Nearly Orthodox
on being contented...
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āFaith does not need to push the river because faith is able to trust that there is a river. The river is flowing. We are in it.ā āRichard Rohr I didn’t even realize the dryer had caught fire. There was no smoke that I could see, no signal from the smoke detector. The only tip-off was the faint smell, a chemical or charred scent, like an aftertaste of flint and fire. Theā¦
Nearly Orthodox
hating the flesh...
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Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,Ā that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.Ā So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who lovesā¦
Nearly Orthodox
perspective...
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Last night I dreamt of Liturgy. Recently my priest got a haircut and beard trim. Trim is perhaps a conservative word for it. A trim is what’s required for an average neighbor’s yard in the suburbs just after a small bout of spring rain. Andy Griffith gets a trim from Floyd the barber. Father John had a full on makeover. I had to ask my pal, Toni, who the visiting priest wasā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
If King David danced, should Christians dance in church?
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The above video recently made the rounds on social media, and in many of the discussions that followed, there was a predictably negative response from traditional liturgical Christians and a predictably positive response from those who have in one way or another departed from liturgical tradition. From the latter, the question is typically why the former are so uptight as to insistā¦
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Fall Speaking Engagements: New Jersey, Georgia, SE Pennsylvania
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I’ve got several upcoming speaking engagements this Fall. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you: October 19: Sharing Orthodoxy in the New World: Conversations on Faith with Family and Friends (a conference on Orthodox evangelism) at Assumption Orthodox Church in Clifton, New Jersey. October 26: The Church in the Bible & The Church After the Bible (two separate talks) (event pageā¦
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Thoughts from just south of Dunder Mifflin
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I watched the series finale of “The Office” (US) last night (yes, after watching the entire series). And I have to admit that I got a little sentimental at all the Jim/Pam stuff of the last few episodes. I very much appreciated that, during the course of their marriage, the writers gave them some real problems and that Pam even says in the finalā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Are Conversions to Orthodoxy Tragic? A Response to Leithart
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Nearly Orthodox
busy work...
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Every morning I stumble into prayer, in fits and starts, in sickness and in health. I am only awake in the quiet of the school day morning for about 5 minutes, just long enough to start the coffee and nod a quick “whassup” to the icon stand. It’s okay, they know where I live. They know I weave and bob around piles of laundry and worry. They know I’ll be back againā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Should Orthodox Christians Get Their Icons Blessed?
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It is no secret that icons are an important part of Orthodox faith and worship, covering the walls and ceilings and iconostases of our parishes, and most Orthodox Christians have at least a few icons at home. It also is no secret that the Orthodox Church practices blessings throughout the Church yearāwe start with the blessing of the waters at Theophany, andā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
OCN: Christians Coming Home To Orthodoxy [Video]
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A new video from the Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) explores some of the basic grounds on which Christians of other traditions choose to become Orthodox Christians. The production value is a little sketchy at points (there seems to be a bit of awkward blue-screening in a couple of the early shots), and some historical details are glossed over (the schism at Chalcedonā¦
Nearly Orthodox
Memoria...
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A year ago, give or take a few days, I was welcomed into the Orthodox faith. On that day I took the name of Saint Theodora of Vasta, whose story echoed in me the moment I read it. Theodora came to the aid of her village while it was under attack, she dressed as a man to fight for its survival and became mortally wounded. As she lay dying it was saidā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Orthodox Theology in Symphonic Harmony
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I once jumped off the southernmost point in the United States into the ocean, and the only way I was able to do it was to suck up my fear, hop off the cliff, and face what may. Ā Or, rather, back what may. Ouch. Iāve been behind the scenes here at Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy doing very little but cheerleading for over aā¦
Nearly Orthodox
love and marriage...
