Deceivers Subversion of Orthodox Church

[Good_Shepherd]

I have been following a page on Instagram since last year called theoria, i dont know why, I assumed they were an Orthodox page and alot of Orthodox people (layman) I already follow also follow this page. I dont think I have ever agreed with anything the guy on this page has said but somehow I never unfollowed him and the posts appear on my feed now and then, as of yesterday Iv come to the conclusion that the guy is a deceiver, possibly a freemason, I dont know, all the questions he asks and discusses is to cast doubt, the appearance of the man and the way he carries himself and talks I also find a little odd, I will share a link to the page if someone could check it out

 

[Pete345]

After getting pushback, he most recently posted that he has a theology degree from St. Tikhon Seminary, but that he turned down being ordained as a priest. That in itself is weird. He said he has the blessing from his bishop to teach on the Internet. I don't want to cast aspersions, but the whole matter seems weird and improbable. He comes across as pushy and all-knowing, and something is definitely off. I have followed him also on IG for a while, but rarely agree with what he is pushing.

You can see people pushing back here, when he is claiming that getting injections with fetal tissue is OK for Orthodox:

 

[Good_Shepherd]

After getting pushback, he most recently posted that he has a theology degree from St. Tikhon Seminary, but that he turned down being ordained as a priest. That in itself is weird. He said he has the blessing from his bishop to teach on the Internet. I don't want to cast aspersions, but the whole matter seems weird and improbable. He comes across as pushy and all-knowing, and something is definitely off. I have followed him also on IG for a while, but rarely agree with what he is pushing.

You can see people pushing back here, when he is claiming that getting injections with fetal tissue is OK for Orthodox:

Very weird, and whats with the background he uses, a 2 story library, where exactly is this library inside what building? Why choose that background its weird? Like I said every post Iv seen of his on my feed iv never agreed with, there was one about abortion he was questioning if its ok to do under certain circumstances which we as Christians know there is never a right time to do it or this one on hell,we know hell is a place God made for a literal satan they way he talks about hell its like some eastern religion might talk about hell not Christianity, on his bio it doesnt actually say he is an Orthodox Christian it just says he is discussing it, a lot of the comments that Iv engaged with are also deceivers seems like he has people on there,posers to comment too, while other comments are clearly in disagreement with him, would be great to have @brotheraugustine interview this guy, Im just a Catechuman but I smell a rat here

 

[paternos]

I have been following a page on Instagram since last year called theoria, i dont know why, I assumed they were an Orthodox page and alot of Orthodox people (layman) I already follow also follow this page. I dont think I have ever agreed with anything the guy on this page has said but somehow I never unfollowed him and the posts appear on my feed now and then, as of yesterday Iv come to the conclusion that the guy is a deceiver, possibly a freemason, I dont know, all the questions he asks and discusses is to cast doubt, the appearance of the man and the way he carries himself and talks I also find a little odd, I will share a link to the page if someone could check it out

Interesting topic, while I can't judge on the Orthodox side, the topic is interesting, how to recognize the deceivers?

In modern society it is always said; well if you have "the right intention"

While Jesus gave us better guidance in Matthew 7:15-20:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

If the fruits are bad; division, false teachings the tree is rotten and needs to be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I have that personally with a few public traditional Catholics with quite a large following and influence that constantly sow division in the Catholic church. If you claim to be a Catholic and constantly attack the pope, or claim he is not the pope, and more than half of your content is about bad priests, bishops, cardinals, that's bad fruit, that's bad tree, that's not spreading the love of Christ.

By this fierce rhetoric people as given the false idea to support or to alternatively choose the progressive position. Classic Hegelian dialectics.

And the interesting thing is, that I am judging the media guy to bear bad fruit and he says the pope bears bad fruit. So somewhere we need to discern. It seems love your neighbors like yourself, might be a good principle here. But on the other hand sometimes the tree needs to be cut down and thrown in the fire.

 

[Roosh]

The person who runs that channel (real name Benjamin) has levied many accusations against Father Peter Heers, which has been discussed in Father Peter's thread in this forum. Benjamin seems to wave his academic credentials to support his dubious arguments.

 

[Good_Shepherd]

The person who runs that channel (real name Benjamin) has levied many accusations against Father Peter Heers, which has been discussed in Father Peter's thread in this forum. Benjamin seems to wave his academic credentials to support his dubious arguments.

Interesting I didnt know that, I wonder how many others are out there doing this?

 

[Good_Shepherd]

Interesting topic, while I can't judge on the Orthodox side, the topic is interesting, how to recognize the deceivers?

