Questions for the Q&A:

[Jared]

This is the place where Rev. Father Jacobs will answer your questions.
Please refrain from including lewd or offensive language when asking a
question, and please allow some time for a response. God Bless!

[Jared]

Here's a question I've been asked in the past: If someone commits
suicide, can they still go to heaven?

[Jared]

How was the Eastern Orthodox Church founded?

[Jared]

Do Orthodox Christians have a “Pope”?

[Jared]

What is Orthodox Christian hope based on?

[Fr. Nick]

Quoting Fr. George Morelli:

From the outset, let's clarify three points. First, suicide is the
deliberate taking of life and thus a serious sin. Second, nothing in
the literature of behavioral research provides a clear understanding
of suicide. Third, the mental confusion and emotional pain of the
tortured soul who has taken his life (including those contemplating
suicide) as well as the anguish and incomprehensibility of the act
suffered by the surviving loved ones, is almost beyond human
description.

That said, the Church Fathers have been very clear in saying that no
man has authority to take his own life. This, among other things
which have been said by these minds, however good-intentioned, are not
to be generally accepted as the unerring truth for one reason -
Judgment belongs to God alone, not to any man. Here is the Church's
historic teaching on suicide:

1) Suicide is murder, and a direct contravention of the sixth
commandment.

2) Suicide means that one dies in their sin, and hence is incapable of
repenting; as such the Church refuses to perform a proper burial and
even refuses to pray over the deceased.

3) Suicide is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, for one has resisted God's
Grace and died in sin without repentence.

4) The only exception to all of the above, is if the suicide victim
commited such an act due to serious mental illness or disorder.

5) God alone knows all the facts of the suicide victim's
circumstances, and thus He alone judges according to His infinite
wisdom, mercy, and justice. As such, we should not conclude upon the
fate of a particular suicide vitcim, we only speak in general
according to Church tradition and authority.

The point in #5 is the position that we follow - We leave the matter
concerning the person who committed suicide in God's hands who is the
Most Merciful. We should trust that when God judges anyone, He takes
into consideration all his circumstances; whether the mental,
psychological or nervous. God judges according to His limitless wisdom
and knowledge. This is beyond our responsibility as a Church, and it
is moreover not our place to make a condemnation without God's
limitless wisdom which we lack. Thank you for your question!

[Jared]

In what esteem are church traditions held in comparison to a Bible-
only ("sola scriptura") criterion?

[Jared]

Why does your music often sound so "sorrowful"?

[Fr. Nick]

The Church has her origin with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, not
with a human teacher, or group, nor a code of conduct or religious
philosophy. Orthodoxy believes that the Church has her origin in the
Apostolic Community called into being by Jesus Christ, and enlivened
by the Holy Spirit. The Feast of Pentecost, which is celebrated fifty
days after Easter, commemorates the "outpouring'' of the Holy Spirit
upon the Apostles and marks the beginning of the mission of the Church
to the world. The Orthodox Church believes that she has maintained a
direct and unbroken continuity of love, faith, and order with the
Church of Christ born in the Pentecost experience.

It is important to remember that back then, we didn't think of
ourselves as the "Orthodox Church" as such, because there was one Holy
and Undivided Church without schism, denomination, or division.
Although it is difficult to date the exact year of the schism, in the
year 1054 official charges, known as Anathamas, were exchanged. The
Crusades, and especially the sack of the city of Constantinople by the
western crusaders in 1204, can be considered the final element in the
process of estrangement and deepening mistrust. From that period
onward, the Western Church, centered about the Pope of Rome, and the
Eastern Church, centered about the Patriarch of Constantinople, went
their separate ways. Although there were attempts to restore communion
in the years 1274 and 1439, there was no lasting unity achieved. While
political, cultural, and emotional factors have always been involved,
the Orthodox Church believes that the two principal reasons for the
continued schism are the papal claims of universal jurisdiction and
infallibility, as well as the meaning of the Filioque.

The Eastern Church has continued in her teachings and Traditions - One
writer has compared Orthodoxy to the faith of Rome and Protestantism
in this basic fashion: Orthodoxy has maintained the New Testament
tradition, whereas Rome has often added to it and Protestantism
subtracted from it. For example, Rome added to the ancient Creed of
the Church, while numerous Protestant Churches rarely study or recite
it. Rome has layers of ecclesiastical authority; much of Protestantism
is anti-hierarchical or even “independent” in polity. Rome introduced
indulgences and purgatory; in reaction, Protestantism has shied from
good works and discipline.

In these and other matters, the Orthodox Church has steadfastly
maintained the Apostolic Faith. She has avoided both the excesses of
papal rule and of congregational independence. She understands the
clergy as servants of Christ and His people and not as a special
privileged class. She preserved the Apostles’ doctrine of the return
of Christ at the end of the age, of the last judgement and eternal
life, and continues to encourage her people to grow in Christ through
union with Him. In a word, Orthodox Christianity has maintained the
Faith “once for all delivered to the saints.”

Thank you for your question!

+ Nick

[Fr. Nick]

No, the Eastern Orthodox Communion as such has no "pope." The
Patriarch of Constantinople is similar in his leadership, however he
is not thought of as the "Representative of Christ" on Earth as is the
Bishop of Rome, nor is he considered infalliable. He is simply the
Archbishop of Constantinople, the seat of Orthodoxy, and considered
the "first among equals" with his fellow bishops, senior in rank but
not more important nor more powerful. He does, however, have the
right to preside at pan-Orthodox synods and the right to hear appeals
in cases of dispute between bishops. The main difference is that we
do not regard the Patriarch of Constantinople as having supremacy over
all churches.