Is Schema-Archimandrite Joachim Parr a modernist?

Dear Father Joachim, I am grateful for your answer. I apologize for my insolence, but I consider it my duty to tell you that you are wrong in this matter. In your speech, you called Orthodox Christians who believe that salvation lies only in Orthodoxy as fools. However, almost all the holy fathers who wrote on this topic stated that the unbaptized and heterodox cannot be saved. For example, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov wrote: “It’s in vain, it’s a mistake, you think and say that good people among... the Mohammedans will be saved, that is, they will enter into communion with God! It’s in vain that you look at the opposite idea as if it were a novelty, as if it were an intruding error! No! This is the constant teaching of the true Church, both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Church has always recognized that there is one means of salvation: the Redeemer! she recognized that the greatest virtues of fallen nature descend to hell. If the righteous of the true Church, the lamps from which the Holy Spirit shone, the prophets and wonderworkers, who believed in the coming Redeemer, but whose death preceded the coming of the Redeemer, descended into hell, then how do you want ... the Mohammedans, because they seem kind to you, who do not know and those who did not believe in the Redeemer received salvation, delivered by one, one, I repeat to you, means - faith in the Redeemer? - Christians! know Christ! - Understand that you do not know Him, that you denied Him, recognizing salvation as possible without Him for some good deeds! He who recognizes the possibility of salvation without faith in Christ denies Christ and, perhaps unknowingly, falls into the grave sin of blasphemy. “We imagine,” says the holy Apostle Paul, “that through faith a man will be justified, without the works of the law. The truth of God through the faith of Jesus Christ is in all and on all who believe: there is no difference. For all who have sinned and come short of the glory of God are justified by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:28, 22). You will object: “The Holy Apostle James absolutely demands good deeds; he teaches that faith without works is dead.” Consider what the holy Apostle James demands. – You will see that he demands, like all the divinely inspired writers of the Holy Scriptures, works of faith, and not good deeds of our fallen nature! it requires living faith, confirmed by the deeds of the new man, and not the good deeds of a fallen nature, contrary to faith. He cites the act of the patriarch Abraham, the deed from which the faith of the righteous man emerged: this deed consisted in sacrificing his only begotten son to God. To sacrifice one’s son is not at all a good deed by human nature: it is a good deed, as the fulfillment of God’s command, as a deed of faith. Take a closer look at the New Testament and in general at all of Holy Scripture: you will find that it requires the fulfillment of God’s commandments, that this fulfillment is called works, that from this fulfillment of God’s commandments faith in God becomes living, as active; without him she is dead, as if deprived of all movement. And on the contrary, you will find that good deeds of fallen nature, from feelings, from blood, from impulses and tender sensations of the heart - are forbidden, rejected! And it’s these good deeds that you like about... Mohammedans! For them, even if it was with the rejection of Christ, you want to give them salvation.” (Letter 203) But here is the opinion of St. John Chrysostom on this issue: “What does Christ say? “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” This is what He means by this: you consider it impossible; but I say that this is very possible, even necessary, and it is impossible to be saved otherwise. And God made what was necessary and convenient for us. Earthly birth is birth according to the flesh, from dust, and therefore everything heavenly is blocked for it, because what is common between earth and heaven? But another birth, like the birth of the Spirit, conveniently opens the heavenly gates for us. Hear, all of you who are alien to enlightenment (that is, the sacrament of baptism): be horrified, weep! This threat is terrible, this definition is terrible! It is impossible, says Christ, for one who is not born of water and spirit to enter the kingdom of heaven, because he still wears the garment of death, the garment of curse, the garment of corruption - he has not yet received the sign of the Lord, he is not yet his own, but a stranger; does not have a sign agreed upon in the kingdom.” (St. John Chrysostom. Interpretation of the Gospel of John) This opinion is shared by St. Basil the Great: “Why are we Christians? - Everyone will say: by faith. How are we saved? Such that we are reborn, precisely, by the grace given in baptism. For how else can we be saved? (Sermon on the Holy Spirit, X) Cyril of Jerusalem: “It is not I who say this, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who has authority in this matter. He says: “Unless a man is born again,” and adds the words: “By water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). Neither one who is baptized with water, but is not awarded the Spirit, has perfect grace; no one who, even if he was good in deeds, but did not receive sealing with water, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The word is bold, but not mine, because Jesus said so.” (catechetical word 3) The same opinion was shared by such saints as Gregory the Theologian, John of Damascus, Theophan the Recluse, Athanasius the Great, Simeon the New Theologian, Maximus the Confessor, Andrew of Caesarea and many others. As for people who did not have the opportunity to learn about Christ, there are simply no such people. Our God knows everything, and if anyone is ready to accept the true faith, He will make it possible for him to be baptized and learn about it. This example is found in the book of Acts when God saw the heart of an Ethiopian eunuch who was willing to receive Him and caused him to travel thousands of miles, learn Hebrew, meet Philip and be baptized. There are many examples in the lives of saints when God sent missionaries or even an Angel to teach people and baptize them. The problem is that there are very few people escaping, because the path is narrow and many will try to enter and will not be able to, even among the Orthodox. God does not send missionaries to nations that do not have people ready to receive Him. I really hope that you will change your mind on this issue, I once again ask for your holy prayers and hope to see you again.

