Understanding Putin- Ukraine

[Valerie]

You have to carefully read this when you have time- A Scottish Orthodox Priest posted it.

UNDERSTANDING RUSSIA

The present situation in the world generally, and in greater Europe is confusing to many post-Christian modern people in the western nations, plagued as they are with the vaguest recollections of Christianity, or immersed in the modern pseudo-Christian “churches,“ they imagine they know what the Christian religion really is.
In the Old Testament, we read of God instructing the Israelites (the People of God) to enter the land of Canaan and kill all the inhabitants and take the land. (Josh. 11:1-5. Deuteronomy 20:16-18 ) This was done as recorded in Deuteronomy, in order that the Israelites not be contaminated with the Canaanite's toxic culture/religion.
Who gave these orders to the Israelites? The LORD did. Throughout the Old Testament, who is the LORD that speaks? It is the Logos of God. Who is the Logos? As the first verses of the New Testament Gospel of Saint John tell us very clearly, the Logos is Jesus Christ who existed before all time.
So here is Christ ordering the Israelites to kill all the Canaanites, men, women and children - all that breathes. Why would he do that? The Canaanites had a long history and in some ways were innovative and creative, but along the way, they morally degenerated to an horrific extent. Their religion included sacrificing babies and children to their god by throwing them alive into a fire. Sodom and Gomorrah were in Canaan. Their religion and their culture had got to the stage where they had to be stopped and stopped quickly, otherwise their ways could spread beyond their borders. Leviticus 20:2–5 “Moreover, thou shalt say to the children of Israel: Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones. I also will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people, because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile My sanctuary, and to profane My holy name. And if the people of the land do at all hide their eyes from that man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and put him not to death; then I will set My face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go astray after him, to go astray after Molech, from among their people.” The LORD obviously felt strongly about the Canaanite god and culture.

So it seems that the People of God are required to defend themselves against such total moral degeneracy, by very strong means.

In today's world, who are the People of God? They are the Believers who are gathered out from general society into The Church. There is and can only be one Church of God – the one that existed from the beginning and exists today. Others have broken away from it over the centuries, but it remains today hundreds of millions strong, it is known as the Orthodox Church. While Orthodox Christians today are spread all over the globe, where is that Church strongest? Russia, Serbia, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria and the minor slavic nations as well as Greece. Which country is foremost among these? Russia is, it is the largest and has the majority of Orthodox Believers.
The origins of the Russian Orthodox Church date to 988. That’s when Vladimir I, the ruler of Kievan Rus’ with its capital of Kiev, which included current-day Ukraine and Russia, the ancient Russian state, converted to Orthodox Christianity and his country with him. The Orthodox Church was the single Church in the world – the Church that Christ the Anointed founded with His Apostles.
What is Russia's place in the world – from a Church point of view?

Prophecy one as recorded by Bishop Feofan of Poltava

Oh, Russia, Russia! How terribly has she sinned before the loving-kindness of the Lord. The Lord God favoured Russia, and He gave her that which He had not given to a single other nation on earth. And this nation turned out to be so ungrateful. She left Him; she rejected Him; and it is therefore that the Lord has given her over to be tormented by devils. The devils took up their residence in the souls of men, and the nation of Russia became possessed; literally, devil-ridden. And all the terrible things that we hear about what went on -- and what continues to go on -- in Russia: all the sacrilege, all the militant atheism and theomachy, -- all of this stems from her being possessed by devils. But, through the inexpressible mercy of God, this possession will pass and the nation will be healed. The nation will turn to repentance; to faith. That will occur, which none expects. Russia will be resurrected from the dead, and the entire world will be astonished. Orthodoxy in her will be reborn and triumph. But that Orthodoxy which had existed formerly will be no more. The great startsy have said that Russia will be reborn; that the people themselves will restore the Orthodox Monarchy. A mighty Tsar' will be placed upon the Throne by God Himself. He will be a great reformer, and he will be strong in the Orthodox faith. He will cast down the unfaithful hierarchs of the Church. He himself will be an outstanding personality, with a pure and holy soul. He will possess a strong will. He will be of the Romanov Dynasty, through the maternal line. He will be God's Chosen One, obedient to the Lord in all things. He will transform Siberia. But this Russia will exist only for a very short time. Soon thereafter will come to pass that of which the Apostle John speaks in his "Apocalypse."

