Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Going Home: On Becoming a Student Again
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Nearly Orthodox
This is the End
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Dear friends, What a long, sometimes difficult, yet beautiful journey it has been being a part of the Ancient Faith blogging and podcasting community. This post will be my last on this platform. Beginning on January 1, 2021, Nearly Orthodox will move to its own site here: NearlyOrthodox.com Many of you have asked why Ancient Faith is removing me from their platform. I’m not entirely sure but to my knowledge, it is…
Nearly Orthodox
Glorify Him!
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The Whole Counsel Blog
Zealotry and the Priesthood
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The priesthood was, in the Old Testament, generally seized in its initial stages by force. It comes as a reward for manslaughter. This is a simple fact that confronts any careful reader of the Old Testament in general and the Torah in particular. This truth produced an entire tradition of zealotry within the Old Testament that continued into the New Testament period. Simply defined, zealotry in this context is the idea that acts of violence, even the killing of other human persons, are not only allowed but required in defense of that which is holy and pure. This idea has been (wrongly) appealed to and applied throughout Christian history to defend everything from the inquisition to the crusades to witch-hunting. …
Nearly Orthodox
With Two She Flew...
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Whenever a friend does something new and full of courage, I like to help support them in any way I can. I hope you will take a moment this season of gifts and giving and read a review of “With Two She Flew” by Catherine Bodega, published by my sweet friend, Summer Kinard and reviewed by the lovely Charlotte Riggle. 🙂 With Two She Flew: Philoxenia with angels and autism The newly…
Nearly Orthodox
All Things New
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Nearly Orthodox
Unmasked
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BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2021, THIS BLOG WILL BE “PRUNED” FROM THE ANCIENT FAITH PLATFORM. PLEASE VISIT AND/OR SUBSCRIBE AT NEARLY ORTHODOX FOR FUTURE UPDATES! I know. I miss life the way it used to be as well. It’s been months since I was able to worship with my church family in person. There are some days I long so much for the past freedoms to move around freely that it’s almost painful.…
Nearly Orthodox
Day 9: Salt
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THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV 23, 2014. PLEASE VISIT THE NEW SITE HERE AFTER JAN 1, 2021 TO CONTINUE TO ACCESS THE LAST TEN YEARS OF NEARLY ORTHODOX AND SEE NEW POSTS! I could not help but think of Lot’s wife when I heard that our topic for today is “salt.” And then I could not help but think of a poem by an Orthodox poet I like a…
Nearly Orthodox
Transitions
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I always like to remind myself that “transition” is the shortest, albeit the most painful part of natural childbirth. I like to keep that in mind as I struggle through times of change so I can keep moving and find a new kind of rhythm. 2020 has been full of transition, for all of us, obviously, but also for me personally and professionally COVID aside. So leave it to December to keep…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Beatitudes and Eternal Life
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The Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-12) form a prologue or introduction to Christ’s Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew’s Gospel. The corresponding blessings, but in this case with accompanying woes, play a similar role in the Sermon on the Plain found in St. Luke’s Gospel (Luke 6:20-26). Often these blessings are extracted from the surrounding material in much the same way that the Ten Commandments are extracted from the other commandments of the Torah as a sort of summary. Like the Ten Commandments, they are often memorized. They are sung or recited at several points in the liturgical worship of the Orthodox Church, including within the funeral services. The word ‘Beatitude’ is a transliteration of the Latin ‘beatitudo‘ which refers to…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Who is Azazel?
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While the Devil and Satan as rebellious spiritual powers at enmity with Yahweh, the God of Israel, are well-known figures, there are others who are perhaps less well-known though no less important for understanding the nature of the demonic powers presented in the Scriptures. Within Second Temple literature there is a demonic figure commonly associated with Cain and his descendants’ corruption in Genesis and the corruption of the material world. That figure is the fallen angel Azazel. It is not a coincidence that Azazel is also the figure referenced in the institution of the Day of Atonement ritual (Lev 16). The figure of Azazel within the ritual atonement practiced in Israel and later Judea was understood by the first century…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Breaking the Dome: Conversing Outside the Conventional
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The Whole Counsel Blog
Who Can Keep the Law of God?
