Serbian Church accepts the Macedonian Orthodox Church
The Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church restored the liturgical and canonical communion with the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric. According to the decision, the reasons for the interruption of communication due to the unilateral proclamation of autocephaly in 1967 have been eliminated.
The decision is based on an appeal from the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which recognizes the 1959 statute as the basis for future talks and hopes the Serbian Patriarchate “fraternally clarifies its status” so that there is universal Orthodox consent and recognition.
The Serbian Patriarchate is restoring Eucharistic communion with the Orthodox Church in Northern Macedonia, believing that its current status is “the broadest autonomy, ie full internal independence, granted in 1959.” At the same time, the question of dialogue on future and final canonical status remains open. In particular, the Council of Bishops states:
“Thanks to the Lord and with joy, the Council welcomes the adoption of the universally recognized canonical status, which is the status of the widest possible autonomy, ie full internal independence, granted as early as 1959;
– as this has eliminated the reasons for the interruption of liturgical and canonical communion caused by the unilateral proclamation of autocephaly in 1967, full liturgical and canonical communion is restored;
“By establishing unity on canonical grounds and under the conditions of the canonical order throughout the Serbian Orthodox Church, dialogue on the future and eventual final status of the dioceses in northern Macedonia is not only possible but also purposeful, legitimate and realistic.”
In this forthcoming dialogue, the Serbian Orthodox Church will be guided only and exclusively by ecclesiological-canonical and ecclesiastical-pastoral principles, criteria and norms, without being interested in “realpolitik”, “geopolitics”, “ecclesiastical political considerations”, unilateral initiatives and without to succumb to anyone’s influence and pressure. “
The Serbian Patriarchate leaves it to the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric to decide what its official name will be, recommending that this be clarified “in a fraternal dialogue with the Greek and other local Orthodox churches”. Furthermore, it does not intend to introduce restrictive clauses on the scope of its jurisdiction at home and in the diaspora.
The “Greek and other local Orthodox churches”, with which the MOC must specify its official name, undoubtedly refer to the Bulgarian Patriarchate, which in its statutes is the legal successor of the Ohrid Archbishopric.
The decision of the Serbian Patriarchate was expected (see here). It was preceded by a similar decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which also welcomed the Orthodox clergy and laity in northern Macedonia into Eucharistic communion, but set limits on the name given to this local church – no “Macedonia” or derivatives. names, as well as its jurisdiction to be limited to the borders of the Republic of Northern Macedonia. The Ecumenical Patriarch also left open the issue of the administrative structure and status of the local Church in northern Macedonia, to be clarified in dialogue with the Serbian Patriarchate.
At a time when meteorology and physics were not yet known, and sowing and reaping a rich harvest was the most important task, people turned to nature. The behavior of animals, the characteristics of plants, the direction of the wind and the color of the sky – all this is the basis of folk signs that have been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. Observations piled up, and people began to predict for themselves what the new day and even the next six months would be like. In fact, the beliefs that people continue to believe today can be explained from a scientific point of view. One of the most common beliefs is that if the swallow flies low, then it will rain. The explanation is simple: before rainfall, the atmospheric pressure decreases and the humidity rises. As a result, the wings of the flies become heavier and lower them, and the swallows fly to the ground after eating. The same goes for beliefs about frogs. It is believed that jumping ashore portends bad weather. But they, like swallows, follow the flies flying above the ground.
There are other birds that portend rain. These are the sparrows that “bathe” in the dust. It turns out that parasites are born in the feathers, which due to the drop in atmospheric pressure before the rain become active and disturb the birds. To get rid of pests and itching, sparrows clean their feathers and together with the dust get rid of parasites. Rain beliefs are one of the most common. For example, that changes over time can be traced to conifers. Before the rain the branches are saturated with moisture, swell and fall under the weight. There is a similar explanation for the phenomena that occur with bees. Due to microscopic droplets invisible to the human eye, bees’ wings get wet before the rain, so bees prefer to stay in the hive and wait for bad weather. Rain forecasts are also made for plants. Usually before rain, roses, acacia, honeysuckle and sweet clover emit a stronger aroma, releasing more nectar to attract insects. So they try to pollinate before the rain washes away all the pollen from them. And dandelions, violets, clover and water lilies close their flowers to save pollen and seeds.
For the ancients, this would be incredible, but most beliefs are explained by changes in humidity, atmospheric pressure and the laws of physics. The loud whistling of crickets in dry weather is due to the fact that the sound of rubbing the elytra in such conditions spreads better. And the red sun at sunset – with the density of moist air, through which only the long waves of light reach us. Colds are often judged by pets. For example, cats experience fluctuations in atmospheric pressure and, in order to retain heat, they contract into a ball and cover their nose, reducing the area of heat release. For the same reasons, the hens stand on one foot, as the ground is already cooling. There are many beliefs and superstitions among the people. But many of them related to time are true, because natural processes are natural in terms of biology, physics, chemistry and other sciences.
Forecasts on celestial bodies
“The moon makes time for the earth” The moon, as it moves around the earth, creates tidal waves in the oceans. Simultaneously, but on a much smaller scale, waves occur in the atmosphere. These tides are expressed as fluctuations in air pressure with an amplitude of approximately 0.02 millimeters of mercury. But those who follow the weather know that when it changes, daily fluctuations in atmospheric pressure can reach and exceed 20-30 mmHg. That is, the impact of lunar tides on the atmosphere is very insignificant. Beliefs about the influence of the Moon on the Earth’s time have emerged rather because due to changes in humidity in the Earth’s atmosphere, the Moon looks different to people at different times.
