In the common vernacular, the term ‘apocalypse’ is used to refer to the end of the world or some imagined future in which the present world societal structures have been destroyed or ceased to exist. In fiction, this was typically some sort of nuclear or environmental catastrophe, though in recent years it has tended more toward disease outbreak in general and one which turns humans into zombies in particular. This popular usage has come through a particular interpretation of the final book of the New Testament, the Apocalypse of St. John, or the book of Revelation. Centuries of interpretation which holds that this text, or at least the greater part of it, describes events which will take place at the…
In the celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration in the Orthodox Church, much attention is paid to the revelation of Christ’s glory as uncreated light. This is fitting, as this element of the event and of the feast became critically important to later doctrinal disputes within the East and ultimately between East and West. There are, however, other important elements of the event and feast relating to the revelation of Jesus as not only Christ but as God which may be all too quickly passed over as a result of this emphasis. Certain liturgical elements of the feast and of scriptures telling of the event give clues to these other elements if they are followed through attentively. One of…
First John 2:2 states that Christ has offered himself as an atoning sacrifice “not only for our sins but also for the whole world.” For most of Christian history, this verse has been used as a football in various theological disputes. First, it was used as a proof text against the Donatists who saw their churches in North Africa as the totality of the church of Christ. Second, it was debated in regard to the condemnation of apokatastasis or universalism. Beginning in the period of the Protestant Reformation, it became a key text in the debate surrounding the Calvinist doctrine of limited or particular atonement. While what St. John has to say to the Johannine community in 1 John may…
