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The General Epistles of Saints James, Peter, John, and Jude, part 1
Talk by Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen)
November 28, 2023

Topics include:
(1) The Apostle James, brother of our Lord: his life and martyric death. 
(2) Learning patience and steadfastness though temptations. The virtue of the righteous is made manifest in their sufferings. We should expect nothing else but temptations in life. God lets these happen to us, but *He* does not tempt us. So often we blame God rather than taking responsibility for our own desires and choices. God does not control or manipulate us --- we have a free will, which can be subject to the passions. We must overcome this, seeking dispassion; 
(3) On double mindedness: Praying yet doubting, and thereby receiving nothing. Wanting fun and approval in the world rather than from God; 
(4) Being steadfast in temptations leads to eternal life. Falling into sin, without repentance, leads to death; 
(5) On being "a kind of firstfruits of His creatures": We hold up the Mother of God and the Saints as exalted over all creation. 
(6) "Man's wrath does not bring out God's righteousness". Often we are self-righteous, assuming that the position we take is the right one, and asking God's justice on our enemies. Rather, in humility are we saved. 
(7) On true faith, and on not just hearing but doing: We must go beyond just believing to be saved. Rather we must do the will of God and persevere in the doing. Faith in Christ brings the potential for salvation, but we must follow through and love everyone. If we say we believe and don't act like it, where is the salvation? True faith is the living experience of communion with God. This shakes us out of our selfishness that we may love and serve our neighbors; 
(8) On Luther and Calvin: Luther didn't like the book of James because it contradicts his doctrine of "salvation by faith alone". Discussion of the thief on the Cross and death-bed repentance. The thief, Saint Dismas, repented and was promised to be with Christ in paradise. Western Christians tend to see things in static states: 1. damned, 2. say the prayer,3. saved. Orthodox see things dynamically: everyone has the potential to be saved through the process of repentance. Eternal life is to know God. No one can say "I fully know God", but Gregory of Nyssa said that we will progress from glory to glory throughout eternity. Also, Orthodox believe that one *can* lose salvation. We also regard Calvinism as a false vision of God and teach that all the "five points of Calvinism" are wrong and profoundly destructive; 
(9) Thinking one is religious and not bridling one's tongue: such religion is worthless. E.g., Gossipping and condemning those who disagree with us. True religion is mercy and charity and purity of life. "I desire mercy not sacrifice." We must mercilessly persecute hypocrisy within ourselves. We can fool ourselves by adherence to rules of piety, even judging others who do not appear to follow them. We are all hypocrites. If we don't realise that, we are fooling ourselves. Also, we must learn to think before we speak. Wordly spontaneity is not an Orthodox virtue; 
(10) On prayer, hesychasm, and "Centering prayer": God knows what we and others need without being told. We should practise silence and contemplative prayer. Our icons don't need to be read to. Is our prayer going beyond our own head? That's what the Pharisee was doing, whereas the Publican prayed to God. St. Theophan said "get out of your head and into your heart". Silence is not rational prayer. "Sitting down and shutting up" ... that should not lead us to pride. The Orthodox teach the Jesus Prayer and Hesychasm. Roman Catholic "Centering Prayer" is a beginning but can lead to delusion. The Jesus prayer is all about REPENTANCE: acknowledging, accepting, and taking responsibility for our sin and brokenness, and repenting of it. It's about silencing the rational mind and entering into noetic awareness ... being present to God. It brings us into a state of communion with God, depending on how far we are along. It's about entering into Christ's own prayer to the Father. He shares His own sonship with us. In Himself He brings us to the Father. Don't do hesychastic prayer by yourself without the guidance of a Priest. A book: "The Jesus Prayer: The Ancient Desert Prayer that Tunes the Heart to God", by Frederica Mathewes-Green.