In modern society it is always said; well if you have "the right intention"

While Jesus gave us better guidance in Matthew 7:15-20:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

If the fruits are bad; division, false teachings the tree is rotten and needs to be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I have that personally with a few public traditional Catholics with quite a large following and influence that constantly sow division in the Catholic church. If you claim to be a Catholic and constantly attack the pope, or claim he is not the pope, and more than half of your content is about bad priests, bishops, cardinals, that's bad fruit, that's bad tree, that's not spreading the love of Christ.

By this fierce rhetoric people as given the false idea to support or to alternatively choose the progressive position. Classic Hegelian dialectics.

And the interesting thing is, that I am judging the media guy to bear bad fruit and he says the pope bears bad fruit. So somewhere we need to discern. It seems love your neighbors like yourself, might be a good principle here. But on the other hand sometimes the tree needs to be cut down and thrown in the fire.

Sometimes the truth can divide people, better to be divided by the truth than be united by a lie

 

[Bird]

Interesting I didnt know that, I wonder how many others are out there doing this?

I remember this recommendation of articles https://www.rooshv.com/28-christian-articles-i-recommend-2

and this one might fit the topic:

14 people who are subverting the Orthodox Church [Link]

Perhaps this topic deserves its own thread assuming that it will not remain at 14 people.
Especially for beginners it is very dangerous to follow the wrong people.

"The Secret Subversion of American Orthodoxy"

 

[Blade Runner]

Sometimes the truth can divide people, better to be divided by the truth than be united by a lie

Yes, this is the more important part of discernment; understanding where the division is coming from, and in what order. For example, I'm sure those who exiled St. John Chrysostom or St. Maximos did and could claim they were creating "division" and disunity. In a certain sense, they were - by telling the truth and being obedient to the Saints and Fathers of the Church. Any Orthodox would say that is sowing discord. Rather, he'd say it is witnessing to the Orthodox faith so that others don't fall into confusion and thus, continue on their heresy of division.

 

[dutchjim]

I remember this recommendation of articles https://www.rooshv.com/28-christian-articles-i-recommend-2

and this one might fit the topic:



"The Secret Subversion of American Orthodoxy"

I didn't see the whole video. This blasphemy is encouraged and promoted by those who want to subvert our souls. All I can do is support the true Orthodox Church.

 

[Lawrence87]

I can't speak for the authenticity of his professed beliefs, that's between him and God. However I will say that this Theoria guy comes across to me as someone who suffers with a passion for attention seeking by being controversial.

In one of his substack posts he mentions that he has a separate twitter and YT for his "spicy takes" which he created after having been told his main outlet should not be used for this by his spiritual father. He couldn't settle for not having a platform for his contrarianism.

It seems to me like he gets off on causing a stir and thereby getting attention for his spicy takes. Like the guy who dislikes films or music generally accepted as great just because they think it makes them cool.

We should pray for him and also not give him the attention he craves

 

[Roosh]

It seems to me like he gets off on causing a stir and thereby getting attention for his spicy takes. Like the guy who dislikes films or music generally accepted as great just because they think it makes them cool.

We should pray for him and also not give him the attention he craves

Your theory is supported by the fact that he admitted to buying 5,000 fake Twitter followers after people noted a huge jump in his follower count:

https://archive.is/wip/Ka4Q0

 

[OrthoSerb]

Your theory is supported by the fact that he admitted to buying 5,000 fake Twitter followers after people noted a huge jump in his follower count:

https://archive.is/wip/Ka4Q0

I'm assuming you can buy YouTube followers because he has a very high number relative to the quality of the content.

I thought prior to 2020 he had some potential. Unfortunately he not only got everything wrong during the Covid period but doubled down and went on the offensive against those who didn't. He didn't seem to be able to discern the times or deviate from his initial assessment. As well as going after Fr Peter Heers he also attempted to dress down Fr Zechariah Lynch. He even went as far as to try to propose that St Paisios was duped by Protestants in relation to the end times. He markets his work as "sane Orthodox content" which is quite prideful and patronising. He basically manages to denigrate the good work of others and set himself up as the gold standard in Orthodox online content in three words. I see that he also recently went on a Catholic channel where he managed to disparage and gossip about his perceived opposition in the Church, which didn't sit well. His original aim of evangelism seems to have long ago taken a back seat. His priority seems to be to ensure that those coming into the Church don't listen to people like Fr Peter Heers.

 

[Good_Shepherd]

I can't speak for the authenticity of his professed beliefs, that's between him and God. However I will say that this Theoria guy comes across to me as someone who suffers with a passion for attention seeking by being controversial.

In one of his substack posts he mentions that he has a separate twitter and YT for his "spicy takes" which he created after having been told his main outlet should not be used for this by his spiritual father. He couldn't settle for not having a platform for his contrarianism.

