The Whole Counsel Blog
Acts 15 and the Law in the Church
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Acts 15, which presents the proceedings of what has become known as the Council of Jerusalem, that apostolic gathering which became the paradigm for future church councils, is considered to be the central passage in the New Testament to an understanding of how the apostles viewed the continued relevance, or irrelevance, of the Law to the life of the church. A group of pharisees who had become embraced Jesus as the Messiah were putting forth the argument that the Gentiles who were by that time entering into the nascent Christian church should be subject to not just the Old Testament Law, but to their pharisaic interpretation thereof. The gathered apostles, prominently Ss. Paul, Peter, and James, found against this party,…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Is the Law Abolished or Fulfilled?
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The topic of the post would seem to be an easy question. In Matthew 5:17, Christ states that he has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil them. Once this text has been quoted and the box has been checked, however, when the way in which the Law is interpreted, treated, and applied particularly in Protestant communions, the practical reality of this verse becomes more cloudy. If what is meant by ‘fulfilled’ is ‘taken care of’ or ‘done away with’ on a practical level, if it effectively means ‘can be safely ignored’, then saying ‘fulfilled not abolished’ is a distinction without a difference. Matthew 5:18-19 do a great deal to clarify what precisely Christ means…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Who Decided Which Books Would Be in the New Testament?
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A previous post discussed the (loose) nature of the Old Testament canon in the Orthodox Church, but what about the New Testament? Unlike the Old Testament, the New Testament as a canon of 27 books is agreed upon by essentially all groups which identify as Christian. The way in which the New Testament canon came into existence, however, is the subject of an immense amount of disinformation and uninformed opinion. When asked when these 27 books were ‘canonized’ as the New Testament, many will answer that that happened at the Council of Nicea. Some will present this event as the bishops involved looking at a vast array of texts, including but not limited to the 27 which would be accepted,…
The Whole Counsel Blog
On Allegorical Interpretation
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One of the temptations into which we frequently fall when seeking to understand others in our own time and in the past is that we begin with the assumption that they think and interact with a given set of ideas in the same way that we do. So, for example, in interfaith discussions, Christians will from time to time refer to groups of Jewish and Muslim leaders holding councils. Or Muslims will speak of the Torah or the New Testament as if it was viewed in the same way in which they view the Quran. This immediately generates misunderstandings that then have to be overcome in order to truly interact. Christians involved in these discussions need to understand how authority…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Prodigal's Prayer and Repentance: A Single Movement
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Sunday of the Prodigal Son, February 4, 2018 2 Corinthians 6:12-20; Luke 15:11-32 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. When I was on the Holy Mountain of Athos over the past couple of weeks, I asked the question and heard others ask the question of what we are to bring back with…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The New Testament Tradition
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In many ways, the content of the New Testament, and even its text, are a much more settled issue than that of the Old Testament, as previously discussed. That said, there is still a great deal of debate about which text of the New Testament, in its details, holds canonical authority. This is due to an embarrassment of riches with regard to the New Testament text, for which we have nearly 6,000 manuscripts. A manuscript, properly speaking, is a hand-written copy of a text. Our extant manuscripts of the New Testament stretch from the early part of the second century to the beginning of the 20th century, at which point many churches in Greece were still reading the epistles and…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Why Repent? What Kingdom?
