We are not a living body that contains a soul

We are a living soul that dwells within a body!

Monday, September 10, 2007

The Slavic Conversion:

Patriarch Photius, one of Byzantium’s most educated churchmen, initiated the evangelization or Christianization of the Slavs. His choosing of the brothers Cyril and Methodius for this mission was a sign of genius as well as missionary insight, as both the brothers spoke the Slavic dialect which was in use at that time among the Slavic settlers near their native city of Thessalonica. Once they received their commission, from Patriarch Photius, Cyril and Methodius set about creating an alphabet, which we call the Cyrillic alphabet.

They then translated the Scriptures and the liturgy. This was the origin of Church Slavonic, the common liturgical language still used by the Russian Orthodox and other Slavic Orthodox Christians. Their first mission to Moravia was unsuccessful due to the fact that they were forced to flee by German missionaries and the changing political situation at the time, but their work was not in vain. It wasn’t too long before Byzantine missionaries, including the exiled disciples of Cyril and Methodius, turned to other areas.

Most of the pagan Slavic world, including Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia had been converted to Byzantine Christianity, by the beginning of the eleventh century. Bulgaria was officially recognized as a patriarchate by Constantinople in 945, Serbia in 1346, and Russia in 1589. All of these nations, however, had been converted to Christianity long before these dates. The conversion of Russia actually began with the baptism of Vladimir of Kiev in 989, on which occasion he also married the Byzantine princess Anna, the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II.

I humbly hope and pray that you will accept this news with love and understanding. Reflect on its truth. Research it with an open mind in order to see the truth and if in fact any part of these letters that touches on any teaching that you are currently receiving and is shown to you to be true,

Then you will give up yourself, your pride, and your ego in this area and give it to the truth of Jesus Christ and change your life accordingly.

This is sent with the love of Christ for you from me.

As always, all comments and questions are welcome, send them to me at;

monkmichael@newwarriorministries.com.

Monk Michael

A humble servant of Jesus Christ

On the Web at: http://www.newwarriorministries.com

Email: monkmichael@newwarriorministries.com

Phone: (803) 377-1244

Chester, SC

To unsubscribe from this email, click here and hit send;

you will be immediately dropped from our mailing list.