Russia has a strong leader, right now. He is not an anointed, crowned Czar, but to all intents and purposes, he has the Czar's power:
Vladimir Vladimirovitch Putin.

So let us look a little at his record.

'' I never asked for anything that isn't mine. When I watched Russia collapse, I promised myself in front of God that I would save it. It turns out I have to save the whole world, because the demons that ruled the west have rotted everything spiritually on this planet. "

Putin jailed the Russian Oligarchs and kicked out George Soros and his foundations. After 1999, Putin restored the Russian economy. Putin followed advice by Steve Forbes for a flat income tax. Putin surprised Steve Forbes with the 13% flat income tax rate. This means Russian citizens who make £5 million a year pay 13% in income tax and it means those who earn £24,000 a year pay 13% income tax.
Putin promotes a pro-family Russian agenda. In other words, ethnic Russian citizens who marry and have children, get loans to purchase homes/appliances, tax credits, and money.
Putin helped rebuild 30,000 Russian Orthodox Churches destroyed by Globalist-funded Bolshevik Communists in 1917-1970.
Putin had Christ the Saviour cathedral rebuilt.
Putin addressed the illegal human/child sex trafficking of Russian women to foreign nations. Transnational criminal gangs lured 500,000 Russian women into the sex trade across the world in the 1990s.
Putin put a stop to illegal immigration to Russia. He protects Russian jobs.
Putin put a stop to President Obama’s drive to overthrow President Assad of Syria. Christians worldwide came to Syria to fight with the Syrian Christian, Assyrian Christian, and Kurdish militias. Christian Russia stopped this illegal war started by Obama/Clinton’s State Department from 2011-2016.
In other words, Putin’s Russia is not Globalist.

Now let us look at Vladimir Vladimirovitch personally. Putin was born on the 7th of October 1952 in St Petersburg and was secretly Baptised at the request of his mother. Putin's mother was a factory worker and his father was a conscript in the Soviet Navy, serving in the submarine fleet in the early 1930s. Early in World War II, his father served in the destruction battalion of the NKVD. Later, he was transferred to the regular army and was severely wounded in 1942. Putin's maternal grandmother was killed by the German occupiers of Tver region in 1941, and his maternal uncles disappeared on the Eastern Front during World War II.

He studied law at the Leningrad State University (now Saint Petersburg State University) in 1970 and graduated in 1975. His thesis was on "The Most Favoured Nation Trading Principle in International Law". While there, he was REQUIRED by the university authorities to join the Communist Party. In 1997, he received his Ph.D. in Economics at the Saint Petersburg Mining University for a thesis on the strategic planning of the mineral economy.

He had joined the KGB and, after training, he worked in the Second Chief Directorate (counter-intelligence), before he was transferred to the First Chief Directorate, where he monitored foreigners and consular officials in Leningrad. In East Germany his work was as a translator in coordination with the German State police.

He returned to Leningrad in early 1990 where he worked with the International Affairs section of Leningrad State University, reporting to Vice-Rector Yuriy Molchanov, while working on his doctoral dissertation. There, he renewed his friendship with his former professor, Anatoly Sobchak, soon to be the Mayor of Leningrad.

Putin resigned from the KGB reserves with the rank of lieutenant colonel on 20 August 1991, on the second day of the 1991 coup d'état attempt against the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Putin said: "As soon as the coup began, I immediately decided which side I was on". In 1999, Putin described communism as "a blind alley, far away from the mainstream of civilisation".

