Nearly Orthodox
In love...
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What I know about the state of things happening in the world is lacking. It’s easy to be consumed with the daily antics of politics and culture in the United States. We can be a little self-centered. That’s to be expected, I guess. We are, in effect, the teenager of the world powers. We’re teenagers with nuclear weapons. It is only after I set foot on the path of Orthodoxy that Iā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Why I Stopped Being a Calvinist (Part 5): A Deformed Christology
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By Robin Phillips A Deformed Christology About the same time that my wife and I started to question Monergism, we began to be interested in the early ecumenical councils of the church. We were fascinated to learn that the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681) had provided a framework for understanding the relationship between the human and the divine when it rejected the heresiesā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Why I Stopped Being a Calvinist (Part 4): The Heresy of Monergism
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By Robin Phillips The Heresy of Monergism If all Calvinism were to be encapsulated by a single term it would be the word Monergism. The term comes from the Greek mono meaning “one,” and erg meaning “work,” and describes the notion that salvation is affected by only one agent, namely God. As R.C. Sproul explains it, āA monergistic work is a workā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Why I Stopped Being a Calvinist (Part 3): Calvinism Dislocates God From our Experience of Him
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Calvinism Dislocates God From our Experience of Him By Robin Phillips We have seen in Part 2 of this series that Calvinism essentially asserts that God has two sides of His character, a side that delights to show mercy and a side that delights to punish sin. Both these sides must be expressed. By redeeming the elect, Godās love and mercy areā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Memory eternal...
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Nearly Orthodox
Native...
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After we had reached safety, we then learned that the island was called Malta. Ā The natives showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us around it. Acts 28:1-2 I will never be a native to the Orthodox Church. I will, I hope, become as familiar with the tradition and the customs and I hope become as beloved toā¦
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Beginning of Baptism
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Sunday after Theophany, January 12, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick A recording of this sermon can be heard via Ancient Faith Radio. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today is the Sunday after the Great Feast of Theophany, and even though the feast is now past, we are still within theā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Why I Stopped Being a Calvinist (Part 2): Calvinism Destroys Godās Justice
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By Robin Phillips Calvinism Destroys Godās Justice āMay the Lord curse you and abandon you. May the Lord keep you in darkness and give you only judgment without grace. May the Lord turn his back upon you and remove his peace from you forever.ā These words, taken from a popular R.C. Sproul video, starkly reveal the dark underbelly of the Calvinistās conceptā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Why I Stopped Being a Calvinist (Part 1): Calvinism presents a dehistoricized Bible
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By Robin Phillips Introduction My wife and I used to be Calvinists (or āreformedā as we liked to say), and we wanted our children to grow the same. We attended a Calvinist church and taught reformed theology to our children. Beginning in 2012, however, we began to grow increasingly uncomfortable with the primary doctrinal tenets of this perspective. We still have respectā¦
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Why I Love (True) Religion Because I Love Jesus, Redux
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This coming Sunday, Jan. 12, will be the two year anniversary of the post that has inexplicably (to me) probably been the most-read thing I’ve ever written. It’s always somewhat odd to me to note the things that get the most hits. They’re almost invariably stuff that’s more off-the-cuff than much-deliberated (like this silly post of coffee and theology jokes). (Kind of depressing, really.)ā¦
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Tolkien-Shaped Mind
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I do not know how aware most folks are of what books shape their basic imaginations—the formation that to a large part determines what brings them delight, what strikes them as worth attention, what gives them a vocabulary for the world. For me, there are really two sources that give me that shape—the Bible and the fiction works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Thisā¦
Nearly Orthodox
starting new...
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O my Hope, pour into my heart the inebriation that consists in the hope of you. O Jesus Christ, the resurrection and light of all worlds, place upon my soulās head the crown of knowledge of you; open before me all of a sudden the door of mercies, cause the rays of your grace to shine out in my heart. -St Isaac of Syria What better way to start a new yearā¦
Nearly Orthodox
new year's eve...