“Clear moon promises frost” In clear skies, lowering the temperature at night is accompanied by additional “cooling”: it seems to blow cold from the ground. The frost is getting worse. For example, at -10 ° C the temperature near the snow cover on a clear night can be -20 ° C. Therefore, the given trust is plausible. A sign of severe cold are the optical phenomena – lunar and solar poles (or solar cross), which are observed only when the atmosphere is calm and stable. “The halo effect portends bad weather” The appearance of thin feathery clouds in the sky most often indicates a change in weather: in winter – for warming, in summer – for possible rain. At these heights, where the “feathers” are located, water vapor is in the form of ice crystals. The light coming from the sun or the moon is refracted in a special way at the edges of the ice, creating such a beauty as a halo.
Cloud forecasts
The forecasts for the coming days are well explained by the laws of atmospheric processes. To clarify them, it is desirable to know the basic meteorological concepts. The atmosphere is an ocean, where currents of different air masses are constantly observed. Each has its own characteristics (air mass of the polar latitudes or temperate or tropical …). There is a rather narrow transition zone or (conditionally) dividing line between them. In meteorology, such a zone of “instability”, which is characterized by large contrasts (or abrupt changes) in temperature and humidity, is called the atmospheric front. Cyclones periodically occur in the front. This is a vortex with reduced air pressure, which looks like a powerful air funnel. This section of the front, which moves in front of the cyclone, is considered warm: the wind before the “funnel” carries warm air from the south. The section of the front that moves at the rear of the cyclone is a cold front: here the wind, turning west or north, carries cold air. After about a week the atmosphere calms down and the cyclone is replaced by an anticyclone – an area of high pressure: for a while the weather becomes balanced. The warm and cold parts of the atmospheric front are characterized by their own set of meteorological phenomena. The most dangerous meteorological phenomena – torrential hail, hail, hurricane, sometimes tornado, and in winter snowfall and blizzard – occur during an active cold front. Let’s look at these phenomena with the example of a summer day. “Feather clouds portend bad weather” Feather clouds are harbingers of a warm front. The front is expected in about half a day or a day. But it is not a fact that there will be precipitation. It can end in warming. However, if feathery clouds appear behind them, then yes: five to seven hours after their appearance, layered rain clouds will appear and warm rain will begin. “It’s suffocating – no thunderstorm will pass” After crossing a warm front, there is usually a lull for a day or three (or more). For how much – depends on the strength of the wind at a height. The temperature will rise day by day. Before the displacement of the cold front with rain and thunderstorms can become unbearably stuffy – the moisture content in the air increases significantly. The sky acquires a cloudy and whitish hue. Tails, fans and an anvil at the top of the cloud are signs of an impending strong thunderstorm and hail. The appearance of high cumulus clouds in the morning often indicates a thunderstorm or a change in weather. Usually such clouds in the form of threads, veils or ridges appear on the western side of the sky and seem to come from one point on the horizon. An hour and a half to two hours before the approach of the front with thunderstorms in the sky, lenticular clouds appear. Sometimes they have a regular elliptical shape and can look like UFOs. The pressure continues to drop. The cumulus cloud grows before our eyes and acquires a stunning appearance: below – lead blue, above – dazzling white. The color depends on the different reflection of light: the lower level consists of relatively large water droplets, then the drops decrease, the upper consists of ice crystals. The cloud becomes cumulonimbus. If after a short time the top grows and the borders are blurred (protrusions, tails are formed) or – most dangerous of all – an anvil stretched in the wind appears, there is a high probability that hail will start. The anvil is a huge reservoir of ice crystals. They rush down, uniting in this space flight. Often, before a thunderstorm passes, it brightens sharply for a brief moment, the wind dies down … But then, just as abruptly, “night comes.”
From the economic repercussions of the COVID pandemic to food insecurity exacerbated by the Ukraine war, Secretary-General António Guterres painted a picture of accumulating crises that have put the drive towards the global goals into reverse.
“We must rise higher to rescue the SDGs – and stay true to our promise of a world of peace, dignity and prosperity on a healthy planet,” he underscored at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting on Operational Activities for Development.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the loss of some 15 million lives, pushed 100 million into poverty in 2020 alone, and set back human development – especially women’s rights – by a full generation, according to Mr. Guterres.
“We are facing a development emergency of global proportions.”@UN Secretary-General addresses . Member States at the start of the #ECOSOC Operational Activities Segment. Happening now – live on webTV. pic.twitter.com/ZmiFTtuYpj
— Rosemary Kalapurakal ?? (@RKalapurakal) May 17, 2022
“The pandemic demanded a united response based on solidarity between developed and developing countries – but that did not happen,” he said.
While developed countries invested trillions in their recovery, the developing world has been left to fend for itself “in a global financial system that favours the richest and punishes the poorest”.
“Many developing countries are now dealing with the health and socio-economic impact of the pandemic; the unequal recovery; the effects of the climate crisis; and the economic shock to food, fuel and financial markets caused by the war in Ukraine,” continued Mr. Guterres, describing the situation as “a development emergency of global proportions”.
