martyrdom and heroism is dormant. Softness surfaces and stifles heroism. The spiritual struggle of Paul the Apostle is a fierce war against the evil opposing forces that fight us day and night. Basil the Great and Anthony the Great are two great spiritual wrestlers, Chrysostom is the “spinster” of every time and place. When his pagan teacher Libanius of Antioch inquired about his mother and her spending 20 years as a widow with rare honor, he expressed his astonishment at Christian women. Times have not changed, but women’s morals have collapsed. The parents of Theodoretus of Antioch had enormous wealth. His mother used to wear silk embroidered with gold and silver. The hermit Peter of Galatia healed her eyes, so she disbelieved in the past and became infatuated with the hermits. She became pregnant and dedicated her only son while she was pregnant. He distributed the vast wealth to the poor and became a monk.
The 21st century will create a generation of brave, courageous, heroic, honest and sincere men and women. I would like to draw attention to the fact that understanding this book “And the Counterfeiters” is the best preparation for our two books “The Secret of Divine Providence” and “The Secret of the Holy Trinity” (to be published in manuscript), so that Arab Christians will gain what their language sorely lacks. May God have mercy on my parents, their families and deceased companions and place them with the righteous and good.
A.J.
Icon-raising Sunday, 3/20/1994
Lattakia: One of the Dislocated 5/22/1994
introduction:
I like to write this introduction about one of the Myrrh-Bearers, Joseph and Nicodemus, these righteous witnesses (to the crucifixion, suffering, burial and resurrection of Jesus) like our Lady the Mother of God and her beloved son, the beloved Evangelist John. The reason is that I hope for the end of my life only what I have longed for since childhood: to be with them in my fortune, to be with them in my destiny, to bear witness with them to the suffering, burial and resurrection.
Joseph took the body down from the cross. Nicodemus cooperated with him in anointing it with spices, wrapping it in clean linen, shrouding it, and depositing it in a new tomb hewn out of the rock. The women came to the tomb early in the morning, at dawn, carrying spices and perfumes to anoint the body of Jesus, whose haste on Friday evening prevented the completion of all the burial rites required by custom and the loyalty of honorable and righteous women. Two of them (Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus’ brothers: James, Joses, Simon, and Judas) were privileged to touch his pure feet, as they returned from the tomb. They touched the mark of the nails in his feet before the apostles first saw him, and then Thomas.
What is more desirable to the heart of a true Christian than to wrap the body of Jesus in the linen of his pure heart, permeating it with the fragrance of his pure life, and depositing it in the solidity of his courageous being, devoid of manhood, like a tomb of rock, like a new tomb in which no one but Jesus has ever lived? What is sweeter to his heart than for his soul to embrace the pierced feet of Jesus, to drink from them the blood of Christ shed for the life of the world? What is dearer to his heart than to lean on the breast of Jesus, the beloved John, and be faithful to the end, to hear Jesus raise him up with John as a son of the Virgin Mary? And finally, what is greater than to embrace Jesus in our wombs and in our hands, to embrace Him to our breasts, and even to deposit Him in our breasts like the Virgin Mary, His pure mother?
O Jesus, I know myself to be a hell of raging sins. But I trust in Your forgiveness and kindness. I come forward unworthily - like a thief sneaking in the dark - to sneak in among these great righteous ones, carrying this book of mine to You, like their spices and perfumes, so that I may see You risen from the dead in the heart of every believer. For I am confident that what I give to the faithful is from Your grace, and that I return it to You through them. The faithful are Your body, they are You. If I put my fingers in the traces of their wounds, I know that I am putting them in the holes of Your side, Your hands, and Your feet. If I rejoice in their success in living with You, through You, and in You, I know that I am Your partner in Your resurrection, Your ascension into heaven, and Your sitting at the right hand of the Father, because what I do to them, I do to You in them.
O Jesus: Save them (and snatch me) with the Virgin, John, Joseph, Nicodemus, and the myrrh-bearers to live with You in heaven, trampling on the earth and its possessions and vain glories, and the hateful existence in the worn-out shirts of sins. Give us the wings of angels so that we may fly to You, and rest from the false vanities of the mortal world. In vain I tried to find in the world something worthy of wrapping my attention around, because it is fleeting and fleeting. Therefore I have resorted to you, beseeching you to cut with the sword of your cross the knot of sins, and to shake with the sickle of your cross the locks of hell, so that people may come out, and I am dragged by their skirts, to embrace your sufferings, your grave and your resurrection, so that we may ascend with you in your glory, so that you may establish us in the presence of the heavenly Father as little gods, by the power of your Holy Spirit who baptized us so that we put on you, and anointed us with chrism so that we acquired it, and gave us your pure body and precious blood so that we embraced you, bringing with you the heavenly Father. For we are the dwelling place of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So, O Holy Trinity, make this book of mine perfumed with the fragrance of the proclamation of the glory of this divine dwelling. (2).
Come, Lord Jesus, come: for our distance from You has made our lives a void within a void, has made us children of the graves. So make us children of the resurrection, make us Your righteous brothers as John was Your righteous brother, and have mercy on those of my family who have fallen asleep.
May 6 and 8, 1984: Feast of the Myrrh-Bearers and John the Evangelist
(1) Legal classification is much easier for me than the theological classification. Law is the profession of my youth and age.
(2) See the text of Maximus the Confessor associated with Basil and Athanasius in our introduction to The Art of Prayer (translated by Adnan Traboulsi).