Stump the Priest: Memory Eternal

 

Question: "Is it proper to say "Memory Eternal!" in reference to the non-Orthodox?"

When we sing "Memory Eternal!" at a funeral or a pannikhida, we are not praying that the memory of the departed will be eternal among those here on earth, but that God would remember them eternally. Of course, by this we do not mean to suggest that God might forget if we don't ask him to remember them. We are speaking of a particular kind of memory.

In the Gospels Christ tells us that on the day of judgment, many will be surprised to hear the words "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:22-23). And in the Scriptures when it speaks of "knowing" someone, it refers to the intimate knowledge that results from relationship, and so the point in this passage is that while the people in question professed to be followers of Christ, they did not have a real living relationship with Him. 

When we pray that God would make the memory of the departed eternal, we are also alluding to the prayer of the wise thief on the Cross who said to Christ: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42).

When considering whether it is proper to say "Memory Eternal!" with reference to someone who is not an Orthodox Christian, you should consider whether or not it would be proper to do the funeral service or a pannikhida for them. And the answer is "No." It is true that there is a very short order of service for a non-Orthodox Christian that can be done if they such a person has no one to bury them from their own faith, such as might happen in an Orthodox country. But such services simply consisted of singing the Trisagion, without any of the other prayers of a funeral or pannikhida, including "Memory Eternal!" And if we are not permitted to sing "Memory Eternal!" even at the burial of a non-Orthodox Christian under such circumstances, we should not say it with regard to them in other contexts either (see: On the Burial of the Heterodox).

We certainly can pray for them in our private prayers, and we do not preempt the judgment of God, and assume we know what it will be in their case, but "Memory Eternal! is a prayer that should be limited to baptized Orthodox Christians who have at least not renounced the faith in this life.

Update: St. John of Shanghai did allow "Memory Eternal!" to be sung, along with some other hymns, as "an exception for those persons who during their lives demonstrated goodwill towards the Orthodox faith and took part in its life to the best of their abilities..." It is not clear exactly what sort of person would fit into that category, although perhaps someone who had an interest in conversion, but had not yet completed the process would be such an example. But clearly, saying "Memory Eternal!" for those who had no connection with the Church would not fit, even as an exception.

For more information, see:

Stump the Priest: How do you Pray for the Non-Orthodox?

Stump the Priest: The Johannine Comma

1 John 5: 7-9 in the Codex Montfortianus

Question: "According to the Orthodox Church, Is 1 John 5:7 original or a later insertion? I've been studying the subject, but I would greatly appreciate your input."

In most contemporary translations of the Bible, you encounter portions of Scripture that are put in brackets or reduced to a footnote, and it is claimed that "the earliest and most reliable manuscripts" do not include the texts in questions. However, when you look further into these cases, you will generally find that the vast majority of Greek  manuscripts include the text. For example, in the case of the ending of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:9-20), there are only two 4th century Greek manuscripts that omit these verses, and one other manuscript that is much later in origin, while there are sources that pre-date the 4th century (such as the Diatessaron) that include these verses, not to mention ancient translations that predate that period. And when you add that to the fact that every other Greek Manuscript does include these verses, it makes the move to omit these verses highly questionable, despite all protests to the contrary.

In the case of 1 John 5:7-8, however, the evidence in favor of the longer reading is very weak, although there is some support for it, particularly in the Latin tradition.

The longer reading of 1 John 5:7-8 is as follows, in the King James text:

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."

And so without the longer portion, the text would read:

"For there are three that bear record, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."

When it comes to Greek Manuscripts, there are only eight that provide support for the longer reading, and they are all relatively late:

61: codex Montfortianus, dating from the early sixteenth century.

88: a variant reading in a sixteenth century hand, added to the fourteenth-century codex Regius of Naples.

221: a variant reading added to a tenth-century manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

429: a variant reading added to a sixteenth-century manuscript at Wolfenbüttel.

629: a fourteenth or fifteenth century manuscript in the Vatican.

636: a variant reading added to a sixteenth-century manuscript at Naples.

918: a sixteenth-century manuscript at the Escorial, Spain.

2318: an eighteenth-century manuscript, influenced by the Clementine Vulgate, at Bucharest, Romania.

A case can be made that the text is quoted in part by St. Cyprian of Carthage, however, this is disputable.

The longer reading is found in most Latin texts, and the Old Latin text was probably translated in Apostolic times, and so this is not an insignificant fact.

When printing was invented, Erasmus was the first to publish the Greek New Testament, and in his earlier editions, he did not include the longer reading. This is why Luther's translation never included this reading, and so this has never been much of an issue in the German speaking world. However, because the text had such strong support in the Latin, and this was the text of Scripture best known to western scholars of Erasmus' time, there was pressure for him to include it, and he eventually did include it in later editions, after a Greek manuscript was found that included the longer reader. This is why the longer reading is included in the King James Version.

