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…
The Whole Counsel Blog
One God, the Father and One Lord, Jesus Christ
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It is a commonplace in St. Paul’s theology for the apostle to refer to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as a unified phrase (cf. Rom 1:4, 7; 5:1, 11; 6:23; 7:25; 8:39; 15:6, 30; 16:20; 1 Cor 1:2-3, 9-10; 8:6; 15:57; 2 Cor 1:2-3; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2-3, 17; 5:20; 6:23; Phi 1:2; 2:11; Col 1:3; 1 Thess 1:1, 3; 5:9; 2 Thess 1:1-2, 12; 2:16; 1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2; Phil 1:3). Within the context of 1 Corinthians 8:6, St. Paul makes this formulation based on integrating Christ into the shema of Deuteronomy 6:4. This formulation ultimately became the basis for the phraseology of the Nicene Creed. The relationship between these two persons, the Father…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Biblical Monotheism
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It is common in the contemporary world to speak of Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and Islam as ‘monotheistic faiths.’ This categorization is intended to imply that, over against polytheistic religions, these three religious traditions have a similar view of God. Sometimes, this perceived similarity is taken so far as to argue that these three religious traditions worship the same God. Monotheism, as a term, refers of course to the belief that there is only one God. Polytheism, on the other hand, describes any religious tradition in which there are many gods and goddesses who are the object of worship and devotion. Less commonly discussed, and occupying a middle position between these two categories, is Henotheism, which is the view that there…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
New Tolkien Podcast: Amon Sûl from Ancient Faith Radio
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If you follow me on social media at all, you’re already aware of this, I’m sure, but just in case you’re one of the folks who follow this blog and not much else, I wanted to let you know about a brand new Ancient Faith Radio podcast that launched today: The Amon Sûl Podcast. Here’s the official description: Join host Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Paradise
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The garden of Eden, the place where God dwells with his divine council, is known in Greek translation as Paradise. The word Paradise is a Persian loan word to Greek which refers to a particular type of walled garden. Likely the most high profile example of a paradise garden in the world today is the Taj Mahal, built according to Persian custom. An aerial photo of the Taj Mahal reveals even four waterways in parallel to the Biblical description. Modern literalism has sought to locate this garden somewhere on the planet earth, with the assumption that at some point, usually the flood of Noah, it was destroyed. While a ‘this worldly’ interpretation of Eden is attractive to many, it fails…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Pentecost, Birthday of the Church
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In previous posts, the formation and renewal of Israel through Pascha and Pentecost have been discussed. Israel as a people came into being through a mixed ethnic group around a core of descendants of Jacob being marked out by the blood of the Passover lamb, delivered from Egypt through the sea, culminating in the reception of God’s covenant at Sinai with the sprinkling of blood. Subsequent generations were integrated ritually into Israel through the celebration of the Passover and Pentecost within the yearly ritual cycle. After most of Israel had been dispersed to the nations, she was resurrected with Christ at the second Pascha by the reintegration of the nations around a core of the remnant of Judah. The culmination…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Power of Remembering Jesus Christ
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Feast of St. Haralampos / Sunday of the Canaanite Woman, February 10, 2019 II Timothy 2:1-10; Matthew 15:21-28 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David. (II Timothy 2:8a) I was struck this week when I read that first phrase: “Remember Jesus…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Renewed Israel
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In the previous post, the brief history of Israel as God’s people in the Old Testament was outlined, from its creation to its ultimate dissolution. Despite that dissolution, the prophets promised that God would one day restore and redeem not only the remnant of Judea, but the entirety of Israel. This had been made seemingly impossible by the fact that the ten northern tribes had been ‘lost’. They had not been lost to history. There is clear historical record of the cities and regions in Assyria to which the Israelites had been deported. Rather, over generations of intermarriage and assimilation, the people of the northern tribes became indistinguishable as a particular people. Their identity as a people had been dissolved…
The Whole Counsel Blog
God's People Israel
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Though it is the name used for the people of God in both Old and New Testaments, ‘Israel’ as the name for God’s people had only a limited historical span. As a united people freed from Egypt, depending on one’s dating of the Exodus, Israel existed for between 300 and 500 years. Only the last century of this period represented an actual kingdom under a human king. Following the fracturing of the tribes at the end of Solomon’s reign, it was the northern ten tribes that existed under the name ‘Israel’ for very roughly 200 years before its complete destruction at the hands of the Assyrian Empire. Even during those two centuries, the northern kingdom was better known as ‘Ephraimite’…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John
