Written by Greg Pantelidis BSc(Hons)

gregpantelidis@gmail.com

1.    The passions are illnesses of the soul.
2.    The Lord Jesus came to cure the illnesses of the soul.
3.    The Lord Jesus established the New Testament Priesthood to cure the illnesses of the soul.
4.    The Coming of the Lord Jesus was to cure the illnesses of the soul.
5.    The Sacraments were established to cure the illnesses of the soul.
6.    Through the life of the Orthodox Christian Church the illnesses of the soul are cured.
7.    Only Lord Jesus, through the New Testament Priesthood, can cure the illnesses of the soul.

1.    An Orthodox Christian must test his ideas before accepting them. (See 1 Thess. 5:21)
2.    An Orthodox Christian must question his spiritual father about his ideas.
3.    An Orthodox Christian is prudent only when he tells his ideas to his spiritual father.
4.    An Orthodox Christian must not hide his ideas from his spiritual father.
5.    An Orthodox Christian avoids delusion by always consulting his spiritual father about his ideas.

1.    An Orthodox Christian must test his thoughts, ideas, feelings, words, and works.
2.    Testing our thoughts, ideas, feelings, words, and works, is essential for an Orthodox Christian.
3.    To avoid delusion we must test our thoughts, ideas, feelings, words, and works.
4.    To avoid pride and frenzy an Orthodox Christian must test his thoughts, ideas, feelings, words, and works.

1.    “Give and it will be given to you”. (Luke 6:38)
2.    In giving we receive in return Blessing and Grace.
3.    Without giving we cannot expect to be given to us.
4.    When we give we feel spiritual joy.

1.    To our actions we receive reactions.
2.    To our good actions we receive either good reactions or bad reactions.
3.    To our bad actions we receive generally bad reactions.
4.    In general the world reacts to good actions with good reactions and to bad actions with bad reactions. This is the natural law.
5.    An Orthodox Christian must react to good actions with good reactions and to bad actions with kind rebukes and other good reactions.
6.    According to the Golden Rule what we do is done to us: If we greet we are greeted, if we give it is given to us, if we serve we are served, if we love we are loved.
7.    An Orthodox Christian must keep the spiritual law and love his neighbor, love his enemies, do good to all, and lend to all.

1.    An Orthodox Christian must not do bad or neutrality, but always good.
2.    An Orthodox Christian must do good to all.
3.    An Orthodox Christian will be condemned not only for doing bad, but also for doing neutrality, that is for doing nothing. The apostle James teaches: “ Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin”. (James 4:17). Therefore neutrality is also bad.
4.    An Orthodox Christian must therefore do good always and never do bad or neutrality, which are considered both bad.

1.    The Last Judgment will judge the charity every person has done to his neighbor in need.
2.    We will be saved or condemned for the charity we have shown our neighbor in need.
3.    An Orthodox Christian must show charity to his neighbor in need.
4.    An Orthodox Christian must give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, refuge to strangers, clothing to the naked, visitation to the sick, and visitation to those in prison.
5.    The crime which causes our condemnation at the Last Judgment is lack of charity to those in need.

1.    A monastic must practice complete self-denial.
2.    A non-monastic practices only partial self-denial.
3.    Every Orthodox Christian is required to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Christ. (See Matt. 16:24)
4.    The self-denial of monastics is to practice complete chastity, complete poverty, and complete obedience.
5.    A non-monastic Orthodox Christian must practice partial obedience, partial poverty, and non-monastic chastity.
6.    Complete self-denial requires one to live in a commune.
7.    A monastic practices complete self-denial in a commune, also called a coenobium.

1.    In the community of the world there is pride, wrath, and hatred.
2.    To bring salvation to the world, pride, wrath, and hatred must be eliminated.
3.    An Orthodox Christian must transcend pride, wrath, and hatred, and practice humility, meekness, and love.
4.    If pride is eliminated then wrath and hatred will also disappear.
5.    If pride, wrath, and hatred are eliminated then poverty, disease, and oppression will also disappear.
6.    When the three inner evils of pride, wrath, and hatred are eliminated, then the three outer evils of poverty, disease, and oppression will also disappear.
7.    The inner salvation of the world is the elimination of pride, wrath, and hatred. The outer salvation of the world is the elimination of poverty, disease, and oppression.

1.    A person can choose to live in one of two ways: The Orthodox Christian Way or the Worldly Way.
2.    An Orthodox Christian practices humility, meekness, mercy, and love. A worldly person practices pride, wrath, rancor, enmity, and hatred.
3.    An Orthodox Christian has love towards God and love towards neighbor. A worldly person has hatred or neutrality towards God, and hatred or neutrality towards neighbor.
4.    An Orthodox Christian practices self-denial. A worldly person practices self-love.
5.    The Orthodox Christian Way leads to eternal life. The Worldly Way leads to eternal death.
6.    The choice of which way to follow is left to the freedom of each person. God compels no one.
7.    God calls people to the Orthodox Christian Way and waits for their response.
8.    (Matt. 7:13-14): “For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it”.
9.    (Ps. 1:1-2): “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful, But his will is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night”.

1.    An Orthodox Christian must consider his spiritual debt.
2.    An Orthodox Christian must use the years of his life to repay his spiritual debt.
3.    Neither the wealth nor the glory of this world is of any real gain for us if we don’t repay our spiritual debt.
4.    An Orthodox Christian must see to it that he devotes his life to spiritual gain.
5.    Spiritual gain is our only true possession.
6.    What use is material wealth and worldly glory if we don’t use them for spiritual gain?
7.    Spiritual wealth and spiritual debt are our true wealth and true debt.
8.    An Orthodox Christian must do everything he can to resolve his spiritual debt.
9.    A person who dies without resolving his spiritual debt must face the Judgment of that debt.
10.    Our life on earth must be used to resolve our spiritual debt.

1.    In the practice of Orthodox Christianity we are opposed by three opposers: The body, The World, and The dragon.
2.    When we seek to practice, these three opposers begin to resist our practice.
3.    The body resists our practice, the World resists our practice, and the dragon resists our practice.
4.    Throughout our practice of Orthodox Christianity the three opposers stand in our way of practice.
5.    With our determination and the grace of God, we commence our practice and continue in it.
6.    The three opposers resist our practice from the beginning of the path to the end.