Dr. Witherington,
I greatly appreciate your writings (especially your commentaries) and reference you often. I have to question though your calling this man a “wonderful Christian man”. Doesn’t the gospel determine whether or not one is truly Christian? Doesn’t the gospel embraced by the Orthodox church add works to grace? How do you see this?

To the poster #1 Unity in the essentials, liberty in the non-essentials and charity in all things; Bartholomew shares in the grand orthodoxy traditions of Christianity, make no mistake in this aspect, however being of the Protestant minded tradition. I understand we have differences in a “doctrinal aspect” of which divides Christianity. That is sad, yet we should stand united in all things for all peoples (Christians) for all times. I respect the other traditions Catholicism and Orthodoxy. They as does Protestantism share common ground and it is well worth our time to engage each other. That being said, though, the cross is central to all things in Christ, through Christ and under Christ. I sincerely believe his holiness shares these same truths. What is sad is how the Muslim community and government mind you, are slowly trying to prevent Christianity from flourishing, let alone creating new disciples in the Orthodoxy tradition.. We should pray continuously for Christ to be preached and suffered for in this ancient land that new Christ way longer than Islam. It is unfortunate but true; Islam’s mission is to instill Shari law worldwide, with or without the sword. We should pray on to fronts, pray that the Lord would open theirs eyes in Turkey and Pray Lord Jesus come quickly

Steve,
Though I’m not as qualified as Witherington to address this issue, the Orthodox Church believes emphatically that only the grace of God saves us. They believe that salvation is a process toward union with God, “theosis.” This process begins here and now and will always continue. This process is not possible without God’s grace. One of the ways in which we are saved, which is to say, healed from our sins is through good works. Doing good works with a repentant heart saves us in the sense that, by doing God’s will His grace transforms us toward holiness so that we may find union with Him. Therefore, doing good works is an aspect of the process toward union with God.
Fr. Ted Stlylianapolous (PhD), professor emeritus at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological Seminary explains the Orthodox view of salvation in the following (extremely) insightful podcast interviews:
http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/illuminedheart/the_legacy_of_st_paul_and_the_church_-_part_1
http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/illuminedheart/the_legacy_of_st_paul_and_the_church_-_part_2
Hope this helps.
Derek

Bryant,
I agree that in essentials there should be unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity. That’s exactly my point. Isn’t the gospel an essential? Isn’t justification by faith alone essential?
Derek,
Thanks for the links. I will listen. I have to say that my experiences with those who identify themselves with the Orthodox church has made it clear that they absolutely reject the Evangelical doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Steve,
You’re welcome.
You are correct in saying that the Orthodox reject the evangelical doctrine of justification alone. They also reject the putative merit-based view of salvation of Roman Catholics. It is, with some qualification, a sort of middle ground between the two.
The two links I provided are absolutely helpful in this regard. It clarifies the Orthodox position on salvation, justification, sanctification, etc.
Now that you mentioned justification by faith alone, I highly recommend a listen to those podcasts. You’d be presently surprised what the Orthodox believe, I think.
Derek

Hmmm…”faith alone.”
Now that is something that we should look up in the Bible! Let see…goodness gracious, the ONLY place “faith alone” is mentioned is here, James 2:24 which reads:
“You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”

On the issue of salvation by faith alone, or justification by faith alone, I would point you to the lengthy discussions in my The Indelible Image. What Paul is talking about is being given right standing with God by grace through faith. Thereafter he talks about working out ones salvation with fear and trembling, and also how we were created in Christ Jesus for good works. There are three tenses to salvation— I have been saved, I am being saved, and I shall be saved. Only the first one has to do with justification by grace through faith alone. In short, Bartholomew is closer to the truth than many ‘my behavior has nothing to do with my final salvation’ Protestants.
Blessings
BW3

I don’t watch 60 Minutes, having seen their hatchet jobs on a variety of subjects, and I cringe when the liberal media tries to cover Christian topics, but I found this very even-handed. Praise be to men of faith who suffer trials, and can the end be near when His church closes its doors after being choked to death by an oppresive government.

After watching that interview I was astounded by Bartholomew’s genuine humility. I thought of 1 Corinthians 1:24, “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength”. (NLT)
I know I have reservations about orthodox teachings (and CBS’ obsession with identifying turkey as the origination of Christianity etc…) but it appears to me that God has a new birth of Jesus followers poised to explode again since all appears lost, hopeless and against all odds in Turkey.