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The figure of St. John the Forerunner looms large in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, even long after his death had been recorded. This reflects his great historical importance in 1st century Judea, as reflected in the writings of Josephus amongst other places. His coming as the forerunner of the Messiah was prophesied within the Hebrew scriptures and the return of the Prophet Elijah, St. Elias, was one of the markers of the coming of the expected Christ well-known to Jewish communities of the era. This prominence is reflected in the Orthodox iconographic tradition in which he stands at the left hand of Christ enthroned. He serves as the link between the Old Testament prophets and the…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Psalm 68 and the Gospel of Jesus Christ
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The scripture readings assigned to the Sunday after Theophany in the Orthodoxy Church, Ephesians 4:7-13 and Matthew 4:12-17 are bound together thematically by Psalm 68 (67 in the Greek numbering). This Psalm is quoted, and slightly adapted, by St. Paul who gives to the Psalm the interpretation which would later enshrine it in Paschal liturgics. It also, however, connects to the geographical themes set out by St. Matthew as Christ’s public ministry begins following his baptism by St. John the Forerunner. Understanding the way in which Ss. Matthew and Paul use this Psalm to characterize the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ is important to understanding the very meaning of the term ‘gospel’ as it is applied to our…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Theophany and River Gods
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The Orthodox Church has always taught that the background against which the scriptures and scriptural events are rightly understood is preserved within Holy Tradition. Holy Tradition is the life of the Holy Spirit within the church, but how precisely this functions is often misunderstood. Sometimes it is thought to be some sort of secret additional knowledge, beyond the scriptures or the public proclamation of the church passed down orally. This sort of idea, however, is roundly condemned by the Fathers in their contest against Gnosticism. What separates Christianity from Gnosticism, they argue, is that Christianity has always publicly proclaimed the same faith delivered once and for all to the saints. A prime example of how tradition ‘works’ can be seen…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Stephen, Rabbi and Saint
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St. Stephen is remembered in the church as one of the first deacons chosen by the apostles (Acts 6:5) and the first Christian martyr following the resurrection and ascension of Christ (7:58-60). The church has also, however, maintained and handed down a great deal more information about this important saint. Like St. Paul, St. Stephen had been a student of the rabbi Gamaliel, a figure who appears briefly in the New Testament (5:34; 22:3), but becomes a massively important figure of authority in later Talmudic Judaism. The Mishnah, in particular, is composed primarily of the statements and opinions of famed rabbis on particular topics of the Torah, and Gamaliel’s opinions are featured prominently. While St. Paul’s level of rabbinical, as…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Who is the Satan?
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In the post which began the current series, the figure of the Devil and his fall from membership in God’s divine council was discussed. Having served as a cherub or seraph, a guardian of God’s throne, he sought to supplant God in the lives of newly created human beings out of envy, resulting in his being cast down to Sheol to reign over the dead in a kingdom of dust and ashes in Genesis 3. This figure, though clearly seen in the understanding of death and Christ’s victory over it in the New Testament and the liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church, lacks many of the common features and characteristics of Satan. He was not, per se, an archangel, certainly…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Who are Demons?
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In the previous posts of the present series, the Devil and a group of fallen angels were discussed. The former was cast down into Sheol, or Hades, to devour and rule over the dead. The latter were confined in chains in the Abyss for their crimes until the end of the world. In another previous post, the angelic beings to whom the nations were assigned at the tower of Babel, who later became corrupt and sought the worship of the nations they were to govern were described. These beings did not fall as the others and remain in the heavenly places according to St. Paul (Eph 6:12), though they are judged at the resurrection of Christ (Ps 82) and their…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Angels Who Left Their Former Estate
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In a previous post, the giants of the Old Testament, who came into being through demonic sexual immorality, were discussed. Only brief comments were made at that time about their angelic “parents”. These angelic beings, however, play an important role in the unfolding of the Old Testament and in New Testament theology. In another post, the three events of Genesis 1-11 which might be termed a ‘fall’ of humanity were discussed. It was commonplace in the Fathers and other early Christian writers to speak about the sinful state of humanity remedied by Christ in terms of one of these three events, with the other two subordinated, but which event varied. St. Irenaeus sees all three in terms of the sinful…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
No, Christmas is Not Pagan. Just Stop.
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Well, it’s time for a good Christmas rant. This requires a rant, because every year, we see the same ignorant silliness. (Sorry, but it’s just true.) Supposedly, Christmas is secretly pagan, secretly syncretist, secretly a co-opting of pagan stuff and ignorantly claiming it to be Christian. But the truth about these things is so available that it’s literally staring out at you even from…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Who is the Devil?
