Author: The Late Thrice Blessed Pope Shenouda III

Can I be excused from paying the tithes?

You are supposed to pay tithes irrespective of your financial situation. Here I would like to put before you some important observations which are: 1. Whoever pays his tithes when he himself is in need, will have a greater reward from God. Because by doing so he is putting others before himself, unlike the person …

Does Christianity believe in the existence of envy?

Envy, as a feeling, exists. We know, for example, that Cain envied his brother Abel, that Joseph the Righteous was envied by his brothers, and that the Lord Jesus Christ was handed over to death by the Jewish priests owing to their envy of Him. At the end of the prayer of thanksgiving we say: …

Is every bad thought which goes round in my mind to be considered a sin? Where do these bad thoughts come from, and how can I stop them from coming?

Not every bad thought which goes round in your mind is to be considered a sin, for there is a difference between being under attack by thoughts and falling into sin through thoughts: Being under attack by thoughts is when a bad thought harasses you, but you do not give in to it, but rather …

Is it against the Lord Christ’s divinity that He prayed and got tired sometimes? How can we interpret His praying, His fatigue and similar things?

Those addressing these questions concentrate on Christ’s divinity and forget His humanity! He is not only God, but He also took on Him a human nature like ours; a complete human nature. Hence it is written that He shared with us everything except sin (Heb 2:17) and unless He had taken our nature, He would …

The Lord Christ said to the paralytic, “your sins are forgiven you.” (Mark 2:5) and to the sinful woman He said the same (Luke 7:48). Both obtained forgiveness without baptism nor confession, in the same moment, what is the necessity of these two sacramen

The Holy Bible says, “Without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Heb 9:22). So, the sins of the paralytic and the sinful woman were only forgiven on the cross, not in the same moment and likewise every forgiveness granted before the crucifixion. It is only a promise of forgiveness, not attainment of forgiveness. The …