My only suggestion to Bartholomew is that “us folks” from the west are pretty good at organizing things. The orthodox church (from what little I saw in that interview) seems paralyzed by its tradion. For instance, they can’t train new priests unless its in the seminary that has been closed down for 38 years? How about re-starting one on the grounds of the current compound?

Dr. Witherington,
I will have to pick up that book. Sounds interesting. A quote of yours that I’ve quoted several times now is: “One is not eternally secure until one is securely in eternity.” I’m Arminian in my theology and generally agree with what you’ve said here. It’s just that most of my interaction with those of the Orthodox church has been similar to Joe above. Free Will Baptist theologian Robert Picirilli says that we who believe that a genuine believer can finally be lost need to be very careful how we express that. We don’t want to give salvation by grace alone through faith alone with the right hand and take it away with the left. Saved by grace, kept by works will not do. He says the door in is the door out (faith / rejection of that faith). Do you agree?
Thanks for the interaction,
Steve

On the other hand, Patriarch Bartholomew won’t share communion with or give communion to Ben or any other non-Orthodox Christian. To share communion in Christ with the Orthodox, one must be united to the Orthodox Church via baptism and chrismation and creedal confession and renunciation of heresies such as those held by Lutherans, as well as those held by Roman Catholics. So, how is that “unity in the essentials” when the Orthodox Church will not commune with the non-Orthodox? It’s actually unity in the non-essentials that one has in this situation – i.e., unity in believing that Turkey should grant and display religious freedom and toleration for Orthodox Christians.
YMMV

There is at least one glaring historical inaccuracy in this clip but that, in my mind, isn’t the issue.
When the Islamic faith is attacked or thinks it’s being attacked as it was with the Pope Benedict XVI gaff a couple years ago the Islamic faith rises up almost-in-arms and threatens the surrounding community but when Christians are the minority the Islamic faith proves itself to be terribly and murderously oppressive. In this instance the life of the Pope was threatened with jihad. The message the Muslims vociferously shout is, in my opinion, ‘don’t oppress us Christians but we can oppress you any time we want particularly if we can get away with harsh oppression and even murder.’

There is at least one glaring historical inaccuracy in this clip but that, in my mind, isn’t the issue.
When the Islamic faith is attacked or thinks it’s being attacked as it was with the Pope Benedict XVI gaff a couple years ago the Islamic faith rises up almost-in-arms and threatens the surrounding community but when Christians are the minority the Islamic faith proves itself to be terribly and murderously oppressive. In this instance the life of the Pope was threatened with jihad. The message the Muslims vociferously shout is, in my opinion, ‘don’t oppress us Christians but we can oppress you any time we want particularly if we can get away with harsh oppression and even murder.’

Steve: Apostasy can be either moral or intellectual, it can be a matter of beliefs or actions. This is why Paul so clearly warns Christians that adulterers thieves etc. shall not enter the Kingdom in the future. Your behavior matters. Its not that you are saved by your actions, but you can certainly sin your way out a standing in grace, and that involves actions. I do not believe the NT, and particularly neither Jesus nor Paul teaches final salvation by faith alone. Real faith is never alone, and it works.
And as for not taking communion with the good Patriarch, I could have done so, but it would have required some things I did not have time to do. So instead he gave us Orthodox party favors at communion
Blessings
Ben

My wife is Turkish and as a result I spend a lot of time in Istanbul. We are both Methodists.
I’ve had the great honor and pleasure to meet the Patriarch. I contacted the Greek Orthodox Church to ask for a tour of the Patriarchate (grounds), but instead got a private audience with Bartholomew. He was gracious and kind – he exuded the love of Christ.
Sadly, his concerns about the plight of Christians is true. Turks are very hospitable people on the whole, but they are also very nationalistic. And, to them Turk = Muslim. Christian Turk is an oxymoron in their eyes.
Turks will talk a good game about tolerance and their “secular” government. For example, you will often hear about the large number of chruches in Istanbul. What they don’t tell you is they are surrounded by high gates to prevent vandalism and they mostly empty on Sundays.
Turks also make excuses for the closure of the Halki Seminary. They say ALL instituions of higher learnng were nationalized in the early 70′s so why should the Orthodox be exempted? The fact that it effectively precludes the training of future clergy (especially potential Patriarchs) is a hidden benefit in their eyes though they won’t say it.
There are some brave Turks who recognize the human rights abuses, but not many are willing to speak up about it. It’s a sad situation.

