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June 13, 2014

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Conspiracy or Truth - Russia Issues Grim Report On North American Magnetic Anomaly

credit WhatDoesItMean
CLICK ON BOLD LINKS TO CROSS REFERENCE ARTICLE WITH THE MAINSTREAM NEWS

A grim report prepared by Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force Lieutenant-General Viktor Bondarev on the just completed scientific mission of North America carried out by 4 Tupolev Tu-95 strategic aircraft and 2 Ilyushin Il-78 aerial refueling tankers that “electronically swept” for “magnetic anomalies” from Alaska to California warns that a “catastrophic event” may be nearing for this region.

US officials, it should be noted, characterized this purely scientific mission as a “bombing run” that came within 50 miles of California, but which their Air Forces were able to repel by their launching of F-15 fighter jets.

This report, however, states that this scientific mission was necessitated by a “severe mysterious magnetic anomaly” detected by the Kosmos 2473 satellite on 3 June occurring in the Yellowstone region of the Western United States which resulted in what is called an “earthquake swarm.”

Most important to note about the 3 June Yellowstone “magnetic anomaly”, this report continues, are that satellite measurements show it being precipitated by the mysterious earthquake swarm hitting the Brooks Range mountains in Alaska, and which seismologists are still at a loss to explain.

The information relating to the linking of these two “events”, this report says, was further verified by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) magnetic anomaly maps and data for North America showing a strange magnetic “disturbance/ripple” emanating from Brooks Range and ending at Yellowstone on 3 June, both of these areas, it is important to note, being part of the Rocky Mountains that stretch more than 4,830 km (3,000 miles) from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States.

Of grave concern to Russian military authorities relating to these “events”, General Bondarev says in his report, was the “catastrophic effect” they had on the advanced “magnetoceptioninertial navigation systems employed by many US-NATO-Russian warplanes which use these highly sophisticated aircraft flight devices.

Though no Russia military aircraft were near the “disturbed magnetic zone” emanating our from Yellowstone on 3 June, this report says, two US military aircraft were at its “boundaries” in the Southern California region on 4 June while this “event” was still “active” causing them both to crash.

The two US fighter jets crashing on 4 June, this report continues, were identified as a US Navy F-A-183 that went down when the pilot was attempting to land aboard the carrier Carl Vinson, and a US Marine Harrier AV-8B jet that crashed into a residential community in Imperial, about 90 miles east of San Diego, both of them occurring within hours of each other.

This report notes that no civilian aircraft would have been affected by this “magnetic anomaly” as only the most advanced military aircraft employ these “geomagnetic-satellite” coordinated flight systems which enable them to “hug the terrain” not unlike the magnetic systems used by birds and insects to navigate.

Russian concerns relating to “magnetic anomalies”, it is important to note, are related to the rapidly shifting north magnetic pole which since 2005 has been moving at a rate of 40 kilometers (25 miles) a year from Arctic Canada toward Siberia.

Frightening independent research from last year (2013) further warns that this shift is still picking up speed and according to this researcher should reach Siberia in at least within 2 years.

One of the effects of the rapidly shifting magnetic north pole being noticed the most, this report notes, are the airport runway systems being disrupted because of it, and as we can read one such 2011 example which occurred in the US:
     Tampa International Airport was forced to readjust its runways Thursday to account for the movement of the Earth’s magnetic fields, information that pilots rely upon to navigate planes. Thanks to the fluctuations in the force, the airport has closed its primary runway until Jan. 13 to change taxiway signs to account for the shift, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
     The poles are generated by movements within the Earth’s inner and outer cores, though the exact process isn’t exactly understood. They’re also constantly in flux, moving a few degrees every year, but the changes are almost never of such a magnitude that runways require adjusting, said Paul Takemoto, a spokesman for the FAA.
The most chilling aspects of General Bondarev’s report relating to these “events” are the equations he uses in postulating that what is now occurring in North America with these “mysterious magnetic anomalies” occurring over a large expanse of the Rocky Mountains, and when combined with the rapidly shifting magnetic north pole and growing evidence of global climate change, give “huge credibility” to what is called “The Expanding Earth Theory”.

The expanding Earth or growing Earth hypothesis asserts that the position and relative movement of continents is at least partially due to the volume of Earth increasing and stands in contrast to that of plate tectonics, but which new findings relating to “aether theories” and dark matter, General Bondarev summarizes, means “grave consideration” must be given to the words of University of California, Davis, cosmologist Dr. Andreas Albrecht who warned: “We've hit some really profound problems with cosmology Ð with dark matter and dark energy, that tells us we have to rethink fundamental physics and try something new.”

Or in simple terms, this report ends, “We may be on the verge of a catastrophic North American “event” that could possibly change the world forever, we should be prepared.”

Sorcha Faal
WhatDoesItMean


SHOCK - Recession 'linked with' over 10,000 suicides across Europe & N.America

The recent recession can be linked with over 10,000 suicides across Europe and North America between 2008 and 2010, according to research by the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The (shocking) findings, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, show that suicide rates rose significantly in the EU, Canada and the USA after 2007, with the increase being four times higher among men.

The research team analysed recently released suicide data from the World Health Organization covering 24 EU countries and two North American countries. They observe that the downward trend in suicide rates in the EU reversed when the economic crisis began in 2007, rising by 6.5% by 2009 and remaining at the higher level through to 2011. In Canada, suicides rose by 4.5% between 2007 and 2010; while in the USA the rate increased by 4.8% over the same period.

Report authors Aaron Reeves, Martin McKee and David Stuckler argue that there were at least 10,000 additional suicides due to the economic hardship experienced in EU countries, Canada and the USA. They describe their figure as a 'conservative' estimate and say the rise in suicides is substantially over and above what would be expected.

They found that there were 'marked' differences in suicide rates across countries affected by the same recession. This leads them to conclude that, in theory, increased suicides during an economic crisis are 'avoidable'.

The study finds that job loss, home repossession and debt are the main risk factors leading to suicide during economic downturns.

The study says while most suicides occur among people with clinical depression, to date there is little evidence to show the benefits of treatments, such as antidepressants, for protecting individuals against the risk of suicide. However, the study notes that prescription rates rose markedly in some countries during the recent recession. In the UK, a rise of 11% in antidepressant prescribing between 2003 and 2007 went up to 19% between 2007 and 2010.