For many years Putin has had a close relationship with Archimandrite Tikhon, the Father Superior of Sretensky monastery. Fr. Tikhon, with a reputation as a spiritual healer, served as confessor to Putin.
Fr. Tikhon has reported in the past that Putin prays daily in a small chapel next to the presidential office. Putin’s mother and ex–wife were both certainly religious. As an overall picture, we can at the very least see that Putin is a man with a committed personal faith.
Vladimir Putin's close associate and present Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev is also an Orthodox Believer, having converted during the communist period, when it was dangerous to do so.

To understand Vladimir Vladimirovitch, it is necessary to understand the great Byzantine Empire, for that is Putin's model. The Byzantine Empire worked on the “symphonia” of Church and State, where both worked in harmony.

If you want to understand Putin, study the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. Despite near-constant warfare, Basil distinguished himself as an administrator, reducing the power of the great land-owning families who dominated the Empire's administration and military, filling its treasury, and leaving it with its greatest expanse of land and treasure in four centuries. The Christian Byzantine Empire was not afraid to go to war to preserve its Christian heritage and its territory, it maintained a powerful army – as indeed, have other Christian empires, not least the British Empire.

The Church, for Putin, has a significant and powerful value in forging a strong Russian state. Under Putin, the Church and nationalism are increasingly closely united. The Church serves a powerful role in supporting Putin’s true political ideology – his identity as an advocate of a strong Christian state. The “Russian Idea” as described by Putin in his ‘Millennium Message’, delivered in 1999 and still seen as the core of his political model, includes patriotism, collectivism, solidarity and destiny to be a great power. Religion, even were Putin not religious himself, has a very clear and obvious instrumental value in meeting those goals.
This instrumental use of the Church has been seen on a number of occasions both internally and, increasingly, externally. Internally, Putin has done much to encourage and support the growth of the Church. Under Putin’s watch, icons and church bells that were sold or smuggled out of Russia under Communism have been restored, churches have been built or rebuilt (and particularly the vast Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow) with oligarchs and local businesses strongly encouraged to fund the work.
It can also be seen in education, where Orthodox culture is now part of the school curriculum and even, increasingly, in direct control of popular media.

A quotation from the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow:
“The Patriarch is the custodian of the internal unity of the Church and, together with his brothers in the episcopate, guardian of the purity of the faith… The Patriarch is the defender of the canonical borders of the church. This ministry takes on special significance in that situation that arose after the formation of independent states on the territory of ‘historic Russia’. While respecting their sovereignty and caring for their well–being, the Patriarch is called, at the same time, to be concerned with the maintaining and strengthening of spiritual ties between people living in these countries for the sake of preserving the system of values which the one Orthodox civilisation of Holy Russia reveals to the world.”
Certainly, this sense of the “canonical borders” that exceed the current Federation borders has been employed rhetorically on several occasions – particularly in relation to Russian operations in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. Explicit note was made of the special status of Crimea in the history of Russian Orthodoxy – as the site where the Grand Prince Vladimir adopted Orthodoxy and was baptised. Putin noted, “his spiritual feat of adopting Orthodoxy predetermined the overall basis of the culture, civilisation and human values that unite the peoples of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus”.

This narrative of unifying the Russian peoples defined by language and religion has been a growing trend in which the Moscow Patriarch and President mutually reinforce one another. The Church has become mobilised as part of the defence of this policy and the State more broadly – creating a concept of ‘Spiritual Security’.

Overall, the Orthodox Church and Putin have a very Byzantine symbiotic relationship. Putin has allowed the Church to return to prominence and supported it in a way unheard of since the Revolution. The Church has, in turn, provided some of the intellectual and cultural backing for Putin’s vision for Russia and the wider Russian sphere of influence.

All of this sets the stage for the current situation in the eastern reaches of Europe.

Russia – its government, people and Church see the terrible culture that has developed in the west since the Second World War, and they are afraid that it will engulf them like a flood of sewage. Defenders of traditional Christian values against the excesses of an immoral and decadent West symbolised by gay pride parades, same-sex marriage and feminism, abortion, drugs and political corruption, they together, are determined to stop it at their gates. They saw, in recent years, this toxic culture creeping into the Ukraine and gradually rising until the Maidan revolution made it official. This was greatly offensive to a large majority of Russians, and certainly to Vladimir Putin, it was dangerous to Russia.

