Meltdown

 

A short clip featuring a certain Bishop Alexander of the OCA, which I assume is the Orthodox Church of America. The bishop states that the 2nd century Church Father Origen was a saint. 

There is just one little problem: the theology of Origen was condemned by a Church council as heretical a few centuries after his death. Or so some people believe.

The meltdown in the commentary section is...disturbing. One commentator says he wants to burn an icon with Origen´s portrait. Another kindly informs him that no icons of Origen seem to exist, but there are Coptic icons of his disciple Evagrius Ponticus available for burning?! Sure, they are joking, but still...

The "heresies" of Origen include teaching the pre-existence of the souls, that only the soul is immortal while the physical body perishes, that the soul is "reincarnated" in progressively higher worlds, and that all humans - and perhaps even the Devil himself - will eventually be reconciled to God. Nobody during his lifetime seems to have noticed that the man was a heretic, but the Church at Constantinople can apparently damn your memory centuries in retrospect. And over one thousand years later, people at an American Internet forum still get meltdowns when your name is mentioned!

I´m sure these guys *know* that of course Origen was wrong about things that happened before the creation of the material universe, or will happen in the distant future. It must be a fascinating experience, to be this cock sure about the hidden things!

Or maybe they´re just in a cult, who knows?