The study suggests that nations that invest in active labour market programmes reduce the risk of suicide. The authors estimate that for each US $100 spent per capita on programmes offering such assistance for the unemployed, the risk of suicide reduced by 0.4%. The authors highlight Austria, Sweden, and Finland as examples of countries where the suicide rate did not increase markedly despite rising unemployment during the recession. Sweden, between 1991 and 1992, and Finland, between 1990 and 1993, both experienced rises in unemployment at the same time as the rate of suicide decreased. In the most recent recession, suicide rates remained stable in Sweden and Finland while the rate declined in Austria, despite rising unemployment

Lead author Dr Aaron Reeves, of Oxford University's Department of Sociology, said: 'There has been a substantial rise in suicides during the recession, greater than we would have anticipated based on previous trends. A critical question for policy and psychiatric practice is whether suicide rises are inevitable. This study shows that rising suicides have not been observed everywhere so while recessions will continue to hurt, they don't always cause self-harm. A range of interventions, from return to work programmes through to antidepressant prescriptions, may reduce the risk of suicide during future economic downturns.'

Co-author Professor David Stuckler, also from the University of Oxford, added: 'Suicides are just the tip of the iceberg. These data reveal a looming mental health crisis in Europe and North America. In these hard economic times, this research suggests it is critical to look for ways of protecting those who are likely to be hardest hit.'

For further information or a copy of the study, contact the University of Oxford News Office on +44 (0)1865 280534 or news.office@admin.ox.ac.uk  - The paper, 'Economic suicides in Europe and North America's Great Recessions', was published by The British Journal of Psychiatry on June 12, 2014. The authors are Aaron Reeves and David Stuckler from the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford; and Martin McKee, from the Department of Public Health and Policy at the London School of Hygiene &Tropical Medicine. 


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BUSTED - Authorities Make Largest Heroin Bust In History - Shipping Tycoon In Custody

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credit protothema
About 1,133.420 kilos of heroin (as well as other narcotics) were confiscated by Greek authorities in a huge drug bust that took place in the early hours of Friday morning. The operation, which took place in the region of Attica, involved the join action of the Coast Guard, the Hellenic Police’s Drug Enforcement department, the American DEA and the Narcotics and Weapons Division of SDOE (Financial Crimes Unit). Some 11 people have been arrested (five Turkish nationals and six Greek) including a Greek shipowner who appears to have had played a key role in the trafficking operation.

According to initial reports, authorities apparently raided a warehouse in the area of Koropi -on the outskirts of Athens- and at luxury Athens homes of several alleged members of the drug smuggling gang.

Citing its own sources, the Kathimerini newspaper said in a report that one of the locations was the villa in the upscale neighborhood of Filothei -north of Athens- that is owned by the ex-wife of a Greek businessman and shipowner who was also arrested during the raid, along with their 15 year old son. The shipowner has previously declared owning four Dubai based tankers although his claims are still under investigation by authorities.

What is even more shocking is the fact that almost 500 kilos of heroin were found at the Filothei villa, while a similar amount was uncovered at the Koropi warehouse.

In total 1 tonne and 113 kilograms of heroin were confiscated making it the largest drug bust ever made in Greece, and one of the largest ever made at a European level. (Specifically authorities seized a total of 443 plastic packages of heroin, with a total gross weight of one tonne and 133 kg.)

The narcotics were said to be pure and had a value of more than 30 million euros, while the street value was reported to have yielded more than 200 million euros.

During the operation, authorities also seized six luxury cars that were allegedly used to traffic the drugs, as well as 5.1 grams of cocaine, one pistol loaded with 9 rounds and 6,235 euros in cash.

The reports in the Greek press claim that the heroin was shipped to Greece from Iran via Turkey and it is suspected that it was then going to be trafficked to Belgium and Germany. (Apparently the ring had set up several moving companies in Belgium and Turkey as fronts so that they can easily transport the drugs to these countries without raising suspicion.)

Kathimerini also said that various suspects were spotted by undercover investigators on Thursday night transporting drugs from the Filothei villa to the Koropi warehouse. It was also noted that the drug ring was based in Constantinople and led by a Turkish national that was living in Athens for the past few days. Interestingly, the report in Kathimerini also said that authorities fear that 2-3 tonnes of heroin were transported regularly from Iran through Turkey and into Western Europe.

The operation was a success because the suspects were under close observation for six months, but several members were charged with misdemeanors after being arrested for smuggling smaller amounts of narcotics between Greece and Albania. This was apparently done so that authorities could continue operating.

Minister of Shipping Miltiadis Varvitsiotis congratulated the officers who participated in the operation and welcomed the support the Coast Guard received from the Hellenic Police and the American agency.


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Incredible: Social Media May Have Pushed Up Borrowing Costs for Greece

As incredible as this sounds a group of researchers from the University of Macedonia claim that social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and other Internet sharing platforms could of possibly played an important role in the deepening of the Greek economic crisis.

According to them, information and comments on social media platforms –like the twitter hashtag #Grexit- influenced the Eurozone bond markets.
     “The Greek economic situation and the Greek bailout have led to abnormal returns on sovereign bonds” the authors write, and add “To sum up, we show that the Greek debt crisis related information in social media and Google search queries does influence financial markets. This is mainly so for Greece and Ireland, and to a much lesser extent for Italy, Portugal and Spain.”
However, researchers say that they cannot compare results for all European countries hit by the debt crisis, as the construction of indexes is based on different sets of key-words and key-phrases.

Read the paper HERE




ENVIRONMENT - Acidification & Warming Threaten Various Species In Mediterranean Sea

This article is of particular importance to Mediterranean coastal societies with 300 million inhabitants (living and visiting), unique ecosystems, who love seafood and live off of tourism.

Research professor Patrizia Ziveri, from Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the UAB and the coordinator of the project says "We knew next to nothing about the combined effects of warming and acidification in the Mediterranean until this study, now we know that they are a serious double threat to our marine ecosystems."
     "Iconic Mediterranean ecosystems such as sea grass meadows, the colourful Coralligene reefs and Vermetid snail reefs are threatened and now facing rapid decline through acidification and warming. These are amazing ecosystem building species, creating homes for thousands of species, and also serve to protect shores from erosion, offer a source of food and natural products to society" says Prof Maoz Fine from Bar-Ilan University in Israel.
     "Subsea volcanic activity spews carbon dioxide into the seawater making the waters more acidic and an amazing natural laboratory, showing how a future Mediterranean Sea may look like. Unfortunately this window into a high CO2 sea shows us that life will become difficult for some species, invasive species may do well, biodiversity will decrease and some species will become extinct" comments Prof Jason Hall-Spencer from University of Plymouth.
Research professor. James Orr from Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l`Environnement "It is clear that to save these amazing ecosystems human society worldwide must reduce fossil fuel emissions. It is not just someone else's coasts that will be impacted but all our seas and coasts. We all need to act and there is no time to loose".

Over 100 scientists from 12 countries involved in the study have pooled their findings and produce a 10 point summary to warn society, policy- and decision-makers as well as the general public (attached). They have launched this at the final meeting today, at Barcelona.