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The figure of the Devil or Satan as a personal spiritual being appears at a few distinct points in the scriptures in which his origin and identity are described. The Biblical picture of this entity, however, is very often distorted by later popular Christian literature and modern popular culture. There is far more of Milton than of scripture in the average Christian of today’s understanding of who the Devil is, what his goals and purposes are, and how he came to be who he is today. The various demons and devils of scripture, the subject of the next several posts, are often merged together or arranged into some kind of hierarchy, or more recently bureaucracy, in a way that is…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Can You Baptize Without Baptism? Review: The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II by Fr. Peter Heers
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Is it possible to receive an unbaptized person into the Orthodox Church without baptizing him? What would it mean to do such a thing? You might not expect a book about the Second Vatican Council to elicit such questions from Orthodox sacramental theology but Fr. Peter Heers’s 2015 doctoral thesis, published with the title The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II (ERV2), does…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Why People Leave Church When Leaders Fail
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Back in August, (formerly) Roman Catholic political columnist Damon Linker announced that he’d left the Roman Catholic Church, and this past week, he explained why, noting along the way some of the reaction against his announcement: It’s hardly surprising that writers deeply devoted to the Catholic Church would reject the reasons for my decision to leave the church. The former editor of Commonweal Paul…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Those Who are Baptized for the Dead
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First Corinthians 15 is the chapter, out of St. Paul’s entire corpus, which most fully expresses the Apostle’s understanding of the resurrection of the dead. The first half of the chapter discusses the importance of Christ’s resurrection and how it is inviolably linked to the resurrection not only of human persons, but of all things. In the second half of the chapter, St. Paul describes, in so far as he can, what the resurrection of humanity and ultimately of the entire creation means. The chapter closes with St. Paul reveling in a hymn of victory over death. In the midst of this discussion, St. Paul gives a series of rhetorical examples as evidence of the centrality of the resurrection of…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist
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In a previous post, the role of the angelic realm in liturgical worship was briefly discussed. The primary place in which the lives of Orthodox Christians intersect dynamically the angelic realm of God’s heavenly council is within worship broadly and the Divine Liturgy in particular. The reality of angelic presence and participation in the worship of the Holy Trinity is referenced continually in liturgical hymns and prayers as a means to awareness of this reality. God’s divine council, including the angels and the saints in glory, participates in Christ’s reign over creation in both governance and in the public work (Gr. leitourgeia) of worship. This takes places continuously in the unseen, heavenly realm and is joined by human persons in…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Synodality or Supremacy? Orthodoxy and Rome
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Catholic University professor C. C. Pecknold has a column out today regarding the failure of “synodality” in the modern Roman Catholic Church as practiced under Pope Francis. There is a reference there to Orthodox conciliarity: Governance within Orthodoxy is built not around the papacy but around “sister churches” gathering together for collaborative, deliberative self-governance in synodal assembly. It is important to understand…
Nearly Orthodox
The Wilderness Journal and the Face of God
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So, imagine me packing furiously for this beautiful opportunity to speak at the (first ever) Ancient Faith Women’s Retreat when what does my friend, Melinda Johnson, who I like an awful lot, send me? Boom. I mean I know I wrote it. It took three years and a lot of puzzling over the first volume of the Philokalia, but to see even a photo of a stack of the book is…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Ss. Paul and Constantine
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It is commonplace for many modern Christians, even Orthodox Christians, to consider St. Constantine a problematic figure. Even the fact that he is considered a saint within the Orthodox Church is seen as difficult. Obviously, the end of Christian persecution by the Roman Empire was a great benefit to the Church and to the Christians of the day. But it is not…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Extra-Biblical Literature in the Orthodox Church
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This blog has often, and will continue to, make reference to extra-Biblical literature. The two most important categories of this literature are Second Temple Jewish literature and early Christian writings such as the Apostolic Fathers. Second Temple Jewish literature reveals to us the religious world and mindset of the first century AD from which Christianity emerged. It shows us the theological lens through which the apostles understood the revelation which came in the person of Jesus Christ. The Apostolic Fathers, and the Fathers of the second and third centuries as well, in particular, show us the continuity with, and transformation of, Second Temple Judaism that came to constitute the Christian religion. Not only is the New Testament rife with allusions…
The Whole Counsel Blog
4 Maccabees: Martyrdom and Reason
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As is the case with 4 Ezra, 4 Maccabees is a Biblical text that lies at the very edges of the Old Testament canon in the Orthodox Church. In later Greek manuscripts, 4 Maccabees is included in an appendix. In older Greek manuscripts no such distinction is made, though 4 Maccabees is often found at the end of these manuscripts rather than following 3 Maccabees, along with Psalm 151 and the Prayer of Manasseh, two liturgical fragments. It is present in Old Georgian Old Testaments and was for a time, though no longer, in the Romanian Old Testament. Due to their relegation to the ‘apocrypha’ in most English Bibles, 1-3 Maccabees are not well known to most English readers. …