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I married into this family. When I first met Orthodoxy I was taken by its beauty, its long tradition, its steadiness. I was taken by its ability to transcend the chaos of my life, of the world, of the pressure that pushed in on me every minute of every day. When I stand in Liturgy I catch glimpses of this- the eternal, the now, the not yet. I love it. I choseā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Contemporary Philosopher Conversions to Orthodox Christianity [Video]
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St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press has published a book about philosophers who have converted to the Orthodox Church, entitled Turning East: Contemporary Philosophers and the Ancient Christian Faith. Here’s the official blurb from SVS Press: The Orthodox Church is one of the largest religious groups in the world. Yet, it remains an enigma in the West, especially among those who mistake it eitherā¦
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy 20% off until Labor Day
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Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy 20% off until Labor Day
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Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Necromancy, Idolatry and the Superiority of Protestant Culture
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Once in a while, someone writes or says something about Orthodoxy (and, in this case, several related traditions) that is just so incorrect in so many ways that one doesn’t really even know where to begin. This is one of those times. It’s one thing to disagree with a tradition. It’s something else entirely to get the basic facts about it soā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
More Celebrity Endorsements for Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
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Nearly Orthodox
"Inked"- an excerpt...
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This small piece comes from a chapter in Nearly Orthodox…now in it’s 4th round of revisions on my end. It’s coming together, words tightening up, taking deep, full breaths and small sips of water mixed with brandy when things get heavy. For now, though, this is where my brain is hovering so that I thought I’d let you take a peek. The skinās reaction to the needle and ink is to sealā¦
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Decade that Belongs
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Ten years ago today, Nicole Ann Boury married me. After ten years, I’m still not entirely sure why she did it. I know I haven’t always made her happy. I know I’ve many times made her unhappy. But even through all the uncertainty and instability of the past ten years—which is not very much for some, but is for us—we still belong. Over thisā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Celebrity Endorsements for Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
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Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Church History and Same-Sex Marriage
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Relevant to several recent postings here on same-sex marriage is this May 2012 piece from the Roads From Emmaus weblog. It is mainly a clearinghouse of links to other resources on the position of same-sex marriage in the history of Christianity. It has been slightly edited for this publication. There have been several postings online in the past few days of variousā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Same-Sex Pair Uses Orthodox Wedding Service
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[HuffPo] Manhattan saw many couples married that day, but one wedding was different, not only because it was two men being married in a Christian church, nor because they were joined by 80 supportive family members, nor even because it was a fully legal marriage of a same-sex couple, but also because two thinly handcrafted silver metal hoops, seven inches in diameter,ā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
The Doctrine of Transubstantiation in the Orthodox Church
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Does the Orthodox Church believe in “transubstantiation” (Ī¼ĪµĻĪæĻ ĻĪÆĻĻĪ¹Ļ in Greek) with regards to the Eucharist? Or is that only used in the Latin (Roman Catholic) church? There’s certainly a lot of confusion and conflicting information out there, so let’s take a closer look. As a long-time blogger, I can vouch for the necessity of extending grace towards a writer when they areā¦
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Rootedness and Uprootedness: A Lament
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In the past few weeks, I’ve learned of impending relocations of more relatives west of the Mississippi River, including one family that has been in the same state for decades and one elderly relative who has even been in the same house since the mid-1960s. One by one or in clumps, over the past several years it seems that both sides of my familyā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Conversions and Conversions: Romanians between Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism
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The following by guest author Mihai Oara is in response to the 2006 Gospel Coalition piece John’s Story: Why I Left Eastern Orthodoxy for Evangelicalism. While in the United States we can see many conversions of Evangelicals to Orthodoxy, the situation is quite the reverse in traditional Orthodox countries. This phenomenon is relatively easy to explain in a purely mathematical way: ifā¦
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
An Orthodox Circuit Preacher: St. Anastasius of Sinai and the Church Today
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The following piece by Nicholas Marinides was originally a talk given at Princeton University to the Florovsky Orthodox Theological Society on December 10, 2011. It followed on a talk given by about the theology of St. Maximus the Confessor. Both were part of a half-day workshop on āAthens vs. Jerusalem,ā intended to allow doctoral students to present their research on Church Fathersā¦