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Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Coffeedoxy and Heterodoxy
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Your local coffeehouse may be a hotbed of heresy. Check the following list and see how yours measures up. Decaf is Docetic because it only appears to be coffee. Instant is Apollinarian because it’s had its soul removed and replaced. Frappuccinos are essentially a form of Monophysitism, having their coffee nature swallowed up in milkshake. Chicory is Arian, not truly coffee atā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Thirty-six: Hats
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Whether it’s worn for comfort… or warmth… style… or sheer delight… Hats offer something to us, something we did not have moments before they found our head. I draw connections, it’s something I do all day long, while I drive or cook or clean or play Angry Birds on my phone. Today, I’m not going to do that. I’m just going to leave it here with the pictures and the initial thoughtā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Thirty-Four: Log Cabins
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This is where I’ll be lucky enough to spend the holidays- Lyric Springs in Franklin, TN. At the height of the housing market back in 2005, we sold our Chicago bungalow and made a move to middle Tennessee. We left the dirty, crowded, noisy city in favor of mild winters and lots of space. Our log home was not quite finished. The builder had started the project years earlier, hoping that he’dā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Thirty-Three: Nog, Grog and Glog
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Eggnog is one holiday tradition I always regret almost immediately after partaking every single time. As the viscous, rum spiked drink is handed to me, I’ll remember with some dim recollection the previous year and yet each time I bypass that soggy memory and I take that drink. The first sip is delicious, because it’s like drinking rum spiked melted ice cream and I really like ice cream (and rum.) By theā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Thirty-Two: Blogger's Choice
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Two years ago, I broke my middle sonās heart on Christmas day. It was an accident, a rookie mistake. He was 9 years old at the time and a savvy fellow, using words larger than his life span should allow. At the same time his most prized gift this Christmas was a joke hand buzzer. He shouted with joy, I mean, shouted and I mean JOY when he opened it. It costā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Thirty-One: Idolatry
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Why does everything circle back to fasting with me? Transitioning to the Orthodox practice of fasting during Advent has been a bumpy road to say the least. I sat down this weekend to make a list of the meals I prepare that my kids actually like and eat without whining and you know, every single one of them has meat in it. It’s a sad commentary really. I’ve tried all kinds ofā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day 30: S'mores
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I admit, I had hoped to simply reblog and draw attention to what would most assuredly be an amazing post, maybe even complete with recipes, from OhSheCooks. When I checked her blog for something to steal share though, I came up empty on this front. Blurgh. You see, I don’t care for S’mores. I just don’t. Go ahead and judge harshly if you wanna. Haters gonna hate. I don’t get the attraction,ā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day 29: St Herman of Alaska
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I somehow neglected to post yesterday for the blog challenge. My only excuse is that it was a weird day. If we were talking in person and I knew you really well I’d probably tell you it was a weird effing day and I don’t swear all that much (anymore.) It’s nothing specific, nothing to worry about; odd circumstances, some holiday stress, some free floating anxiety, maybe a bit of hormonal shifting.ā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Twenty-Eight: Monastics
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For today’s prompt I pondered many directions to take the entry and in the end I kept coming back to this piece that I’d written a while ago. If all goes to plan this excerpt will appear in my book, “Nearly Orthodox” that will be coming out this summer. š —— By Easter the second year we attended Redeemer in Nashville, Dave was finished with regular attendance at church again. He wasā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Twenty-Six: Deborah
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The prompt today being, “Deborah” gave me some trouble to be honest. I did a little research, did a little digging, did a lot of thinking and what kept coming back to me was that tree. Deborah’s tree. It was a place so well associated with her that it took her name, “She held courtĀ under the Palm of Deborah between RamahĀ and BethelĀ in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went upā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Leithart on Sophiology and Andrew Louth
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Peter Leithart is a prolific writer, and this typically necessitates that one be a prolific reader, as well. He often shares insights from his current reads over at First Things, and there was an example of this Friday (Dec. 6) where he shared thoughts on Andrew Louth’s Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology (IVP/SPCK 2013). In this particular entry, Leithart offers brief commentary inā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Twenty-Six: Oil Lamps
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On the shelves in the first house we owned, Dave and I kept a collection of things; souvenirs of our travel, gifts from friends and family, odd knick-knacks we’d found or acquired in one way or another. We kept the collection on the blonde wood shelves in the diningroom of our craftsman bungalow on the north side of Chicago. Before that they’d lived on the top of the crates in our loftā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Twenty-Five: Snowflake
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The move from Chicago to Nashville in 2005 was an adjustment. The one thing we pined for in the winter was snow. Though middle Tennessee gets thin layers of powdery snow throughout the short winter season it’s nothing like Chicago. When the forecast calls for snow in Tennessee schools close, people panic and grocery stores run out of milk and bread as if milk and bread are the two things anyoneā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Day Twenty-four: The Zygote
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After the opening proclamation, the Great Litany is chanted. This litany begins every liturgical service of the Orthodox Church, as well as virtually all sacraments and special services. It is the all-embracing prayer of the Church for everyone and everything. It consists of petitions to which the people respond: Lord have mercy. -Orthodox Church in America At Liturgy we pray for the world, every week, without fail. We pray for the worldā¦
