AIIah (God)A ah (God) Monogram ofJesus Christ

CAPTIVITYAn imperial warship was placed at the hierarch's

disposal to sail him to Tenedos to await further instructionsfrom Paleologos. The holy man was then made to wait untilafter the earthquake of March 2, 1354. The saint thenresumed hisjourney, but was forced by unfavorable winds toland near Callipolis (Gallipoli), the seaport at the entrance tothe Sea of Marmara. Now the Turks had already takenposrssion of the fortress of Tzympe near Callipolis in 1352.Much to the Archbishop's surprise, on account of the terribleearthquake, which drove the Byzantines from the district, theTurk Orkhan's son, Suleiman, now occupied Callipolis.aT6The Archbishop was taken into custody immediately upon hisarrival.

The God of the universe, however, was pleased tohave His servant mingle among the Ishmaelites (Ottomans),that he might reveal Orthodoxy to them. However, there wasanother reason also. God wished to provide the captive Or-thodox Christians with Gregory, the spring that flows withwaters of healing for the faithful, so he might preach theFaith, thereby sustaining them through his teaching.a?? OnMarch 10, 1354, the Turks took the Archbishop and all hissuite as prisoners. This included the two priest-monks,Joseph and Gerasimos, the chanophylax, and a certainconstas calamares.4Tt

Although St. Gregory recognized the Turks as themost barbarous of the barbarians, he regarded his captivity asprovidential, for he desired to reveal the Gospel to his

325

captors. Although the Archbishop did not desire the Turksto occupy Orthodox land, nevertheless, he did not consioerthe Moslem victory as an end to the history of Orthodoxy.He commented, "This impious people boast of their victoryover the Rom (the Byzantines), attributing it to their love ofGod. This is because they do not understand that this wortdbelow dwells in sin, and that evil men possess the greaterpart of it...that is why, down to the time of Constantine...theidolaters have almost always held power over theworld. "a7e

Under no circumstances would Gregory, the pride ofThessalonica, be willing to sacrifice or make the slightestcompromise in Orthodoxy for salvaging the empire. More-over, at the beginning of the occupation, the Turks, usuallydisplayed a degree of tolerance towards their Orthodoxsubjects. At the same time, St. Sawas of Vatopedi was tocomment upon the sharp contrast of the persecution to whichthe Orthodox were subjected to by the latins on Cyprus.asn

THE SAINT'S MISSIONARY PRFOCCUPATIONSAs a hostage, the saint was to remain in captivity for

a whole year. The Archbishop went from hand to hand, andfrom town to town. Thus, was Cod's will fulfilled thar,Gregory, as an apostle, would pass through and preach theGospel, and thus confirm the Orthodox. He strengthenedthose in the abyss of doubt and explained the mysteries of thewisdom of God [1 Cor. 2:71, regarding salvation that wasdifficult for them to undersland. The saint also encounteredmany Moslems and apostates, and defended the Faith beforethem. Before heretics he would proclaim, in an Orthodoxmanner, about the incarnation of Christ and the life-givingCross of Christ. He also spoke about the sacred icons andtheir proper veneration. Thus, he brought the Gospel ofChrist to unbelievers and offered consolation to the enslavedOrthodox. He persuaded the Orthodox to bear the cross of

suffering without murmuring and to hope for heavenlycrowns

-and rewards.a8l

This saint's captivity gave ammunition to his rival,

Nicephoros Gregoras, who even went so far as to say that the

insults to which the hierarch was now being subjected were

a divine punishment for his past support of Cantacuzene using

Turkish troops.a82Gregory, however, always maintained a positive

attitude. With his colleagues, under a light guard' he

traveled from town to town' Fortunately' the guards allowedthem to dwell with fellow-Christians in the towns throughwhich they passed. However, frequent joumeys ushered in

discomfort and privation. After thrce months, the route they

traversed brought them through I:mpsacus, and then the city

of Peges, where they were permitted association with theChristians of that Church.

At PrusaPrusa had fallen to the Turks in 1326. While still in

the hands of the lawless, St. Gregory wrote that, in June, on

a Thursday, they entered Prusa. Upon arrival the distin-guished Christians assembled that they might have a discus-

iion with the holy hierarch. They had a splendid and

edifying talk, but were cut short when the barbarians sur-

round.d their gathering, and dispersed the assembly. Al-

though the meeting had been halted prematurely, the Chris-

tianJof Prusa still believed that their unexpected g.^uJst spoke

to them of those things that they needed to hear."o'Gregory then records that after two days his company

departed Prusa. On Monday, they arrived in a hilly region

with thick trees. He describes the area and the weather,

observing that a wind blew through that area about the moun-taintops. Cold water gushed up, chilling the harvest time air'It was a place which the Turks used for grazing'

It was still June of 1354 when St. Gregory and his

company were taken to the summer residence of the Emir

326 )L l

"O^1P1,^yn:*. jhey met his grandson, rshmael. Sitting upon

:::li:r'f l" 1le glesence of 1 f9w ottoman chiefi theyoegan to eat. The hierarch ate fruit while they ate diiferentm€ats_ As they were eating, the saint was u.t"a tn" .."*nwhy he never ate meat. As he was givint tir-_**,another Moslem came to join their party ira gir" ,f,, ..r""for tris tardiness. _He Lxplain.O'tt

"i tt

" ?**""-# r,i,ra-teress was that he had just finished distributing some arms

lii:j:'l_-llt l" r"l, was his.assignmen;;;;;;;"y..r

ne preacner_ ot grace. Gregory, then.took this opportuniiyto speak on the subject of almsgiving.at+ -"-'--'

_ Ishmael then asked the hierarch if he practicedalmsgiving. The saint answered that, in truth, ai,rgi"i"gwas the product of love for the true God, _J iiruii'r,""rnr."one loves God the more one is merciful.i. Ishmael then asked the hierarch if he accepted andJou{_,.t'9i. prophet Mohammed. rh; saini r"orjJ,i"l",r""_ly. Wishing to learn the reason for htr;;; i;;;:ffi""asked the holy Gregory for an explanation.

We learn from a letter oi the saint that he gave adefense that was satisfactory to his listeners. ffE- alo,however, comment, "If one does not believe the words of theTeacher (Christ), it is not possible for him to il' ;""Jgacfr as Teacher." Ishmail then oia, ;O" y" f""" lr*(that is how the Moslems cal Jesus), \td16';;;,crucified?"'. The saint then answered positluety'anJ, in a

brief discourse, he solved the seeming difficulty in under-

standing, by speaking of the voluntary and glorious Passion

and the dispassion of the Godhead.Ishmael then asked the hierarch, "And how is it that

vou venerate the wood of the Cross?" Again, the hierarch

made a concise defense explaining that the Cross was the

symbol of the troPhY of Christ.Ishmael, wiihing to dissemble and tum the talk

around, remarked, "You say that Allah had taken a woman'

enao*eO her with strength, and then He begot a Son'""

'Moslems believe that Judaism was a materialist religion: Jesus wass€nt to redress the situation: He syehi,,-J ;-;; ";;ffi ; ii: #.ilT iffi"#l;,,l'ff ,,'i;ri_ght balance berween materialism and pu- ,piri,lriri._. id;J ,;il,How.to Understand /.r/az (Ny: rf," cro.'r..Jprlfilftil;;:1989), p. t04.

_ *-Islam

teaches that someone else had been crucified in Jesus, stead.The Koranic verse is: 'They did nor ki f,ir, "r,

AIJ ,i"y fiJr, n,but lhey thought rhey did. ieur'an (Koran, literaly, rf," 1n*ai,inij'q,1561. They believe that Jesus actrully

"r""p"a a.it.

-'Y r.*er"s ., i

. The veneration of saints and images was idolatry to the Moslems'

A frequently asked question was: "Why is it that you worship carved

pi*"r'.f *."a, and ihat you worship icons in a manner ary:oPri:te olly

io Allah?" In countering the Moslems, Christians tended to base the

defense of icons on their instructive value, rather than on the christo-

logical arguments emPloyed against the iconoclasts' Pe\lau lhe Spirit

oie^t"ri cnatrcnai^ lw-t zu) , Vol . 2 (chicago' IL: The university

of Chicago Press, 1977), P. 233.* At-Mecca, the Qur;an still mentions Mary as 'she who remained

virgin" [Qur'an 21: 91] and her Son whose "name is Messiah' Jesus

(lsi;, son of Mary" [Qur'an 3:44,451' Though the Qudan calls Jesus]Messiah," the appellation is explained in different ways by Moslem

commentators.Mary is described by the Qur'an as from childhood tohavelived

in the temple;d that the Prophet Zacharias lcoked after her' The Angel

Cabriel announced to her thi future virgin birth of Jesus' This takes

olace far from human habitation. The text stresses the miracle of the

conception without a father and, that Mary, the 'righteousrvoman'" was

" "*o.* of truth" [Qur'an 5:75, 78]' who guarded well her chastity'

She became worthy of Allah's spirit and Word, Jesus the Christ'

Upon the birth of Jesus, the Christ child talks' explaining that

He is a slave (Abd Allnh) of Allah and a Prophet' The text also says:

"Behold! I am the slave of Allah. He has given me the scriPture and has

appointed me a prophet. He has made me blessed wherever I may be'

ani has enjoined on nre prayer and almsgiving, as long as I remain alive'

And he has made me dutiful to her who bore me, and has not made me

arrogant, unblest. Peace on me the day I was Uom' ani -ttrc

Oal^l fie'

aoa irc a"y I shall be raised alive' [Qur'an' Sura 19' Maryt 30-13]'(continued " . )

328 329

*(. . . continued)

Gerard S. Sloyan, ,The Jesus of the-eur,an, " ln Jesus in Focas: A LifeIn hs Settins (Mystic, CT: Twenty_Thira p"uri*ii""i isii,7"or.l, *.t90, 191.The Qur'an notes that Mary felt pain in giving birth. Jesus,fromlis youth, is recorded to have perforrned nirajes, ui"i"ii';*i,n ,r,"*"TH:i:l j]lt. jg"*. n ". r., i ry "j ri,,,:;iA' ;;, ; i',.1.rne constant Moslem question: "How could Allah begel a Sonw.ithout a woman?, was baj on a pr,y"t""i _i.*1"*fr0;;:r;",'begetting" meant when attribut€d t"'rf,l, ai"i",

- p"]it;;5;:

. The Suta on Mary declares: "It aoes not uent',iilJ tiat neshould rake to himself a don. Glory be to himi Wh;';;;;; "thjnc, he Tys to it only, .Be!' and it i", tsu.- rs,i5;,i_nrf]'1,*-

where, the Qur'an declares. .Far

y a; nr. ir," e,",g;i.ii;; ;:i:li:I?TJ:"T:'l'ffiil;;;li:;denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoev* a""i",n-,n" Sl":;;;_"hath,not the Father; but he that acknowredgart ii" i""-n"t]r'tr,"

"r"tr,*al^so" I Jn. 2:72, Z3]. Saint paul atso clear-ly .t t"r, -m"n ti"-n firr*r"of time_ was come, God sent forth His Son, nrade'of ;';;;;rn"d"under the law, to redeem them that- were under the I"*, tfr"i rr" ooglrtreceive the adoption of sons" [Gal. 4:4, 5]. paul ,fr" a*r,'f" i* *rir".

l1i:* *'0, "rhou art My Son, this day h*" r JgJiJnll.in"u.

- The Qur'an states: "Christ Jesus, the son ofMary, was no more(han an spostte of A ah" 14: t:.3.l..Islam insisrs ,i"i 'Jf" liri i"rnr,indeed, are those that say that Allah is Christ, the son of Mary" lbura 5:l9l and, etsewhere, ir is written: ,Th"y d. ;;;;;; *i,"'i"r] oi,*is cirist, theson of Mary'" lSura 5: 7il _o ,rr," cii"ti*.liri clinothe Son of Altah. That is a saying frorn-tt"irrnouti..Jtfi;;#*

on them. How they are deluded a**ay from the trurhl, lS*";,36;This is in direct contradiction to orrhodox ;;J S;;;;".","Who is a tiar but he thar denieth thar Jesus is,r," Ciri",Z; il i".'iOl.Though_ the Moslems did not deny the reality .r ciiri;, r,"'rn* "i'ti*,they did nor acknowledge Him as perfect CoO _a p"rf".i'VJ'. "-'-'

The saint then answered, "you Turks reject Christ as God,yet say He was born of the Virgin M".y, *t o, *" ""fi""Oglorify as Gcrd's birthgiver, th; Theotoko;. t-

ihlr"lLJ f fMary. bore Christ, thJwoiO of CoA i" ir,. n"r'fr,-*ftf*knowing or needing a man, so much more did c; Lg;;Fr.

2:7; Heb. 1:51, not according to the flesh, nor with a

woman, nor with any need of a woman, which you errone-

ously presume.' After saying this, Ishmael was neither

off;d;d nor ill-disposed, though many who knew him

remnrked that he was first in cruelty and fanaticism against

the Christians.at5The prisoners then had the opportunity to visit the

imperial ambassadors who allotted money to them. A Greek

doctor. named Taronites, from Nicra, who had been sum-

moni to Prusa to treat the Emir Orkhan's liver, intervened

in their favor and arranged for them to be transferred to

Nicaa. Before departing the Emir's court, the saint was

commanded by Orkhan, who was impressed by the theo-

logical arguments put to his grandson Ishmael, to engage in

a dialogue with the non-Orthodox in his presence.

TIIE CHIONESA detailed account of the discussion between the

golden-tongued Gregory and the Chiones, who were converts

io.Islam, was recorded by Dr. Taronites' Having been sum-

moned by the Emir, the Chiones presented themselves'However, they approached Dr' Taronites, asking him if he

might cancel thq discussion, for they were afraid to speak

beiore the Emir. Failing to get their way' they then asked

the saint and other Turks present if the discussion might be

cancelled; and if this were not possible, they pleaded that at

least let not the talks be held in the presence of the Emir'

The latter request was granted to them' The Emir, however,

appointed his- chief deputies to preside over the discussion in

his absence."ooThe Chiones, in an imprudent manner, blurted out:

"We have heard the Decalogue which Moses brought down

from the mountrain written on tablets of stone' We came to

realize that these commandments were also observed by the

330 33r

Turks.' Thus, we left our former wisdom, and went to theTurks, embracing Islam. "The moderators then addressed the Archbishop, telhnghim to make his defense, but he expressed ,f,"i""*'*^'.",

rne appropnate time. As one very humble, Gregory askedwho was he, the least of all, to speat of the sub'iim'it; ;ndloftiness of the Church of Christ? He then ,.rn*tJ ii'u,in.judges presently assembled were prejudiced against the case,and that.it w.?s_ wrong for them to enter theii contradictionsDerore the dlvinely inspired Scriptures and books of therropnels. Ftnally, he said, ,'t am a man in captivity: and Ir(now rnat.atter the betrayal of our [,ord and God, when ttewas apprehended by the Romans. He answered notf,in, tomerr quesrroning [Mt. 27 : 12_ | 4: Mk. I 4: 60, 1 5 :+; l..jk. 2i.g].However, I perceive that God has moved if,. g* erj. alearn more about the Orthodox. When one is in authoritv

^ .'The figure of Moses is put in a good light frorn the earliast pagesof the eur'an, with his twofoid *p*i* ,r," -.*ipi*; ;;ilH *ath€-leader ofhis people, the Hebrews. Moses is seen as a prefigurement

of Mohammed, the new Moses of the Arabs. Jr;;;.The eur'an, however, accuses- tn" f.*" nf jJii, pride anOhardness of heart. The Jews are qescnbed as cursed for their unbelief

[Qur'an 2: 88]; they (the Jews) begrudge the fact tf,"t alf"i "i."fi'r"r*rI'l*lf . .l"j' :h.m He wirr. [eoj. rr,"i, unueri"ri" viewJi-rJu"]uon

against Allah, for which they will be subject to judgmenai"lfrl. *"aaand the next [see eur'an Z:'ge, rc, Zl,\5, lg, at';i;;.;.;rr.Nomikos Michael Vaporis, review of ,Jews, Cfrri"ti_r,

-#O fr4uj.According to the eur'an,. by AMulaziz a. SachJin.a, l; ;;;;",C.his.tians and Muslims lBrooiline, MA: Holy C-* Onira"*-pi""",1986), pp. I15, l 16.

_, . f*1 in the perspective of today,s political problem, Islam,throueh the eur'an. jusrifies force when ; ;d, ;i;gil;;;;;; "fAllah against those who fight against you, but begin noi h*titiii"r.-LfAIIah. loveth not aggressois;' irO,SLy th"rn d".";;; ;;;;;il-,

Tj^^Ll:_,|.rn out of the places wirence tr,"y cr"rJ y"r--""i,'r.,persecutron rs worse than slaughter., [eur,an 2: 190]. Iierefore, theMoslems are told to defend the;selves in the face of aggr"r"i"" ,rGi"r.Ib id. , p. I19.

over many people, one must learn the beliefs of each with

exactitude. Thus, I pray 'that utterance may be given to me'

that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the -mystery

of the Gospel' [Eph. 6:19]. I do not make this defense on

account of the Chiones, because they, as I have heard pre-

viously and up to the present, appear to be Hebrews and not

Turks. Now I will not enter into discussion with Hebrews'

Therefore, the mystery of the Faith is as follows. "487

Logos and Wisdom, the Eternal Generation"Only God, Who ever was before the ages is un-

originate, unending, everlasting [Ps. 89:2]' unchanging'indivisibie, without confusion, and infinite.' Everythingcreated is perishable and changeable. God' the only un-

originate One, is neither without Reason/l-agos (A6yo6) not

is He without Wisdom (Eo$ta). The Logos of God is also

the Wisdom of God [1 Cor, l:24], because Wisdom'is in the

Logos and without the lrgos there is no Wisdom [1 Cor'

1:3b1. Therefore, to say there was ever a time when God

existed without the Ilgos Un' l:ll and without Wisdom' is

impious and impossible; for the I-ogos of God is also- un-

originate, and Wisdom is never to be separated from

Him.att"Now the Logos is never to be found without the

Spirit, a point which you Turks also confess.'" It is said

' The Moslems' betief about Allah is that "there is no Allah but Him'

the Living, the Etemal One' [Qur'an 2: 255]'- In the Koran, it is written: 'O people of the Book! Do not

exagg€rate in your religion or utter anything conceming Allah' but-the

trutil The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah'

and Allah's word which he conveyed to Mary, and a spirit from him"

[Qur'an, Sura 4, Women: l7l, 1721, see also Sura 2l: 9l]' Sloyan' p'

19l .The teaching of the Koran that Christ was to be called 'l-ogos"

and "Spirit' permitted Christian apologists to dernand: "Dost thou mean(continued...)

J5Z JJJ

that Christ is the logos (Word) of God [Rev. 19: l3] and thespirir of cod tnom.i:9i ca. +,0f , fri.i. ii. r*"_'.js1"",*Uand never sepanted from the Hoiy Spirit, ff,*"f"ri"C"Olli1?r:r an$.a llirit thar are ever *iil, nirn,-anJa-rl alsounongrnate and indivisible. For God was nevel no. *lfi ff"ever be, without spirit or rquon (togos); One ttrerefore isThree, and these Three are one f i 1"". s,zi.; c;;';.r"Io:9,_h1a Logos and Spirit [n.

-1:1, z; i co..iiii;'ipn2:181, but not as we have reason and a spirit. I shall giveyou an example. As the effulgence of thi sun f*".r-itLo

:1T:.dl*" uryn _y., yet the"radianc"-LJ'ir,J.. "",".s€parate from the disk (star) itself. That i, *f,l

-*i

""r"them (the radiance and the ray) ,sun,, and do not name themanother sun apart from the one. Thus, it i, tt" s"r" *f,"n-y9

n_"rne God and the Iogos of God and tf," ff"iv S"irit.We do not name some othe; cod f.; ;;O;;,'w'i";I;"9ri.Sin1g anO eternal ^rogether with the

"""fgf ""L frg", _Ospirir tEph. 2:1g1jts -

"This is how we were taught to believe and confess bychrist Hi mset f, the rngos of cd. No; ;;it ;td affi;a.thus, bur Moses atso in-rhe Decalogue, *niJf,1"" "a"iiJ",your, part. When Moses uttered, iThe Lord our C;;;;""Lord' fDeut. 6:41, he said three times the On"_Uouur" f,.

said 'hrd' twice and 'God' once-in order to reveal theThree in One and the One in Three. From the beginning,Moses desired to reveal that God and the Logos have theSpirit and between Them and with Them is One God. TheCreator, Who created everything, said, 'kt there be light,and there was light' [Gen. l:3]. He said, 'I-et the earthbring forth the herb of grass, bearing seed...' [Gen. 1:11].Now, without going into detail, as David says, 'all that Godsaid, came to be' [Ps. 148:5; 103:32; 135:4-9]. Thescriptural verse then, 'God said, and it came to pass' revealsthat God has a logos-for a saying cannot be without aword-and by this l,ogos did all creation come to pass [1Cor. 8:61. The Logos of God existed before all creation andis uncreated [Jn. 1: l-3; l7:5,24; Heb. l :2]. Since theLogos of God is uncreated, how can He not be God? Thisis because only God is uncreated. "ae0

The Making of Man"Now let us return to Moses concerning the making

of man. He says, 'And God formed the man of dust of theearth, and breathed upon his face the breath of life, and theman became a living soul' [Gen. 2:7]. Within the verse,'God breathed the breath oflife, and the man became a livingsoul,' it is revealed that God has a Spirit [Rom. 15:19; 8:9]and that Spirit is creating Uob 33:4; Gen. 1:21. The Creatorof the soul is solely God. Thus did Job say, 'The divineSpirit is that which formed me, and the breath of the Al-mighty that which teaches me" Uob. 33:4'l.aer

Then Dr. Taronites writes: 'The Thessalonian (theArchbishop) gave other testimony of the prophets. He saidthat David uttered, 'He sent forth His Word and He healedthem, and He delivered them from their comrption' [Ps-106:201 and in another place, David said, 'Thou wilt sendforth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created; and Thou shaltrenew the face of the earth"' [Ps. 103:32].

*(...continued)

that before^ He creaaed the togos and the Spirit, God had neither Soiritnor [,o^gos?' confronted witnlucn a quesriln, ;"-;"-""ra.;;; :i",nawaf"fom /ou,.answering norhing. " pelikan, p.232.

I he O hodox believe with the Evangelist John that ,there are Throethat bear witness in Heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spint;T,.,]TT3'* i'j 9T" fr Jn. 5:71. ,,t".,'i"*"""i'j"';3dI._wntes: "say not .Trinity': desist. It will Ue'Uetter ror'yr",' f"JiiUf,is One Allah, It is far removed trom fils transcendent rnaiesty that hesh.ould.have a son. He is all that is in ,r," r,*"""" *Jr",#iinl'LoAllah is sufficienr as defender. The Messiah *iii,*".'*#'i. i.slave of Allah, nor will the favor"A angets....Gfrry

'U. . ffi::i;;a,Mary: l7l-1731. Sloyan, p. 192.

334 335

All present then exclaimed, "That which thou dostutter is the truth and it cannot be otherwise!,, The saint thenreiterated that God is Three and the Three is One God andCreator. Unable to hold themselves back, they cried out inunison, "As thou hast revealed unto us, it is the truttr anJ weaccept it!" The saint then said, "Good..- Glory to God Who,in His good pleasure, has so granted. "ae2

The Incarnate LordThe Turks then intedected at this point, and asked,

"Tell us how Christ is named Allah [Rom 9:5], ,in."-ff" i,a man and was born as a man."' The saint thin said, ,,Godis not only the Ruler of all and rhe Almighry, but He isrighteous [Heb. l:8]; as the prophet DaviJ says, .For thelord is righteous and hath loved righteousness,- [is. l0:7],and 'there is. no unrighteousness in Him' [ps. 9lrl3].Hence, there is no work of the lord that contains un.leht_*y:n".:. Just as 1he ray of the sun simultaneously iasqurcKenrng power. Iight and heat, thus the energy oi Godlo:lesses divine power and righteousness. Certainly Godfashioned man for good works and commanded trim io tiu"according to His divine command. Since, however, mandisobeyed, he voluntarily was subjected to the devil anosinned [Rom. 5:12]." Justifiably is he condemned to death

[Rom. 6:16]. It is not God's will to save people by compel-ling them [Mt. 18:14; Jn.6:40], for this is discriminationagainst the devil who did not take man by force [Gen. 3:6;I Tim. 5: l5l.' If God was to deliver man by force andconstraint this would disregard man's own will. God will notdissolve His work. Therefore, it was necessary that Hebecome incamate man, born without sin and living withoutsin; and, of His own will, help sinning man' No man canclaim this, 'for who shall be pure from uncleanness? Noteven one; if even his life should be but one day upon theearth' Uob 14:4,51. So also does the Prophet David say,'for behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did mymother bear me' [Ps. 50:5].4e3

"On account of that, the only sinless one is the I-ogosof God, Who became the Son of Man, bom of a virgin pn.

1:14; Rev. 19:13; Is. 7:141. He was testified unto. by the

*(...continued)

open-to think of ourselves as equal to Allah. Satan, according to the

Qrir'an, tempted Adam and his spouse with etemal life and unending

dominion [Qur'an 20: 120].Islam does not accept 'original sin"; it recognizes its consequenc-

es in man's life. They believe that immediately after his disobedience,

Adam 'received certain words from his l-ord, and he tumed toward Him,

for He is truly 'Relenting Compassionate'" [Qur'an 2: 37]. Adam

becornes the first sinner and also the first proPhet. N.M. Vaporis, review

of 'The Word of God in Islam,' by Mahmoud Mustafa Ayoub, In

Onhodox Christians and Muslims, p- 71.Hence, immediately after his disobedience, Adam was forgiven

by Allah, but was not brought back to his previous condition. The

Moslem believes that one is under continuous judgment, but can

overcome this judgment by the light of Revelation, without there being

any need for Allah's redeeming action. The believer is delivered from

sin by trusting in the one and only Allah. N.M. Vaporis, review of 'The

Importance of Orthodox-Christian-Muslim Dialogue,' by Metropolitan

Constantine of Derkon, In Orthodox Chrittians and Muslims, p. l3-*

Moslems believe in the divine decree 'for good and evil, sweet and

bitter," that is, of believing that everything has been decided by Allah;

thus, in one sense everything comes from Him. Jomier, pp.47,48.

.- By.this typical question, we hear the Moslems, difficulty inunderstanding what St. Cyril of Alexandria succinctly stated at the liird

Ecumenical Council: "We are not preaching a deifij frr*_ U"i"g, i",,on the contrary, we are confessing God become incam"t". H" lVf;o *""mornefless wlth respect lo essence, and fathedess with respect to economyon the earth, subscribed to His Own handmaid as His Mother., ?heRudder, ftar,s. by D. Cummings (Chicago, IL: The Orthodox ChristianEducationaf Society , 1957\, o.224.*

Moslems believe that iuman nature is not ,fallen,. though they::kt1l"dg"

that Adam cenainty disobeyed Allah in Eden. t",ii"r, p.+!+. I ne stn ot Adam was simply a prototypicsl act to which we are all

(continued...)

336 337

v_oice of the Father [Mt. 3:17; l7:5; Lk. 3:22; 2 pet. l:17,1.!e was tried by the devil but not tempted thereby, Uut .atn".He.vanquished him [Mt. 4: l-l 1]. With great **tr,'*o.a,and marvels did He reveal and cbnfirm Ui" fuitt

-A *f"in"

energy. H9 took upon Himself the suffering of the guihy,:ven-ullo death [phil. 2:7, g1; and descending into Hies [lPet. 3:19; Eph. 4:91, He delivered them thaibelieved.--'. The Thessalonian, Gregory, then desired to sDeak

about the Resunection and Ascension of the Lord. 'Hebrought forward the testimony of the prophets, ty whom f,eprored. that Christ is God, bom of the Virgin,

-d Who out

of His love for man endured the passion

-i .or",

-J,_yother things. The Turks then with loud shouts int"..oi"Ohim, and said, 'How is it that thou dost say that All-J'wasborn after dwelling in a woman's womb?. fney Aso astedmany other questions in that category. fhe saint then said,'God is not bodily super immense, so rhat i;-;r,accommodate a small place. As bodiless pn. 4:241, He canbe everywhere present, simultaneously Loth f,"."

-a- in

heaven above tEph. 4:61. As such, even in the .rJl"r,place, He may dwell completely.'aes

Then, thrown into an uproar, they exclaimed. "Allahspoke and Christ came to be!.. egain the Thessalonian

responded, 'You say that Christ is the Iogos of God.' Howthen can the l-ogos become the logos again by another?For, if this is the case, then the logos of God is not co-unoriginate with God. We spoke of this earlier and you allagreed that the Irgos and Spirit are co-unoriginate with God.This is why Christ is not only the logos but the Spirit ofGod."

'(...continued)comrnand (amr) nd not the word of creative act (khalq). Yapriqreview of 'The Word of God in Islam,' by Ayoub, In OnhodoxChristians aM Muslims, p. 72; Sloyan, p. 193.

'Qur'an 4, l7l. Actually, to Moslem commentators, the term"Word' is interpreted by saying that Allah created Jesus by a direct wordand not according to the ordinary processos of nature. Jomier, p. 106.

Even ihough the Qur'an speaks of Christ a.s the Word of God,this does not mean it is a revelation frorn the point of view of Islam. Tothem, revelation, following the ancient Semitic pattem of a divine soundor an uttercd word, may also be broadly understood to be contained in abook. Moslems have for the most pert affirmed that the Qur'an in itsessence is the etemal and uncreated Word of God.

l€t us take a look at the first chapter of the Fourth Gospel whereSt. John writes, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was withGod, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing nr,adethat was made" [l:l-3]. Though the Moslems do not ass€rt that theQur'an is Allah, they do not believe as John does that all things weremade through the divine l-ogos. To them, the etemal Qur'an is thesource of salvation or guidance. The Orthodor believe with theEvangelist that 'th€ Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us' Un.1:l4l; whereas, the Moslem will maintain that the etemal Qur'an wasmade a book and entered into our time and history, Vaporis, review of'The Word of God in Islam,' by Ayoub, pp- 72, 73.