“There is an organic wholeness between the relation of the Russian and Ukrainian people, and if Ukrainians see it differently, it is only because they have been led astray and corrupted by the West,”

When the Ukrainian secular government, led by two non-Christian men who were the employees of oligarchs, unable to persuade Ukrainian men to join the army, resorted to the neo-nazi private armies and set them to attack Donetsk-Luhansk, the die was cast.

From the Russian point of view, Russia is not attacking a sovereign nation-state; it’s restoring the natural relationship between two of the peoples of historic Russia.

“What they are after is salvation,” Smolkin said. “Not just of the Ukrainians, but of themselves. They see it as their mission to establish unity.”

Elder Jonah of Odessa, died in 2012. Before he died he made a prophecy that a smaller neighbour of Russia would, after two years, have a revolution and a civil war and that this would escalate and Russia would have to intervene.

Exactly as he predicted, in 2014 the Maidan revolution began in the Ukraine and this descended into civil war as Donetsk and Luhansk sought to exit the Ukraine. When the Ukraine responded by sending in the private army battalions of the oligarchs to destroy Donetsk-Luhansk, Russia was forced to act by sending in the totally unsuitable nearest Russian forces and thus the war began. Germany negotiated a peace deal, but the Ukrainian President refused it.

Saint Lawrence of Chernigov (who died in 1975) said of the Ukraine;
“When a little freedom appears, when the churches and monasteries are being opened and restored, then all false teaching will come out, and the demons and secret atheists (Catholics, Uniates, Ukrainian self-ordained, and others) and will fiercely take up arms against the Orthodox Russian Church, its unity and its conciliar nature. A godless authority will support these heretics, and therefore they will take churches away from the Orthodox and slaughter the faithful.
“Then the Metropolitan of Kiev (not worthy of the name) together with his like-minded hierarchs and priests will strongly shake the Russian Church. The whole world will be amazed at his lawlessness and will be frightened. He himself will go off into eternal perdition, like Judas.
“But all these slanders of the evil one and false teachings will disappear in Russia, and there will be One Orthodox Russian Church."

Saint Theodosius of Chernigov said: "As it is impossible to divide the Most Holy Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, for it is One God, so also it is impossible to divide Russia, the Ukraine and Belorussia, for these together are Holy Rus'. Know, remember, and do not forget.”
"There was never any Patriarch in the city of Kiev—the Patriarchs were in Moscow and lived in Moscow. Beware of Ukrainian samosviatsky groups (churches) and the Unia." "A demon will enter them and they will take up arms with satanic malice against the Orthodox Faith and Church, but they will have a disgraceful end, while their followers will suffer heavenly retribution from the Lord, King of the Heavenly Hosts." Now a Ukrainian self-ordained hierarch has appeared, calling himself the head of a “Kiev Patriarchate”.

Other Elders have predicted that the Ukraine war will trigger further wars, ultimately starting the Third World War in the Middle East. Elder Paisios of Mount Athos prophesied that this war will see the end of Turkey as a nation.

In recent (2017) statements, the Patriarch of Moscow said… “the world is on the brink of slipping into ‘the abyss of the end of history’” (Newsweek, November 21, 2017). He continued by warning his congregants that the coming end of the age - the apocalypse - is currently “visible to the naked eye.” “The Antichrist is in sight”.

Elder Ilya of Mount Athos said “The antichrist is now in sight”

Vladimir Putin is not a despotic monster, another Hitler as the woke, pseudo-Christians and Main Stream Media of the west insist. He is a hard line committed Christian leader of the old school. The Christian Byzantine Emperors would have understood him well, the Christian Czars would have understood him well, The Holy Roman Emperors would have understood him well, British politicians and kings of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries would have understood him well.

