Saint Philaret of Chernigov:
"Moses' narrative about the order of the world is true history, and not the philosophy of some poet or philosopher, much less a folk myth."
"a) There is nothing in the narrative itself that would force one to deviate from its literal meaning; on the contrary, all the signs of a historical narrative are visible: brevity and accuracy in the story, simple speech, without the embellishment of imagination, without a cunning weaving of conclusions."
"b) Neither the poet’s enthusiasm, nor the philosopher’s subtle speculations were in any way consistent with the spirit of Moses’ time. Why suggest them in the narrative of Moses?"
"c) All the interpretations that have been made so far on the narrative of Moses, as allegorical, disagree with each other, and - they are all refined and arbitrary - some are added to the biblical text, others are excluded from it. And next. all should be rejected as unintelligent arbitrariness."
"d) The entire book of Genesis is a historical book. The history of the world is such a part of it, without which the content of the whole is insufficiently understandable. Therefore, the history of the world must have the character of an entire book of existence. 'The objects described are beyond human observation'? But they are within the knowledge of God, who illuminated the mind of the first-created (Adam) and of Moses."
"e) Moses in another book of his gives historical significance to the story of the world (Ex. 20: 8-11, 31, 16, 17)"
"Moses' narrative about the order of the world is true history, and not the philosophy of some poet or philosopher, much less a folk myth."
"a) There is nothing in the narrative itself that would force one to deviate from its literal meaning; on the contrary, all the signs of a historical narrative are visible: brevity and accuracy in the story, simple speech, without the embellishment of imagination, without a cunning weaving of conclusions."
"b) Neither the poet’s enthusiasm, nor the philosopher’s subtle speculations were in any way consistent with the spirit of Moses’ time. Why suggest them in the narrative of Moses?"
"c) All the interpretations that have been made so far on the narrative of Moses, as allegorical, disagree with each other, and - they are all refined and arbitrary - some are added to the biblical text, others are excluded from it. And next. all should be rejected as unintelligent arbitrariness."
"d) The entire book of Genesis is a historical book. The history of the world is such a part of it, without which the content of the whole is insufficiently understandable. Therefore, the history of the world must have the character of an entire book of existence. 'The objects described are beyond human observation'? But they are within the knowledge of God, who illuminated the mind of the first-created (Adam) and of Moses."
"e) Moses in another book of his gives historical significance to the story of the world (Ex. 20: 8-11, 31, 16, 17)"
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Forwarded from Fr. Seraphim Rose - A Tribute
Fr. Seraphim Rose from Orthodox Survival Course, Lesson 11: Evolution
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Forwarded from Fr. Seraphim Rose - A Tribute
Modern science was born [in the Renaissance] out of the experiments of the Platonic alchemists, the astrologers and magicians. The underlying spirit of the new scientific worldview was the spirit of Faustianism, the spirit of magic, which is retained as a definite undertone of contemporary science. The discovery, in fact, of atomic energy would have delighted the Renaissance alchemists very much: they were looking for just such power. The aim of modern science is power over nature. Descartes, who formulated the mechanistic scientific worldview, said that man was to become ‘the master and possessor of nature.’ It should be noted that this is a religious faith, which takes the place of Christian faith.
-Fr. Seraphim Rose, Orthodox Survival Course, Lesson 3 “Renaissance”
-Fr. Seraphim Rose, Orthodox Survival Course, Lesson 3 “Renaissance”
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Fr. Seraphim Rose's excellent book on Genesis, Creation, and Early Man: