Re: Death of Zoya Krakhmalnikova

++ <friend@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:

> Sure, during theocratic times when there was a pretence of a Roman 
> emperor, there was some engagement of the emperor with the church, 
> chiefly ceremonial.

     Sure, if you feel embarrassed by the Church's relation****p
with the Empire, you'll try to pretend they just had a few
casual dates, nothing serious, and never went beyond first base.

> The reigning emperor called church councils, but 
> the highest (or after Rome was excommunicated for heresy) or the local 
> Patriarch chaired and opened the meeting.  Some emperors were considered

> heretics. The appellation julian the Apostate is a prime example

     Apostasy doesn't make a good example of heresy:  
different things.  Julian tried to restore paganism, re-opening
the temples and removing the privileges Rome had given
Christianity, including the money the Church had been receiving
from state coffers.  

     In other words, Christianity was _already_ Rome's official 
religion, a status granted it by the Theodosian code, which 
went even further by banning other religions and turning heresy 
into a crime.  Example:

      ...  According to the apostolic teaching and the
      doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one
      deity of the father, Son and Holy Spirit, in equal
      majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the
      followers of this law to assume the title Catholic
      Christians; but as for the others, since in out
      judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that
      the shall be branded with the ignominious name of
      heretics, and shall not presume to give their
      conventicles the name of churches. They will
      suffer in the first place the chastisement of
      divine condemnation an the second the punishment
      of out authority, in accordance with the will of
      heaven shall decide to inflict. 

     Theodosian Code 16.1.2.  Source: http://tinyurl.com/5ohkeo.

> The system of rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar's included such

> things as paying taxes and meeting other legal obligations. 

     A misunderstanding of the Gospel-saying, though in keeping 
with the Pauline version.

> We have thousands upon thousands, some in our recent century of 
> communism and fascism, Christian martyrs who chose the way of God 
> instead of the way of a non Orthodox ruler serving the cause of evil in 
> one respect or another. 

     Lovely for you, I'm sure.  But the standard spelled out in
Romans 13:1-6 doesn't allow for picking and choosing which 
rulers to reject and which to obey.  It says the powers that be 
are established by God and warns "they that resist shall 
receive to themselves damnation."  Of course the Bible is a big
book, and not always a consistent one, but going by that
criterion, your martyrs are all damned for rejecting God's will.

-- Catawumpus