The MedSeA project - Mediterranean Sea Acidification in a changing climate (MedSeA) project is funded by the European Commission under 7th Framework Programme. It involves 22 institutions from 12 countries, led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). MedSeA focuses on the impacts of its seawater warming and acidification on the important species and ecosystems of the region and how that may impact human society

5.1 Quake Jolts Dodecanese Area

An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale rocked the south coast of the island of Kassos, in the Dodecanese in the early hours of Friday.

According to the Greek Institute of Geodynamics, the 59km-deep quake hit 21km southwest of Kassos and 28km south of Karpathos in the southern Dodecanese islands.

No injuries and/or damages were reported.



Goldman Sachs Claims That ECB Will Provide Greek Banks With 21 Billion Euros

Goldman Sachs claims that the European Central Bank (ECB) is getting ready to provide Greek banks with approximately 21 billion euros worth of cheap funding by giving them the ability to use loans worth 139 billion euros as guarantee.

The New York Investment Bank said it arrived at this conclusion after evaluation the ECB’s recent announcements regarding 669 billion euros worth of funding, with Goldman Sachs arguing that the regional Eurozone banks could secure 342 billion euros worth of low-interest loans.

According to the scenario, Greek banks would receive an estimated 21 billion euros, since the ECB’s methods provide loans worth 34.5% of their assets, which in this case are 139 billion euros worth of loans.

An article in To Vima, which published this story, claims that the ECB’s funding towards Greek banks dropped by 8.18 billion euros to 50.66 billion euros in May, while emergency funding provided by the Bank of Greece via the ELA dropped by 3.12 billion euros for a total of 3.6 billion euros.

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Turks Visit Mount Athos & Describe Experiences To Turkish Press

Two Turkish professionals recently visited the "Garden of the Virgin" monastery on Mount Athos and related their experiences to the Turkish press.

In an article in the Turkish Hürriyet -which was published on June 8th, 2014- publicist Ertugrul Ozkok along with architect Ali Esad Göksel, who both visited -and lived- at Mont Athos for a period of three days after receiving an authorization from the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew himself said that:
     "Like most Turks, I first heard about Mount Athos in the work "Aynaroz Kadısı" of Musahipzade Celal. After I discovered it, I read enough and wanted time to go. Eventually I went with the help and the permission of the Patriarch.
     "After Mecca, Yemen, Vatican and Bhutan, we are now at Mount Athos... at the "Garden of the Virgin"... Just after the boat carrying me and the architect Ali Esad Göksel turned, we saw the beautiful building on the hill. We have at hand the admission that was given to us by the Patriarchate of Fener (This is how Turks refer to our Patriarchate for propaganda purposes).
     "I also take my headphones from my bag and put music that I had arranged beforehand, Anna Netrebko singing 'Pie Jesu'. I feel happy that I did something that I dreamed for years, isolation on Mount Athos...
     "I face the Dionysiou monastery; one of the most beautiful churches in this region in Greece called Mount Athos. We will live in this monastery for 3 days and 3 nights. From the moment you set foot on the land, you lose all contact with the world.
     "The boat leaves us and goes in two minutes. Waiting with our luggage, we don't see anyone greeting us. The monastery is at the end of a steep and long road. We had to start walking. Climbing with our heavy suitcases, within the first 10 meters we understood what ascetic life is. At that exact moment a voice saved us. Up there on balconies someone shouts: "Wait we are coming"
     "A little later we find before us a 4x4 van. Favored we finish with the passions of monasticism, at least until we get to the monastery. Inside two priests in black robes are sitting. One says "Welcome" in Turkish, so we met Father Gabriel who for three days will guide us and help us in everything... The vehicle climbs the steep hill and stops somewhere that looks like a castle gate, we get our luggage and we enter. The landscape reminds us of the series Game of Thrones. In the middle of the courtyard there is a church with walls painted in burgundy and white. We go next door and climb the stairs. Before we go to the room that we stay, we enter a parlor. They offer raki and lukumi. Our first impression: They aren't scary people like we were taught by young, those priests with the black beards. Instead, all of them treat us very friendly. Indeed, we feel that they were keen for this reason that we are Turks.
The first menu of the monks: Potatoes with eggs
     "Because we arrived a little late to the monastery, we couldn't watch the evening service. They prepared food and we eat within the menu of the monks, potatoes with eggs, olives, bread, tomato and an orange.
     "On 6 and half in the evening everything stops, so we go up to the room. Father Gabriel closes slowly the inner courtyard of the monastery and the heavy door separating our room from the outside space. The courtyard is at once immersed in silence.... Life ends early evening but starts very early in the morning. You wake up at 03.00 for the morning service".

Source Hürriyet

Not One, Not Two But "Ten reasons to love Athens this summer" According to FORBES Magazine

After her recent visit to Athens, a reporter for the US-based Forbes magazine, Mrs. Ann Abel, decided to feature an article focusing on ten good reasons to visit Athens this summer and specifically why foreigners should not overlook exploring Athens! According to her, there are many hidden treasures in the Greek capital, including some top notch hotels, restaurants and cafes that should not be excluded by anyone wanting to have a great Greek experience!

1. Athens’ first Design Hotel, the NEW
It opened about three years ago as the brainchild of a Greek art collector, who brought in Brazil’s super-hip Campana brothers to design the 79 rooms and public spaces, with plenty of natural light, which makes them feel larger. According to the reporter, the NEW also has a terrific location near Constitution Square, and one of the best breakfast buffets in town.

2. Street life in Agias Irinis Square
This small plaza, just off the main shopping drag of Ermou Street, is bubbling with new cafés and bars, serving everything from falafel to Mexican, and young Athenians packing their tables at all hours.

3. Wine at Heteroclito bar
A stylish sliver of a wine bar on a busy city-center corner. The personable owners of Heteroclito are often on hand to chat with patrons, share their passion for Greek grapes.

4. Café culture at 360 Cocktail Bar and TAF
Greece essentially invented iced coffee, as the local favorite “café freddo” is a logical way to consume caffeine during Athens’ sweltering summers. Monastiraki Square is the center of café culture, with cool new offerings ranging from the sprawling, multilevel 360 (named for the views from its roof) and TAF (The Art Foundation), which is tucked away in a crumbling courtyard inside a contemporary-art gallery.

5. Seafood at Papadakis
Here you can taste traditional dishes, like octopus stewed with honey and vinsanto, prepared by Chef Argiro Barbarigou – a celebrity who counts Pierce Brosnan and Carla Bruni among her clientele!

6. Home goods at Greece Is for Lovers
This design collective aims to add a new sense of “Greekness” to contemporary product design, producing goods that are a mixture they call “humor, irony, nonchalance and extravagance,” as well as playing on stereotypical notions of what it is to be Greek, past and present.

7. Greek food at Melilitos
This café near Agias Irinis Square started life as a delivery service but three years ago grew into a full-service restaurant, as the demand boomed for its healthy, home-cooked Greek food.