- The Spirit of the Lord is the very Spirit of God. The Spirit of Godis the same as the Holy Spirit I Cor. t2:3]. The Apostles Paul andPeter call the Holy Spirit the 'Spirit of Christ' [Rom. 8:9, ll; Phil.l: 19; I Pet. l:111. When St. Paul wrote: 'But ye are not in the flesh,but in the Spirit, if so b€ that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now ifmy man have not the Spirit ofChrist, he is none of His' [Rom. 8:9], he

(continued..,)

' I-n what sense do the Moslems perceive Christ as the divine I-ogos?The Moslems view Allah's cr€8tive act, expressed in both the qur,"n=andT thg Bible, as by words of comrnand. in Genesis, tn" U.Jl"." Jthat the first act of creation was the divine resounding *"rd,;;;;;."be light' [1:3]. In the eur'an, rhe Word of GJ, as tl";;;r.command, is expressed in the divine "be. (&an)_the fiat of creation our:{.":,FC. _ The Qur'an says, "Surely, th" ,i.ilituO" off*r,r. t"for"Allah rs as that of Adam; He created him from dust and said to him,"Be'; and

-thus he was. [eur'an, Sura 3, Zhe family o! tnra.n:6|.

S-imilarly, Jesus was created by the same divine fiat or creat-ive command.Iei, J=".to like Adam, an original crearion. Irr the case of;;;-""rn l[st ol Adam, the o;rrative divine power of creation is the word of

338

(continu€d. ..)

339

_ Then pointing to a nearby rock, the preacher ofgrace,said, "Now when God spoke, this rock here came to be-alsothe grass and the creeping things. If, therefore, Christ cameto be with the word of God-and, as you agree, He is theWord of God and Spirit-then the stones and the grass andevery reptile is the word and spirit of God also, because theycame to be when God spoke. Therefore, do you see how evilan utterance it is for one to say, .God spoke and Christ cameto be'? This is because the pre-eternal Logos of God, Whotook on flesh I Jn. l:l], did not become confused with it;the nature or Godhood of the l-ogos was not transformed intoflesh. Because, as we said, He took on human nature fromus [Heb. 2:16, 17] and for us, and all the while remainedGod with God (the Father), as His co-etemal logos throughWhom God made the ages..ae6

MohammedThen one of the Chiones, named palapanos, after

gaining the silence of his comrades, came forward and saidto the Thessalonian, "Announce to our master (the Emir) thatwe accept Christ, and that we love and honor Him. and that

"(...continued)first mentions the 'spirit of God" an<t immediately adds that the same isthe 'Spirit of Christ,' so that we might understand that where the HolySpirit is there is Christ. St. Ambrose, On the Holy Spirit, Book l, ch.IV and Book 3, Ch. IX.

Saint John of Damascus brings to our attention that we do notsay that the Holy Spirit is from the Son, but we call Him the "Spirit o/the Son.' Orthodox Fairlr, Book One, Ch. VIII. Nsither St. paul nor St.Gregory Palamas assert that the Spirit and Christ are identical. ThePauline passages [Rom. 8:9, I Cor.2:12.1and St. Gregory's statementdeclare the 'intimate relation of nature and not a confusion of persons. "St. Basil, Or the Spirit, Ch. XVIII. Therefore, he who makes mentionof the Spirit alone, embraces also in this confession Him of Whom He isthe Spirit. St. Basil, Epistle )AUW , To His Brother Gregory @JlIyssa).

we call Him the l,ogos and breath (rvof) of Allah. We alsohave His Mother here close to Allah.'

"However, wilt thou not accept our prophet nor lovehim?" The Thessalonian answered. "Whoever does notbelieve in the words of the Teacher is not able to love theTeacher [n. 14:23]. It is for this reason that we do not loveMohammed. Our lord and God Jesus Christ said that Hewould come again to judge all the world [Mt. 16i27:25:.311,and he announced to us not to accept another till He camelMt. 24:5; Mk. 13:6, 21, 22; Lk. 21 :81. He also uttered tothem that did not believe, 'I have come in My Father's name,and you do not receive Me' [Jn. 5:43]. This is why thedisciple of Christ wrote: 'If...an angel from heaven preachany other Gospel to you than what we have preached to you,let him be accurs€d"' [Gal. l:8].4e7

The LawThen both the Chiones and the Turks posed a question

to the Thessalonian: "It is clear that circumcision was givenby Allah from the beginning [Gen. 17:11], and that ChristHimself was circumcised [Lk. l:59]. Therefore, why is itthat you are uncircumcir"42t+re The Thessalonian an-swered, "Since you bring up the commands of the old God-given law to the Hebrews, know that He also gave them theSabbath, the Hebrew Passover, and the sacrifices performedonly by the priests upon the altar of sacrifice before the veilof the temple. Since all these practices were given by God,

. "ln the entire Koran there do not occur any praises of Mohammedor his mother Aminah, such as are found about our Lord Jesus Christ andthe holy Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, " commented John Cantacuzene inhis Apol. l.l6i 18 (PG 154:417, 425).

In fact, Mary is the only woman whose name is given explicitlyin the Qur'an; all others are designated by the name of their husband,i.e., the wife of Adam, the wife of Noah, etc. Nevertheless, Orthodoxveneration of the Virgin Mary and the saints s€€med to the Moslems tobe a further violation of the monotheistic faith.

340 341

'Islam distinguished between the inspired prophet, who has norreceived a particular mission, and the messengenii. il*'r*"f".a "mission. Every massenger is necessarily

" p.opli"t, Uut tt

" ."u"rr" i, no,

:rue. Th: eur'an gives the title of ,."r*r,g".; to ti" rnrin litn""rfigures which it rnentions between Adam -j

J"ru", in"frOirg"No"r,,Moses, etc.t also added are some Arabian messengers *t rG i. $,"Bible. Jomier, p. 45.

, Adam, the eur'an [2O; ll5] states, had no resolve (,azz).l:::::

n:***, is one of the propheis of power, ., ,"*i""i ii, "atn). te.us was unlike Adam in that He was not affected by the touchof Satan. Therefore, He is like Adam, but without ;. ;;;:;;,"

"tradition related from the prophet Moh"-."a, "uery

n"*;;;;L""touched by Satan, but not so in the cases of fo*

"nJ ffi.'frAotf,rr.Vaporis, review of.The Word of God in frf"_," Uy ay""i,'pl"ZZ;Ahnad ibn Hanbat, Musnad, ed. Ahmad tUuframmja si"ii"r'1i",ro,

t375/t9s5), 15, H. lgo?ff.In the Qur'an, Jesus is depicted as good, possessing filial piety,and performing miractes. The Moslerns alJ chiri ;;,l;is';"il*,

the irture coming of Mohammed, the head of "ii;;G;.

*;;.",

received the Gospel as Mohammed received the aur,;. ;;r;; *;;r"lt^,:y- T::lqers

thar ?assed away before Him [eur,an 5: 78].lflfu"t,.t"t"rn to th€ Moslems appears as the Arab form of the etemalrcngron.

-filoharuned is presented as the reformer of Judaism and Chns_tianity, after the Jews and Christians were untbithful to Moses and Jesus.