‘No time for complacency’
Calling the 2030 Agenda “our clearest pathway forward,” Mr. Guterres said the UN development system had been transformed in recent months to better respond to countries’ needs and priorities.
“But this is no time for complacency. The world is on fire and so far, international cooperation has not delivered for those who need it most,” he said. “We have no alternative but to keep pushing our limits and stepping up our efforts”.
Aligning for development
The Our Common Agenda report includes “a New Global Deal to ensure power, wealth and opportunities are shared more broadly, so countries can invest in their people,” he said.
And it calls for all forms of public and private finance to be aligned with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement.
Within UN Country Teams worldwide, Mr. Guterres identified five areas for urgent attention, beginning with ensuring the skills and expertise needed are there, to support national transitions.
Secondly, UN Resident Coordinators must be supported to help governments expand and improve partnerships, know how, financing, and development solutions.
Next, he underscored the need for collaboration where humanitarian, development and security challenges interact.
“It is not about blurring mandates or resources; it is about ensuring that our assets are deployed coherently to support countries on their sustainable development priorities,” stressed the UN chief.
Business operations need to improve “to make every dollar count”, and finally, regional collaboration must be strengthened to support Resident Coordinators and country teams – all of which requires “adequate, predictable and sustainable funding”.
As the world’s multiple crises raise the bar ever higher, the UN chief assured that the UN was ready to scale up to meet expectations.
UNDP India
Women in India are being encouraged to play a leading role in sustainable development especially on gender equality issues.
Addressing challenges multilaterally
Joining virtually from Gaborone, Botswana, ECOSOC President Collen Kelapile observed that the pandemic – coupled with other pre-existing challenges such as the climate crisis, protracted conflicts and now the Ukraine war – “are generating all-time high humanitarian needs and setting back decades of development progress”.
He said that the international community must work together to “accelerate action to achieve a transformative post-COVID-19 recovery, as well as redouble our efforts to deliver the SDGs for a better future for all”.
“Multilateralism, international cooperation and global solidarity are the only effective ways of dealing with current and emerging global challenges,” he added.
Financing core
The ECOSOC President shared his concern over the long-lasting impacts of scaling down core development resources for reallocation to immediate humanitarian needs, particularly on sustaining the decades-long development achievements.
Moreover, a critical funding gap for UN development agencies must be addressed along with the imbalance between core and non-core resources.
“We must, therefore, acknowledge the high-level of importance the programme countries accord to the core development mandate of the UN Development Agencies and work to effectively support these countries towards achieving the SDGs during the remainder of the Decade of Action,” he said.
Calling for help
General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid, spoke of the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of UN system operational activities during the pandemic in late 2020.
For the first time, it explicitly calls for the UN development system to support social protection, universal health coverage, and education along with assisting the most vulnerable and reinforcing rights-based approaches and gender equality.
“The General Assembly also called for supporting countries in the mobilization of resources and partnerships” and ensuring the sustainability of its operations, said Mr. Shahid.
Seeing the journey through
Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed lauded the many returns on investments in development coordination, namely “independent, authoritative leadership; strengthened convening and better coordination; and improved operational efficiency for more ambitious results”.
However, amidst a continued funding shortfall, the ultimate objective of advancing the 2030 Agenda is at risk.
“Reversing this trend, and closing the funding gap, must remain an absolute priority,” she said.
“We must continue the journey together over these next eight years, in earnest, with a sense of urgency, and at the scale needed to keep the promise of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs,” concluded the Deputy UN chief.
“Young children who have gone without food, rapidly drop a lot of bodyweight, often exacerbated by bouts of infectious diarrhoea, until they become so thin and frail, they look skeletal,” UNICEF chief Catherine Russell explained in the report’s foreword.
Unlike famine or starvation, relatively few people have heard of severe wasting, although it affects around 13.6 million children globally under the age of five, and is one of the leading underlying causes of preventable deaths in young children.
“It is excruciatingly painful for the child whose body is battling the condition. Without lifesaving treatment, it is a battle that many lose,” Ms. Russell attested. She also noted that conflicts and climate crises, which destroy access to healthy diets, are “causing that number to rise”.
Life-saving nutrition
But even in stable countries, child wasting has been surging by more than 40 per cent.
For example, in Uganda, child wasting has increased 61 per cent since 2016.
“When a baby or child is this underweight and weak, they cannot eat normally,” the UNICEF chief explained, meaning that traditional food aid – like bags of wheat or soya – cannot save them.
These children need lifesaving, ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), a high-calorie nut paste given as a medical treatment, which can literally mean the difference between life and death.
Despite its simple, affordable effectiveness, amidst a sharp decline in nutrition financing, around 10 million desperate children are not receiving RUTF largely due to the ongoing economic shock of COVID-19.
Ukraine war
Meanwhile, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both nations are among the world’s top agricultural producers and exporters, has blocked supply lines and impacted global food security, threatening even more children with wasting.
The UN’s food agency suggests that a prolonged reduction of food exports could raise the global number of undernourished people by eight to 13 million people in 2022 and 2023.
Moreover, food, fuel, and fertilizer shortages, combined with inflationary pressures, are causing prices to soar.