8. Views at Hotel Grande Bretagne
The grande dame of Athens is as grand as ever, with colonnaded lobbies, ceilings dripping with crystal chandeliers, 320 traditionally outfitted guest rooms and attentive, formal service. But its biggest selling point is arguably the drop-dead views of the Acropolis, both from the higher floors, and from the GB Roof Garden Restaurant & Bar, which is open to all.

9. Escaping to the Island
Foremost among the sophisticated “dayclubs” and nightclubs lining the Athens Riviera, about 30 minutes from the city center, the Island is open for seaside lounging, languid lunches and late dinners. The views along the Saronic Gulf are stunning, and the Mediterranean food and sushi are delicious.

10. Upstart travel companies like Dopios
Young Greek entrepreneurs are setting out to break the old guided-tour model (official itineraries, expensive state-licensed guides) by offering custom walking tours led by passionate locals. They’ll go off the beaten path, and off script, giving real insight into the city (and take you for good coffee). A leader here is Dopios—the name means “a local”—which has been so successful in its first year in Athens that it has expanded to San Francisco, London and Istanbul.

Source: Forbes magazine
Photos also by Forbes magazine, ProtoThema







Cleaning Women In Angry Clashes With Greek Riot Police

Angry protests, frayed tempers and police heavy-handedness following the Supreme Court's decision against the dismissed cleaning women of the Finance Ministry. Two cleaning women, another protester and a journalist have been reported to be hospitalized with injuries.

The Supreme Court ruled against the cleaning women who have been protesting their dismissal from the Finance Ministry for months and have become symbols of the anger and resistance of workers in the face of memorandum reforms.

The cleaning women of the Finance Ministry have been protesting almost daily since September when they were placed in a six-month mobility scheme. They were subsequently laid off in May, but the cleaning women took their case to court and won a significant legal victory when the Court of First Instance ruled that their dismissal was illegal and ordered that they be rehired.

However the Finance Ministry ignored that ruling and appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. That appeal is due to be heard in the autumn, while today the Supreme Court ruled that the initial court order to rehire the cleaning women be suspended until the appeal process is completed.

The decision was a setback for the cleaning women and their supporters who nevertheless stated their intention to keep protesting.

One of the cleaning women, Dimitra Manoli told the radio station Sto Kokkino, “If they think that by issuing court rulings such as this against workers who have lost their livelihoods and believe that in this way they will cause the cleaning women to yield and leave they are fooling themselves. These things only increase our resolve and make us stronger. On the street they can only take our blood. Our dignity they can never take. Never. We are here.”

The lawyer representing the cleaning women acknowledged that the ruling was a set-back but noted that the court had still not released its reasoning behind the move. That is expected alter in the wek. He expressed the hope that when the appeal was heard by the Supreme Court in the autumn, the judges would not “question the right to life and work of these workers who have suffered.”

News of the ruling led to angry protests outside the Finance Ministry and riot police aggressively pushing back supporters as can be seen in the video below. Two cleaning women, another protester and a journalist have been reportedly taken to hospital with injuries sustained in the clashes.

PressProject


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CREEPY - Greek Woman Kept Mummified Remains of Mother At Home For 2 Years!

A landlord seeking to evict a tenant who hadn’t paid him rent for four years made a grim discovery on Thursday, when he found the mummified remains of the tenant’s mother inside a trunk in the apartment. The landlord and a lawyer arrived at the apartment, located at Edesiou 19 in Pangrati, central Athens, to serve an eviction notice on the 49-year-old tenant, who is a French national.

Using a spare key, the two men entered the apartment. During an inspection of the property, they found the mummy in a large chest.

Police said they believe the remains are those of the tenant’s mother, who is said to have died two years ago in her mid-80s. An autopsy will now be held to establish the cause of death.

According to media reports, the daughter worked as a chemist and used chemicals and other materials from her work to preserve the remains.

Neighbours said that when they enquired about her mother, the woman told them that she was fine.

The 49-year-old woman has been detained and is helping police with their enquiries.

Eleytherotypia


Santorini Grace Hotel Pool - Third Best In The World

According to a UK luxury interior design and lifestyle magazine, the pool at the “Grace Santorini Hotel”, on the enchanted Aegean island was ranked to be one of the best pools in the world! Specifically, the Alto magazine recently featured pictures of the 10 most beautiful and magnificent pools in the world and believe it or not the relaxing pool of “Grace Santorini Hotel” located in Santorini was in the top five.

In fact, the incredible pool of “Grace Santorini Hotel” was ranked third which is a luxury interior design and lifestyle magazine. The pool that came first is in Bali and the one that came second is in the Caribbean.

The hotel is located in Imerovigli, and is built in a way that you can see below to the majestic Aegean sea. According to the magazine, swimming in the pool is like swimming in a plane.

The article favored ten hotel sites all over the world with pools in Europe, Caribbean islands, South America and Bali. Be sure to check out the article online and view the photos!


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NOT FAIR! Only 5.11% Sports News Covers Stories About Women!

Women are the subject of news in sports papers in only 5.11% of the cases, sometimes alone (2.18%) and others accompanied by men (2.93%). On the other hand, men are the focus of this kind of information in 92.2% of the cases, according to a study presented recently by UC3M professor Clara Sainz de Baranda at the II International Conference on Gender and Communication. "The remaining 5% is neutral information, which is why, in these kinds of topics, like soccer balls, fields, field houses and goals, men appear more often than women," notes this professor from the university's Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication.

This situation has not improved significantly over the years. The results of the analysis of the four main Spanish sports papers performed by this researcher vary by province. In newspapers from Madrid, one can observe a reversal in the news focused on women in recent decades. In Marca, it went from 5.6% in 1979 to 4.22% in 2010. In Catalan papers, however, it increases. In Sport, it went from 2.63% in 1979 to 3.3% in 2010, and in Mundo Deportivo, it increased from 2.5% in 1979 to 5.05% in 2010.

These differences are even greater if one considers that not all of the women who appear in articles run by these specialized papers pertain to the world of sports. In fact, a recent study published in Cuadernos de psicología del deporte differentiates between two profiles of women: those who pertain to the world of sports (athletes, coaches) and others it calls "guests," who in general are partners, relatives, celebrities or fans. "In terms of quantity, the first group has a larger presence (86.8%), but on a qualitative level, the guests have a much greater presence because of the size of the article, photographs, types of pages that they occupy, etc.," the researcher explains. Moreover, in this type of image, the most promoted stereotype is the one related to feminine attributes, so it normally presents women as a decorative archetype or an object of desire.