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Sunday after Theophany, January 14, 2018 Ephesians 4:7-13; Matthew 4:12-17 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17) With the baptism of Jesus, His public preaching ministry begins, and it is said that with this…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Three Ways Christians Approach the World
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There are generally three approaches that Christians have taken when it comes to their surrounding cultures: 1) Rejection, resistance, and hostility: This approach sharply distinguishes the Church from the world, emphasizing that the Church is so much “not of this world” that the world must be fled and an alternate community established. It is a posture that is fully closed to the world —…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Faith and Doubt: Mormonism and Orthodox Christianity
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I read the announcement today about the passing of President Thomas S. Monson, president and prophet of the LDS church, with a mix of emotions. While I no longer identify as Mormon, I do think that President Monson was a good man and tried his best to inspire the Mormon people in the way he knew to do so. In reality, I…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Four-Point Spiritual Life
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Sunday before the Theophany of Christ, December 31, 2017 2 Timothy 4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Be watchful in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (II Tim. 4:5). These are the words of St. Paul’s admonitions to his disciple St. Timothy…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
There is No Christmas and No Church Without History
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Sunday before the Nativity / Eve of the Nativity, December 24, 2017 Hebrews 11:9-10, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-15 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. One of the things that strikes people who encounter the Orthodox Church for the first time is that we have a very strong emphasis on history. It’s everywhere in…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Why Do We Do Ministry Without God?
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Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost / Tenth Sunday of Luke, December 10, 2017 Ephesians 6:10-17; Luke 13:10-17 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Walk as Wise
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Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost / Fourteenth Sunday of Luke, December 3, 2017 Ephesians 5:8-19; Luke 18:35-43 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” This verse is Ephesians…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Is the Septuagint the Orthodox Old Testament?
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For most Orthodox readers, the answer to the titular question of this piece will be an obvious and immediate ‘Yes’. It is a commonplace of Orthodox Christian catechesis that unlike the West, and here West primarily speaks to Protestant and more recent Roman Catholic Bible translations, which uses the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible as its Old Testament, the Orthodox Church places authority in the Septuagint. Even a casual internet search will reveal lengthy arguments to this effect, citing the evidence of New Testament quotations, of particular readings in the New Testament where a theological point seems to hinge upon a particular Greek rendering, and quotations from the Church Fathers about the value and reliability of the ‘work of…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Is Our Giving Worthy of Our Calling?
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Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost / Thirteenth Sunday of Luke, November 26, 2017 Ephesians 4:1-7; Luke 18:18-27 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “I, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” St. Paul, who is writing…
Nearly Orthodox
Gathering In
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In a few weeks, we’ll say goodbye to our house in Tennessee. We bought it back in 2005 after selling our bungalow in Chicago for more money than we could imagine. It was the height of the real estate market, just before the bubble burst. We decided to slow down our lives a little. The kids were small and we felt like the city was closing in on us. The place in…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Christ's Two Witnesses
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As we approach the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and living in the United States, which has been powerfully shaped in its cultural and religious life by Protestant Christianity, the most common way of thinking about the role of the scriptures in the Church is the principle of Sola Scriptura in its various forms. It is therefore very common to read Orthodox perspectives, written in dialogue or in controversy with Protestantism, speaking against this foundational Protestant principle. Unfortunately, most often these Orthodox commenters pick up and utilize traditional Roman Catholic arguments against Sola Scriptura, rather than attempting to formulate Orthodox answers. This is unfortunate because these arguments are well and good as an attempt to get a person to…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Chosen Vessel
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Feast of the Apostle Paul / Seventh Sunday of Luke, October 29, 2017 II Corinthians 11:21b-33; 12:1-9; Luke 8:41-56 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On this day we celebrate our patronal feast, the feast of the Apostle Paul, the “chosen vessel” of the Lord, sent…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Protestantism is Not United, Not Catholic, and Not a Church
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
The Bible of the Church: Vignettes and Lessons from a Reformation Controversy
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Strange Fire: Pentecostalism as Cure for the Reformation
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Hoc Est Corpus Meum: Luther's Reformation Gets Away From Him
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
A Year to Remember: The Reformation Jubilee of 1617
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Anglican Liturgical Aesthetics: An Orthodox Reflection
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
5 Things I've Learned from Protestants (and Other Non-Orthodox People)
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Ancient Heresies in the Sixteenth Century II: The Antitrinitarians
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Ancient Heresies in the Sixteenth Century I: The Nestorians
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
