The Disgraceful Heretic Lazar Puhalo

…”a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” (Matthew 7:17).

St. Ignatius: "If thy bishop should teach any thing outside of the appointed order, even if he lives in chastity, or if he work signs, or if he prophecy, let him be unto thee as a wolf in sheep's clothing, for he works the destruction of souls"

St. Meletios of Antioch: "Do not show obedience to bishops who exhort you to do and to say and to believe in things which are not to your benefit. What pious man would hold his tongue? Who would remain completely calm? In fact, silence equates to consent."

Errors and problems that I have documented with Lazar Puhalo. This man does not believe in the Orthodox Christian faith, so he most certainly has no business guiding Orthodox souls at an Orthodox monastery. I don’t understand why the OCA is tolerating this man and does not depose and excommunicate him. Puhalo is a false teacher. I want to encourage Orthodox Christians, particularly the OCA not to tolerate Puhalo’s false teachings. We see in the book of Revelation that the churches of Pergamum and Thyatira tolerated false teachers, to the chagrin of the Lord.
 

1. Archbishop Lazar once called someone a "neurotic kook" for defending the patristic teaching of Genesis and/or for denying evolution.

2. He once said that St. John of Kronstadt was not fair to his wife. What is that supposed to mean?

3. He referred to holy men who taught about toll- houses as psychotic seers. Evidently, he doesn’t believe in the Orthodox concept of theoria.

4. He holds to the Deutero-Isaiah Hypothesis, the liberal deistic view which attributes two authors to Isaiah. There is a scholarly case against this view. (for starters see Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pp. 263 to 266;

   Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, pp. 367, 368). Deism suffers from a bias against the supernatural and predictive prophecy, so they are forced to have a naturalistic explanation for fulfilled prophecy.

5. Puhalo asserts that the doctrine of the toll-houses comes from Gnosticism. Not only has he never proven this, but he ignores (or is unaware of) the fact that the Deutero-Isaiah hypothesis comes from deists, and destructive higher biblical criticism itself comes from the Jewish pantheist Benedict Spinoza. Further, Puhalo is guilty of the dependency fallacy, which is committed when a person assumes that the form and substance of a concept was borrowed from an outside source. Not only is his claim propagandistic, but he has never proven it with primary source data. Moreover, his method is not Orthodox. The dependency fallacy (and pagan copy-cat thesis) was promulgated by anti-Semitic liberal German theologians from the history of religions school (Religionsgeschichtliche Schule), who preferred a pagan Christ as opposed to a Jewish Christ. However, today, the pagan-parallel thesis has been almost universally rejected by New Testament scholars, whether theologically conservative or liberal because the sources do not support the claim.

6. I heard that Puhalo communed non-celibate homosexuals, and is sympathetic to the LGBT community.

7. Puhalo suggested in a video that Adam and Eve may not have been historical personages, saying: "It's possible Adam and Eve were not historical personages." In order to maintain his position, he would have to delete many sections of Scripture which affirm the historicity of Adam and Eve (see relevant article below). St. Paul specifically states that all, not part, ALL Scripture is God-breathed (2Tim. 3:16). It is sheer blasphemy to contradict God and St. Paul.

8. Puhalo said that Eve did not come from Adam's rib, contrary to Gen. 2:22. The view that Eve was literally taken from Adam's rib was held by such notable saints as John Chrysostom, Ambrose, Ephraim the Syrian, Cyril of Jerusalem and even St. Seraphim of Sarov. Pope Pelagius I (died 4 March 561) said that the first woman was created "from the rib of the man." (DZ, no. 228a). For what it's worth, in 1909 the Pontifical Biblical Commission said that the literal-historical sense is to be adhered to in regard to "the formation of the first woman from the first man." (DZ, no. 2123).

9. Puhalo claimed that there are contradictions in the Gospels. What he thinks are contradictions are apparent, not actual. I am not familiar with any Orthodox books on this topic, but here are books I would recommend dealing with this issue:

   (A). Why Are There Differences in the Gospels?: What We Can Learn from Ancient Biography, by Licona;

   (B). A Harmony of the Gospels, by A.T. Robertson;

   (C). When Critics Ask,by Geisler and Howe;

   (D). Does the Bible Contradict Itself, by Arndt;

   (E). Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible, by Haley;

   (F). Diatessaron, by Tatian.

   Andreas Althamer (16th cen.) wrote against Scriptural contradictions.

   F.F. Bruce: "The Gospel accounts are not intended to be four complete accounts of the same events." (Smith, Was the Tomb Empty" p. 109).

   The presence of some inconsistencies between the Gospel accounts is a sign of truth. (Smith, Was the Tomb Empty" p. 127).

10. Puhalo once left a comment and told someone to take arsenic tablets.

11. He told a young Orthodox man struggling with transgenderism to commit suicide. See video referenced below.

12. Puhalo falsified patristic material and altered icons in order to support his attack on the doctrine of the toll-houses. This is proven in the book, "The Departure of the Soul According to the Teaching of the Orthodox Church," by St. Anthony's Monastery. (see pp. 719-822; 955-984; Appendices G & H). Because his case was so weak, he had to resort to deception. Puhalo is an unrepentant liar. Liars end in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8).

