Dr. Kyriakos Stavrinides
FATHER ALEXANDER STAVRINIDES
12/22/1934 - 8/24/2024
His obituary:
In Memory of
FATHER ALEXANDER STAVRINIDES 12/22/1934
8/24/2024
Today, we gather to honor and celebrate the life of Father Alexander Stavrinides, who touched the hearts of everyone he encountered with his kindness, humor, and his unwavering dedication to our parish.
We are truly going to miss you. We have learned so many things from him. He has taught us to love and respect each other.You were God sent to us as a church. Not only we got the best priest, we also got a very educated priest who just loved to teach and guide us in the right way. He never gave up on us. He always remained committed to the church, even having to endure a two-hour drive plus traffic from Glendora to Saint George Orthodox Church Hesperia. We are extremely grateful to meet you and spend lots of time with him.
No matter how busy things got, he always made time for the people he cared about, and showed us that family always comes first no matter what. Everyone who knew him knew how proud he was of the people he loved,
He stressed the significance of attending church and emphasized the need to prioritize it. He used to say, (We always should put God first before anything)
Father Alexander had the Bible memorized. Any question you ask, he would say go to this verse and chapter.
Father Alexander had many hidden talents as well. He not only was a priest, he was a musician. He knew how to play any instrument he did magic on the piano, but his favorite was his violin. Don’t let me forget about his singing. He had a beautiful voice when he sang and did Divine Liturgy.
Dr. K. J. Stavrinides holds graduate and postgraduate degrees from British and European universities in Theology, Philosophy, Classical Greek, and Latin.
He was Chairman of the Classics and Philosophy Department at Ambassador University in Texas, has lectured around the world on Modern Trinitarian Problems, given lectures at Pasadena City College and Citrus College, and, in the past twenty years, in the Graduate Department of Theology at Azusa Pacific University.
He had philosophy classes at the Geleris Education Center, in Glendora, and served as the host of the Christian Symposium.
As we say our goodbyes to Father Alexander, let us remember the love, laughter, and precious moments we shared together. May their memory live on in our hearts forever, and may we find solace in knowing that they are now at peace and may his Memory be Eternal forever. Saint George The Great Martyr Orthodox Church
What his students said about him on Rate My Professor when he taught at Azusa Pacific University:
One of the books he has written:
He was also a Greek Orthodox Priest at St. George The Great Martyr Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America, Diocese of the West, Hesperia, CA
14 comments:
One of the best professors I ever had at Ambassador. I can see why the students at Azusa Pacific liked him. Thanks to him and his great work on the Trinity I was able to escape Armstronginsm. I will be forever in his debt.
I had no idea he was an Orthodox priest. God bless and rest his soul.
May someone explain how he was lecturing at Ambassador College whilst at the same time holding certain views on Trinity?
I had heard his name while attending AC in Pasadena, but we never got to hear any of his lectures. Apparently, this is another example of an incredibly intelligent and highly educated individual who recognized the deep flaws and mistruths of Armstrongism, saw a bigger picture, and took a different path.
He may have shaken up the WCG in the 1990s even more than the Tkaches did - because he led Friday night Bible studies which were distributed church-wide, challenging numerous long-held beliefs and core teachings.
One man poked fun by saying, "Dr. Stavrinides doesn't eat his Wheaties." But he was ready for any and all COG traditionalists.
He was indeed! I had him for informal logic, and this is how he stretched our analytical thinking: one of informal logic’s argument’s structure is
If a = b and b = c, then a = c.
He would give us simple examples like
If all wolves are dogs and all dogs are grey, then all wolves are grey.
If all apples are fruit and all fruit are green, all apples are green.
Our first test? He handed us a three page speech given by the leader of pre-communist Russia where he was making a case for communism over whatever their economy was at the time! ‘Did the leader make his case using logic?’
The class size dropped by half the next day! But his point was valid… don’t get caught up in the minutiae, look for the pivot points and see if they logically follow!
He will be missed but not forgotten!
Actually, in his hayday in WCg he was, more than Herman Hoeh, the intellectual engine behind the various doctrines. And when the changes happened, they were not from his leading and from him being willing to challenge long-held WCG beliefs, as a post here suggested. He followed on the lead of people like Mike Feazell and Bernie Schnippert. He went from one extreme of WCG teachings to the other extreme of traditional Christian teachings, both of which he articulated well. What I wonder about is his journey along this spectrum. Intellect and education do not solve everything.
Can't answer that as I have no idea what he thought when. Those two things you mention, 4:39, may or may not have occurred at the same time.
Greek Baffle-gab
In the Worldwide Church of God under the apostate Joseph W. Tkach, Sr. it was said that the Greek language is so precise that if you are not careful you could say that someone walked through the tree rather than around the tree.
Of course, the English language is equally so precise that if you are not careful you could say that someone walked through the tree rather than around the tree.
I listened to the tapes of his Bible Studies on the topic of God. It was revolutionary in my life. I wondered what had happened to him. Glad to see he finished well.
Scout
I'm curious. Was he a baptized WWCG member or a hired outsider?
How did he become involved with Armstrongism? I was bamboozled by it as a teen unfamiliar with the counter arguments. For one that taught Logic and had this supposed great intellect as did Stavrinides, how did he fall for it in mature adulthood? Or was he a recruited saboteur of the Tkachs? Or…?
Heh, I had to go see what snobbish post Thiel made about it, wasnt disappointed. He misread (or deliberately twisted) a line in Stavrinides' church announcement as them saying the man was God, when they were calling him "God sent". Probably could have been clearer if they used a hyphen, but I was still amused that the fool is still living up to RCM's assessment.
So what is the link between Dr. Kyriakos Stavrinides and Father Alexander Stavrinides? Were they the same man? I am missing something here.
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