BW, What does this mean when you said, “And as for not taking communion with the good Patriarch, I could have done so, but it would have required some things I did not have time to do?”
Only Orthodox Christians can receive communion in the Orthodox Church, so what does “could have done so” mean? Are you saying that the Ecumenical Patriarch offered the mysteries to you, a Protestant during the Divine Liturgy and you refused it?
What would have been “required” of you is for you to be received into the Orthodox Church. Are you saying that you might be converting sometime in the future?

Re: “On the issue of salvation by faith alone, or justification by faith alone, I would point you to the lengthy discussions in my The Indelible Image.”
Thanks, but no thanks. Discussions are over for me since I left evangelical Protestantism and was received into the Orthodox Church over ten years ago. However, I’m happy to see that some of my former co-religionists are starting to see the light.
As for as the Ecumenical Patriarch being “closer to the truth” on faith vs. works than “once saved always saved” Protestants, it is more accurate that there are possibly Protestants (like yourself?) who coming to a closer understanding of the truth of the Gospel that is expressed by the Ecumenical Patriarch on behalf of the Orthodox Church.

Hi Joe:
Unlike you, I found the Patriarch quite clear that there is no place for bandying about the notion that some particular denomination is the one true church which has a stranglehold on the truth of the Bible and church history. On the contrary he has been working on ecumenical relationships with his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in many denominations. Sectarianism at this point in church history hardly has any place in a world full of non-Christians who laugh at the internal in-fighting between Christian groups. And guess what— in many Orthodox churches my affirmation of the ecumenical creeds is enough for me to be allowed to take the sacrament with my Orthodox believer friends.
Christmas blessings,
Ben W.

Re: “And guess what— in many Orthodox churches my affirmation of the ecumenical creeds is enough for me to be allowed to take the sacrament with my Orthodox believer friends.”
No way. Sorry BW3, I’m gonna to have to call you out on this one.
You are not telling the truth.
I’m Orthodox. I’ve been all over the Orthodox world: Russian, Greek, Arab, Romanian, Serbian and good ol’ American Orthodox churches.
We in the Church know that Holy Communion is only for the Orthodox and only those who have properly prepared (cf. prayer, fasting, confession). “Affirmation” of ecumenical creeds does not qualify.
The Orthodox Church practices what is known in the world as “closed communion,” meaning members only, meaning Orthodox Christians only.
Name a few, or even just ONE Orthodox Church where you have partaken of holy communion.
IF (which we know he didn’t) the Ecumenical Patriarch allowed you to partake or even made allowance for Protestant tourists to partake of Holy Communion then he would be deposed.
It’s time for you to retract this outrageous slander against the Ecumenical Patriarch.
In 1997, the Ecumenical Patriarch made a speech at Georgetown University, where he quite clearly articulated the position of the Orthodox vis-a-vis the Western Churches (Roman Catholics and Protestants) that has become known as his “Friends, Brothers, Heretics” speech.
The Ecumenical Patriarch said that the separation between the Eastern and Western churches was not merely one of geography, structure, or religious law but rather, “…the manner in which we exist has become ontologically different.”
He followed up nature of the differences with a pronouncement on the consequences: “Concerning those that have freely chosen to shun the correct Glory of God, the Orthodox Curch follows the Apostle Paul’s recommendation, which is `A man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition, reject.’”
You can read the full-text here: http://evlogeite.com/?page_id=16

BW3,
My Orthodox kids laughed out loud when they read your claim that the Ecumenical Patriarch offered you the Holy Mysteries but you did not partake because of a lack of “time” to do something.
It’s one thing to maybe claim that you partook of the Gifts at some Orthodox parish by pretending to be Orthodox or somehow catching the Priest holding the chalice unawares, but it is a wholly other thing to make the claim that the Ecumenical Patriarch, First-Among-Equals of all the hierarchs and Patriarchs of the Orthodox Church, made a special allowance for an evangelical Protestant (i.e. “heretic”) to receive Holy Communion by his hand.
This wholly-other thing is a very deep and ridculous hole that you have dug for yourself. Best to come clean sooner than later.

Sorry Joe, your dead wrong.
First of all, I didn’t claim Bartholomew offered us the sacrament. What he gave us was small gifts in baskets after the service. Secondly, I would never try to pretend to be an Orthodox church member, but, I have been offered communion elsewhere in the Orthodox communion, even so. So you may laugh, but my own experience makes clear you are wrong. Have you ever spent time with any of the Coptic Orthodox bishops? …. I have. And I would suggest you go to St. Samens in Cairo. They do serve communion to people who are not Orthodox.
And I can tell you now from my time with Coptic bishops and priests… they certainly didn’t consider me a heretic. Nor did Bartholomew.
Nor did the Greek bishop of Athens who offered Asbury Seminary an ongoing relationship with them if we were interested in jointly building a study center north of Athens. So, its about time you get into the 21rst century…. the times they are a changing and thank God they are.
Blessings
BW3

Re:”First of all, I didn’t claim Bartholomew offered us the sacrament.”
Well, BW3 said earlier: “And as for not taking communion with the good Patriarch, I could have done so, but it would have required some things I did not have time to do.”
So what do you mean by “could have done so?”
BTW, the Coptic Church as well as the other non-Chalcedonian Churches (Armenian Apostolic, Ethiopian, Syrian Orthodox, etc.) are not in communion with the Orthodox Church, therefore you have never communed in the Orthodox Church.
Perhaps it is too much to expect an evangelical Protestant to know the differences between the communions, but these differences are good to know, if only to avoid deception. Now that you know, please stop conflating the Orthodox Church with those outside of her communion.
His Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew:
“Although we proclaim that we worship the one and same Lord Jesus Christ, whose name we bear as Christians, we seek in common the causes of our divergence. In the distant past, great attempts have been made by both sides to prove, and motivated by a different spirit, each side has judged the other as being divergent from the true faith. This deeply rooted conviction of our divergence has led us to a thousand years of separate and autonomous courses. We confirm not with unexpected astonishment, but neither with indifference, that indeed the divergence between us continually increases and the end point to which our courses are taking us, foreseeably, are indeed different. Our heart is opposed to the specter of an everlasting separation. Our heart requires that we seek again our common foundations, and the original starting point that we share. So that, retrospectively we can discover the point and the reasons for our divergence that led to separate courses, and be able, by lifting blame, to proceed thereafter on the same road leading to the same common goal.
“Assuredly our problem is neither geographical nor one of personal alienation. Neither is it a problem of organizational structures, nor jurisdictional arrangements. Neither is it a problem of external submission, nor absorption of individuals and groups. It is something deeper and more substantive. The manner in which we exist has become ontologically different. Unless our ontological transfiguration and transformation toward one common model of life is achieved, not only in form but also in substance, unity and its accompanying realization become impossible.”
====
If I may paraphrase, “If you want to be Orthodox, become Orthodox.”

Re:”So, its about time you get into the 21rst century…”
“You” meaning the Greek Orthodox Church?
Here’s a taste of the Greek Orthodox Church of 21st Century, a small excerpt(translated from the Greek) from:
A CONFESSION OF FAITH
Against Ecumenism
From the Convention of Orthodox Clergymen and Monks April 2009
Full-text here:http://www.impantokratoros.gr/FA9AF77F.en.aspx
“…Protestantism, which as the offspring of Papism has inherited many heresies, but has also added many more; It has rejected Tradition, accepting only the Holy Bible (Sola Scriptura) which it however misinterprets; it has abolished Priesthood as a specialized sacramental Grace, as well as the veneration of Saints and of holy icons; it has vilified the Person of the Holy Mother Theotokos; it has rejected Monasticism; of the Holy Sacraments, it accepts only Baptism and the Divine Eucharist, albeit altering in them also the teaching and the praxis of the Church; it teaches absolute predestination (Calvinism) and vindication only through faith. Furthermore, its more “progressive” sector has introduced Priesthood for women and marriage between homosexuals – who they even accept into the Priesthood. But above all, it lacks ecclesiology, because the notion of Church as perceived by the Orthodox Tradition is nonexistent to them.
“The only way that our communion with heretics can be restored is if they renounce their fallacy and repent, so that there may be a true union and peace: a union with the Truth, and not with fallacy and heresy.”

