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There is an ancient Jewish prayer that seems to date back from a time shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem, where the Jews in their synagogues would curse the minim (heretics). The prayer is known as Birkat haMinim. The minim most definitely include Christians, since this was a title given to them by the Jews. There is additional evidence that Christians were/are included in this daily cursing, since a form of this prayer was found in an 9th-10th manuscript, which w

The prophet Daniel is given an amazing vision where he sees two distinct glorious divine Persons: “I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His clothing was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with fire, Its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The

Philippians 2:5-11 sets forth Jesus as an example for us to emulate: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefo

N.T. Wright is viewed as a renowned [N]ew [T]estament scholar and authority on the resurrection of Jesus. He has produced a translation of the NT, now in its third edition, titled The New Testament for Everyone, Third Edition, Hardcover: A Fresh Translation, published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI 2023. I have, therefore, decided to quote select passages from his translation in order to allow the readers see what this notable scholar believes in respect to the issue of justi

The Case of Abraham According to the book of Hebrews, Abraham had true saving faith from the moment he did as God told him to do by leaving Haran to settle in Canaan as a stranger: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him… By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he

I quote a particular section from St. Clement of Alexandria’s The Stromata, or Miscellanies, Book VI. In it, he cites a writing attributed to Peter to show that the Jews and Greeks worship the same God of Christians, and also addresses the Lord’s descent into Hades to preach to the dead. One interesting claim made about the Jews is that they adore/revere angels and archangels, which Clement condemns. I now turn to the excerpts. All emphasis will be mine. Chapter 5. The Gr

Here is what the great saint wrote in respect to whether the Jews worshiped God or not, and also in regards to the Greek philosophers like Plato agreeing with Christianity if they were alive to have seen it spread: iv, 6. Those who think it a vain or even a wicked thing to despise the world of sense, and to subject the soul to God most high that he may purge it with virtue, must be refuted with a different argument; if indeed they are worth disputing with. But those who adm

I quote here the entirety St. John Chrysostom’s, Against the Jews. Homily 1, which is a homily written to Christians who were still fascinated by the Jews and their religious practices, thinking that these rites were still somehow pleasing to God. In this highly emotionally charged letter, Chrysostom severely rebukes and warns any Christian who would join the disbelieving Jews in celebration of their feast days seeing that they are the ones responsible for having Christ kille

In this post I will be quoting from Gregory Palamas: The Hesychast Controversy and the Debate with Islam, Translated Texts for Byzantinists, Volume 8, translated with an introduction and notes by Norman Russell, published by Liverpool University Press, 2020. Palamis assumes that both Christians and the Turkish Muslims have the same God and Christ in view, but argues that the Muslims have perverted the truth known by them in order to follow and worship the false prophet Muhamm

In this post I will be excerpting the section from the holy saint Justin Martyr’s discussion with Trypho and his Jewish friends, where this blessed martyr shows that salvation comes only through our Lord Jesus Christ. Justin will also mention Jewish Christians who still kept the Law and who would still be saved nonetheless. Justin will even argue that every righteous and pious individual who lived in accord with the Law written in their hearts, but had not known Christ, will

St. Justin Martyr believed and taught that prehuman Logos or Word of God had made himself know even to the Greek philosophers, which is why they were aware and spoke of the Logos. He believed that Christ, who is the uncreated Logos, did this in order to prepare them for his coming into the world to become flesh in order to redeem mankind. Here’s what this blessed saint wrote: Chapter 44. Not nullified by prophecy And the holy Spirit of prophecy taught us this, telling us by M

In his dialogue with Trypho the Jew and his companions, the great saint and martyr Justin Martyr acknowledged that both Jews and Christians worship the same exact God. I cite the relevant section of that discussion. All emphasis will be mine. Chapter 10. Trypho blames the Christians for this alone— the non-observance of the law And when they ceased, I again addressed them. Justin: Is there any other matter, my friends, in which we are blamed, than this, that we live not aft

Here’s what this great saint of the Church wrote about the Jews worshiping the one true God: But with regard to service and worship, and the other things which they so nicely calculate about, and bring into prominence, we say this; that the Holy Spirit is exalted above all that we can do for Him with our merely human purpose; our worship is far beneath the honour due; and anything else that in human customs is held as honourable is somewhere below the dignity of the Spirit; f

In his writing titled The Agony of the Church, the EO Saint Rev. Nicholai Velimirovic, D.D, called the first Muslim caliph Abu Bakr, the Hindu god Khrisna, Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, and Lao Tze saints or holy men! He even included some pagan figures/gods in his list! First of all she must become again a heresy towards Europe and European secular, antidivine civilisation, just as she was a heresy towards the theocratic Israel and semi-theocratic Greece and Rome. Theoreti

The quotes are courtesy of Divine Mercy Apologetics. They prove that St. Gregory Palamas’ position on Muslims is in perfect agreement woth the Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church #841: “The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge

The statements cited here are taken from For the Life of the World: Toward A Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church, published by Holy Cross Orthodox Press in 2020. The document can be accessed at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website: Social Ethos Document. Here is the PDF Version. The readers will see that according to this document the Greek or Eastern Orthodox (EO) do believe and affirm that Muslims and Jews are worshiping the same God as acknowledged by the EO.

The following excerpt is taken from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill meets with Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims’ Board: His Holiness Patriarch Kirill said in response: “Your words have come from the heart, and I could feel that. And as for interfaith relations of our Church, one of the strongest bonds, perhaps, is the one that links you and me. “Orthodox Christians and Muslims co-exist in Russia but, by God’s mercy, our country has never k

St. Gregory mentions a dialogue he had with a group of Turkish Muslims. What makes his comments rather amazing is that he affirms that both the Muslims and himself are calling upon one and the same God, even though these Turks are ignorant of the fact that this God whom they worship is inseparable from Christ: “He, rising up his hands, let out a cry and they responded even louder. He did this three times. Then those who were set to do the burying take the box up on their arms

In this post I will quote what the official documents of the Catholic Church teach in respect to the world’s religions and how salvation is to be obtained. I begin with what Catechism of the Catholic Church says. All emphasis will be mine: The Church and non-Christians 839 “Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways.”325 The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the

The following sermon is taken from Leo The Great: Sermons (Fathers of the Church Patristic Series), published by The Catholic University of America Press Publication in 1996, pp. 25-29. All emphasis is mine. Sermon 4 29 September 444 I rejoice, dearly beloved, in the pious affection that arises from your devotion. I thank God that I can sense a dedication to Christian unity among you. To judge from your assembly here, you clearly realize that the recurrence of this day