This inequality is evident in other journalistic elements, as well. Female names appear in only 2% of headlines and in only 0.81% of references are quotes from women included. "In almost 50% of the cases, the achievements of female athletes are relegated to a short news item, the most humble genre of journalism, which entails a reductionism in the treatment of this news," observes Sainz de Baranda, who published her doctoral thesis on this subject.

Soccer and tennis, king and queen

The numbers reveal that, if soccer is the "king" of sports (65.71%), the "queen" is tennis (29.35%). In the case of "mixed" news, the most common sport is track and field (23.29%). Likewise, soccer is the most recurring story in "neutral" news (20.4%), with much of it focused on the condition of the turf, soccer stadiums, sports equipment, etc. "All aspects related to the world of soccer appear in the media. Their number increases over time and they contribute to exacerbating the old problem of disinformation and information imbalance," the professor comments. With the exception of soccer, achievements in most sports are not constantly covered in the pages of these papers; they are mentioned, but only for specific things. "And as women triumph in sports with less coverage and their presence is smaller, their invisibility increases," she emphasizes.

Noteworthy among the obstacles that women must overcome to earn a living as professional athletes are the persistence of certain stereotypes, the scarcity of public aid destined to fostering women's sports and the inexistence of economic incentives for companies to invest in these competitions because of the "supposed" inferior spectacle that they represent.

Another reason for this situation is that women soccer players cannot be professional. "There is a royal decree (Royal Decree 1835/1991, from 20 December, regarding Spanish sports federations) that allows federations—football federations in particular, not to professionalize women players under the same conditions as men," the researcher reports. "They argue that, economically, it is not profitable for a woman to play as a professional. Actually, it is not a problem of profitability, but fundamental labor rights," she declares.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RBVNEiCcVM

Further information:

Thesis: Mujeres y deporte en los medios de comunicación: estudio de la prensa deportiva española (1979-2010). Author: Clara Sainz de Baranda Andújar. UC3M Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication. Directors: Pilar Diezhandino and Ángel Bahamonde. Year:2013.URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10016/16505 UC3M e-archive: http://e-archivo.uc3m.es/handle/10016/16505

Paper: "Deportes en la prensa deportiva: ¿una cuestión de género?" Clara Sainz de Baranda Andújar. II International Conference on Gender and Communication . Sevilla, 1 to 3 April 2014. http://congreso.us.es/gendercom/index.php/es/  Article: "Las mujeres en la prensa deportiva: dos perfiles". Author: Clara Sainz de Baranda Andujar. Cuadernos de psicología del deporte. Vol. 14, Nº. 1, 2014, pp. 91-102. ISSN 1578-8423. URI e-archivo de la UC3M


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OPINION - The Relationship of Hellenistic Thought & Greek Orthodox Fathers

This opinion piece originally appeared in The Patristic and Byzantine Review, 1990, IX, 2&3. HellasFrappe found it very fascinating and decided to republish it. We want to point out that HellasFrappe does not agree or disagree about the arguments that are presented in this article, we just want our readers to enjoy a great analysis about a subject that is sometimes deemed as taboo by many of our fellow Hellenes. It is also a great piece which explains -more or less- why Hellenes of the Orthodox faith are sometimes misread or misunderstood by Hellenes of the Ancient Greek religion. Read it with an open mind, and as always all opinions are welcomed... good and bad. Enjoy!

by Father Gregory Telepneff and Bishop Chrysostomos - The relationship between Hellenistic thought and the theology of the Greek Fathers is one which is frequently misunderstood by Western theologians, not only because they look rather superficially at classical Greek philosophy itself, but also because they often overlook the clear process of development, during the first few centuries of Christianity, that led to a remarkable unity of thought in the Greek Patristic understanding of the cosmos and man. Thus it is that various theologians and Church historians hold forth with pompous and sweeping, if naive and sometimes unctuous, pronouncements against the "Platonic" or "Aristotelian" foundations of this or that Eastern Patristic notion. Indeed, even many an ingenuous scholar has eulogized the Greek Fathers with tales of their woeful fall to the traps of Hellenistic paganism.

One cannot deny, of course, the existence of certain affinities between the corpus of Patristic writings, both Eastern and Western, and Hellenism. Nor would we wish to disclaim certain general intuitions, as it were, held in common in these respective systems of thought. But the Greek Fathers, in "borrowing" language, images, and ideas from the Greek philosophers, maintained, in this process, views that are wholly at odds with the cosmology and anthropology of the Greek ancients. One might even say that their debt to Hellenistic thought is not so much that of a student to his mentor as that of a sculptor to his stone.

The Greek Fathers built with the basic materials of Greek philosophy, but what they produced was different in form and in intent from that philosophy. The very vision of what it was they were to form from the stone of the Greek ancients, in fact, flowed from a view of man and the universe that the Greek classical philosophers would have considered "revolutionary."

The Greek Fathers believed and taught that God had acted through Israel and the Jewish people to prepare the human mind and heart for the coming of Christ. They also felt that the "fullness of time" rested in the Hellenes. Providence had appointed the Greeks, too, if not the Roman Empire itself, as a vehicle for the spread of the Faith.

One would perhaps not wish to call this appointment a "covenant;" but certainly it was not, for the Greek Fathers, adventitious. There were, according to the Fathers, hints of Christian truth in Hellenism, and some of its ideas could be employed in the promulgation of the Christian Faith. Thus, the Fathers were eclectic—and not, as many suppose, syncretic—in their incorporation of Hellenism into the process of Christian theologizing. St. Justin the Martyr, for example, though he characterizes Plato as a "Christian before Christ," emphasizes that many Platonic ideas about the soul and the world are incompatible with Christian teachings.

St. Gregory the Theologian suggested that, though Hellenistic language was useful to the Christian theologian, it had to be "baptized" and "transformed" to convey adequately the Christian experience. The "old skins" could not completely hold the "new wine." For the Greek Fathers, the final criterion in any decision to use the "tool" of Greek philosophy in teaching Christian truth was whether or not it conformed to Christian spiritual experience, the life and experience of the Faith. Hellenistic wisdom was never thought to be adequate in and of itself. St. Gregory of Nyssa summarizes what we have said, when he writes that:
    ...pagan philosophy says that the soul is immortal. This is a pious offspring. But it also says that souls pass from body to body and are changed from an irrational to an irrational nature. This is a fleshly and alien foreskin. And there are many other such examples....It acknowledges [God] as creator, but says He needed matter for creation. It affirms that He is both good and powerful, but that in all things He submits to the necessity of fate. [1]
Ultimately, for Gregory of Nyssa Greek philosophy was as if "always in labor but never giving birth." [2]

I. P. Sheldon-Williams, in his general investigation of the relations between Christian and Hellenistic thought, [3] very much supports what we have said about Hellenism and the Greek Patristic tradition. He identifies, in particular, three Hellenistic ideas about the cosmos and the person which are at odds with early Christian (essentially Greek Patristic) thought: the eternity of the cosmos, the inherently divine nature of the human soul, and the dualistic belief that the soul is a substance distinct from the body and, therefore, ultimately destined to a disembodied existence.