.*.1Y."::l't' j1",:.,.!:bel deveroped the ides that th" p;;;;, ;"r":liy:"

and inta ible. Jomier, loc. cit. The prophets are the mear,"ur /tran s communtcation to mankind, though they are human beings.Daniel J. Sahas, "The Formation .f r:t; Iri;'"ri;-;;;";J "Response ao Byzantine polemics: The Miracles.f M;;;;;,;,

9r:el Olhodox Theological Review, Brzanriun and Isla;, ;J;: rr;..2 & 3 (Summer-Fa , l9g2); 308.

how is it that you .neither accept nor perform even one of theaforementioned? " ae

. - At this point, neither the Chiones nor the Turks hada defense before the Archbishop. ffre ff,eJonian

-tf,""resumed his discussion on the prophets ana cfea.fv exf,iUiieahow they foretold the transposition of tfre faw airJ if,. Of OI esument,

-and that this would be real ized through Christ

lMt. 5:lzt.' He then said, "What you *;-;yt;;;:;;;r,

snd everything that is ancient looks for its end. " Again' they

Intemlpted, saying, "Why is it that when you construct your

churches, they have many images' which you venerate;whereas, Allah wrote and said to Moses, 'Thou shalt not

make to thyself an image, nor likeness of any thing, whatever

things are in the heaven above, and whatever are in the earth

beneath, and whatever are in the waters under the earth'

[Deut. 5:8; F;x. 2041. The Thessalbnian answered, "Weven"t"te the friends of God out of love, but we do not make

them God. This is exactly how Moses was instructed by

God, and this is how he taught the people-and this is

cvident. In fact, nothing made by Moses was without a plan

or sketch [Ex. 25:8-40; chaps. 26-31]. Those objects within

the veil were a type of the heavenly things; for the Cherubim

that are in the heavens, they made images which were

established within the inner sanctuary [Ex' 37:7-9]. Thoseobjects which were outside the sanctuary were modelled after

the things of the earth."If one were to question Moses as to why he made

images of things in heaven and on earth, which you claimGod prohibited, he would respond that God forbade images

and idols to be worshipped as gods, but it is good ifone were

led to God through them. Now the ancient Greeks, awed by

creation, prais€d it as gd. We, too, praise creation; for by

it, we are led to give glory to God." The Turks then said,"Yes, it is true Moses made those thin-gs. " The others then

answered. "Yes, he made them all."5m

The Close of the DiscussionAt this juncture, the Turks ros€ up' respectfu'lly took

leave of the Thessalonian, and departed. Then one of the

Chiones, who all the while restrained himself from insultingthe great hierarch of God, stayed behind' He then, shame-lessly and angrily, rebuked the holy man and' with his !st'laid a blow upon the Archbishop's face. Some of the Turks'who stayed behind, saw this and took hold of the Chione'

342 343

After accusing him, they brought him before the Emir. Thel urKs rebuked the Chione saying that as the Thessalonianarrived, so should he depart.sdr

Doctor Taronites then closes his account at this point,ls.tllng,urlh1, everyrhing he heard,ie recorded

"..urlt.ty,as though God were watching him.5@

NIc/EA

- In July of 1354, St. Gregory wrote that thev weretransferred to Nicea, which had f;ll;n to ttre furts lri t3Zg.

It Ty"l, the guards gave rhe prisoners liberty to minsle withrne unnstrans. Archbishop Gregory then learned thire wasa monastery in those parts, dedicated to St. Hvacinth.:epallng -trom

his group, the saint went there alone andround tl_e Christians, who yearned to meet him and prav withnlm. Havrng.accomplished this, he blessed them an'd dis-missed them.5ol

. After visiting the Monast€ry of St. Hyacinth, ,thefollowing day," the saint wrote in a letter to tris ctrurctr. ,,1

Xglg^.9f,31 buirdings and the town,s g..ri_J.t.o"grontrlcatrons (why do I bother to mention this, since thev areof no use to the cirizens now?). I ttren exitJifre ea-ste,ii citygates. nearby my company. Going a bit further, I noticed amarDre block (cube) which was embellished with some eotd.I questioned the bystanders about the prrpor" of tf,i, ofiLt.They began to tell me, but were interrupted tt-;;ili"gmoumers that kept lamentation with a cerain tonalitv. Rthose in my . vicinity watched the approach of . Uuiiru.",lookrng multitude walking straight toward the marble block.l and those with me then moved to get out of the way, andwe stood at a distance to observe and hear the proceedlngr.When the mourners had come up before tf,. ufdt, in"v flptsilent. A bier, wrapped and driped *itl, lur,itelin"n-i *"srnen ceremoniously placed upon the block. After themoumers

f9r1ed a circle, one of their religious men lrarl_mancs or Mullah) spread forth his hands and let out a'loud

cry. Likewise, the others corresponded. N9w thr.s act took

place three times. They then took up the bier and went off

io Uury the deceased' After this ritual, the tasimanes

departed with the people in the direction of their homes' The

Greeks with me ihen returned to the east gate, when they

noticed that one of the tasimanes with a group of people

decided to rest in the shade of the gate, to enjoy the season's

cool breeze. Thus, the Greeks and the Moslems sat and

rested in the shadow of the gate."suAt this point, St' Gregory asked if there was anyone

in the group that might be bilingual. Since -there

was

,or*nJ there able to interpret, St. Gregory asked if that

person would speak in his behalf' Through the translator, the'hierarch

spoke to the Turkish religious man, saying, "I know

that you cried out before God something good there-on tehalf

of the deceased. I desire to learn what you said to God"' By

the same translator, the tasimanes answered, "We sought

from Allah forgiveness of sins for the soul of the de-

ceased. " Again, taking the initiative, the saint said' "Good'

- The good Muslim wants the good works which he has done to

weigh mor! than his wicked actions in the balance at th€ last judgment'

ThJsin which cannot be forgiven is s/rir't, the crime of setting other gods

alongside of Allah.The Qur'an teaches that life is a test, that life on this earth lasts

only for a white [Qr,t'an 61: 7]. The Moslem believes that there is

reward and punishment, that there is a life after this one, and that reward

or punishment are not necessarily kept for the Day- of Judgment' but

begin irnmediately upon death' The Moslem also believes in human

reJponsibility and in ihe resurrection. Jomier, p '16; Vaporis' reriew of

'Ti" Import-"e of Orthodox Christian-Muslim Diatogue'' by Met'

Constantine of Derkon, P. 12.Characteristics ;f th€ 'righteous" are as follows: 'Rightmus is

he who believeth in Allah and the t ast Day and the angels and the

Scripture and the Prophets; and giveth his wealth, for love of him' to

kinsfolk and to orphans and the ne€dy and the wayfarer and to those-who

ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and Payeth the(continued...)

344 345

.O,t1: ".. *" has the power to forgive is the Judge; and Hewno rs to come and judge all men is Christ Un. 5:22; Acts10:42; t7:31.;2 Tim: 4:ll. Consequently, iii.i" nti,'tr,"t

13 -1!out!,.airect _our prayers and cries. ' 'fh"."fore, *h"nlnvoKrng Hrm as God, as we do, do you know that He is thelogos of the Father and undivided irom gimi ij* jb,:O;

l7:1I,211. For there is no interval between tf," eutfl.i _Othe. begotren t ogos' [Jn. 1:lg; Jn. 10:38]- i"-r""i". '*,"

tasimanes said, "Jesus also is the servant of nnJli' 'fnesaint then _ytd, 'Upon this thou must meditate, mv soodman, that He wilt judge, borh rhe living and ttre Oeaa ivno

:xffi;,U,1?1i"Ti:J:..T'l# at the rearrur and impartiar

Christ and Mohammed

"^." _, C:n,inuing, St. Gregory, said, "Abraham, your fore_ramer, who received the law, which the Jews obsirve, saidto God,_ Thou that judgest the whole earth, strUt ftrou noiOoright?' [Cen. I8:25]. Now He Who wiff iuOle tfre earti, isthe same God, Who, according to the prophet"D-l.i i.-tf,"

King of all tDn. 7:271, and ii not different filG;;;".according.to divinity, just as the ray is not different tt,an-in"sun according to light. "

. The tasimanes appea.red discomfited and fell silent fora short spell. However, at this point many more Christians

l...continued)poor hi.s due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, andthe patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stresJ. Sr;;;;;;"ywho are sincere. Such are the Allah-fe.lng, teur;an Z: iiZf. f"f".

