{"id":36711,"date":"2016-05-01T11:24:14","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T09:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/site\/?p=36711"},"modified":"2016-10-02T10:03:03","modified_gmt":"2016-10-02T08:03:03","slug":"%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%a7-%d8%a5%d8%b1%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a9-154-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%a7-%d8%a5%d8%b1%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a9-154-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82\/","title":{"rendered":"Abba Jeremiah\u2019s Article \u2013 Beautiful Egypt 154 \u2013 \u00abResurrection \u2026 The Gate of Hope\u00bb May 1, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Today, the world\u2019s Orthodox population celebrates Easter. Many happy returns. We hope peace, prosperity and happiness overwhelm Egypt, and that the Middle East region and every unstable part of the world become quiet. Resurrection sends us lots of messages of which immortality is the most important. History has always tackled the issue of death: and man has striven incessantly toward life. Yet, Resurrection came over with eternal life.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Religions have always promoted the ideology of resurrection and immortality. These are God\u2019s gifts to man who He created on His image. Jews were fully aware of this. This is clearly reflected in Martha\u2019s words to Christ after her brother\u2019s death, as she said she knew he would rise on doomsday. Christ spoke a lot about man\u2019s immortality and rising from death. He told the Sadducees who did not believe in resurrection, \u201cHave ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke unto him saying I am the God of Abraham? And the God of Isaac? And the God Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.\u201d In the Qoran, we read, \u201cOn that day, angels and spirits stand in a row, never to talk save with God\u2019s leave, and to tell the truth.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0At doomsday, God will judge each human being according to his deeds. Thus, man is deemed responsible for his life, thoughts, behavior, and decisions. He is accountable for all these on doomsday. Yet, throughout history many people have tried to evade this responsibility. Even worse, they have tried to cancel it altogether by denying the presence of God and resurrection, as well as man\u2019s immortality!<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Atheists have considered life trivial and meaningless. So much so that Sartre described existence as \u201ctrivial\u201d. Atheists might have convinced themselves of the ideologies they believe in or the beliefs they reject. Yet, they could not find a solution for the plight of death. They have always asked themselves: \u201cWhat follows death?\u201d Yet, they were never able to overcome the fear of death.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Atheists and Death<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Atheists never hid their contempt for religion and the presence of God, accusing believers that they are absent-minded. Carl Marx, German philosopher and economist, said, \u201cReligion is the opium of the people.\u201d But he was shaken by his son\u2019s death. He wrote to a friend of his, \u201cMy son\u2019s death hurt me deeply. I feel his loss as if it were yesterday. My wife collapsed totally.\u201d Thomas Paine, the English thinker who attacked religion in his \u201cAge of Reason\u201d said at the last moments of his life, \u201cI am ready to pay all my fortune to have \u2018Age of Reason\u2019 withdrawn. O God! Help me! I go to hell, if You abandon me.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Yemelyan Yaroslavsky was an atheist and head of the League of the Militant Godless organization which the Communist Party founded to exterminate religion. The slogan of this organization was that fighting religion was fighting for communism. He wrote in magazines and newspapers and published books that aimed at persuading the ex-Soviet Union citizens that religious creeds and rituals were harmful. His activity was not bound to the Soviet Union. It crossed the boundaries. He described the organization\u2019s mission in a conference, saying, \u201cOur duty is to destroy all the religious concepts of the world. If this requires killing ten million people, as was the case in last war, we will do it, in order to support the advent of a new category of people.\u201d It is said that Yaroslavsky cried out on his death bed, in the Stalin\u2019s presence, \u201cBurn all my books. Look: Hell is waiting for me\u2026 Burn all my writings.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Few months before his death, Voltaire, the French writer, suffered from pangs of conscience. He wrote a declaration in which he renounced atheism and atheists. He dismissed all the atheists who surrounded him, saying, \u201cGo away! How despicable the glory you brought to me is!\u201d Sometimes, he sought mercy; he used to say, \u201cGod and humans forsook me. Hell is waiting for me.\u201d One day, he said to his physician, \u201cI am ready to bequeath you half my property if you make me live for six months.\u201d The physician replied, \u201cSir, you cannot even live for six weeks.\u201d Voltaire, then, said, \u201cI shall go to hell.\u201d He died shortly afterwards. His nurse said, \u201cIf I am given all the money of Europe, I will not see the death of an atheist again. He would cry all night long, asking for forgiveness.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Another example is Francis Newport, founder of the English Infidel Club, who cried out at his death, \u201cOh, that I could lie for a thousand years upon the fire that is never quenched, to purchase the favor of God and be united to Him again. But it is a fruitless wish. Millions and millions of years will bring me no nearer the end of my torments than one poor hour. Oh, eternity, eternity forever and forever! Oh, the insufferable pangs of Hell!\u201d In like manner, Anton Lavey, founder of the Church of Satan, and author of \u201cThe Satanic Rituals\u201d, died crying, \u201cWhat did I do? I made a terrible mistake.\u201d He was asking for God\u2019s forgiveness.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0On the other hand, others bore the responsibility of their lives, offering all sorts of good. Thus, resurrection became a source of endless happiness for them. Heaven is that splendid place which nobody can ever imagine. So much so that St. Paul found no words to describe it except, \u201cWhat no eye has seen,\u00a0what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him.\u201d Hence, resurrection opens up the gate of hope for every soul that used the gift of life in good deeds and lofty goals. Thus, its life has become a light that guides others and a love channeled toward humanity. I am not talking about the genius or achievers. Rather, I speak of all simple souls that bore good deep within them and offered it through deeds judged by many as ordinary. Yet these deeds had a great impact on the lives of many people, making their sad hearts happy, such as smiling to a person who feels rejected, encouraging a frustrated person, or giving advice to person who feels he cannot manage.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Believing in resurrection, man realizes that life is a journey that starts with birth, crosses the bridge of death, yet, has no end. Thus, he fills his life with goodness and righteousness, offering everybody hope and happiness. Life is a story\u2026 Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.<\/span><\/h2>\n

General Bishop<\/span><\/h2>\n

Head of Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Today, the world\u2019s Orthodox population celebrates Easter. Many happy returns. We hope peace, prosperity and happiness overwhelm Egypt, and that the Middle East region and every unstable part of the world become quiet. Resurrection sends us lots of messages of which immortality is the most important. History has always tackled the issue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[6388,6391,6382,6389,6413,240,5009,14114,682,642],"class_list":["post-36711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-abba-jeremiah","tag-almasry-alyoum","tag-article","tag-beautiful-egypt","tag-resurrection-the-gate-of-hope","tag---2","tag-5009","tag-14114","tag-682","tag-642"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36711"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36711"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39541,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36711\/revisions\/39541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}