Sorry Joe: The Orthodox Church has no right to redefine the term Orthodox Church to exclude the Copts, not least because theirs is probably the earliest of all Orthodox Churches! This is just the churches you are talking about behaving badly… and its a bad Christian witness to the world as is the ridiculous declaration against ecumenism.
At the end of the day you seem not to be able to distinguish between official positions of churches, and the actual practice of individual churches and their priests. In actual practice, various of my students have taken the eucharist in Russian orthodox churches in Moscow when the priest knew they attended a Protestant seminary. In actual practice, the bishop of Athens was perfectly prepared to have a joint statement with Asbury on the issue of our common Christianity and our common views on sanctification. Actual praxis is what counts the most.
Christmas blessings a bit early for you,
Ben

Geez, just when I felt warm and fuzzy about the orthodox plight in turkey along comes joe with his “you can’t have communion in an orthodox church” rant. I’d rather hear more about how the orthodox church may survive and thrive in turkey despite muslim/state suppression.

Joe, Ben, Chapp:
Christ is Born! Glorify him!
Some of the way this topic is being discussed really saddens me. Let me provide a few pieces of information that may help both sides see a bigger picture.
First, the Orthodox Church (by this I mean the fifteen canonical national churches + other national churches that are not independent that are in communion with each other) believes itself to be the One Catholic and Apostolic Church. It is a historical fact that Jesus founded a visible Church which continues to this day. But, this does not mean either that we are the only Christians or the only ones who will be saved or even that we are the most faithful Christians.
We gladly recognize all who truly love our Lord Jesus Christ in Truth as brothers and sisters in Christ. That is one reason that the Ecumenical Patriarchate helped START the ecumenical movement. As Bartholomew has said, “The Kingdom is bigger than the Church”.
Secondly, although I am saddened that we cannot share in communion (Ben’s experiences are aberrations even if offered by a bishop), it must be this way because:
1. The Orthodox Church views communion as the *result* of a common faith (a complete faith, not a subset that Evangelicals call “essentials”) rather than a means to achieve unity.
2. When one takes communion, one is making a statement about what it means. If I took communion at my daughter’s Baptist church, it would say to the people around me that I agree that the elements are a mere symbol of the Lord’s death. That would not be true. Similarly taking communion in an Orthodox Church implies that one accepts that the bread and the wine *are* the Body and Blood of Christ in the same way that we Orthodox do. That, in most cases, also would not be true.
Having said all that, as brothers and sisters in Christ, I regret that we cannot share this wonderful gift but my regret is similar to the way that a faithful engaged but non-married Christian couple regret not being able to share full intimacy. They abstain not because they reject each other but because their unity is not yet complete.
I hope on this most Joyful of days that we can all work toward the day that, by Grace, we *will* be able to share fully in communion.
Blessings.

paul, agree with you…that’s why I never take communion at the catholic church of my upbringing even though the priest would not stop me from doing so. As an evangelical I would not take communion in a roman or eastern church out of respect for the church and its high view of the eucharist…a view I don’t accept.