"i_,recognrzes- the possibility of such righteo;sno, "_ong

tfr" irU.*"r, "fother Books. "surely thos€ rhat believe (ttre Uosteirsj, anj'ii"r" "tJewry, and the Christians, and those Sabeans, who beli# ii aiiJ

""0the lrst Day. and work righteousness_their wage await, tt em *ittr it e,,Loro, and no lear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow" [eur,an2: 621. Vaporis, review of ,Jews, Christians, -O

frl"lf irn"'e""".a1"g athe Qur'an," by Sachedina, p. 120.

and Turks assembled to hear the discussion. 'fhe tasimancsthen said, "We believe in all the prophets' including Christ,and the four books, which came down from Allah; and oneof these books is the Gospel of Christ."56

Finally composing himself, lhe tasimanes turned to

the Archbishop, and said, "How come you do not accept ourown prophet and believe in his book which came down fromheaven?"' The saint answered, "Both ofus have the custom

* Mohammed was bom in Mecca around 570' Texts describe his fint

vision in the desert during a retreat into solitude in a cave on Mount Hira

outside Mecca. In the year 610 he had a dream-some traditions speak

of a vision during a vigil-wherein he beheld a superhuman being,

purported to be the Archangel Gsbriel, who ordered him to recite a text

and called him the 'Messenger of Allah." The first revelation of the

Qur'an was the command to 'recite in the Name of your [,ord who

created. created rnan from a blood clot...and taught him what he knew

not' [Qur'an, Sura 96]. In fear, Mohammed hastily retumed home, and

nothing came of the event. In 612, the phenomena of heavenly visions

began again. He heard indistinct noises and little by little the meaning

of the message became clear. He was told not to be hasty or rush attout

expressing what he had to say [Qur'an 75: 16-19]. Jomier, p. 9.

We are told on the authority of 'A'ishah, Mohammed's wife,

that at times her husband would fall into something like a trance. He

would hear in his ears a sound like the ringing of bells. If this took place

on a hot summer day, often Mohammed would shiver as if it were cold'

If this took place on a cold winter day, his face would drip with sweat as

if it were hot. Ho would then ask to be covered with a mantle, and when

he woke up he would understand the sound that was communicated to

him, not as words but as divine words (to8oi)' unbound by letters and

sounds. The Moslems believe that their Prophet's mind, as a pure

receptacle of the divine Word, could not be coniaminated with human

reason. For nearly twenty-two y€rs the angel came with subsequent

revelations which made Muslim history. Vaporis, review of "The Word

of God in Islam,' bY AYoub, PP. 73, 74.

Some in Mohammed's entourage were converted to the new

faith. The Qur'an was gath€red on bones, stones, palm leaves, and in the

minds and hearts of people. These various collections were critically

examined and edited under the direction of the third Caliph, Othman ibn(continued...)

346347

not to accept or reject anything without true witness. Awltoess can be dual, that is, either from works or deeds orfrom trustworthy persons. Now Moses chastised EsyDt withsigns and wonders [Deut. 6:22]. He cleaved the s"ea'with arod.and then he_converged the waters again [Ex. 14:21,271.God also provided manna in the wilderness jex. 16:1S1. tsit necessary that we mention anymore, since Moses is acredible witness even to you? He was a faithful servanf ofGod [1Chr. 6:49;2Chr.24:9; Neh. 10:29; Dan.9:11; Rev.15:31, but he was not His Son or L,ogos iact, Z,3Z;'U"b.3:5, 61. Then, according to the divine command, Moseswent to rest with his fathers [osh. l:l; Jude 1:9].s07

"In addition to all His excellent works, -Christ

alsobore testimony to Moses and the other prophets 1Lk. 2,4:il ,441. And from rhe beginning He said that i{e was the Loeosof God [Mt. 26:63, 64; Lk.22:70; Jn. 3:1g; g:35_37] frimall ages, and that only He was born of a viigin [Lk. l:34,351. Of His own will, He is the only One to ir."nA irnrno._tal into heaven [n. 3: l3], and will judge both the living andthe dead [Mt. 16:,27]. That which I ]iave confessed is"alsoy!_at you Turks believe, that is, that He ascended into heavenlMk. 16: 19; Lk. 24:511.'

Now you know why we believe in Christ and HisGospel. As for Mohammed, we do not see that the Prophetsbear witness of him. nor do we have the witness of himperforming any miracles and noteworthy works." Hence, we

1...continued)you of those who disbelieve; and I am s€tting those who follow yougbove those who disbelieve until the day of resurrection. Then you will

all retum to m€ and I shall judge between you 8s to that over which you

used to differ.'" Sloyan, p. 194.There are also other Islamic traditions about Jesus. One of them

claims that Jesus will retum to Jerusalem before the end of time andproclairn His Islam, or 'submission/surrender to the will of Allah,'

publicly. Though these stories are popular, they are far from having the

sam€ authority as the Qur'an texts. Jomier, P. 109.' Mohammed insists that he is a man, who speaks to rnen [Qur'an

6:E, 91. He emphatically ststos that he has "no knowledge of the unseen"

[Qur'an 7:188]. In his demand for a sign or portent, it is \9ritten in

Islamic tradition that Allah confirms to Mohammed that he is not going

to get any portent; 'thou art e 'wamer' only, and for every folk a guide'

lQpr'an 13:71.Byzantine polemicists challenged the prophethood of Mohammed

on the basis that there neither existed the testimonies of revelation nor of

previous prophets, There were no proofs or demonstrations of miracles.

Mohammed neither pronounced any prophecy, nor did he foretell things

which were to befall him. Furthermore, there was no examination of

Mohammed's personal chsrscter. The Islamic community, therefore, was

under pressure from outside, as well as from within, to produce a higher

profile of their prophet, especially when Christians would ask, "Where

is, then, your prophet?' Often the Moslems would claim that the first

followers of Mohammed were not so mindful in collecting evidence of his

signs and miracles, as they were in compiling the Qur'an' Neverthel€ss,this question provided the stimulus for the emergence of the embellish-

ment of the life of Mohammed with miracle.s. Islam desired to justify

Moslem superiority over Christianity by ascribing to Mohammed evengreater signs than those of Jesus.

By the mid-€ighth century, Ibn Sa'd (764-845), in defense of

Islam, related the 'apocryphal" miracles of Mohammed. It is quite

interesting that several of Mohammed's miracles sound as if they are

being offered as responses to Christians, in that they bear an amazing(continued.... l

'(...continued)

Affan (c. 575{56), a relative and lieutenant of Mohammed who hadmarried in succession two of Mohammed's daughters. lbir!., p.74; TheEncyclopedia Americana, 1957 ed., s.v, ,Othman.,

The Qur'an affirmed that Mohammed was the messenger ofAllah, sent to the Arabs as Moses had been sent to pharaoh [eur;in-7f:l5l. Adherents to the eur'an increased and the book,s *in-ority *,revered as absolute, Jomier, loc. cit.

' The Moslems believe that A ah raised up Jesus to heaven, whereHe dwells and whence He will retum just before the end of the world.Vaporis, review of "The Importance of Orthodox Christian_Muslimrrrarogue, - by Metropolitan Constantine of Derkon, loc. cit. Sura 3, IDeFatnily of Imran:55, states: "Remember when Allah said, .O Jesus!Behold, I gather you up and cause you to ascend to me, and am cleasing

(continued...)

348 349

believe neither_in him nor the book (Koran) that he hashanded down. "soEThe tasimanes was indignant, and retorted, .Moham_

med is written in your Gospel, but you have .#oueA tf,erererence. Moreover, he rose up from out ofthe east as the

sun and, as thou knowest, victorious, he has arrived in thewest." Saint Gregory responded, saying, "Our Book hasnever deleted anything. To do so is to contend with graveand fearful curses [Rev. 22:18, l9]. Whoever dares toremove anything or reconstruct the words of Christ, it is hewho is removed. So now, how can any Christian do such athing? How is such a one even a Christian when he eradi-cates the divinely inscribed words of Christ? Nevertheless,the witnesses are many and in different tongues, since, im-mediately, upon receiving the Gospel, it was translated fromthe original. Now how could we maintain concord in mattersof faith among the nations, which exist to this day, iftampedng was perpetrated upon the books?ss

"Now there are some heretics who agree with you oncertain subjects, but never have they brought forward thisdeletion of the name of Mohammed in the Gospel of Christ.Now if the prophets had something good to Say aboutMohammed, they certainly would not have neglected to doso. We do read, however, that many false christs and false'prophets wilf come to deceive many [Mt. 24:24; Mk. 13:22].Wherefore, He said to take heed and not be deceived [Lk.2l :81.

