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Rethinking Reading
Read more: Rethinking ReadingSomeone commented on the last post that “Icons do with color what Scripture does with words.” This, of course, the the formal teaching of the seventh ecumenical council. I offer a reprint of an earlier article I wrote entitled “How to Read the Church,” which understands the Church as the interpretation of Scripture. It’s another […]
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Is The Bible True?
Read more: Is The Bible True?There is a fundamentalist anxiety that I hold in great sympathy. My sympathy is driven by the fact that I lived for many years under the burden of that very anxiety. It is the hidden fear that possibly, despite all faith exercised in the opposite direction, the Bible may not, in fact, be true. A […]
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The God of the Old Testament
Read more: The God of the Old TestamentOld habits are hard to break. For years as an Anglican Christian, and a conservative, I battled with academics in the Anglican world whose primary agenda seemed to me (at the time) to be the destruction of Scripture. Their historical method generally resulted in students being told that this that and the other thing didn’t […]
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God’s Wrath
Read more: God’s WrathWhat shall we make of the wrath of God? We have this quote from the Gospel of St. Luke: And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered […]
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Of Whom I Am First
Read more: Of Whom I Am FirstIn the Divine Liturgy, it is customary for this prayer to be offered by all who are coming to receive communion. I quote a portion: I believe, O Lord, and I confess that Thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Who camest into the world to save sinners, of whom I […]
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Dostoevsky on the Individual
Read more: Dostoevsky on the IndividualThe following passage from The Brothers Karamazov is taken from one of the “Talks and Homilies” of the Elder Zossima – one of the key characters in the novel. His thoughts echo earlier articles here that contrast man as “individual” (isolation) to man as Person (brotherhood and communion). Look at the worldly and at the […]
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Salvation in a Cloud of Witnesses
Read more: Salvation in a Cloud of WitnessesPerhaps more than any culture in history – America has championed the individual. The context for this cultural development was the nation’s historic resistance to the class structures of 17th and 18th century Europe (and later) as well as a positive response to certain intellectual concepts that were popular at the time of the nation’s […]
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Understanding the Incarnation
Read more: Understanding the IncarnationOf words that have been important in my life in Christ I cannot omit “incarnation.” Of course, the word refers to the doctrine of God become man, the Word made flesh. I wrote previously about the importance of reading St. Athanasius’ On the Incarnation and its impact on my life as an Orthodox Christian. Of course, […]
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Favorite Thoughts
Read more: Favorite ThoughtsAny reader of this blog will very quickly notice certain ideas and words that come up repeatedly in my writings. Some of my parishioners say that I only have one sermon – so perhaps it’s also true that I only have one blog article… But I have been meditating on some of my favorite words […]
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The Longest Liturgy
Read more: The Longest LiturgyIt is not uncommon for visitors and members alike to comment on the length of an Orthodox liturgy. Sunday liturgies are often an hour-and-a-half or more (longer still in monastic communities). Many of the services surrounding feast days such as vigils and the like take more than two hours (the version used in local parishes […]
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It seems clear that without the Crucifixion, there is no communion. Is there not communion in the Incarnation itself, Father?…
Matthew, We obey the commandments of Christ as best we can (they’re not complicated). I don’t remember a commandment that…
Matthew, I think it’s something we continue to ponder. I had 3 years or so of the charismatic movement and…
“It´s not right” How can we know what is “right” and what is “wrong”? … and if we can indeed…
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Sam, you said: Indeed, Christ allowed His risen face to be recognized in the the setting of eating with Him…