Theology and doctrine aren\u2019t the mealy-mouthed meanderings of professors in seminaries and universities. They\u2019re the how-to manual for mystical union with the divine, for properly living this life and getting into the next in one piece, and for seeing and experiencing the deep meaning present in every person, every tree, every rock and every sub-atomic particle. If you follow the how-to manual in the right way, you get the right results. If you follow it in the wrong way, or you follow some other manual, then you get different results.<\/p>\n
The writers on this site are Orthodox Christians. They belong to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church\u2014the Orthodox Church. The writing here reflects this membership not as a brand loyalty or as an ideology, but rather as participation in the prophetic, apostolic work begun by Christ through His Apostles. Where Orthodoxy meets heterodoxy (teachings that deviate from Orthodoxy), there is something to be learned, something to be refined, something to be improved, and often something to be set aside.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s because theology isn\u2019t just a bunch of spiritual opinions. Theology is not just life and death, but\u00a0eternal<\/i>\u00a0life and death. We have to get it right not just so we can belong to the right churchy club, but so we can grab hold of sanity in an insane world, so we can seek out the profound while surrounded by triviality, so we can pursue beauty in the midst of ugliness.<\/p>\n
Orthodoxy means\u00a0true glory<\/i>\u00a0(among other things), and that is what we seek.<\/p>\n
This site\u2019s tagline\u2014Doctrine Matters<\/i>\u2014is not just an affirmation that Orthodox dogma is a necessary part of the spiritual life. Doctrine (\u201cteaching\u201d) includes not just dogma, but every teaching and true tradition pertaining to union with the Holy Trinity\u2014worship, asceticism, hierarchy, canonical tradition, and so forth. Doctrine is what we are taught and what we teach.<\/p>\n
Although Orthodox Christians agree on dogma, there is no \u201cparty line\u201d for this site, so writers may well disagree with each other, especially in terms of their approach to non-Orthodox theologies. The site is deliberately designed to provide a forum for multiple thoughtful voices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"