The Whole Counsel Blog
Propitiation and Expiation
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Debates surrounding atonement theology over the last several decades have centered on two terms, propitiation and expiation. Both of these terms describe the function of particular sacrificial rituals. There is not, of necessity, a conflict between the core meanings of these two terms. They have come, however, to be emblematic of entire theological positions regarding the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Clearing away the accumulated theological baggage from these terms, however, allows them to highlight two important elements of the sacrificial system described in the Hebrew scriptures which will, in turn, reveal elements of the Gospels’ portrayal of Christ’s atoning death. Rather than summarizing two incompatible views or options or theories regarding “how atonement works,” these elements, along with others, convey…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Wrath of God
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The wrath of God is a topic unpopular in the present era. Much theological ink has been spilled in the modern period in an attempt to explain away or otherwise neutralize the idea, despite its clear presence in the scriptures and in the writings of the fathers. An entire fully developed complex of ideas in later Western theology, including not only God’s wrath but also a particular conception of his justice and of penal substitution, is seen by many modern commentators as an inextricably linked whole. This complex idea is then caricatured in various ways and rejected wholesale. To reject the teaching of the church at the foundation, however, along with the later erroneous edifice built upon it is to…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Scripture: Myth or History?
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The Whole Counsel Blog
Atonement
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Over the next several weeks, posts will examine the Biblical concept of atonement from several angles in an attempt to synthesize the teaching of the scriptures on this topic. Before delving into the teaching of particular portions of the scriptures it is important to have a working definition of what “atonement” is in the first place and how the terms in the original languages of scripture which are translated by this English word are used in a general sense. There also needs to be a certain amount of disambiguation regarding common popular uses of the term in Western theology and popular Christian discussion. Many of these usages import concepts and theological notions which postdate the scriptures by centuries. The “reading…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Apostles Enthroned
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The Whole Counsel Blog
Being and Chaos
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In our modern understanding of being, being is commonly opposed to nothingness. Something exists and by this we mean has some sort of material reality, it is a thing, or it does not exist, meaning that it is imaginary and has no real time space existence. The difficulty of discussing the existence of God as ‘a being’ within this paradigm is what has created most of the unprofitable discussion surrounding atheism in our society. This understanding was preceded for centuries, particularly in Western thought, by an understanding initiated by Plato and further elaborated by the Middle and Neo-Platonists. Platonism opposed being not with some concept of non-being that equated with non-existence, but with becoming. There are things which simply are. …
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Saint is One Who Has Come Home
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Sunday of All Saints, June 23, 2019 Hebrews 11:33-12:2; Matthew 10:32-33, 37-8; 19:27-30 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On this Sunday of All Saints, as we remember that we are all called to be saints, let us meditate for a few minutes on what it means for someone to be a…
Nearly Orthodox
Fire
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an excerpt from The Wilderness Journal: 365 Days with the Philokalia Day 187 “In other words, the incensive power, although God-given as a weapon, or, a bow against evil thoughts, can be turned the other way and used to destroy good thoughts as well, for it destroys whatever it is directed against. I have seen a spirited dog destroying equally both wolves and sheep.” St Hesychios the Priest Fire When…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Oak of Mamre
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The episode at the oak of Mamre, recorded in Genesis 18, is one of the strangest and most mysterious in the scriptures. It has long been depicted in Orthodox iconography as the Hospitality of Abraham. Beginning with Andrei Rublev, a detail of this scene has been the only approved Orthodox iconographic depiction of the Holy Trinity. This Trinity icon is used by some local Orthodox churches as the icon for the feast of Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost marked the conclusion of the revelation of the Holy Trinity to humanity. The episode of the oak of Mamre, in many ways, represents the beginning of that revelation. Genesis 18 begins by stating that Yahweh appeared to Abraham…
Nearly Orthodox
Life, the Internet, and Everything...
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Thunderstorms are my favorite thing. The crack of lightning, the rumble of thunder. Strong rain on my roof and me, warm in my bed, watching. Let me amend this to say that thunderstorms are my favorite thing when I am in a safe, warm, dry place. If I were camping, or stuck on the side of the road, or walking home from the bus stop, they might feel far more menacing, and…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
St Columba and the Water of Artbranan
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The Whole Counsel Blog
Creation and Ascension
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The feast of Christ’s Ascension represents one of the most important liturgical moments of the Christian year. It is, unfortunately, generally under-appreciated. Due to where it falls in the cycle of feasts, it is sometimes seen as a sort of epilogue to Pascha. In our modern life, it falls in the summer which has become a time for vacations, time off from work and school and even sometimes church. It falls in mid-week, which in the modern working world makes its participation more difficult for many people. For ancient people, however, the feast of the Ascension of Christ would have been intuitively the most important. The Ascension represents the culmination of the gospel which was proclaimed throughout the world by…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Calendars Old and New
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One piece of recent Orthodox history and continued current controversy that often strikes those first learning about the church as odd is the controversy between the old and new, or Julian and revised Julian, calendars. For those outside the church, and even some inside, this controversy may seem odd. The difference in celebrating the immovable feasts two weeks earlier or later may seem almost irrelevant. The tenacity with which people hold to one calendar or the other and the vehemence which the arguments between them can reach may seem strange or misplaced. The idea that it is one date for everyone else in the world and a different date at church in an old calendar parish may even seem fanciful…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Christ Our Passover