13. Puhalo said that the Bible is "a book that was written by men that was sometimes inspired by God and Sometimes not." (Video, "Erasmus and the Fathers"). How does he determine that? What criteria does he use to determine which parts of Scripture are inspired and which are not? It's totally arbitrary. His view contradicts the Scriptural view of itself, the teaching of Christ, and the Holy Fathers.

14. Puhalo contradicts Christ and Scripture when he claimed that Nineveh never repented in sackcloth and ashes. (see Jonah 3; Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32).

15. Puhalo supports Transgenderism.

16. In the following quote, Lazar attributes deceit and malice to God, and disbelief in the biblical record.
    
    "God designed evolution makes perfect sense. The idea that God created man and calling his attention to is [sic] reflects neither holiness nor perfection, but deceit and malice. (Lazar Puhalo, Dancing With Unicorns: Creationism. YouTube 2013 comment).

It was Satan who accused God of deceit or making a mistake (Gen.3:4-5). 

17. Lazar claims that fundamentalist Christians are the main reason why people become atheists. The truth is that the theory of evolution leads people away from God. Denis Lamoureux, a top theistic evolutionist himself observes: "Evangelical students are leaving the church in alarming numbers.  You might know a few,  maybe someone in your family. One reason for this is science, biological evolution in particular.” (Denis Lamoureux.  Four Views on the Historical Adam). Here is an example of a top theistic evolutionist admitting that evolution causes people to lose faith. He cites a Barna Group study - a more scientific sample than Lazar’s anecdotal evidence. 

18. Puhalo uses the "Bible is not a science textbook" canard which is frequently used by Modernist Novus Ordo Roman “Catholics.” Copernicus' partner in crime, Rheticus was the first to use this argument. He was a Lutheran. Puhalo and others associate our traditional belief with Protestantism but one of his own favorite arguments is itself a Protestant invention. The Bible is true on everything it touches and teaches, whether science, history, geography or spirituality. We Orthodox Christians believe in Scriptural inerrancy. Remember?

19. Puhalo is guilty of the error of calling some Orthodox Christians fundamentalists. There is no such thing as “Orthodox fundamentalism,” or “Orthodox fundamentalist.” The claim is a contradiction, because fundamentalism is a Presbyterian concept that arose from the controversy at the old Princeton seminary between conservative and liberals. It was a response to theological modernism. Fundamentalism is rooted in B.B. Warfield, Charles Hodge, A.A. Hodge and J. Gresham Machen. Conservative and zealous Orthodox Christians are not Presbyterians. You are either committed to Orthodox Tradition or you are not. There is no grey and no middle ground when it comes to Orthodox Christianity.

20. Lazar is subscribed to atheist YouTube channels which mock Christianity:
    
    DarkMatter2525 "is a popular atheist YouTuber who makes animations, mainly against fundamentalist religious views."(RationalWiki). There is absolutely no reason for a Christian to be subscribed to this channel.
    
    20. Puhalo is also subscribed to the following channels:
    
    Canadians for Bernie
    TVA - Atheist Channel
    dprjones (atheist)
    Atheist Digest
    Religion, Atheism, Science (an atheist channel, which directs people to the channels "Christianity Disproved," and "Evil Bible."
    
    By being subscribed to these wicked channels, Lazar is reinforcing them and encouraging them in their satanic delusions.

21. In a video a man explains how Puhalo told him to kill himself.
    

22. I shared the video with an Old Calendarist medical doctor. He replied:
    
    "This man is biologically normal; chromosomes, hormones, phenotype, voice, etc.
    Transgenderism is a demonic delusion that has to be repented of and/or exorcised.
    Why did this spiritual disorder not show up before our times?
    It is the latest delusion hatched by Satan!
    Satan's goal is to disfigure and destroy God's creation.
    Yes, suicide is a grave grave sin and totally from the devil as well.
    Lazar Puhalo is a veeeeery dangerous heretic."

In another place he said:

"I believe Puhalo is an infiltrator, or at best an arrogant heretic in prelest."

LAZAR PUHALO IS CONDEMNED BY THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

The sixth session of the 7th ecumenical council: "Those who, moved by Divine zeal, always concur with the Fathers and the traditional ordinances of the Church flee from all who hold contrary opinions, as though from enemies."

From the Synodicon of the Holy Spirit

"To all things innovated and enacted contrary to the Church tradition, teaching, and institution of the holy and ever-memorable fathers, or to anything henceforth so enacted, ANATHEMA."

Eighth proceeding of the Seventh Ecumenical Synod

“If anyone breaks any ecclesiastical tradition, written or unwritten, let him be anathema.” END.

 Fr. John Whiteford (ROCOR) wrote a critical article of Lazar Puhalo.

http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com/2012/01/lazar-puhalo-spouts-blatant-heresy.html

END

The Historical Adam and Eve

Pro-LGBTQP "Orthodox" Exposed

Fr. Puhalo's "Soul Sleep" Refuted

Science and Orthodoxy vs. Evolution and Progressive Creationism