It is the current western leaders, participating and immersed in their revolting, disgusting, filthy secular culture, that pretend to horror, for they privately recognise in him a deadly enemy of their degeneracy, the demons working in the west throughout the political parties and “churches” recognise him and Russia as their sworn enemy.

You see the western leaders strutting about, and cravenly spending their taxpayer's money to prop up the totally corrupt west Ukrainian state and it's corrupt puppet “leader”, with all his personal billion dollar fortune safely stashed in western Europe/UK. Have contempt for them.

Ye see yon birkie, ca’d a lord
Wha struts, an’ stares, an’ a’ that;
Tho’ hundreds worship at his word,
He’s but a coof for a’ that:
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
His riband, star, an’ a’ that,
The man o’ independent mind,
He looks and laughs at a’ that.

[Sliceitup]

What a load of utter horse manure.

[Valerie]

What a load of utter horse manure.

I expected this. No etheless,ime they say, the west doesn't understand- however a couple things ive known for awhile, Ukraine is corrupt leader & direction, Putin is not on board with George Soros and the Globalists, and none of us "here" truly understand all this in the eyes of the 2000 yr old Orthodox church & history in these countries so its easy to be rey with simplistic replies as if you've lived through their history.

There are those out there that do understand As this Scottish lroest & others writings I've read. We here, cannot pretend or come ose to understanding it all. I found the prophesies mentioned interesting- although few and far between, your Orthodox Church never dismissed the gift of prophecy. I also found an interesting that Russia believes the Antichrist is in view in the not so distant future.

[MaxPC]

I think it is a typical political PR piece in support of the Putin's POV; not surprising in the context of Kirill's stand. It is intended to rally support for Putin and turn the world's support away from the Ukrainians, a classic manoeuvre of those who are committing the invasion and violence. Russia's Orthodox leadership is also doing a PR rationalisation for their support of Putin by enumerating those events in which they benefitted from him.

I have seen this all before and I see the record is still playing. I am still not convinced. I will await God's outcome, something none of us will see until this episode is finished.

[Ken]

Russia has among the highest abortion rates, highest divorce rates, and highest out-of-wedlock birth rates of any country in Europe. One would think that an Orthodox priest would be aware of this and concerned about it.

Tell us again how Putin has restored Christian morality and "family values" to Russia.

[temporal1]

I expected this.
No etheless,ime they say, the west doesn't understand- however a couple things ive known for awhile, Ukraine is corrupt leader & direction, Putin is not on board with George Soros and the Globalists, and none of us "here" truly understand all this in the eyes of the 2000 yr old Orthodox church & history in these countries so its easy to be rey with simplistic replies as if you've lived through their history.

There are those out there that do understand As this Scottish lroest & others writings I've read.

We here, cannot pretend or come ose to understanding it all.

I found the prophesies mentioned interesting- although few and far between, your Orthodox Church never dismissed the gift of prophecy. I also found an interesting that Russia believes the Antichrist is in view in the not so distant future.

In every war, every battle, contest, argument, there will be diametrically opposed opinions, motives.
If not, there would be no contest.

Before the internet, regimes had more power to propagandize, to paint opponents as evil, usually uniquely evil. The more successful, the easier to ENLIST citizens to battle. In war, the last thing empires want to promote is the humanity of the enemy.

i don’t believe he is saying anything false about “The West.” - He’s not addressing wrongs in Russia.
The West does the same. It’s great for the MIC. [Career politicians didn’t like DJT meddling in their standard international affairs, avoiding military conflict.] It doesn’t require much imagination to understand the dislike involved. $$$$

So, here we are. Back to “Normal.” Many-many billions devoted to MIC. No end in sight, not confined to Russia/Ukraine.

- - - - - - -

From a diplomatic pov:

John Mearsheimer / 22min / Ukraine-Russia 2022 Analysis



There is so much content in this 22 min., it’s enough to convince ignoring 99.99% mainstream media is best.
.01% is sufficient to get the gist of what they’re aiming for, via 24-7 non-stop repetition.

