Enunciation of Orthodoxy

The Enunciation of Orthodoxy
Let all things hereafter be known of fact.

The Church of the Holy Light has stood to be the community by which all mortals, regardless of ethnicity or race might find communion with each other and with the divine powers that uphold things which are sacred; that this path which such men and women have dedicated themselves to such a following has come to be known as the Holy Light, and that the community of men and women who follow this path make themselves known to be the Church of the Holy Light.We call ourselves Orthodox; we maintain that we have kept well in mind and in practice the right faith; the traditions and dogmas that have been passed down through the Church of the Holy Light from one generation to the next.

We recognize that doctrines concerning how one ought to be instructed in how to best follow the path of the Holy Light are temporal theorems conceived of by the minds of mortals.

We recognize that though the Light dwells in all naturally born beings, that mortals are not divine in their own right, and even those beings which are divine in their own right must submit themselves to the own standards that they themselves declare, lest another may declare them to be flawed. As mortals are not divine in their own right, it is never within their power, even with the whole of mortality was gathered in one voice, to declare themselves to be beings of perfection, being divine in their own right and free from any reproach, since by their very ontology, mortals are neither divine in their own right, nor free from any reproach.

We also recognize that there are mortals that are appointed to both rule and to guide other mortals both the temporal powers of the state and the eternal powers of the church, but as such rulers and guides, though appointed to do as such, are mortals as well, this does not change them ontologically, but only apparently.

We recognize that dogmas, unlike doctrines, concerning what it is that one must do and believe to follow the path of the Holy Light are eternal traditions given to mortalkind by the Divine through revelation. We heard of how, in olden times, our church became fractured even as the states of mortals fractured. We saw our one Mother Church become many different churches as different nations and kingdoms of state made themselves known. We also saw each church develop its own doctrines to interpret the dogma of the one Mother Church. In recent times, we saw our church rejoin even as the states of mortals rejoined. We saw strife begin amongst the the Sees within our Reunited Mother Church and we decided that one from among our leaders must be made to be a mediator. We recognize that this action, as it was the decision of mortals, was a new doctrine, not a new dogma, as it was not a thing revealed to mortalkind by the Divine. We saw that mediator preside, not rule, over our leaders in the Mother Church in compassion and in wisdom, upholding the dogmatic virtue of tenacity in remaining true to the dogmas that were revealed to the ancient fathers of the Mother Church.  We saw our Mother Church thrown into disarray and ravaged by the malevolent and foul undead and that many of the laity and clergy within the Sees of the Mother Church departed for the Light’s embrace; so much so that many Sees became defunct. We saw our beloved mediator of the leaders of the church depart for the Light’s embrace, and a new mediator was elected by the leaders of the church.  We saw many more leaders of the church depart for the Light’s embrace and that many young and eager members of the church’s clergy become seen as leaders in the church. We saw these many new leaders fail to uphold the dogmatic virtue of tenacity, and attempt to philosophize on a blasphemous ontologies of the Light, all of which were contrary to the ancient traditions and dogmas of the Mother Church, and presents them as new doctrines to the laity.  We saw the laity begin to show less and less regard for the Divine as the Divine became something only to philosophize instead of commune with, and as such, even many among the clergy began only to philosophize and teach others to philosophize instead of commune with the Divine. Through this, we began to see temporal doctrine replace eternal dogma, where doctrine became more venerated than dogma.  We saw the mediator of the leaders of the church partake in and profess blasphemous and abominable succor and doctrine and with his demise the Mother Church was again thrown into disarray. <span style="color:rgb(239,201,160);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:23.799999237060547px;"> <span style="color:rgb(239,201,160);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:23.799999237060547px;">We saw the surviving leaders of the church strive to uphold the dogmatic virtue of tenacity and reclaim the ancient dogmas of the Mother Church, but we also saw that so infectious had the blasphemy of the previous arrogant and insolent leaders of the church become that nigh all the new leaders of the church being elected adhered to the false beliefs that the dogma of the ancient Mother Church was simply an old doctrine that must be disregarded as easily as bath water to pave the way for new doctrines which they falsely claim as dogma. These election came not through local synods but through a single synod of the leaders of the church. This is one such new doctrine that runs in direct contrast to the ancient dogma. <span style="color:rgb(239,201,160);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:23.799999237060547px;"> <span style="color:rgb(239,201,160);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:23.799999237060547px;">We saw the new leaders of the church elect a new mediator, falsely proclaiming that it must be done for the sake of dogma, only to have been found to have spoken with a forked tongue and wholly disregard the advice of this mediator by beginning to resume merely philosophizing and contemplating the Divine as opposed to communing with the Divine and make false declarations for the changing of dogmas which they saw to be hindering their temporal power so that they might increase their power to encompass secular powers. <span style="color:rgb(239,201,160);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:23.799999237060547px;"> <span style="color:rgb(239,201,160);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:23.799999237060547px;">And finally, we saw them falsely shunning us for the sake that we wished to continue on with our sacred mission to bring the Light to all of mortalkind and instruct mortals in communing with the Divine. <span style="color:rgb(239,201,160);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:23.799999237060547px;"> We, therefore now, enunciate ourselves and our orthodoxy, declaring ourselves to be the preservers of the Mother Church and shall forever strive to root out the heresy that has befallen all churches that associate with the synod of the leaders of the church, so that the mission of the Mother Church may continue and see our eventual reunifying into one Holy Ancient Church. -- Fr. G. Branas, Bishop of Quel'Athillien