UNICEF Source:
The UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group Joint Malnutrition Estimates (JME).
‘Global child alert’
And even RUTF therapy isn’t immune. The price of this effective treatment is projected to rise by 16 per cent over the next six months.
The report explains how a relatively small additional investment in treatment for severe wasting could lead to an exponential reduction in child deaths from all causes.
“Unless funding is increased, aid agencies will be unable to treat hundreds of thousands of children,” warned the top UNICEF official.
“The international community must act to avert a child malnutrition catastrophe,” she said, issuing a global child alert.
‘Urgent action’ needed
This year many severely malnourished children have already lost their fight for life.
“We can’t bring them back. And we can’t end global hunger and malnutrition overnight,” Ms. Russell acknowledged, but there is plenty to be done right now to stop children literally wasting away.
With “political will and urgent action,” strategic investment in proven, affordable ways can prevent and treat severe acute malnutrition, saving lives now and working towards “a world where no child wastes away and dies,” she said.
“With urgently need funding…we can reach every child – no matter who they are or where they live – with the essential nutrition they desperately need to survive and thrive”.
Researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH) have deciphered mysterious hieroglyphs on a ceramic vessel discovered during archeological excavations.
According to the INAH website, this is a vessel discovered by archaeologists as part of the Mayan Train research project. This train traveled through the Yucatan and made stops during which archaeologists excavated. The hieroglyphic vessel was discovered during archeological excavations near the town of Maxcanu. It was located in a building erected in the pre-Hispanic period. The artifact dates from the late classical period (600-800 AD).
The deciphering of the hieroglyphs made it possible to establish that the whole history fell into the hands of scientists. It is dedicated to Cholom – a historical figure. He belonged to the Mayan elite, his name has already been found on artifacts in the ancient city of Oxkintock. The 11 glyphs of the container’s cartouche are reported to indicate that Cholom held the position of sadjal or herald. This was a nobleman whose job it was to make the ruler’s orders public. “Sajal is the one who transmits,” said co-author of the study, archaeologist Ileana Ancona Aragon. Scientists have not yet established what function the vessel itself performed, as well as the plate found “complete” with it. By the way, another vessel is kept in the Yucatan Regional Museum of Anthropology in Merida, which also contains a glyphosate of Choloma. In this case, he was identified as a uylul, that is, a “listener.”
The Sun, without which life would never be possible on Earth, is not eternal. This is what the end of our star, which is 4.6 billion years old today, should look like.
The lifespan of stars is determined by their mass. The more massive the star, the shorter its life and it consists of several million years to end with a furious flame of space fireworks – a supernova. Things will be different for our Sun. Our star is a yellow dwarf with a total lifespan (330,000 times the mass of the Earth) of about 10 billion years. The good news about life on Earth is that the Sun is now only 4.6 billion years old, so it should shine for another five billion years, according to astronomers. However, it will be necessary to think about relocation, as the Earth will become uninhabitable in less than a billion years (despite the current global warming). Why? Because the brightness of the Sun will continue to increase by about 10% every billion years. Thus, our Pale Blue Dot will gradually turn into a furnace, similar to perhaps the hell that now reigns on our neighbor Venus. Therefore, the habitable zone in our solar system will shift, and ice worlds like Pluto have begun to melt. We can also imagine that Homo sapiens is migrating to Mars, which will become softer. But if that happens, it won’t last long. Therefore, we may need to go to other stars if the human race can afford it.
What will happen when the Sun begins to die? Over time, the reserves of hydrogen accumulated by the Sun at birth will be depleted. With a relatively small mass, the star has maintained a balance between gravity and radiation for billions of years (as a result of hydrogen synthesis). But the “day” will come when the fuel will run out. Then the star’s heart will be ruled by the helium nucleus (created by the fusion of hydrogen), which will collapse on itself. The temperature that will rise during the contraction will release energy that will repel the outer layers of the Sun. In just five million years, the star will grow significantly and become what astrophysicists call a red giant. Red because its surface temperature will drop (up to 3000 K). According to a study published in 2008, the radius of our star will increase from about 700,000 kilometers today to over 170 million kilometers! In other words, Mercury, Venus, and also the Earth will be inside and will eventually be destroyed (if the orbit of our planet is not pushed out, which will depend on the mass lost by the red giant). During shrinkage, the helium nucleus will heat up and reach a temperature of 100 million degrees. Therefore, helium will burn faster and faster, producing carbon and oxygen, and ultimately releasing as much energy in a few seconds as all the stars in a galaxy normally produce together. All this energy will be released with a light that astrophysicists call “helium lightning”. But this will not last long, as the residual mass of the Sun is not enough to reach 600 million degrees in the center – the temperature needed to ignite the core.
Hydrogen and helium will burn around it for several thousand years, as a result of which our star will stratify and its outer shell will expand even more. Ultimately, since there will be no radiation to balance it, gravity will prevail. The rest of the core of our star will shrink and turn into a white dwarf – a body the size of Earth, which is extremely dense and hot (about 30,000 ° C). At the same time, the outer layers, which will be too far away, will dissolve into space. For about 10,000 years, the shell will shine from within, shining in the light of the still warm central hearth. As a result, a planetary nebula will form.