[ohio jones]

You have to carefully read this when you have time-

And when I do, here's the first obstacle I run up against:

So it seems that the People of God are required to defend themselves against such total moral degeneracy, by very strong means.

He jumps directly from the Old Testament to the present day, ignoring the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus.

This article may indeed provide insight into how Putin sees things, but is of little value in getting Anabaptists to agree with him. We would want to have the front legs included, at the very least.



I think we would also disagree on what "strong means" means (2 Cor. 10:4).

[Sudsy]

It is interesting to me how Hitler too had a certain period when he considered himself as a 'German Christian' and having some religious reasons for trying to eliminate all Jews. There seems to be those who rise to power throughout history that considers themselves and what they do to be 'saving' the world in some way. However, are they Christ like or are they another false christ ?

I'm going with the Irish preacher who once said 'On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other rocks are shamrocks'.

[Valerie]

You have to carefully read this when you have time-

And when I do, here's the first obstacle I run up against:

So it seems that the People of God are required to defend themselves against such total moral degeneracy, by very strong means.

He jumps directly from the Old Testament to the present day, ignoring the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus.

This article may indeed provide insight into how Putin sees things, but is of little value in getting Anabaptists to agree with him. We would want to have the front legs included, at the very least.



I think we would also disagree on what "strong means" means (2 Cor. 10:4).

I don't expect Anabaptists to agree with Orthodox interpretations or even agree some of this was prophecy- just to understand it from an Orthodox background & history. The Orthodox countries would be more apt to understand- this Scottish priest has been defending & explaining all through this situation- and He disagrees with Anabaptist interpretations but who cares- we know how Revelation portrays Christ in "the end" so the priest recognizes, ad bis post points out, it was Jesus as Logos moving Israel to battle & zees Him doing same in this situation. Putin didn't t write this- but i toy agree with the "direction" Russia Church is rising from the ashes of decades of communist evil oppression- Putin is VERY against the New World Order, Ukraine is on board with it.

My "opinions mean diy squat but i think this Priest is trying to help people understand the big & prophetic picture

[Szdfan]

Ukraine is also an Orthodox country with an official Orthodox Church. I doubt that the perspective here is the sole Orthodox view of the Russian invasion.

There are two Ukrainian Orthodox Churches — the Moscow Patriarchate and an independent church.

In February, Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv (Moscow Patriarchate) said:

https://www.europeantimes.news/2022/02/ ... =available

Today trouble has come to our home again. Armed opposition continues in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The unprecedented information war continues. Propaganda destroys fraternal relations between nations and breaks even blood ties. Where to seek salvation? How can we overcome difficulties and strife when the seeds of enmity are sown abundantly among the brethren of the faith, and the strife between the brethren of the faith bears bloody fruit?

The blood shed in the last year on our earth cries out to Heaven.

At this difficult time, I call on all the brothers in the faith to always remember their responsibility for the future of our holy church and our homeland, Ukraine. We must do everything possible to end the war and establish the long-awaited peace in our country. For the clergy, any calls for military aggression and enmity are inadmissible. By no means do we have the right to justify war with religious slogans. I call on the Orthodox, who are now on both sides of the armed conflict, to see each other as brothers and to stand in the way of a truce.

We tremble with terror and pain when we see the suffering of God’s people. Sudden death erases all differences between the living. There are no more right or left in the graves. In the graves today lie the children of our church in the East, in the center and in Western Ukraine.

If we do not stop the war in our hearts, it will flare up again. In these days, the Lord gives us the opportunity to test our faith and devotion to the teachings of Christ.

These statements are significant because the Moscow Patriarch is closely aligned to the Russian Orthodox Church and views the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church as schismatic.

There appears to be a major split between Metropolitan Onufriy and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow since Moscow Patriarch opposes the invasion and supports the defense of Ukraine.

I think we should be cautious to assume that there is a single Orthodox perspective about this.