It seems to me like he gets off on causing a stir and thereby getting attention for his spicy takes. Like the guy who dislikes films or music generally accepted as great just because they think it makes them cool.

We should pray for him and also not give him the attention he craves

Iv already unfollowed the page and warned another catechumen friend who happened to also be on the page, he has never personally responded to my comments but other people who follow him have and defended his logic, I dont know if its him responding under a different account and name or if there are more people involved, I was just bombarded with a bunch of bible verses today before I unfollowed about that nowhere in the Bible does it say we are baptized into the Trinity which it clearly does and its what the church practices,this was on the post he shared to cast doubt on the Trinity

 

[Good_Shepherd]

I'm assuming you can buy YouTube followers because he has a very high number relative to the quality of the content.

I thought prior to 2020 he had some potential. Unfortunately he not only got everything wrong during the Covid period but doubled down and went on the offensive against those who didn't. He didn't seem to be able to discern the times or deviate from his initial assessment. As well as going after Fr Peter Heers he also attempted to dress down Fr Zechariah Lynch. He even went as far as to try to propose that St Paisios was duped by Protestants in relation to the end times. He markets his work as "sane Orthodox content" which is quite prideful and patronising. He basically manages to denigrate the good work of others and set himself up as the gold standard in Orthodox online content in three words. I see that he also recently went on a Catholic channel where he managed to disparage and gossip about his perceived opposition in the Church, which didn't sit well. His original aim of evangelism seems to have long ago taken a back seat. His priority seems to be to ensure that those coming into the Church don't listen to people like Fr Peter Heers.

The guy also doesnt have a beard! I was fortunate enough to have Father Zacheriah Lynch follow my page on Instagram due to a little hobby he is interested in that my page is about and we occasionally chat on DMs, great guy, what concerns me is that this theoria guy might be a snake in the grass whos only purpose is to deceive and cause doubt, which I think might be the case, its one thing to be ignorant or make mistakes but somehow I dont think thats whats happening judging from his content Iv seen, maybe Im wrong too for thinking this

 

[HymnsToOurLady]

I didn't see the whole video. This blasphemy is encouraged and promoted by those who want to subvert our souls. All I can do is support the true Orthodox Church.

Pray that we aren't among the deceived. Many who think themselves 'correct' or 'enlightened' on matters of true doctrine will be surprised to find themselves numbered as some of the most devout followers of the devil and his wiles. ALL of us suffer from Prelest to a greater or lesser extent. Knowing this, we must take care of our spiritual health; We must listen to our elders more than we speak to our peers, and never trust in our own flawed intelligence, especially when we aren't also following a rigorous lifestyle involving prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

 

[Lawrence87]

Your theory is supported by the fact that he admitted to buying 5,000 fake Twitter followers after people noted a huge jump in his follower count:

https://archive.is/wip/Ka4Q0

I don't know how much buying Twitter followers costs, but even if it's not expensive, surely the money could better go to a good cause!

Lord have mercy. I really hope he can get away from this passion for stirring controversy and seeking attention.

 

[Lawrence87]

Iv already unfollowed the page and warned another catechumen friend who happened to also be on the page, he has never personally responded to my comments but other people who follow him have and defended his logic, I dont know if its him responding under a different account and name or if there are more people involved, I was just bombarded with a bunch of bible verses today before I unfollowed about that nowhere in the Bible does it say we are baptized into the Trinity which it clearly does and its what the church practices,this was on the post he shared to cast doubt on the Trinity

Strange, he seems to be breaking new ground with his penchant for stirring controversy. I've heard of liberal Orthodox defending reception by chrismation for those who had a Trinitarian baptism, but I've never heard anyone going out and saying that baptism doesn't need to be Trinitarian. A lot of libs don't even go that far!

 

[MichaelWitcoff]

I think the Christian thing to do, when observing a certain kind of behavior, is to assume the person is trying to do the right thing - but is under some kind of delusion, as the Church teaches *all* of us are - rather than consciously spreading evil, at least until they’ve behaved in such a way that doubt can no longer be maintained. May God forgive us all.

 

[Lawrence87]

I think the Christian thing to do, when observing a certain kind of behavior, is to assume the person is trying to do the right thing - but is under some kind of delusion, as the Church teaches *all* of us are - rather than consciously spreading evil, at least until they’ve behaved in such a way that doubt can no longer be maintained. May God forgive us all.

Yes, I am probably being uncharitable in my assessment of him as attention seeking.

He likely does perceive that liberalism and ecumenism are things that would be for the betterment of the church. However wrong this is, its not evil in itself, but rather misguided.

The most pernicious wrongs, are those that come in the form of appearing to be right and good. Like the saying goes "the road to hell is paved with good intentions"