The most compelling support for Sheldon-Williams' insights is the fact that the three major areas of divergence between Christian and Hellenic thought which he identifies mirror, and quite closely so, those very principles of Christian doctrine which Synesios of Cyrene, Christian bishop of Ptolemais [ca. 410] and a former Platonic philosopher, had such difficulty accepting before his conversion. In his "105th Letter," Synesios cites what were initially for him problematic areas of Christian thought: the denial of the eternity of the world; the denial of the pre-existence of souls (a corollary to the doctrine of the soul's syngeneia or inherent co-naturality with the Divine); and the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. To be sure, his confession confirms, as Sheldon-Williams also contends with us, that the Hellenic world and the spiritual milieu of the Greek Fathers, at very least with regard to the foregoing important issues, were anything but a marriage of like Weltanschauungen and similar cosmologies and anthropologies.

The classical Greek doctrine of the eternity of the cosmos stands in total contradiction to the Christian belief that God created the world ex nihilo, and thus the nature of the universe is wholly different for the Hellenistic thinker and the Greek Father. The primary ontological categories in Hellenistic thought, the intelligible and the sensible realms ("God" at the height of the intelligible), are foreign to Patristic thought. The Church Fathers divide reality into Uncreated (God) and Created realms, distinctions between the intelligible and noetic and the sensible and material belonging to the created realm. [4] The dualistic ontology of the Hellenistic philosophers constitutes a metaphysics which is not only at odds with that of Christian ontology, but which, more specifically, cannot accommodate the Christian notion of redemption. The structure of Hellenistic ontology renders the Christian doctrine of redemption meaningless, [5] since the Christian ontology of the Greek Fathers is decidedly theocentric and rests on the restoration of creation to its Creator. This ontology is incompatible with an ontology focused on essentially intellectual elements.

Thus, because they believed in its essential immortality and incorruption, the pivotal Christian doctrine of an incarnational scheme to redeem the soul from sin and ontological corruption is wholly absent from the thought of the ancient Greek philosophers. [6]

According to Hellenistic philosophy, the soul is enlightened by gnosis, which reminds it of and recalls it to its extant, but obscured original, pristine state. The soul is not in need of the ontological renewal or transfiguration afforded by the Incarnation of God; nor is it necessary for one to overcome "sin." In the mind of the ancients, God and the "novus homo," if the latter term even obtains in the Hellenistic tradition, were to be reached and attained through gnosis and intellectual contemplation; while, in Christian teaching, God in essence is never available to the intellect and spiritual revelation transcends the capacities of human knowledge as such. [7]

The Christian doctrine of enlightenment and the restoration of the soul also centers on divine Grace. Since the soul is not inherently immortal or divine, the human person must "acquire" something above and beyond human nature, in order achieve salvation, enlightenment, the restoration of the soul, and communion with God. Moreover, the soul, according to the Greek Patristic view, cannot acquire this "something" (knowledge or vision, if you will) by its own power. Instead, it must rely on a Divine act, the Grace of divine revelation and the Grace of the Incarnation, by which potential perfection is offered to mankind in the ontological restoration of the human soul. Indeed, the difference between the Hellenistic (and especially Platonic) vision of human enlightenment and that of the Greek Fathers centers on two radically different views of God and the world, on a "Metaphysics of Intellect" and a "Metaphysics of Grace." [8]

Hellenistic somatology, finally, conceives of the body as an illusion which binds and frustrates the actions of the divine soul—a "prison," in Platonic parlance, holding man captive. Though uncareful observers often attribute such Hellenistic beliefs to the Greek Fathers, these beliefs in fact stand, as Sheldon-Williams rightly contends, in sharp and total contrast to Christian somatology and its doctrine of the "rehabilitation" of the body. [9] A fundamental element of Christian teaching is that the the body will be resurrected with the soul at the Parousia, and no small part of Greek Patristic writings is devoted to the explication and defense of this dogma. By the same token, since the "lower" psychic [10] and sensible faculties of the body participate in the its general restoration, it is not only the body, but physical perception and the senses that are transformed in the spiritual life and fully regenerated at the General Resurrection. Christian theosis, or divinization, is fulfilled in the Resurrection, when the wholeness of the body and soul are restored. This Patristic teaching could not be more greatly removed from the Hellenistic idea of enlightenment and the escape of the human soul from the chains of the body.

The late Protopresbyter Georges Florovsky has also dealt extensively in his writings with the relationship between Patristic thought and Hellenism. [11] He emphasizes especially the transformation which Hellenistic thought underwent as it was incorporated into the thought of the Greek Fathers. In one characteristic passage, he writes that:
    Usually we do not sufficiently perceive the entire significance of this transformation which Christianity introduced into the realm of [Hellenistic] thought... It is sufficient to point out just a few examples: the idea of the createdness of the world, not only in its transitory and perishable aspect but also in its primordial principles. For Greek thought the idea of "created ideas" was impossible and offensive. And bound up with this was the Christian intuition of history as a unique—once-occurring—creative fulfillment, the sense of movement from an actual "beginning" up to a final "end," a feeling for history which in no way at all allows itself to be linked with the static pathos of ancient Greek thought. And the understanding of man as person, the concept of personality, was entirely inaccessible to Hellenism, which considered only the prosopon or mask as person. And finally there is the message of Resurrection in glorified but real flesh, a thought which could only frighten the Greeks, who lived in the hope of future dematerialization of the spirit....These are the presuppositions and categories of a new Christian philosophy....[12]
One of the most important differences between Hellenistic pholosophy and Greek Patristic thought cited by Father Florovsky is their divergent concept of time and history. This subject deserves our special attention, since it helps to focus the more general distinctions in cosmology and anthropology noted by Sheldon-Williams. Father Florovsky says specifically of time and history:
    Greek philosophy was dominated by the ideas of permanence and recurrence. There could be but a disclosure [i.e., in history] of the pre-existing fulness. [Even] Aristotle made this point with a complete frankness: 'What is "of necessity" coincides with what is "always," since that which "must not" cannot possibly "not-be." ...If, therefore, the "coming-to-be" of a thing is necessary, its "coming-to-be" is eternal. ...It follows that the "coming-to-be" of anything, if it is absolutely necessary, must be cyclical, i.e., must return upon itself....It is in circular movement, therefore, and in cyclical "coming-to-be," that the "absolutely necessary" is to be found' (de gen. et corr., II.2, 338a).[13]
Florovsky concludes that: "Greek philosophy was always concerned rather with the 'first principles' than with the 'last things'.... [In the Greek conception], no increase in 'being' is conceivable.... The true reality is always 'behind' ["from eternity"], never 'ahead.'" [14]