Will it be visible from other planetary systems, similar to those we can see through our telescopes? Like the Ring Nebula in the constellation Lyra? Will our descendants in exile be able to observe the rest of the Sun, around which life has flourished? A study published in May 2018 found, using models of stellar evolution, that this is possible. Due to its mass, the Sun would be at the limit of luminosity. Thus the planetary nebula will be visible, but very weak. What next? Will this really be the end? No. It will take billions of years for the fiery heart to cool down and become a black dwarf. Meanwhile, there are still many beautiful days before the Sun.
The military satellite Cosmos 2555, launched on April 29 with the Angara-1.2 launch vehicle, could burn up in the atmosphere as early as June. Information about this appeared in the Telegram channel Alpha Centauri Cosmos.
Vitaly Egorov, an expert and promoter of astronautics, told The Insider that if there is no serious start to the engine, the satellite will cease to exist by mid-June. In 15 days, the satellite has made only one short-term correction of its orbit – on May 6. Since then, its orbit has been declining. Egorov notes that the data on the position of the Cosmos 2555 satellite (as well as on any other) is available to anyone, as it is monitored by the US military system NORAD. “Scientists have already plotted the movement from the launch to the present day. It can be seen that in about 10-12 days it has lost 30 km of altitude and from an average height of about 290 km has descended to a height of 260 km, which at such altitudes is quite a significant loss. And indeed, if this continues for another 2-3 weeks, then the satellite will inevitably enter the dense layers of the atmosphere and descend into orbit. The graph shows that there have been several attempts to change the orbit. There may have been 3 or 4 engine starts, but they were very weak and did not significantly affect the orbit. Therefore, in the near future, if there is no major engine start and orbit change, then probably by mid-June, the satellite will cease to exist. Maybe even earlier, “Egorov said. On April 29, Interfax reported, citing the Ministry of Defense, that a light Angara-1.2 launch vehicle had been launched from the Plesetsk spaceport in the Arkhangelsk region.
For the unbelieving consciousness, the idea of resurrection is absurd. From this point of view, the faith of Christians is even more absurd. The case of the speech of St. Paul the Apostle in Athens is indicative – the center of the then world philosophical and intellectual thought. His speech ends the moment he speaks of the resurrection from the dead. Some of the listeners leave, others laugh at him, and some stay and believe him (Acts 17:34). In many ways, the event described corresponds to the attitude of the people in the modern world. With its belief in the resurrection, Christianity is radically different from all other religious systems. The goal of the Christian life is not salvation per se, but union with God through love. The main obstacle to this union with Him is death. It is the main obstacle that needs to be overcome. And according to the Christian faith, this can only happen with divine help.
The Christian faith in the resurrection from the dead is radically different from the belief in immortality. Immortality, understood in various pagan systems, is generally accepted as immortality of the soul, ie of a part of man – of its component, which is separated from the material, from dark matter, and goes to the realm of light. Christianity is radically changing the paradigm. It preaches something unthinkable – complete recovery of man, physical and spiritual. Because of this faith, he became hated by the pagan world. The reason is that it does not deny this world, does not treat it with contempt, but does not worship it. On the contrary, he accepts it, views it as a creation of God, which, however, is subject to transformation, liberation from sin – ie, confession of a mistake made at the dawn of human history. The classical pagan world preaches something else – an escape from this world and, accordingly, hatred of matter, which, according to him, stops man on his way to God. For him, matter is evil, a dungeon that holds the soul. For Christianity, the problem is not in matter, but in the spirit that has distanced itself from God and sunk into matter, distorted its purpose. Due to man’s sin, matter in the world created for him also suffers damage. According to the Christian faith, through the resurrection not only the soul is restored, but also the matter, the whole man, ie nothing of it is lost, does not perish. Therefore, there is nothing superfluous in man. Otherwise, it would be absurd to assume that God created man in such a way that something must fall away from him afterwards.
In the Old Testament, the expectation of the resurrection is conveyed indirectly. There the main idea was the belief in one God, as a counterbalance to pagan polytheism. As a result, the resurrection was avoided, which was especially popular in the cults of the pagan world and led to temptation. But the prophets clearly testify that the resurrection of man is something that will happen and defeat death. The text of Prov. Hosea: “I will redeem them from the power of hell, I will deliver them from death. Where is your sting, death? Where is your victory, hell? ”2. The life of the Old Testament man depends on two main factors: exclusively and only from God, on the one hand, and on the other, as a consequence of the first – the community, the people, the ancestral origin. Therefore, the well-being of man is determined entirely by the well-being of the people, by life here and now – the well-being of the individual is predominant on earth. The land has a special role for the Israelite; even today it is politically important, but also eschatological in importance3.
In the attitude of the Old Testament man to life, to its meaning and significance, the book is very indicative. Job. Job’s trial ends only with his faithfulness to God. He remains faithful to the end, despite all the suffering. The book concludes with God restoring to him twice what he had before the trial (42:10). He died “old and full of life” (17). However, there is no ultimate, eschatological optimism in this book. It anchors man on earth, does not give him extreme hope. It does not solve the question of meaning, it only postpones it. The real solution comes later. It is in the resurrection.
