On September 8, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II reposed in the Lord at the age of 96.  She had reigned as the Queen of Great Britain and other countries (such as Canada) and head of the British Commonwealth for 70 years, which is somewhat longer than oldsters like me have been alive, and therefore set a record as Britain’s longest reigning monarch.  Given that Britain has had monarchs for about a thousand…

On September 8, the Church sings that the Nativity of the Theotokos has “proclaimed joy to the whole universe”.  It is easy enough to sing, but somewhat harder now for us to understand.  Why, we may ask, did the birth of a baby girl in around 18 B.C. or so proclaim joy to the whole inhabited world? To fully understand what this birth meant, we must first understand the state of the…

In the late Metropolitan’s Kallistos Ware’s classic The Orthodox Church, he describes the Church as “a continued Pentecost”.  This is true, but it is important not to misunderstand his meaning. It is possible to understand the description of the Church as “a continued Pentecost” as meaning that the Church is an earthly organization founded by Jesus Christ and now run by clergy, an organization which exists as part of this world and…

It seems to be commonly held among scholars that the so-called monarchical episcopate (i.e. the system of having one bishop governing a city church with presbyters working with him) was not apostolic  and did not come to Rome until the late second century or even later.  That is the opinion of scholars such as Alistair Stewart (in his commentary Hippolytus: On the Apostolic Tradition), Brent Allen (in his Hippolytus and the Roman…

I have just finished reading (devouring actually) a biography of Ted Byfield entitled Prairie Lion, who left the earthly battlefield for the Kingdom of God on December 23, 2021.  The book is eminently readable and documented what I already knew from personal experience:  that Ted Byfield was a great Canadian, a great Christian, and a great man. It was my privilege to be billeted in his home a number of times during…

On my sainted parents’ graves, I swear the following conversation actually took place. Perplexed Man: “Male gametes—that’s what makes me male.” Transgender Apologist:  “No—your sperm don’t make you male.” PM: “Then what does?” TA: “It’s a constellation.” PM: “In reality, in truth.” TA: “Whose truth are we talking about?” PM: “The same truth that says we’re sitting in this room, you and I.” TA: (With a smile) “No, you’re not listening.” PM:…