If you look at a Greek Bible, published by the Orthodox Church in Greece, you will see that the longer reading is included, but is reduced to a smaller font, to indicate that it is questionable. I believe this is the only example of this that text.

Η Αγία Γραφή: Η Παλαιά Διαθήκη και Η Καινή Διαθήκη (The Holy Bible: The Old Testament and the New Testament), published by the Zoe Brotherhood of Theologians, Athens, Greece, 2004, p. 1051. 

On the other hand, the Slavonic Bible, the Slavonic Apostol (the Liturgical Epistle Book), and the Russian Synodal translation of the Bible all include the longer reading without any notes questioning its authenticity. This may be due to the influence of Erasmus' New Testament, or due to the influence of the Latin text. Latin was a key part of the the study of early Slavic seminaries. 

The Slavonic Apostol showing the section from 1 John 5 which includes the longer reading.

Obviously there is nothing to object to in terms of the content of the longer reading of 1 John 5:7-8, but given that the support for it is relatively weak, especially in the Greek textual tradition, it is not a text that one should cite authoritatively, given that doing so is more likely to side-track any discussion, rather than settle anything. On the whole, it seems unlikely to have been the original reading. It may have originated as an explanatory margin note that somehow found its way into the body of the text over time. As such, the text is not wrong, just not likely original. The fact there is a textual issue like this should not bother us. There is no single perfect text of Scripture, and yet, the Church has within its tradition the fullness of Scripture as God inspired it, and we can be sure that the Church has properly preserved and understood this text.

For More information See:

The Johannine Comma (Bible Researcher)

The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to St. Mark, by John Burgon

The Revision Revised, by John Burgon

Reader Services though the 18th Sunday after Pentecost

This installment covers the Sundays of Old Calendar September, which on the civil Calendar runs from September 14th through October 13th. I intend to keep these texts posted as long as there are states or English speaking countries that are still under lockdown due to the Coronavirus.

The Eves

For the Eves of the upcoming Sundays and Feasts, you could ideally do the Vigil. The fixed portions can be downloaded here:

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/reader_vigil.doc

or viewed in HTML, here:

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/vigil.htm

For the Rubrics, see: http://www.saintjonah.org/rub/

The variable portions of the service can be downloaded here (all of these would be served on the eve of their respective days). The Sunday services require two files, because these combinations do not repeat annually. In addition to the files linked for the Sundays below, you will need to use the appropriate Katavasia, which for this time period is either the Katavasia of the Cross, and the more commonly used Katavasia of the Theotokos -- the respective Rubrics will tell you which. Also, on Sundays, there are some hymns that are appointed according to which Matins Gospel is read. To find out which one is read, you also need to look at the Rubrics. For those texts, you will find them here: http://www.saintjonah.org/services/matinsgospel.doc Those hymns are usually done at the Exapostilaria and then at the Doxasticon at the Praises.

Also, the texts below do not always have the full canon for the Menaion, but you can find that here:

https://orthodox-europe.org/liturgics/menaion/september/ (you will need to look up the service according to the Old Calendar (o.s.) date).

For the 15th Sunday after Pentecost / Martyr Sozon / Forefeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos: (September 20th n.s. / September 7th o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/9-07_martyr_sozon.doc

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/tone6.doc

For the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos (September 21st n.s. / September 8th o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/vigil_nativity_theotokos.doc

For the 16th Sunday after Pentecost / The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 27th n.s. / September 14th o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/vigil_exaltation.doc

For the 17th Sunday after Pentecost / The Apodosis of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: (October 4th n.s. / September 21st o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/9-21_apodosis_exaltation.doc

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/tone8.doc

For the 18th Sunday after Pentecost / St. Chariton the Confessor: (October 11th n.s. / September 28th o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/9-28_stcharitontheconfessor.doc

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/tone1.doc

However, if doing Vigil is too much for you at present, you could do Small Compline, and take the canon of each of the above days, and read it immediately after the Creed, and then repeat the Kontakion that is appointed after Ode 6th of  the canon after the following Trisagion.

Typika

In place of the Liturgies, you would do Typika:

For the 15th Sunday after Pentecost / Martyr Sozon / Forefeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos: (September 20th n.s. / September 7th o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/typika_pent15.doc

For the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos (September 21st n.s. / September 8th o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/typika_nativity_theotokos.doc

For the 16th Sunday after Pentecost / The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 27th n.s. / September 14th o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/typika_exaltation.doc

For the 17th Sunday after Pentecost / The Apodosis of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: (October 4th n.s. / September 21st o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/typika_pent17.doc

For the 18th Sunday after Pentecost / St. Chariton the Confessor: (October 11th n.s. / September 28th o.s.):

http://www.saintjonah.org/services/typika_pent18.doc