This was first foreshadowed by the prophets4, and was gradually expressed through revelations in visions and various images. However, the prophetic view and vision of the resurrection is not understood by all. Subsequently, the idea of it was rejected in certain religious and intellectual circles of society. In this spiritual and ideological environment in the so-called inter-Testament age, two currents are formed regarding the belief in the resurrection of the dead5. On the one hand are the Pharisees who accept the resurrection and God’s judgment, and on the other are the Sadducees who deny the resurrection and even enter into a dispute with Jesus Christ (Mark 12: 18-27).
The very preaching of Jesus Christ is categorical about the resurrection. The Savior rebuked the Sadducees, much of the spiritual and intellectual elite of Jewish society at the time, for misunderstanding the Scriptures. He refers to Moses, ie the law according to which God is the God of the fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “But he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him” (Luke 20:38). In refutation of their unbelief, the Savior again uses an argument from Scripture. He quotes Ps. 109: 1 where the Messiah is called the son of David (Luke 20: 41-44). Apparently here Jesus Christ categorically states that death is not absolute, that it is only temporary and does not affect man as a whole. According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, Jesus Christ showed the Sadducees that they were especially illiterate because they did not accept the words of their main authority, Moses, who was clearly familiar with the resurrection from the dead. “To whom will He be God, according to their arguments, if they have ceased to live? He is the God of the living. ”6
The Gospel directly testifies to how difficult it was to accept the idea of the resurrection from the dead. Although Jesus Christ told His disciples that He would be killed and resurrected, their faith was weak. It is weak even after the transfiguration of Peter, James, and John. They enter directly into another spiritual reality, participate in theophany (Luke 9: 34-35), but still cannot accept this truth. Most obviously, these moments occur after the very resurrection of Jesus Christ. The words of the passengers about Emmaus are indicative. The women have already brought the news of His resurrection, but they doubt, do not believe the testimonies and those who saw the empty tomb (Luke 24: 23-24). The Savior has to explain the Scriptures to them, and yet they do not believe. Only after the blessing and breaking of the bread (Holy Eucharist) do they recognize Him. All the while, Jesus Christ insists before them that what is happening is the fulfillment of Scripture. That is, the hidden reproach is that they do not rely on Scripture, but on their own understandings. So that they would not hesitate, He took special action: “Then opened he their minds to understand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus Christ must suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day” (45-46).
Unbelief in the resurrection shows how much man has sunk into dependence on the definitions of the external, sensory world. The example of St. Thomas the Apostle is illustrative. He is looking for external, empirical evidence: to see the scars from the nails and to put his finger in the wounds from them, to put his palm in the wound from the spear. Until he did so, he said, “I will not believe” (John 20:25). Despite all these encounters with the risen Christ, the lives of the disciples did not change visibly. They are still not clear about what happened and what is going to happen. They fish (21: 3 nat.), Take care of everyday things. Clearly, in order to establish faith in the resurrection — despite the evidence Jesus Christ gives for Himself forty days after His resurrection — and for the radical change it brings to man, something else needs to happen. This is the historic appearance of the Church on the day of Pentecost. Then, with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, this radical change occurs. Their spiritual gaze opens and they begin to understand the Old Testament scriptures. The leading role is taken by St. Peter the Apostle and he, already enlightened by St. Spirit mind, begins to explain the Old Testament prophecies and their relationship to what is happening now. He refers them to Jesus Christ because they testify to the victory over death (Acts 2:27). The apostle directly declares, “Then God raised up Jesus, of whom we are all witnesses.”
After the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, when the spiritual eyes of all believers are opened, many of the events related to Jesus Christ, and especially the question of His resurrection, become clear to the heart and mind. Such are they later for all baptized, believing Orthodox Christians, conscious members of the Orthodox Church. For the Orthodox consciousness, the resurrection is what gives meaning and gives the right answer to the question of the Savior’s sacrifice. Without the resurrection, it would be meaningless. As Prof. Totyu Koev notes: “The Resurrection of Christ is a unique, unrepeatable case in the whole of human history. In him and through him the Golgotha sacrifice is affirmed and fully accepted. Without the resurrection, the death on the cross is meaningless, just as the resurrection without the cross is meaningless ”7.
This truth was hard to grasp among the newly converted Jews and Gentiles. Evidently among the newcomers to the Church in Corinth, and perhaps among the believers close to the apostles, there were hesitations about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Then the app lights up. Paul puts before them the question of the resurrection from the dead radically: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). That is, all the efforts he, the apostles, and their followers make are in vain. And not only that, but they would be in self-deception, or worse, they would be frauds. But the truth is clear: “Christ rose from the dead and became the beginning of the dead.” If there is no resurrection, the very coming of Jesus Christ into the world is meaningless.
The meaning is clear: the resurrection from the dead is a new beginning for man. Through him, the last enemy was defeated – death (26). Without faith in the resurrection, the Christian faith itself becomes meaningless. It is absurd! In his second epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle reassures them, “We know that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise us up through Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:14).
It was difficult for the Hellenic consciousness to accept the resurrection as a reality. For him, death and resurrection are above all inherent in pagan gods, but not in man. Confirmation of this idea is found elsewhere, again in a Hellenic environment. Before the believers in Thessaloniki, the apostle again insisted, “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (1 Thess. 4:14). The resurrection is a victory over death, it gives hope to every person to make sense of his life and, fighting his sins, to avoid despair and despondency, but to believe in life. This is the promise of the very Life of Jesus Christ: “I live and you will live” (John 14:19). The resurrection of Christ is the pinnacle, the culmination of the Christian faith. It intersects, summarizes and centers all questions and answers related to it.