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In 1 Corinthians 5:7, St. Paul states that Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Though St. Paul’s identification is incredibly clear and straightforward, the identification of Christ as Passover lamb and of his death and resurrection as a new Passover are ubiquitous in the scriptures. In Orthodox liturgical practice in English, we tend not to translate the word Pascha. Pascha is simply the Greek word for Passover wherever it occurs liturgically. Therefore, we call our festal celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection ‘Passover’ on a regular basis. The Old Testament establishes patterns of God’s working with humanity and in his creation, including our redemption. These patterns are then taken up and fulfilled, i.e. filled to overflowing, by Christ. …
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
"Tolkien" Film: How Christian Reviewers are Getting it Wrong (SPOILERS)
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The Whole Counsel Blog
Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates - Psalm 24 and the Harrowing of Hades
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Psalm 24 (23 in the Greek collection) is a Psalm deeply immersed in the religious world of ancient Israel. The Psalm represents a specific polemic against the pagan beliefs of her Canaanite, Phoenician, and Syrian neighbors. This Psalm mocks the pretensions of the demonic being whom they have chosen to worship directly and specifically. The means for understanding the context into which Psalm 24 was written and the beliefs against which it was directed lay buried in the sand in Lebanon for more than 3,000 years. Nevertheless, the original meaning of this Biblical text was maintained in the Orthodox Church until the present day through its liturgical usage. This text is, therefore, not only a prime example of the way…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Struggle for Prayer
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The Whole Counsel Blog
The Testament of Jacob
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In preparing his Latin translation of the scripture, St. Jerome translated the Greek word “diatheke” and the Hebrew word “berith” with the Latin “testamentum.” From the latter word, the English word “testament” is derived. The original Hebrew term, “berith,” refers most commonly to treaty documents, and in its usage in the Torah particularly refers to a particular type of treaty, that issued by a suzerain to a vassal at a king’s accession to the throne. This usage is in view in the New Testament in every instance of its usage but one. To convey this usage, the word is generally translated “covenant.” The translators of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek translated the word with the Greek “diatheke” which is likewise…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Should It Matter to Christians When Churches Burn?
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Henry David Thoreau & Mary of Egypt
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The Whole Counsel Blog
Samson and the Origins of Monasticism
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The principles of monasticism are deeply embedded within the scriptures. The call to monasticism is twofold. It represents a call to adhere strictly and without compromise to the commandments of God. It also represents a call to asceticism, to the sacrificing of material goods in this world in favor of spiritual goods in this world and the world to come. Ascetic practices are performed by figures throughout the scriptures, in the form of fasting and prayers and vigils. There are also, however, individuals called to whole lives of consistent asceticism, both as individuals for the benefit of their communities and communities as a whole. The first person whom we see receive a monastic calling, a calling received before his very…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Jacob's Ziggurat
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Genesis 28:10-17 describes a vision which Jacob had in a dream at the place that became known as Bethel (v. 19). Throughout the patriarchal narratives in Genesis 12-50, altars are set up by the patriarchs at various places, not coincidentally at 12 sites within the later territory of the 12 tribes of Israel. These narratives regarding the patriarchs represent the collected traditions of the 12 tribes regarding their forefathers. Bethel would be a cultic site for centuries, notably one of the two sites of Jeroboam’s apostate religion in the Northern Kingdom. The legacy of Jacob’s dream, however, in Second Temple Judaism and Christianity was untethered from the place where it occurred, and refocused upon the symbolism of the vision itself. …
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
VIDEO: J. R. R. Tolkien and The Applicability of Stories
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I was honored recently to be a guest on icon carver Jonathan Pageau’s YouTube channel The Symbolic World, discussing how the work of J. R. R. Tolkien is formative for the spiritual life and also my new Amon Sûl podcast, which is all about Tolkien: Enjoy the video, and I hope you’ll also check out Jonathan’s many other videos. It’s really excellent and mind-bending…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Annunciation and the Buffered Self
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Forefeast of the Annunciation / Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, March 24, 2019 Hebrews 1:10-2:3; Mark 2:1-12 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. For if the word spoken through angels was confirmed, and every transgression and disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation,…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Cursed is Everyone Who Hangs on a Tree
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It is significant in understanding the ways in which the scriptures function as a whole that our Lord Jesus Christ not only died, but specifically died by crucifixion. As an instrument of torture and death perfected by the Romans, the cross is an odd choice to be the primary symbol of a religion. Not only does it represent a terrible death for which the word “excruciating” was coined to describe the pain involved, it was also a means of public humiliation. Crucified individuals were crucified naked, exposed to the elements, and left to die over the course of what sometimes took days. The Romans often then left the bodies where they were to decompose, only throwing them into massive graves…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Hosts of Heaven
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As modern people, when we think of the sun and the stars, we think of masses of incandescent gas; gigantic nuclear furnaces in which hydrogen is transformed into helium at, literally, astronomical temperatures. When we think of the moon, we think of a large dusty rock which orbits around the earth every 27 days. At some level, we are aware that ancient people did not think of them this way. We believe that our modern understanding is superior because it is based on mathematics and scientific observation. Ancient explanations and descriptions are viewed as quaint folktales and myths now supplanted by real knowledge. This creates a difficulty for modern readers of the holy scriptures, as those scriptures are quickly seen…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Jeroboam, Son of Nebat
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Though he is far from a household name, Jeroboam, son of Nebat is one of the most important figures in Biblical history. As the first king and founder of the independent northern kingdom of Israel, he became the paradigmatic wicked king. He is, in many way, the first schismatic and heretic in the history of God’s people. In addition to creating the northern political structures, he began an alternative religious system that would not only endure in the northern kingdom throughout its existence, but even make inroads into the southern kingdom of Judah. Under the later Omride dynasty, the kingdom which he founded would become a regional power and at least for a time far surpass the southern kingdom of…
