Andrew Knight (1)

L'attacco alla base americana di Pearl Harbor apre un nuovo fronte delle ostilità in Giappone. Desmond Doss, cresciuto sulle montagne della Virginia e in una famiglia vessata da un padre alcolizzato, decide di arruolarsi e di servire il suo Paese. Ma Desmond non è come gli altri. Cristiano avventista e obiettore di coscienza, il ragazzo rifiuta di impugnare il fucile e uccidere un uomo. Fosse anche nemico. In un mondo dilaniato dalla guerra, Desmond ha deciso di rimettere assieme i pezzi. Arruolato come soccorritore medico e spedito sull'isola di Okinawa combatterà contro l'esercito nipponico, contro il pregiudizio dei compagni e contro i fantasmi di dentro che urlano più forte nel clangore della battaglia. (fonte: Mymovies)… (mehr)

War hero Desmond Doss stayed true to his convictions in the service of Christ and God clearly honored his faith. The Apostle Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Romans: "One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it unto the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, does so for the Lord" (Romans 14:5-6). Then he commands us, "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Desmond Doss, a Seventh-Day Adventist, observed the Sabbath Day in service to the Lord, according to his convictions and God honored him for it. By this we are not to understand that every Christian must observe the Sabbath Day along with the Jewish people and Sabbatarians, but we are to understand that no matter what we do, if we do it in loving service to Christ in the freedom of the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ will honor us for doing so. Seventh-Day Adventists hold the observance of the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath (Greek Σάββατο), to be mandatory for Christians since it is one of the Ten Commandments. Orthodox Christians, on the other hand, see the Decalogue as being more perfectly fulfilled in acts of love as expressions of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and repentance toward God. Sabbath observance is certainly not wrong, but it is also certainly not mandatory for those in Christ. If performed by the Christian, it ought to be done so in service to Christ the Lord without judging others who do not observe it.

Saint Paul provides a helpful approach to this matter of Sabbath observance. He neither forbids it nor requires it. The Seventh Ecumenical Council, however, went beyond the policy of the Apostle Paul in this matter, stating the following:

"Inasmuch as some persons who have been misled by their inferences from the religion of the Jews have seen fit to sneer at Christ our God, while pretending to be Christians, but secretly and clandestinely keeping the Sabbath and doing other Jewish acts, we decree that these persons shall not be admitted to communion, nor to prayer, nor to church, but shall be Jews openly in accordance with their religion; and that neither shall their children be baptized, nor shall they buy or acquire a slave. But if any one of them should be converted as a matter of sincere faith, and confess with all his heart, triumphantly repudiating their customs and affairs, with a view to censure and correction of others, we decree that he shall be accepted and his children shall be baptized, and that the latter shall be persuaded to hold themselves aloof from Jewish peculiarities. If, on the other hand, the case is not thus, they are not to be accepted under any other circumstances whatever" (THE RUDDER. Translated by D. Cummings. [Chicago, IL: Orthodox Christian Educational Society, 1957], p. 438).

Now we ought not to reject the letter of the Law, the Torah, and turn around and demand the letter of Ecclesiastical Canons and we ought not to pitch church canon against apostolic injunction. If we remain imprisoned in a code of rules and regulations, we have fallen short of the Gospel of Christ, which is freedom. Christ did not come to substitute the letter of church laws for the letter of the Mosaic Law. Rather, since Orthodox Christians are called to observe a Higher Law, the Law of Love, true spiritual fathers deal with each person and situation in a loving manner--a relational manner transcending legislative formulations. On account of the Law of Love, the Greek word for church administration, Οικονομία (Oikonomía), has come to mean a loving expression of leniency in contrast to the strict observance of laws. Οικονομία grants exceptions to the rule in relation to the needs of particular persons in particular life situations.

The Apostle Paul, who declares the Church to be composed of both Jew and Gentile, encourages the circumcised not to seek to be uncircumcised. He writes, "Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called" (1 Corinthians 7:18-20). When the Apostle Paul speaks here of "the commandments of God," he is talking about walking the path of the excellent Way of Love, which surpasses legislative codifications. The Apostle makes this clear when he says, "Owe no one any thing, except to love one another: for whoever loves another has fulfilled the Torah" (Romans 13:8). For the Apostle Paul, there is freedom in Christ to either observe or not observe the demands of the Torah. Such observance or lack of observance, however, is not to be used to judge one's brother. Rather such observance or non-observance becomes a personal matter between God and each of the faithful. However one determines to act in relation to a law, he or she ought to do so as an expression of love in service of Christ. The Apostle Paul himself observed the letter of the Torah when among Jews and did not adhere strictly to the specifics of the Torah when he found himself among Gentiles. How could he act so differently in different situations? Was he not a man of principle? Was he being two-faced? No, he was not. Rather, the Apostle Paul was serving a Higher Law--the Torah of Love. He writes, "To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win over the Jews; to those under the Torah, I became as under the Torah, that I might win over those under the Torah; to those without Torah, as without Torah, (not being void of God's Law, but within the Law of Christ,) that I might win over those without Torah" (1 Corinthians 9:20-21). The Law of Christ if fulfilled by bearing one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2).