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One of the most impactful translations in the transmission history of the Scriptures has been the translation of the Hebrew ‘Torah’ with the Greek ‘nomos’, the Latin ‘lex’, and finally the English ‘law.’ The Hebrew ‘Torah’ means most immediately teaching. It, therefore, characterizes the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures as the teaching of God directed toward humanity through his people Israel. The Greek term chosen to translate it, ‘nomos’, describes an entire way of life. It includes the laws of a community or culture but also mores, folkways, traditions, and countless other elements of life that describe how that community or civilization conducts itself and lives in the world. The Latin translation of the Scriptures conducted systematically by…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Elisha and the She-Bears
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One passage commonly cited by opponents of Christianity as an example of horrible violence in the Hebrew Scriptures involves the prophet, Elisha. As this text is generally presented by critics or others seeking to enhance its problematic nature, it involves Elisha, while traveling, being made fun of by a group of small children. In particular, they mock Elisha for being bald. In response, Elisha curses them and Yahweh sends two she-bears out of the woods. These bears then kill 42 of the children who had mocked him. The idea that God massacres children for poking fun at someone is submitted as being gratuitous and sometimes even evil. The source of this story is a brief description of the event in…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Death by Holiness
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At several points in the Scriptures, human persons come in contact with the sacred in ways that result in extremely negative consequences. Chiefly, this takes the form of death. By entering sacred space or coming into contact with holy things incorrectly, these persons are immediately struck dead. This result, being instant, leaves no room for repentance or correction. The nature of these deaths and warnings issued regarding them, both before and after, has created a certain false sense of fear among many Christians. The seeming injustice of the death penalty for what seems to be minor transgression has likewise become a source of mockery for critics of the Scriptures and of Christianity. Before looking at several individual instances of this…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Defeat of Amalek
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The Whole Counsel Blog
The Epistle of Enoch
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The final portion of the Book of Enoch, comprising what is generally numbered as chapters 91-108, is commonly referred to as the Epistle of Enoch. Though ‘epistle’, through its New Testament usage, gives the idea of a letter, these chapters are not purported to be a letter written by Enoch. Rather, they purport to be a record of Enoch’s parting words to his son Methuselah and his extended family. Depending upon the translation which one reads, 1 Enoch may end with a brief, two verse chapter 105, may continue through to chapter 108, or may jump from the former ending to chapter 108. Some translations incorporate all of the material sometimes numbers as chapters 105-108 as verses of chapter 105. …
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Forerunner in the Underworld
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Can (Should) Dragons Be Tamed?
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The Whole Counsel Blog
The Book of Luminaries and the Book of Dreams
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The last three portions of the Book of Enoch, the last three material elements which have been incorporated into the text of 1 Enoch, are considerably shorter than the first two which most likely represent the most ancient traditions. These three sections are called the Book of Luminaries, the Book of Dreams, and the Epistle of Enoch respectively. These three sections also represent more diverse elements in regard to their teachings. The Book of the Watchers and the Book of Parables (including the Book of Noah) represent apocalyptic traditions both protological, in describing the origin of evil, and eschatological, in describing its final destiny. These apocalyptic traditions became formative for Jewish communities in Ethiopia, Egypt, and even in Palestine (such…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
The Inverse Pyramid: A Comparison of Secular and Ecclesial Hierarchy
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The Whole Counsel Blog
The Book of Noah
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The latter portion of the Book of Parables (chapters 60-69) within the text of 1 Enoch incorporates a ‘Book of Noah’, an independent Enochic tradition already in written form by the time it was incorporated into the Book of Enoch’s text. This is evident from a few features of the text. First and foremost, the speaker shifts from Enoch to his descendant Noah. Occasionally the speaker shifts briefly back to Enoch but in each of these cases, the remark involving Enoch appears to be a later editorial insertion. If these were merely traditions regarding Noah in an oral form, the composer of the Book of Parables would have felt free to adapt and streamline it, fitting it into the overall…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Book of Parables
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The second major portion of the Book of Enoch is the ‘Book of Parables’ which now constitutes 1 Enoch 37-71. This is something of a misnomer as the Book of Parables proper, composed of three ‘parables’ or visions received by Enoch, really only makes up chapters 37-59. Chapters 60-71 appear to be the incorporation of another, independent source into the Book of Parables and thence 1 Enoch. The material in chapters 60-71 is primarily designated as the Book of Noah. It is sometimes labeled as portions or fragments of a Book of Noah. It is not as simple, however, as just another book having been incorporated with all the others into 1 Enoch. Its independence is attested to by the…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Book of the Watchers
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What is now the first section of the Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch, comprised of the first 36 chapters, is known as the Book of the Watchers. There is not only internal evidence that this and the other portions of what is now 1 Enoch were originally separate documents recording internal traditions, but there is clear manuscript evidence that the Book of the Watchers circulated independently in Greek. The text of this portion of the Book of Enoch is known in Ethiopic, as the rest of the book, as well as through Greek fragments. Additionally, the text was found in both Greek and Aramaic among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. This variety of textual evidence allows us to…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
My Last Word as a Pastor
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The Whole Counsel Blog
The Book of Enoch
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Within the varied literature of the Second Temple period, easily the most well-known subset of that literature is the Enochic literature. Likewise, within the Enochic literature, the Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch is by far the most well-known document. This is true at least in terms of awareness, though not necessarily reflecting actual familiarity with the contents of that text. The Enochic literature is actually made up of a number of texts. Sometimes these are numbered, i.e. 1, 2, 3 Enoch. Other times they are recognized by the language in which the church has preserved them for us, as in Slavonic Enoch. Some texts, such as Jubilees, do not actually have Enoch’s name in the title, but nonetheless, reflect…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Antichrist, the Lawless One
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One figure from Christian tradition who has certainly entered into contemporary popular culture is that of the antichrist. Though this has primarily been through the medium of horror fiction, even that fiction represents a newer iteration of themes in art and popular speculation that go back through the medieval period in the West in particular. In addition to this imagery, there have been, since before even the Protestant Reformation, again primarily in the West, continuous attempts to try to match information derived from passages in the Scriptures which speak of the last days and current events. These include attempts to identify some living person as the antichrist. There are three primary passages within the New Testament which speak of this…