I became a monk on Holy Mount Athos, in the Ilinsky monastery. Not far from this monastery there is a place where hermits live, it is called Kapsala. There are probably about forty cells located in the forest, with about four or five monks living in each of them. Once I served an all-night vigil on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. When I went out to burn incense in the temple, I saw a handsome, very simply but neatly dressed old monk. Everyone who was in the temple came up and took his blessing. I thought it was a priest. During the canon, he entered the altar and asked to listen to his confession. I agreed. And when he began to confess, it turned out that he was a bishop. A little later, I invited him to serve together, but he refused and said that he was no longer serving, since upon arriving at the Holy Mountain he accepted the great schema and now he is just a monk, although in the rank of bishop. The next day after the Divine Liturgy and meal, he asked permission to stay in the monastery for a couple of days. We started talking and I asked him to tell us about himself.

The bishop replied:

“My life is the same as everyone else’s. I am a sinner, I continue to sin and I am trying to stop.

Then I asked him:

— How did it happen that you, bishop, ended up on Mount Athos?

And he said the following.

— I studied at the Faculty of Theology in Athens and was the best student on the course. During the graduation ceremonies, the Patriarch of Alexandria, who that day addressed the graduates with a welcoming speech and then issued diplomas of education, asked the Greek archbishop: “I want this young priest to teach in my seminary. The Church of Alexandria is dying, we need educated people to help the Church.” They negotiated, and I went to Alexandria for three years. However, instead of three, I spent ten years in Alexandria, and I was ordained bishop. Years passed, and one rainy and foggy winter evening, after I gave another lecture at Aristotle University, on the way home in my car I had an accident. The ambulance took me to intensive care. When I came to, the doctors told me: “You were in a serious accident. We need to check if you have brain damage." Then I asked to call a priest to see me. It turned out that some Holy Mountain monk was being treated in the same hospital, and he came to visit me. He was short and very dirty. I began to confess to him, and he suddenly began to say that I needed to stop being such a pompous person, go to the Holy Mountain and become a real monk. I had to, he argued, stop traveling around the world and pretending that I was a very important figure. I got very angry with him and kicked him out of the room. But this incident was etched in my memory for a long time. On the one hand, I was so angry that my heart even hurt. On the other hand, I understood that what this monk was saying was the truth that I did not want to hear.

After some time I was discharged, and the Ecumenical Patriarch became interested in me. He invited me to one event, where I had to address those present with a welcoming speech. But as soon as I started performing, I had a heart attack. I fell, overturned the table, and was taken to intensive care again. In the hospital, I periodically lost consciousness, and the doctors had to tinker with me thoroughly. And, being between life and death, I prayed: “Mother of God, if You save me now, I promise You that I will go to Holy Mount Athos and devote the rest of my life to repentance.” The Mother of God saved me, but I didn’t go to the Holy Mountain.

I came to the patriarch and said:

— Holy Master, I promised the Mother of God that I would go to the Holy Mountain. Let me go.

Patriarch says:

- Yes, you were just delirious - you never know what you can promise in such a state! You're alive, so don't worry.

I began to beg the patriarch, but he answered:

“You must be obedient to the Church.” The Church has made you a bishop, listen and work.

Every year I brought my petitions to the patriarch, but he still did not let me go. And then one day, when, apparently, he was already thoroughly tired of me, he said:

“I’ll give you three more years, work them out, and then you’ll go to the Holy Mountain.”

Three years later I went. I knew nothing about monasticism. I was a fat bishop with soft, gentle hands. I wore beautiful Italian shoes with thin soles and a silk cassock. And in this form, one fine day I set foot on the land of Athos. In Daphne the monks met me and asked:

- Vladyka, who have you come to?

I answered them:

“I’m looking for a monk,” and I described to them that small, dirty monk who visited me once in the hospital.

The monks began to question me:

- What's his name? Where does he live?

But I knew nothing about him and just described to them again what he looked like.

And they tell me:

“Everyone looks like this on the Holy Mountain.”

I was upset, I needed to find the monk who sent me here.

Then one of the brethren said to me:

“If such an old man exists, then he probably lives in the farthest corner of the Holy Mountain, in Karulia.” Climb the mountain, perhaps you will find your elder there.

