Author: Fr. Daniel Greeson

Father Daniel holds an M.T.S. from Vanderbilt Divinity School at Vanderbilt University and an M.Div. from Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. He is rector of St. Anne’s Orthodox Church (OCA) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

New Episode forthcoming – Keeping the Faith.

· Fr. Daniel Greeson
Since Fr Andrew Damick and Michael Landsmen on The Areopagus Podcast recently had on Fr. Wesley Walker of The Sacramentalists podcast…we thought we’d follow suit and have Fr Myles Hixson, the other half of the Sacramentalists, on to Every Thought Captive. Today, on this feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Fr Daniel and Fr Myles sat down to record podcast on “Keeping the Faith – The Influence of Parents”. Our discussion is guided by an article published in First Things by Christian Smith, “Keeping the Faith“. The good news is that parents have an incredible influence…

Podcast is launched!

· Fr. Daniel Greeson
Our first episode introduces the new podcast and then we delve into Fr. Alexander Schmemann’s “The Task of Orthodox Theology Today”. We have a few episodes already recorded and will be sharing them in the upcoming weeks! Not just monologues! We will also have guests on the pod! Subscribe and share! Hit the image to go to the Ancient Faith webpage for the podcast.

NEW PODCAST!

· Fr. Daniel Greeson 1 Leave a Comment on %s
Part of the reason for some of the low activity level here at Every Thought Captive has been the gearing up for the launching of a podcast! The podcast will be dedicated to the same themes as the blog…but more dynamic and interactive! Yes, we will continue with the production of new content – in depth analysis that bringing Orthodox thought and tradition to bear on current social and cultural issues. I also plan to go back and revisit certain threads and expanding those forays. We also plan to have on guests for interviews and discussions.…

How the West Really Lost God: The Family Factor

· Fr. Daniel Greeson 1 Leave a Comment on %s
We Orthodox face many contemporary challenges in the modern West. We have for decades now been fully aware of the challenge of secularism thanks to the works of Fr. Alexander Schmemann and Fr. Seraphim Rose. Typical for intellectuals the loss of God was analyzed from an intellectual framework. They approached the challenges by articulating intellectual genealogies and engaging in philosophical debate. The challenge of secularism has also been the occasion for the recent resurgence in discussing enchantment in many recently released Ancient Faith podcasts, as evidenced by the popularity of The Lord of the Spirits and…

Reason and Natural Theology – Analyzing the Hartford Appeal – Part 4

· Fr. Daniel Greeson 5 Leave a Comment on %s
Blessed feast of Theophany! The winter light of the Nativity and Theophany of our Lord warms our souls, inflames our hearts, and enlivens our minds. For it is truly in the light given by the Light that we are able to behold the truth of not only our lives but the entire universe!  The Fathers of the Church did not shy away from the claim of the Gospel that the meaning of all things is found in the pearl of great price, Jesus Christ. They proclaimed, led, and defended the teachings of our Lord to a…

Analyzing the Hartford Appeal – Part 3

· Fr. Daniel Greeson 2 Leave a Comment on %s
It was not too long ago that the “New Atheists” ruled the discourse of religion in the public sphere. The agitations of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris rocked the bookshelves and journals for some time. This was the popularization and revalorization of certain criticisms of the Christian faith that have been with us for some time. Put simply, the God of Christians cannot be good or even believable according to our current understanding of science and morality. Religion must submit to the strictures of the empirical and the parameters of the scientific…

Analyzing the Hartford Appeal – Part 2

· Fr. Daniel Greeson 4 Leave a Comment on %s
Who does not love the rush of getting something new? I remember, with some shame, that this was in my youth the rush of Christmas. “What new gadget would I get? A video game? A computer? Oh, no….socks and underwear. The tragedy! My Christmas is over! So many friends of mine got cool expensive gadgets! And me? I got socks and a stupid old board game.” I needed that new video game or iPad or camera. The sense of loss was immense. While this is not my internal struggle with Christmas now, this still describes my…

Analyzing the Hartford Appeal – Part 1

· Fr. Daniel Greeson 4 Leave a Comment on %s
On April 1, 1975 Worldview Magazine published “An Appeal for Theological Affirmation: The Hartford Statement”. The themes of this Appeal were first thought up on evening in January 1974 at the home of Peter Berger, an eminent and respected sociologist. There Richard John Neuhaus and Berger, with great fun, made up a list of major themes in mainline Protestantism that irritated them. The irritation came from what they saw as serious problems arising from the assumptions being made in so much Christian engagement with public life in the United States. They shared this list with a…

Medicine in the Machine

· Fr. Daniel Greeson
I was recently in the emergency room with the family of a parishioner who had had an unexpected medical emergency. After waiting a while for the results of the procedure a man abruptly appeared clad in the iconic medical digs. This was obviously the person we were anxiously looking to hear from. Before we received the eagerly anticipated news, I was given the once over. For, of course, I was clad in cassock and cross. Our eyes were not to meet again. What happened in the next two and half minutes is something to which I…

Holy Week and The New Media Epidemic

· Fr. Daniel Greeson 2 Leave a Comment on %s
  Holy Week is upon us in the Orthodox Church. We have celebrated the confirmation of the universal resurrection in our Lord’s raising up of his friend Lazarus, four days in the tomb. We have also cried out with the children running before our Lord in his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Last evening we returned to Church to contemplate the approach of the Bridegroom. The troparion still rings in my ears. Behold, the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night, and blessed is the servant He shall find vigilant; but unworthy is he whom he…