The Spirit behind Saint Paul's Apostolic injunctions and the aforementioned Ecclesiastical Canon against the observance of "Jewish peculiarities" is a Spirit of Faith and Love. The concern of the councils is the unity of the Church in the Faith of Christ and the avoidance of pretence. The canon seeks to discourage pretenders or insincere conversions. Unfortunately, however, as with every written code, the limitation of words fails to capture the whole of reality. As the Apostle Paul makes clear, it is possible to be Torah observant while being obedient to the Higher Law of Love. The regulations of the Torah then become secondary to the Law of Christ, which is Love. It is difficult to judge the sincerity or true allegiance of a heart. Torah observances in service of Christ are possible, but such observances can be confusing to believers who, seeing a Christian carry out such Jewish observances, fail to recognize that a person is observing a particular Torah regulation in service to Christ while recognizing that others serve Christ in their non-observance of such regulations. As Orthodox Christians we must continually be reminded of our freedom in Christ under the Law of Love. The Apostle commands that Jews ought not to begin living as Gentiles when they become Christians, but rather ought to live as Jewish believers in Christ. Likewise, Gentiles converted to Christ ought not to seek to be circumcised. What would be the point of that? Certainly, such a Gentile believer would be tempted to think that his circumcision would gain favor with God. But Saint Paul tells us, "Neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation" (Galatians 6:15). There is no reason for a Gentile in Christ to start living as a Jew. Nor is there reason for a Jew in Christ to start living as a Gentile. Similarly, when the Apostle Paul says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28), he certainly does not mean that such distinctions do not exist for they certainly do. Rather, he seems to be saying that no greater spiritual status is obtained by observing such Jewish distinctives as observing the Sabbath or keeping kosher, or by obtaining one's freedom from slavery, or by being born a male. Rather, we all stand on equal footing in Christ regardless of our ethnicity, social status, or gender identity.

Saint John of Damascus speaks to us concerning the freedom of Christians under the New Covenant of Christ--a freedom that transcends the symbolic letter of the Torah, in the following words: "If you reject icons on account of the Torah, you should also keep the Sabbath and be circumcised, for these are severely inculcated by it. You should observe the entire Torah, and not celebrate the Lord's Passover outside of Jerusalem. But you must know that if you observe the Torah, Christ will profit you nothing" ("On the Holy Images" 2). Now, when Saint John says Christ will not profit those who observe the Torah, we must be careful to understand the importance of intent in such observances. If a man is circumcised for reasons of hygiene or due to some medical necessity are we to conclude, erroneously, that he has obstructed the Grace of Christ? Of course not! Doing other things which conform to the letter of the Torah, likewise, do not preclude the Grace of God. After all, Saint Paul commends those Gentiles who, not having the Torah, yet do, by nature, the things contained in the Torah, having the Torah written in their hearts (Jeremiah 38(31):33; Romans 2:14-15). Obviously, Saint John Damascene is not telling us to avoid doing things in the Torah at all cost! Rather, it would seem that Saint John's intent is to tell us that the Orthodox Faith transcends the written code of the Torah. He is telling us that if we are seeking favor with God, we ought to seek the favor of God by ultimate obedience, not to the Mosaic Law, which points us toward Christ, but by obedience to the Law of Christ which is faith expressing itself in acts of love.

God clearly honored the faith of Desmond Doss in his faithful observance of the Sabbath, done in service to Christ according to his convictions. We ought not to judge his observance as wrong, but rather hold up the standard of the Gospel. The Gospel standard is not strict observance of the letter of the Torah, but rather obedience to the Law of Faith in Christ expressing itself in Love (Galatians 5:6). Amen.… (mehr)

The movie "Hacksaw Ridge" is based upon the true story of Desmond Doss, who served as an army medic during WWII. He believed that the war was justified, but he could not personally kill because of his religious beliefs (he was a Seventh Day Adventist), so he refused to carry a gun during basic training and once in the service. He ended up heroically saving a number of wounded combat soldiers off of Hacksaw Ridge in Okinawa and was the first conscientious objector to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor..

The movie is inspirational, but viewers should be forewarned that the movie contains numerous scenes of violence and warfare, including the use of flame throwers on individuals. For more information and preview, see: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2119532/?ref_=nv_sr_1.… (mehr)