As Father Florovsky's clear statements aver, Christian thought and Hellenism part ways with regard to the eschatological and historical nature of human experience and the cosmos. Even for Aristotle, who moved away from some of the accepted categories of earlier Hellenistic thought, history was still not history as such, but a disclosure of a pre-existing fullness. His entelecheia, or teleology, while linear in form, is still rooted in the notion of fixed, eternal, and pre-existing forms. Teleological development is simply a "disclosure" in individual development of an end. History, whether personal or universal, therefore, never leads to the creation and development of new and unique forms or modes of existence; it is not directive in its nature. Aristotelian and Hellenistic thought in general could not tolerate the idea that a thing could become more perfect in kind by acquiring some characteristic which was not implicit in its nature from the beginning. [15] The eternal cosmos, in its essential principles or logoi, exists from the very inception, or arche, of existence in a state of full perfection. Any sense of "regaining" one's lost original nature (as in the Neo-Platonic epistrophe) is, therefore, still always an historically "unproductive" act. One simply returns to the primordial state, and both personal and universal history have only a provisionary significance; history adds nothing to the essence of a being.

In the Greek Patristic scheme of things, history is significant, since it records a productive sequence of events both in the personal and universal sense. It is a productive unfolding in time and space of something creative: a move toward the eschaton and the restoration of the fallen universe —a restoration which embodies perfection and which moves the creation from glory to glory, from lost perfection to "greater perfection." If we understand this Christian notion of time and space, then we come to see the absurdity of attributions of Platonic world-views, by some Western scholars, to such renowned Greek Fathers as St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Dionysios the Areopagite. The Greek Fathers speak of movement into eternity in a manner which gives meaning to historical existence, since the virtues, spiritual character, and "perfection" are "acquired" in embodied existence and in time and space. Indeed the very flesh indissolubly linked to the human soul during the course of embodied existence is "translated" into eternity and participates in divinity. It is not shed but transformed. Though not everything in temporal empirical existence is so transformed—but only that which has a referent in the divine and eternal realm—, there is obviously a very fundamental divergence between the Greek Patristic understanding of the importance of historical existence and that of the Greek ancients.

Let us here emphasize that the Christian idea of "productive" free-will is a direct outgrowth of the emphasis which the Greek Fathers place on the entry of historical, empirical bodies into eternity. By exercising choice, the human being accomplishes a spiritual task within history. Though this task is ultimately perfected in the eschaton, it is actualized by free action in time and space. The ancient Greek view of the cosmos is a-productive, as it were. For the Hellenistic philosophers, though the universe is in motion, this motion is inefficacious, since it effects no alteration in the essences or ideas of things. [16] Empirical "reality" is defined only with reference to these essences of things and constitutes what is essentially a "closed" ontology. Their ontological scheme is inconsistent with the dynamic Patristic idea that creatures are not only created out of nothing, but that they are also created in a state of relative spiritual immaturity. History describes the process of attaining to perfection: a productive passing of time in which the human will and person have critical meaning.

Father Florovsky has also placed great emphasis in his writings on another essential area of concern which highlights the differences between the Hellenistic philosophers and the Greek Fathers: human personhood. [17] Here, especially, we see that Hellenistic philosophical terms and categories are radically transformed in their Patristic usage. In fact, the Greek Patristic concept of personality is a uniquely Christian contribution to the history of thought. As Florovsky notes, in their understanding of the relationship between the human soul and the body, the Greek Fathers were actually closer to Aristotle than to Plato. [18] Prima facie, this appears strange, since, strictly speaking, Aristotelian anthropology and cosmology make no claims for life after death: nothing human passes beyond the grave, and man's singular being does not survive death. Nonetheless, Father Florovsky argues that Aristotle understood the unity of human existence, of the body and soul, at an intuitive level. Aristotle understood better than any of the Greek philosophers the empirical wholeness of human existence, and thus empirical existence and the human personality took on an importance for him that could not be detached from the eternal elements of the soul. And so he discounted the idea of a transmigration of souls to other bodies, in that he could not free himself from a compelling respect for the unity of these two elements of the human person. He never came to attribute permanence or an immortal dimension to the person, but the foundations for such an attribution are everywhere to be found in his thought.

The Greek Fathers, according to Florovsky, drew on Aristotle's notion of the mortal unity of body and soul and effected a synthesis, of sorts, from this and the impersonal [19] and eternal Platonic nous of Plato. [20] The Patristic witness affirms the integrity and eternal dimension of empirical, embodied, and uniquely individual human existence and, at the same time, pays homage to the noetic qualities of existence that Plato reserved only for the soul. There is a direct continuity of the person from the mundane to the spiritual realm, not only by virtue of the resurrection of the body, but because individual personality, formed and shaped in time and space, survives in its uniqueness outside time and space. In essence, this Patristic synthesis is a rejection of body-soul dualism, since the life of the material body and its sensible faculties acquire an ultimate significance, or at least possess a referent in the eternal or divine realm. In their transformation of Platonic and Aristotelian precepts, the Greek Fathers were able to convey with loyalty the unique Christian idea of the person, without indeed tainting that teaching with the foibles of Hellenistic dualism.

Professor [now Metropolitan] John Zizioulas, following Father Florovsky's observations about the synthesis of Platonic and Aristotelian concepts by which the Greek Fathers formulated a Christian statement of personhood, makes some interesting comments about the implications of this synthesis for a Christian ontology. His arguments also provide an opportunity to see the crucial differences which separate Greek Patristic and Hellenistic thought at the most fundamental of levels. Zizioulas observes that Aristotle's notion of man as a psychosomatic entity void of an eternal or permanent quality renders impossible the conceptual union of the "person" [prosopon] with the "substance" [ousia] of man. Thus Aristotelian man has no true ontology. For Plato, the soul can be united with another physical body; through reincarnation, it can assume another "individuality" and thus ensure a kind of human, but not unique, personal continuity. Greek philosophical thought, then, is unable to endow human individuality with unique permanence and, therefore, with a true ontology of the person. This is partly because, for the Hellenistic sages, being, in the final analysis, is an eternally existing unity (in spite of the multiplicity of existent things), [21] and every differentiation within the course of embodied human existence is nothing more than a falling away from the unity of true being. [22] Individual human personhood compromises ontological unity. Hellenistic notions of the universe lead to a kind of "ontological monism," [23] from which not even God—merely the first of the hierarchy of intelligible beings—can escape. Moreover, Zizioulas notes, from the standpoint of Hellenistic ontology, humans are never free to add or contribute anything significant to "being" or existence. True being, in its essential sense, exists already from the arche of existence. In the words of Plutarch, "no particular thing, not even the least, can be otherwise than according to common nature and reason [logos]." [24] For the Greeks, Zizioulas concludes, existence is therefore determined by a pre-existing necessity.

