Particularly during this season of Great Lent with all its fasting and services and so forth, Orthodox Christians who live in a multi-religious society may be tempted to think or say something like what you see in this image here: “Orthodoxy: Christianity. Only Tougher.” On its face, there is of course a lot of truth to that characterization. Being a faithful Orthodox Christian is…
Today is the beginning of Great Lent for most Orthodox Christians (a handful of Western Rite Orthodox Christians will begin with their Ash Wednesday the day after tomorrow), and I’ve decided to try my hand at doing 40 days of blogging—posting at least once a day from today through the Friday before Lazarus Saturday. This is my first post for Great Lent. Today I…
Today I read the comments on this YouTube video. I know, I know—YouTube comments generally are the lowest form of discourse on the Internet, and I wasn’t terribly surprised to see that someone thought that the musical line “Most Holy Mother of God, save us” was “blasphemous.” (He preferred to hear his blasphemy in Latin, apparently.) I must admit to being a bit baffled,…
Lists like this are usually so much clickbait, I know, but I thought it was nevertheless worthwhile to compile a list of most of the reasons why I became and/or remain an Orthodox Christian. Some of these things were not really on my radar when I became Orthodox in 1998, but they are part of the reason why I genuinely do love belonging to…
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.)…
Update: The recording of the discussion is here. On May 12, 2013, at 8-9:30pm EDT / 5-6:30pm PDT, I’ll be appearing on the live call-in show “Ancient Faith Today with Kevin Allen.” The topic: “Who is a Christian?” “Ancient Faith Today” (AFT) is Ancient Faith Radio‘s live call-in show streaming via the Internet, covering multiple topics, from pop culture to politics, from an Orthodox…
I will be at St. Joseph Orthodox Church in Houston, Texas, on February 9, 2013, leading an “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy” themed retreat. It would be lovely to meet many of you there. Copies of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy will be on hand for purchasing and signing, should you so desire.
I’ve got this new post up today at Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy that may be of interest to readers. I reflect a bit on my own childhood in Evangelical revivalism as well as talking about how that culture functions and why I regard Orthodoxy to have more satisfying answers to revivalist longings.