What has been traced so far shows how the Holy Scriptures begin with the story of the creation and catastrophe of the Fall, the consequence of which is death. In its content it is nothing but a testimony to this gigantic battle that is being fought in heaven and earth precisely to destroy this last enemy – death. The center of this battle is the fact of its destruction in the person of Jesus Christ, and how this will happen for each person individually and for the world as a whole is testified by the last book of Scripture – vol. Revelation. In it, the history of the world, past and future, unfold as in a fast-paced film. It is the most optimistic ending in world history known to mankind. This eschatological optimism solves the question of meaning – it is in the resurrection of man in his entirety and his existence with God. Then the lost access to the tree of life will be restored. The tree will be in the middle of the main street of the new Jerusalem. According to bl. Jerome symbolizes the Holy Scriptures:
the fruits are its meaning, and the leaves are the words. However, only the words, as the Jews read them, are meaningless. But “even if one understands the Scriptures only as history, he acquires something useful for his soul.” The river that flows through the city is God’s Revelation, which contains the truth and brings grace to the inhabitants of the city. According to Bishop Andrew of Caesarea, the tree of life is Jesus Christ himself. The fruits of the tree are the believers in Christ who spread the faith during the twelve months, symbolizing the apostles. They point to the uninterrupted knowledge of God that believers receive. “The Tree of Life bears twelve fruits, namely, the Apostolic Council, which shares in Him Who is the true Tree of Life, Who, through His participation in the flesh, has enabled us to share His divinity.”
The bride of Christ, the Church, awaits the coming of Christ. She calls: “Come! Come! And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is thirsty, let him come, and he that will, let him take of the water of life freely ”(Rev. 22:17). St. John himself concludes the book with the common hope of all Christians: “Amen, yes, come, Lord Jesus!” (20). The faith of the Church is focused on the Resurrection, and therefore it is its brightest holiday. It begins in history, is experienced constantly, transcending space and time, and is projected into the eschatology. However, its influence is constant and unchangeable for the believing Orthodox Christian, as evidenced by many of the texts of the resurrection service. They invite us to rejoice in the Resurrection:
“This is the chosen and holy day,
The first day of the week, king and lord,
Holiday and celebrations:
In him let us bless Christ forever ”10.
However, the joy of the Resurrection is always shared. It overcomes all selfishness and forgives every person who has sinned against us. Otherwise, the joy of the Resurrection is impossible. The worship service of the holiday invites us again:
“It is the day of resurrection,
Let’s shine on the holiday
And hug each other.
To those who hate us, let us say: brothers!
And forgive them all for their resurrection. ”11
In conclusion, it can be said that the Resurrection in its deepest sense leads to the restoration of man’s fullness, of his wholeness. Jesus Christ comes to “transform” man through His resurrection. In Greek, Sōtēr (Savior) means “Healer”. The miracles of healings that have such a remarkable place in the Gospels symbolically foreshadow man’s final “healing.” The true wholeness, the indivisible, incorruptible body, man acquires only in the bodily resurrected Lord, in the “body of the resurrection.” Therefore, the resurrection is directly related to the complete recovery and salvation of man from sin and death.
Welcoming the Savior is the greatest hope of the believing Christian – the final solution to the problem of evil and death. That is why Christianity is the most optimistic religion.
Excerpt from the publication “Between Faith and Reason”, Sofia, Omofor, 2020
Notes:
1 Cults associated with the Sun, with the cycle of nature, where the personified deities of nature die and are reborn as Tammuz e.g.
2 Biblical critique, based on linguistic and literary analysis, questions these Old Testament testimonies. She raises the question of the clear acceptance of the idea of resurrection from the dead only in the book. Daniel (12: 2), which is believed to have been written at a very late stage in the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (215-164 BC).
3 On the subject, see: The Promised Land in Biblical-Historical and Archaeological Context. In: Cultural texts of the past – carriers of symbols and ideas. Book I. Texts of history, history of texts. Proceedings of the Jubilee International Scientific Conference in honor of the 60th anniversary of Prof. D.Sc. Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Veliko Tarnovo, October 29-31, 2003. Sofia: University Publishing House “St. Kliment Ohridski », 2005, pp. 76-92.
4 Spiritual and intuitive sense of realities that are not subject to rational analysis.
5 Cf. Popmarinov D. Biblical theology. Protection of the Mother of God Foundation, Sofia, 2018, p. 316 nat.
6 Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Homily 136. ACCS, NT, v. 3, p. 296
7 Koev, T. Resurrection and life. DK, kn. 4, 1991. https://web.archive.org/web/20200814074122/https://bg-patriarshia.bg/reflections.php?id=393
8 Jerome, Homilies on the Psalms 1 (Ps. 1). ACCS, NT, v. 12, p. 356.
9 Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, 22.2., ACCS, NT, v. 12, p. 358.
10 Irmos of the eighth song from the Easter canon of St. John of Damascus. Cit. By: The Incarnate God. Festive catechism. Protection of the Mother of God Foundation, Sofia, 2007, p. 331.