Re: “At the end of the day you seem not to be able to distinguish between official positions of churches, and the actual practice of individual churches and their priests. In actual practice, various of my students have taken the eucharist in Russian orthodox churches in Moscow when the priest knew they attended a Protestant seminary. In actual practice, the bishop of Athens was perfectly prepared to have a joint statement with Asbury on the issue of our common Christianity and our common views on sanctification. Actual praxis is what counts the most.”
Orthopraxis does indeed count, i.e. “Orthodox is as Orthodox does.” As another Orthodox poster pointed out, aberrations of our rule of faith do not constitute what you perceive as “reality.” In plain English, “Exceptions do not make the rule,” at least not in the Orthodox Church.
In reality, any Priest or Bishop who knowingly gives any of the Mysteries of the Church to non-Orthodox are defrocked and/or deposed. The Orthodox Church has Canons (which I wouldn’t expect an evangelical Protestant to know – especially one who does not know the difference between the Non-Chalcedonian/Monophysites and Chalcedonian/Orthodox. The Non-Chalcedonians/Monophysites have been out of communion with the Orthodox Church for over 1500 years, even longer than the Roman Catholics.) which are quite explicit on this matter, so I am more saddened for these alleged malefactors than for any of your Protestant acquaintances who illicitly approached the chalice.
As for your view of what “rights” that the Orthodox Church has to define itself, it should not surprise you that the word of BW3 carries no weight in our Church.
To reiterate, here is how the Orthodox Church definese itself against Protestantism in all of its forms:
“…Protestantism, which as the offspring of Papism has inherited many heresies, but has also added many more; It has rejected Tradition, accepting only the Holy Bible (Sola Scriptura) which it however misinterprets; it has abolished Priesthood as a specialized sacramental Grace, as well as the veneration of Saints and of holy icons; it has vilified the Person of the Holy Mother Theotokos; it has rejected Monasticism; of the Holy Sacraments, it accepts only Baptism and the Divine Eucharist, albeit altering in them also the teaching and the praxis of the Church; it teaches absolute predestination (Calvinism) and vindication only through faith. Furthermore, its more “progressive” sector has introduced Priesthood for women and marriage between homosexuals – who they even accept into the Priesthood. But above all, it lacks ecclesiology, because the notion of Church as perceived by the Orthodox Tradition is nonexistent to them.
“The only way that our communion with heretics can be restored is if they renounce their fallacy and repent, so that there may be a true union and peace: a union with the Truth, and not with fallacy and heresy.”

Chapp has the common decency which is apparently uncommon in some evangelical Protestant circles, to respect the traditions of our Church with this statement which he made: “As an evangelical I would not take communion in a roman or eastern church out of respect for the church and its high view of the eucharist…a view I don’t accept.”
True dialogue must follow an understanding of our differences, an understanding of the true differences that separate us.
BW3 posted earlier: “..the bishop of Athens was perfectly prepared to have a joint statement with Asbury on the issue of our common Christianity and our common views on sanctification.”
Are you referring to His Beatitude Hieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece and Primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece? The most telling word in your tidbit about what you perceive as “reality” is the word “was.”
“Was?” So what torpedoed your joint statement? Something to do with Orthodox Church canons, its faith and practice? Too many evangelical Protestant presuppositions?

BW3,
It is obvious that your failure to understand the fact that “joint statments” or “affirmations of ecumenical” creeds do not constitute full-communion between evangelical Protestant denomination(s) and the Orthodox Church stems from your background in Protestant academia.
As one Protestant scholar observed about the Orthodox: “Doctrinal differences are not for them the engine that drives institutional maintenance.” In other words, doctrinal differences are for you, a Protestant theologian, the engine that drives institutional differences.
For example, there are different doctrinal engines that drive Asbury Seminary from say, Dallas Theological Seminary. While it is interesting that Evangelicals can try to flatten out their differences by focusing on the bare minimums of their faith, the least common denominators, and calling them the “essentials,” the Orthodox is the very opposite of minimalism. The Orthodox Church is maximalist and no amount of protestant-style minimalism (i.e. sloppy scholarship) no matter how “feel good” it is, will paper over our differences.

BW3, about those Copts whom you claimed to have given you communion, in REALITY, they are in big trouble:
“Bishop Bishoy, the secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the church leader charged with internal discipline, will officially reprimand Orthodox priests who have been accused of Evangelical sympathies in hearings scheduled for later this month.
“Bishop Bishoy did not respond to requests for comment, but Father Basiit said the priests are suspected of ‘reading too many Protestant books’ and spreading Protestant ideology in their sermons. If they are found ‘guilty’ of such crimes, the church could restrain their religious duties.”
From: “Evangelicals Woo Egyptian Copts,” The National (an Arab newspaper), November 9, 2009.

“In some Coptic circles the word ‘Protestant’ has acquired an almost anathema-like status. A Coptic monk told Bikya Masr: “A priest who is suspicious of someone attending a Protestant church may ask that person about it before he receives communion. If the suspicion is validated, the priest will deny that person communion in the Coptic Church.”
Andrew Cornetta, “Friction Among Egypt’s Christians,” Bikya Masr, October 16, 2009.

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Unbelievable post about Trouble in Turkey for Patriarch Bartholomew
- Ben Witherington on the Bible and Culture!

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- Ben Witherington on the Bible and Culture!