*(...continued)

In the Qur'8n several accusations are leveled against the Peopleof the Book, first the Jews but also the Christians [Qur'an 3: 78]. Theyare accused of having manipulated and comrpted the Scriptures.Christians are thought to have 'forgotten' a part of th€ir revelation. 'Opeople of the Book! Now has Our messenger (Mohamrned) come to you,expounding to you much of what you used to hide in the Scripture, andforgiving much' [Qur'an, Sura 5, The Table Spreat 13-19]. Theproblem is that the teaching of the Qur'an, in respect of their view of thereligious history of the world, the history of salvation, and so on, cannotbe reconciled with Christian texts. Now as they believe that th€ Qur'anis the very criterion of truth, the other tooks must have been falsified anddistorted. Jomier, p. 155; Sloyan, pp. 192, 193.

'(...continued)resemblance to the miracles ofChrist. bt€r Byzantine polemicists, suchas Bartholo_rneos of E<tessa (c. 9th c.) .iOi"ut.a

"ueo'tn" ;"*""i""f"

tradition of Mohammed's arcension to heaven tUased on S"o"iZ,f t,which states: "Glorified be He who carried His serv*iiy "igfo'ir.rn

,f,"Inviolable place of Worship to the Far Oisrance ptace ii fior"frio ,fr"neighborhood whereof We have blessed, ,f,"i w" .igii "t

r*ir,_ ,i"*tokens!' Bartholomeos admonishes his fr,furfim int"-Ao"utor'to'a'i'"i"gurathe.tale, saying, 'Mohamrned, being earthly, a creatur",

" r"*_i, ,nort"fand incorruptible, did not ascend into treaven. O" ."i a*"i[1"r.*lfthat it is true that he ascended into heaven or that his aaugtrte. fatimatestifies to the event. [Confutation of tn" nosor"r.,i{tii, ,riof .

- By the ninth century, however. Muslims reached fhe point rn

:1"1^,Pl t , Y"h:rTd cgmpared ,"tirr"ctorly ro l""ir_",r,iljr, ,"rerms ot srgns and miracles. Christians then moved to attack againsi the

Srsonality and morality of Mohammed. S"h"s, ,fhe formaii.i

"iL,",r$arruc uoctnnqs as a Response to Byzantine polemics: The Miracles ofMuhammad,' pp. 3O't -320._

- This point was one of the first to be touched upon in polemrcbetwe€n Moslems and Christians. The eur,an i, f*i'".*.t" ifr"i tr,"Torah, the Gospel, and Jesus announced the .praised O"";-<in^A,Mohammed. Moslems are dividecgroup craims trr"t tr,is "nnounc"nJ"ll:J"#Hil:1TfrJr.#;rTBible or the Gospel as ahey now exist, concruding that the texts havs beenl?T11.^ m"."lher group mainrains that rhei find pJi"ii"r" i, ir,"Drore anc uospel that appry to the coming of Mohammed. Trte paracletehas been identified with Mohammed Jttre references implt"d;;;;;. ;;,16and 16:7 l5: see Sura 6l:61. The Old Testament fr""G"ii"

"ii*i"f:,^Tl:_t-]""*,,9",'gns

for_prophecies. Several Moslem apologist"s haveconrused prophecies traditionally associated with the comiie of theY,:."i*3r

Mohammed. Jomier, p. f S:; S"fr"", "ff," nl;;;;t";;",rsra[uc rJoctnnes as a ResDons€ to Byzantine polemics: The Miracles ofMuhammad, pp. 313 and 322. n.19.

350

(continued...)

351

"Moses and all the prophets, before and after him,were committed to the earth upon death and await finaljudgment from heaven. Now, if it were the same withChrist, then it must be that someone else shall come to makean end of things. However, as you say along with us, Christascended into heaven; then, as right-minded, we are to awaitfor none other. You also accept that Christ not only ascend-ed, but that He will come again. Now if He is the bne Whocame and is to come again, then we do well not to acceptanother save Him. When He comes, He shall judge. Whyso? As He said, 'I am the light of the world. [n. g:12].Christ and His teaching are light. Men, however, lovedother teachings, sensual pleasures and darkness, instead of thelight. So that we might not be condemned with them, thechief of the disciples of Christ says: ,But there were falseprophets also among the people, even as there shall be falseteachers among you, who secretly shall bring in destructiveheresies....By covetousness they will exploit you withdeceptive words....And many will follow their destructiveways' [2 Pet. 2:1, 3, 2]. Another disciple writes: ....evenif.an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you thanwhat we have preached to you, let him be accursed' [Cal.l:81. The Evangelist says, .Every spirit that do€s not confessthat Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God' [1 Jn.4:31- How shall we accept a book (Koran) that says thereslall come one (Mohammed) from God, who is not actuallythe Lord, when the Evangelist declares, that one is not fromGod, if he does not confess that Jesus, Who has come in theflesh, - is the lord? This is not possible to do-no it isnot.5l0

"It is true that Mohammed started from the east andcame to the west, as the sun travels from east to wesr.Nevertheless, he came with war, knives, pillaging, forcedenslavement, murders, and acts that are not from the goodGod, but instigated by the chief manslayer, the divil.Consider now, in times past, did not Alexander (the Great)

prove victorious from the west to the east? There have alsobeen many others, in many other times, who set out onmilitary campaigns and dominated the world. Yet none ofthe peoples believed in their leaders as you revere Moham-med. Though Mohammed may employ violence and offerpleasures, he cannot secure the approval of the world.Albeit, the teaching of Christ, though it turns away from(worldly) pleasures, it has taken hold to the ends of theworld, without violence, since it is opposed to it. Thisphenomenon is the victory that overcomes the world" [1 Jn.5:41.5rr

An Agreeable EndingAt this point, the saint noted that the Turks were

getting agitated with the Christians that stood by listening, sothe Christians nodded to the Archbishop to stop. The saintthen turned his talk to something joyful, and said'with asmile, "If we agree according to teaching, we shall come tothe same dogma. Whosoever comprehends, let him judge thepower of the words uttered here."5l2

Then one ofthem said, "Some day it will happen thatwe shall agree. " The saint approved this and prayed that thetime might come quickly. Then the Archbishop thought that,sooner or later, this will happen; for as it is written: "At thename of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,and things in earth, and things under the earth. And thatevery tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is lrrd, to theglory of God the Father" [Phil. 2:10, lU. This certainlywill take place at the Second Coming of our Lord JesusChrist.

The saint's biographer, Philotheos, then says thatthough many other events took place, the Archbishop neverhad any fear to speak about the word of Christ before "themwhich kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul" [Mt.10:281. Desiring to write more, Philotheos complains that

352 353

his hand is unable to record it all, though there remained afew other things to write.s13

During his captivity, the saint showed a keen interestfor his flock in Thessalonica. In his letter to his diocese,written in 1354, he gives valuable information about thesituation of the Christians of Asia Minor under Islamicauthority.sr4 Together with this letter, there was also onewritten to an anonymous person.sls Both these letters aresignificant for students of history.

No later episodes of the saint,s captivity have beenrecorded. Saint Gregory was to remain in such a predica_ment unti l the spring of 1355.

The Moslems, in the meantime, did not spare theirkidnapped victim for any other reason other than th; hoDe ofreceiving a good price or ransom.5t6 The Emir's oldestson treated the holy man cruelly. Shortly afterward, Gregorywas allowed to live quietly in the Monastery of St. Hyacinthin Nicaa, until money could be raised for his ielease.However, events in the capital delayed the sending of the

ransom demanded by theTurks.