11 The hymn from the ninth song of the Easter verse, ch. 5 of the Easter canon of St. John of Damascus. Cit. By: The Incarnate One, p. 336.
12 Ivliev, archim. January The Man in the Holy Scriptures (exegetical approach).
https://web.archive.org/web/20161015032437/https://azbyka.ru:80/ivliev/chelovek_v_svyaschennom_pisanii-all.shtml to 25.05.2020
The topic of European integration of our southwestern neighbor was among those discussed at the talks with Mark Rutte
The future of Northern Macedonia must be in the European family, there are no two opinions on this issue.
This was stated by Prime Minister Kiril Petkov after the meeting with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, held at the Council of Ministers.
The topic of the European integration of our southwestern neighbor was among those discussed at the talks, Petkov said.
“Now it is a matter of concrete constructive steps to go this way together. This is not a function of a calendar or expectations, this is a function of the common work we have to do together. When we do, our government will bring the issue into Bulgarian. Parliament and I hope that in the near future we will be able to advance and the European future of Northern Macedonia will become a fact, “said Kiril Petkov.
The Bulgarian Prime Minister announced that he and Rutte also talked about the accession of our country to the Schengen area.
According to Kiril Petkov, fulfilling the strongest task of the Bulgarian government – to eliminate corruption and increase the level of Bulgarian institutions – is the safest way to Schengen.
“Mark assured me that this is the way. It is not a matter of political statements, but to do our job,” said the Bulgarian Prime Minister.
On the topic of energy, he once again confirmed that Bulgaria will want to be part of the exceptions in connection with the European embargo on Russian oil.
Kiril Petkov expressed gratitude to his Dutch counterpart for the cooperation in the military field, including the Dutch fighters involved in the protection of Bulgarian airspace.
We must prepare in the best way for Europe after the war, after the Russian aggression in Ukraine, said the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte after the meeting of the Council of Ministers.
“The Netherlands is helping Bulgaria with F-35 fighters and it is important to be side by side, because the threat from Russia is not only a threat to Bulgaria or Romania, we must deal with it together, at European Union level and together with NATO. “, said Mark Rutte. We are all together, united, because divided we will be defeated, said the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
He assured Petkov that Bulgaria has friends everywhere in Europe and congratulated him on the stated desire of the new government to fight corruption and modernize the country.
The two prime ministers also expressed a desire to work on a number of joint initiatives and projects related to agriculture, the IT sector, artificial intelligence and the green economy.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Teodora Genchovska confirmed that the pressure on our country for the soon start of the negotiations with Skopje for accession to the EU continues.
“There is pressure, and it continues now, but our position is clear – we expect Northern Macedonia to start implementing the treaty and ensure the inclusion of Bulgarians in the preamble to their country’s constitution,” she told Bulgarian journalists in Brussels. Council of the EU.
From the very beginning, the whole process is based on the merits of Northern Macedonia, in no way tied to dates, she added in response to a question on whether progress can be expected in June. On the part of Northern Macedonia, clear concrete steps must be taken to ensure that the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation will begin to be implemented and will continue to be implemented, the minister said. We expect concrete actions, said Genchovska.
According to the Minister, the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in the constitution of Northern Macedonia would not be enough to set a date for the start of negotiations with the EU. The other track is the treaty – it is internationally recognized, which means that Skopje must respect the rule of law and this is part of the Copenhagen criteria, Genchovska explained.
According to her, the upcoming visit of the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Oliver Warhey this week does not create additional pressure. We will continue to explain what our position is, what we expect from the negotiation process and what guarantees we want to be included in the negotiating framework, said Genchovska.
She added that Bulgaria’s official position is one. There are representatives of the cabinet and various institutions who, I hope, have already understood that there is no way for Bulgaria to have two foreign policies. If there is any progress on how our relations with Northern Macedonia will develop in the future, all this will go through a decision of the National Assembly, the minister said.
Demonstrating clear signs of stress can make people more attractive and encourage others to treat them more positively. It is possible that in the process of evolution Homo sapiens even specifically developed the ability to demonstrate the external manifestations of his psycho-emotional state to others in order to receive additional support
Such findings were made by British researchers from the University of Nottingham Trent and the University of Portsmouth, who published an article on the subject in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. A corresponding press release was published on the website of the University of Portsmouth.
Researchers have studied the paradox of stressful behavior, in which humans, like other primates, often show external signs of stress “to their own detriment,” such as scratching, biting nails, fluttering and touching their face or hair. to others that they are in an inadequate condition. It turned out that outside observers not only manage to determine quite accurately when someone is stressed, but also react more positively to people who show more signs of stressful behavior. As part of the study, participants in the experiment were videotaped while performing work that they had to prepare as soon as possible. The videos were shown to other volunteers who had to assess how tense they thought the person in the video was. The participants in the experiment, who reported that they were seriously worried during the task, were perceived by the outside world as experiencing the greatest stress. The results also showed that people are usually able to determine when others are stressed because of their own behavior. Interestingly, the subjects who were identified as experiencing the most stress during the task evoked the most sympathy from others, which the experimenters said provided a key to understanding how empathy works and why people have evolved to demonstrate to others these signals.
Homo sapiens, unlike many other animals, shows a great tendency to cooperate with their peers, and perhaps that is why behavior that informs others of their own weakness has succeeded in such a great development.
