www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Man Tries to Convert Lions

I can't help it, but for some reason my twisted sense of humor finds this hysterically funny, and at the same time sad.

Lions [msnbc.msn.com]

It must be a full moon or something.

Dear Charles,

...and what made this man think that the lions weren't already Christians???? :p

Did he think that they were Muslims?

LOL!!!

I find it somewhat amusing in a strange way too!

In Christ,
Alice

Yes, Alice, they (the lions) should be Christians by now after ingesting so many of them in Rome's Colesseum thousands of years ago!

And, then again, at first I thought Charles was referring to the Detroit "Lions!"

Amado

Dear Amado,

Yes, "you are what you eat!"

Alex

Do you suppose he saw the old movie "Androcles and the Lion" (Alan Young, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature), but forgot how the lion became friendly?

I was recently talking to a fellow Roman-rite friend of mine about animals, and we began discussing the idea that any given animal is in perfect conformity with God's will.

Is this idea heterodox? Alternately, is this more or less the Christian doctrine on the subject?

If so, it has interesting implications for this conversation (as well as for our friend in the zoo).

Marc

I dont know about you, but I thought I caught a glimpse of the male lion saying grace just before he lunged at this disillusioned guy.

JoeS

�Come bite me!� he said with both hands raised, television footage showed.

Maybe he misread the scriptures about handling snakes and not being harmed. Or maybe he was in the lions den in Scripture, kind of lost in time.

Indeed, ByzanTN a very interesting article.

Pani Rose

Joe-
As regards animals being in the perfect will of God: I think not. Man is by created nature the lord of creation, God's steward and the gardener of Earth. He is a sort of priest of the created world. When he fell, the animal kingdom fell with him.
When a human follows the Way of Christ and grows into the Image of God [that is, becomes a saint], it is remarkable how often tales of animals transcending their created natures occur: tame lions and wolves and bears, even animals that speak. These tales occur in Eastern and Western Christianity, in Judaism, and in Islam. Think of St Francis and the wolf of Gubbio, or St Seraphim and the bear, or any of the myriad "folk" tales that have come down to us.
My theory is that just as we come to share in the Divine Nature through theosis, so animals come to share in human nature when we transcend our natures through divinization.
Perhaps if this silly fellow had spent some time in contemplative prayer- say, a few years- he would have effected a miracle, instead of making a fool of himself, and to the secularists, of the gospel...
-Daniel

Dear Daniel,

I read your post with great interest, and I agree MOST especially with the last sentence.

In Christ,
Alice

Dear Friends,

Certainly, humankind and the animal kingdom are estranged from one another, as we know with dangerous animals especially!

But animals are incapable of sinning.

The Eastern Churches believe that the entire Cosmos is Divinized in Christ and this is why we will find iconographic illustrations of animals on church walls.

I've learned a great deal about the love of God and about true values from my pet companions.

And it is possible to become even more attached to them than to humans.

I think I'll stop now . . .

Alex

Daniel,

C.S. Lewis shares in that theory. The last book of his so-called space trilogy puts forward the idea that interaction with humans makes animals somehow "more" than what they would be by not interacting with humans.

Being a pet owner myself, I find this theory easy to believe.

Tammy

Several media sources are now indicating that this gentleman suffers from mental illness.

Prayers for his affliction.


CIX!

It kind of goes without saying that he suffers from mental illness... Behavior like that could never come from a sane person!

Tammy

Alex,...I do know exactly what you mean. They do spoil us as to our human interactions and relationships!!!

No talking back, no gossiping, no rudeness, no judgement, no agenda, no arguing, no competition, no demands, and no jealousy!!! Indeed, they are man's best friend!

When asked how many children we have, my husband and I often answer jokingly, "three"-- a son, a daughter, and the REALLY 'good' child: our dog!

In Christ,
Alice

I suspected he was either mentally ill, or he had a huge cache of "Watchtowers" to get rid of. I know, bad Charles! I am kidding, of course. I really did suspect mental illness.

On the other hand, your human friends don't bite the mailman...I hope.

My mailman is a mail lady who reads, writes, is competent and does a bang-up, first-class job - despite all the bad things that are said about the Postal Service. I can't imagine anyone wanting to bite her.

Charles,

Are you sure you are the same guy that goes to the mission in Knoxville. I heard he was a quite reserved kind of guy. Surely they must be talking about someone else. Only kidding!

Hey on a serious note. Did Deacon Ron start serviving Divine Liturgy this past weekend? I understood he would be back for Pittsburgh, or do I have my weekends mixed up? How did he like his training? How did he do?

Now you can call his wife Pani too.
Pani Rose

I am a bit reserved with people I don't know very well, but that changes quickly when I get to know them a little better. Then most wish I had stayed a little reserved. I wasn't at Divine Liturgy last weekend. There was an organ recital here given by a nationally known performer last Sunday. As a member of the American Guild of Organists, it was almost an obligation that I be at the recital. So I can't answer your question about Deacon Ron. I did talk to him a while back and he mentioned becoming a bi-ritual deacon, so I knew that was in the works. The Latins don't have titles for the wives of deacons, so I am sure our small Byzantine community would be the only ones to ever use that title for her. I will see what I can find out this weekend and get back to you.