Dr Matthew Raphael Johnson concentrates on Bishop Diomede of Chukotka in this week’s episode of The Orthodox Nationalist. In 2008, the Moscow Patriarchate removed Bishop Diomede from his see in the far northeast of Russia. The reason was his condemnation of the Moscow Patriarchate itself and its origins. God's grace is not dependent on bishops. So many make this error and it is, in fact, a heresy. However, institutions, while secondary, do matter. The present Moscow Patriarchate, while containing many holy people, bears no institutional connection to the church of the Tsarist era. This is Diomede's basic position. The "Name Worship" controversy (Imiaslavie in Russian) is laughably bungled in the west. It has nothing to do with the "name" of God. The ancient concept of a "name" is the knowledge about what is named. In this case, it is the life of the church, its traditions, scriptures and icons. These are grace filled, which means they are God's energies. They are God's presence on earth. To condemn the "name worshippers" is to ignorantly sever theology from its divine referent. It is needed for the total renovation of the church's theology that is long underway. The World Council of Churches is the creation of the Rockefeller family and has a One World Religion as its explicit goal. The Patriarchate is a full member of this organization and the "Soviet church" is little more than a local representative of this elite body. In condemning this in connection with globalism, Diomede was removed from his see. As of today, he is part of a small synod consisting only of himself and Archbishop Martin (Lapkovsky) of the Crimea. Presented by Matt Johnson The Orthodox Nationalist: Bishop Diomede of Chukotka and the Heresy of "Sergianism" – TON 032118