It is also important to note that the term prosopon, or "person," originally denoted in Greek theatre the mask worn by an actor as he played various roles. In Hellenistic philosophy the term continued to convey the idea of a temporary "role" assumed or played by an individual in his temporal life. It is not used to describe the true "hypostasis" of an individual and ultimately remains without ontological content. [25]

To the classical Greeks, Zizioulas contends, personhood was no more than an adjunct to concrete ontological being. [26] Of course the Greek ancients had intuitions about individual personality; [27] this one cannot deny. The point is that these intuitions were never so strong as to prompt the Hellenistic philosophers to find in temporal existence real significance—anything beyond the temporary and illusory world of the "mask"—and again, therefore, to find in the individual personality traits suggestive of a genuine ontology. [28]

In Patristic thought, personhood has ontological authenticity because in synergy, in conjunction with the will of God, the human is responsible for his or her own destiny. The soul is not inherently immortal, but only so with regard to its syngeneia with the Divine realm. The soul possesses divinity "thetically", that is, in a thetic participation—a participation by free will—in God. God has of course given eternal life to humankind as an act of His own will and energies. But there is also a higher level of existence, in which the person comes to virtuous well-being and full communion with God. It is this level of participation that the creature must acquire within the course of embodied historical existence and by an exercise of the will. Thus a personal encounter with God in temporal existence, in an historical context, and in an "existential" way, one might say, brings the human person (and, as we have noted above, both peronal and universal history) into the eternal realm, endowing him, in this synergistic interaction, with its energetic character—a character inaccessible to the human person in Hellenistic thought. [29]

In the Greek Fathers, the historical existence of the person—the individual human person as a psychosomatic whole of complementary elements of soul and body—is linked to the eternal human essence, the individual logos, or genuine identity. Human empirical existence is given an ontological foundation in the Patristic identification of hypostasis with prosopon and with its translation or movement into eternal existence. Even the very course of the productive acquisition of virtue by which the personality attains to genuine ontology is, for in the Greek Fathers, a participation [metousia], or "sharing," in divine existence and therefore possesses an eternal dimension itself. Certainly our discussion, along many dimensions, of man and the cosmos in Hellenistic and Greek Patristic thought leaves little doubt that the Greek Fathers cannot be accused by any justifiable criterion of contamination by the dualism and cosmological and anthropological limitations which rendered history, the body, human existence, and temporal experience ontologically insignificant for the Greek ancients. Rather, a careful and objective examination of the larger paradigms and presuppositions which underlie these two approaches to reality, as it were, reveals that the Greek Fathers—if we may express this without pejorative implication—" contaminated" Hellenistic philosophy by borrowing its insights into ontological truth, its terminology, and to some extent its philosophical methodology and adopting them to the revelations of Christians truth—"baptizing" them and transforming them. Only the most superficial or polemical observer, even from such a cursory treatment as our present one, can truly argue that the Greek Fathers were anything but seekers after old bottles for new wine, readily and acutely conscious that, lest the new wine be spoiled in these old vessels, they had to cleanse and purify them of their former content. Such is a proper image of the Greek Fathers as they undertook to use, transform, and remold Hellenistic thought.

Endnotes

  • 1. "Life of St. Moses," II.40. In Classics of Western Spirituality. Paulist Press, 1978.
  • 2. Ibid., II.11.
  • 3. See his chapters in the Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, ed. A. H. Armstrong. Cambridge University Press, 1967. Pp. 426ff.
  • 4. Ibid, p. 426.
  • 5. Ibid.
  • 6. Father John Romanides very persuasively argues that the idea of salvation from sin and ontological corruption is a fundamentally Biblical concept in his essay, "Original Sin According to St. Paul," St. Vladimir's Quarterly, IV (1&2), pp. 5-28. For those who wish to pursue the issue of restored human ontology, see Constantine Tsirpanlis, "Aspects of Maximian Theology of Politics, History, and the Kingdom of God," The Patristic and Byzantine Review, 1 (1982).
  • 7. L. Bouyer, review of The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition (A. Louth), Sobornost, IV (1), pp. 70-74.
  • 8. Sheldon-Williams, Cambridge History, p. 427. One might argue that later Hellenistic philosophers, such as Plotinus, come closer to a Christian mestaphysics. Despite such contentions, even later Hellenistic thought ultimately purports that it is the "purified mind," reduced to a state of pure simpliccity, which "reaches" God. A Christian concept of effective Grace is wholly absent from such a scheme. See in this regard H. Drrie, "Was ist 'spätantiker Platonismus'? berlegungen zur Grenzziehung zwischen Platonismus und Christentum," Theologische Rundschau, N.F. 36, esp. pp. 293, 301ff.
  • 9. Ibid., p. 426.
  • 10. The Patristic thymos and epithymia and the Hellenistic nous and logistikon.
  • 11. See his Collected Works (Nordland; Bchervertriebsanstalt, 1972-), "Creation and Creaturehood," "Redemption," "The 'Immortality' of the Soul," and "The Last Things and the Last Events," chaps. in Vol. III; "The Patristic Age and Eschatology," chap. in Vol. IV.
  • 12. Ibid., Vol. VIII, p. 32.
  • 13. Ibid., Vol. IV, pp. 68-69.
  • 14. Ibid.
  • 15. Cf. E.S. Mascall, The Openness of Being. N.p., 1971. P. 246.
  • 16. Cf. J. D. Zizioulas, Being As Communion. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1985. Pp. 71f.
  • 17. In particular, see his chapter, "The Patristic Age and Eschatology," Collected Works, IV, pp. 63-78.
  • 18. Ibid., p. 75.
  • 19. The doctrine of merempsychosis denies the personal continuity of the soul in Platonism.
  • 20. Florovsky, Collected Works, IV, p. 77.
  • 21. Zizioulas, Being, p. 29.
  • 22. Plotinus tries to solve this dilemma by offering positive "reasons" for this falling away, but he ultimately attributes only a derived "goodness" to these "reasons," which fall short of the ideal "good."
  • 23. Zizioulas, Being, p. 29.
  • 24. Ibid., pp. 32f. Interestingly enough, Professor Zizioulas believes that Plutarch linked the logos with nature and fate, another element in Hellenistic ontology that the Greek Fathers would have rejected prima facie.
  • 25. Ibid., pp. 31-33.
  • 26. Ibid., p. 34.
  • 27. Cf. G.C. Stead, "Individual Personality in Origen and the Cappodocian Fathers." In Origeniana: Premier Colloque International des tudes Origniennes, eds. H. Crouzel et al. Bari, 1975. See esp. his remarks on Proclus.
  • 28. Zizioulas, Being, p. 35.
  • 29. Ibid., p. 39.



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