I went. As I climbed the mountain I was sweating, the rocks were puncturing my Italian boots, and I was so tired that I thought I would die on the way.

However, the monks kept telling me:

“Go on, the old man is there, go on.”

And finally someone told me that I was almost there. In front of me stood a small cell with one shuttered window. She was surrounded by a stone wall, and the view from the mountain was such that she wanted to be able to fly.

There was a line of several monks outside the cell. I wanted to get forward, but they pulled me back and forced me to stand behind everyone.

But I was a bishop and was not used to waiting in line. I was angry, but decided to stand and wait. And then the elder’s cell attendant comes out and says to me:

- What do you need?

“I came to see the old man.”

“The elder is tired, he received the brethren all day today, and now he has gone to bed.” He can't meet you today.

“But I’ve come such a long way, I climbed a mountain!” What should I do?

- Come tomorrow.

- I have no place to go.

“Everyone on earth is sleeping, and you lie down and sleep.”

That night I slept on the street. I didn't sleep all night. Morning comes, the monk comes out and announces:

- The elder does not receive anyone today, he will pray.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Another day wasted. It took me so long to get there, I had nowhere to go, so I decided to wait. I spent that day under a tree, trying to pray, but all I could think about was how angry I was with the old man.

The next morning the monk comes up to me and says:

- Are you still here? Okay, you waited patiently, come in, the old man will talk to you.

I came in. The elder met me and asked:

- What do you want?

“I want to be a monk,” I answer.

- Why did you come here if you want to be a monk?

I told him my story of how a Holy Mountain resident came to see me at the hospital.

The elder asked:

- How long ago was this?

— Thirty-two years ago.

- Are you out of your mind? He died a long time ago! You said it yourself - small, old, and thirty-two years have already passed! And you won't survive here either.

I'm asking:

- Why?

- Because you will never be able to do what I tell you. What were you doing before you came here? - the old man asked me.

- I am a bishop.

The elder grabbed his head:

- My God! In life, only women give you more temptations! Get out of here.

I prayed:

- I ask you, help me become a monk.

He tells me:

- I will allow you to stay in the cell, but only on one condition.

- I will try.

- No. You have to say, “I will do it, old man,” because if you say, “I will try,” you have already given up.

- I will do it, old man.

- Fine. Then there's this. I don’t allow you to talk to anyone, not to me, not to those who come to me. With no one! Only when I ask you to say something, then you can speak.

And he gave me the obedience to do all the household chores.

Guests always came to the elder. I made tea, washed the dishes and listened. And I always wanted to say something when the elder talked to the guests. Some monk came and talked about something: “Grigory Palamas said...” - but I knew for sure that it wasn’t Palamas who said it at all! I wanted to tell him: “Idiot! It wasn’t Palamas who said it, it was another saint who said it.” Everything was boiling inside me, and this continued for years. After some time I calmed down, I didn’t hear anything anymore, I just washed the dishes, said my prayer, and served tea. One morning I came to the elder to begin my usual day, my obedience, and the elder said to me:

- Now you can talk.

I thought and answered:

- I have nothing to say.

The elder tells me:

“My dear, when you came here, you already had nothing to say, but you didn’t know it. When you left the world, you thought that the whole world needed you. Now look, does he still need you? And he didn’t need you before either. The only thing we need in life is God.

This is the story this bishop told me.

Notes

[web.archive.org/web/20140306213534/news.belta.by/en/news/society?id=705185 Abbot of New York's Orthodox monastery to visit Belarus]. Belarusian Telegraph Agency (25.01.2013 17:51). Retrieved October 25, 2021.
[www.synod.com/synod/2007/4communique.html The next meeting of the Synod of Bishops took place]. Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (April 21, 2007). Retrieved October 25, 2021.
[mission-center.com/ru/mission-school/312-parr Schema-Archimandrite Joachim Parr (USA)]
[www.belta.by/society/view/nastojatel-pravoslavnogo-monastyrja-iz-njju-jorka-priedet-v-minsk-66324-2013 The abbot of an Orthodox monastery from New York will come to Minsk], Belarusian Telegraph Agency
(January 25 2013). Retrieved October 25, 2021.
[www.pravmir.ru/v-ssha-zapreshhen-v-svyashhennosluzhenii-shiarhimandrit-ioakim-parr/ In the USA, Schema-Archimandrite Joachim (Parr) is prohibited from serving in the clergy], Portal “Orthodoxy and World”
(September 28, 2021). Retrieved October 25, 2021.

The ban of Father Joachim (Parr) did not come as a surprise to his former parishioners

Is Schema-Archimandrite Joachim Parr a modernist?

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