{"id":478,"date":"2018-11-20T12:29:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T18:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/?p=478"},"modified":"2018-11-20T12:29:43","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T18:29:43","slug":"angels-demons-and-the-eucharist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In a previous post<\/a>, the role of the angelic realm in liturgical worship was briefly discussed.\u00a0 The primary place in which the lives of Orthodox Christians intersect dynamically the angelic realm of God’s heavenly council is within worship broadly and the Divine Liturgy in particular.\u00a0 The reality of angelic presence and participation in the worship of the Holy Trinity is referenced continually in liturgical hymns and prayers as a means to awareness of this reality.\u00a0 God’s divine council, including the angels and the saints in glory, participates in Christ’s reign over creation in both governance and in the public work (Gr. leitourgeia<\/em>) of worship.\u00a0 This takes places continuously in the unseen, heavenly realm and is joined by human persons in worship and in prayer.\u00a0 This realm also includes the demonic powers who previously held the nations of the Gentiles enslaved through their worship, which brought about all forms of corruption, the pinnacle of which was sexual immorality.<\/p>\n

This understanding of the spiritual world stands in the background of many of St. Paul’s discussions and practical instructions to the churches which he had helped to gather and organize.\u00a0 It stands in the background of Romans 1 and Galatians 2.\u00a0 Importantly, this understanding is necessary to make sense of the overarching discussion in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11.\u00a0 In this section of his overarching argument in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle speaks concerning food offered to idols, the Eucharist, idolatry, and the necessity of women covering their head for prayer and issues related to hair.\u00a0 Taken in and of itself, and out of its context within the Jewish religion of the 1st century as described above, this section may seem to be a random jumble of various instructions and ideas loosely connected by the idea of worship.\u00a0 When the background of St. Paul’s thought is understood, however, the uniting thread of the argument becomes apparent.<\/p>\n

St. Paul begins 1 Corinthians 10 by speaking concerning idolatry, specifically the idolatry committed by the nation of Israel after its deliverance from Egypt.\u00a0 St. Paul makes the point that these horrible examples of idolatry and the consequences for them that ensued, took place after the salvation of the Israelite people.\u00a0 He uses sacramental terms of baptism, the eating of spiritual food and the drinking of spiritual drink to set the stage for the status of these people before they engage in idolatrous behavior.\u00a0 This is important for St. Paul’s Gentile, formerly pagan audience.\u00a0 In the past, before they had heard the gospel, God had been merciful in overlooking sins, but now that they have received Christ, they are accountable (Acts 17:30-31; Rom 1:18).\u00a0 They are now constituted as God’s own people and they will be held accountable for their sins at the judgment as well as invoking consequences for those sins in this present life.<\/p>\n

St. Paul brings up two particular instances of idolatry which are important to understanding his purpose in this section of the letter.\u00a0 In both of these cases, the worship of beings which are not gods was joined together with sexual immorality.\u00a0 The early Jewish understanding of idolatry included both of these elements because pagan religion freely mingled immoral sexuality with ritual practice in service of their gods.\u00a0 St. Paul first brings up the incident with the golden calf.\u00a0 Because all sacrifices are meals, after offering sacrifices to the calf, the Israelites feasted.\u00a0 St. Paul quotes Exodus 32:6, “The people sat down to eat and drink and they rose up to play.”\u00a0 The Hebrew word here translated as ‘play’ is often used for sexual overtures (cf. Gen 26:8; 39:14, 17).\u00a0 His second reference is to the incident at Baal Peor described in Numbers 25:1-15.\u00a0 The men of Israel engaged in the worship of Baal with Moabite women which also involved engaging with them sexually.\u00a0 As a result of this apostasy, a plague fell upon the Israelite camp and as St. Paul reminds us, 23,000 died in one day.\u00a0 This occurred because this idolatrous immorality was brought into the place where God himself dwelt among his people.<\/p>\n

The Apostle then speaks about the Eucharist as a sacrifice.\u00a0 In the pagan Roman world, the ‘public works’ of the sacrifices were what bound together families, communities, cities, and the Empire itself and what bound those social units together with the spiritual powers who were thought to be their patrons.\u00a0 St. Paul points out that the sacrifices of the temple in Jerusalem served that same purpose in creating and binding together the Jewish nation and connecting her to her God (1 Cor 10:18).\u00a0 The Eucharist, then, does the same thing in uniting the participants to Christ and to one another as one body, Christ’s (v. 16-17).\u00a0 What the pagans sacrifice, however, they sacrifice to demons.\u00a0 To unite one’s self to demons after one has united themselves to Christ sacramentally is to provoke the Lord (v. 22) in the same way in which Israel provoked the Lord in the wilderness in the preceding examples.<\/p>\n

St. Paul will return to explicitly discussing the Eucharist at the end of chapter 11, but before this, he discusses the issue of women covering their head in the Eucharistic gathering and of hair.\u00a0 This is not a random interjection, but a continuation of St. Paul’s thought.\u00a0 In the background of this discussion is the understanding, found in Greek and Roman medical texts, that hair, particularly in its length and volume, is an indicator of sexual receptiveness and fertility.\u00a0 For 1st century medical science, it was not merely that wearing hair in a certain way sent a certain signal, but they believed there to be a direct connection between quantity of hair and fertility.\u00a0 It is for this reason that St. Paul says that a man wearing his hair long is a shame to him in that it is directly related to homosexual behavior (11:14).\u00a0 For a woman to display her hair, then, was for her to make a display of her receptiveness to sexual contact and her fertility.\u00a0 It is this sexuality which St. Paul finds inappropriate for church.\u00a0 It is inappropriate for a wife to make such a display toward other men (v. 6).\u00a0 If a married woman were to cut her hair short or shave her head, this would by the medical standards of the time amount to a form of birth control, and indicator that she did not wish to bear children with her husband.\u00a0 Therefore, St. Paul argues for a head covering (v. 6).<\/p>\n

The intent here was not to create a law regarding a head covering as such, but to speak to the promotion and invitation to sexuality within the Eucharistic gathering.\u00a0 The Israelites sat down to eat and drink and then rose up to play.\u00a0 The Eucharist is not a feast like those of the pagan gods which served as a precursor to the erosion of social boundaries and indulgence, least of all sexual.\u00a0 St. Paul includes in his particular discussion of women covering their heads a reference to the covering taking place ‘because of the angels.’\u00a0 This is a reference to the state of affairs in Genesis 6:1-2, in which it was understood that demonic fornication produced giants.\u00a0 St. Paul is not, per se, making an argument that this is something which is going to occur again in the same way.\u00a0 He is, however, giving yet another example of the link between the worship of demons and fornication.\u00a0 This understanding of ritual sexuality is the antithesis of Eucharistic worship.<\/p>\n

And so, after speaking of this sexual element, it makes perfect sense that St. Paul continues his contrast between the Eucharist and the pagan feasts by discussing the fact that the Eucharistic celebration is likewise incompatible with gluttony and drunkenness (v. 21).\u00a0 Both of these other sins are further examples of a lack of self control concerning the flesh.\u00a0 St. Paul then brings the entire discussion of these two chapters back to where he began.\u00a0 When the Church gathers to celebrate the Eucharist, Christ is in their midst.\u00a0 There is, therefore, a danger if the people bring with them unrepentant immorality or divided spiritual loyalties into Christ’s presence.\u00a0 Just as this resulted in plague and in the affliction of serpents in the case of the Israelites (10:9), so also now many in Corinth have fallen ill and some have even died (11:30).\u00a0 As in the case of the Israelites, this immorality and lack of repentance has consequences not only for the immoral and unrepentant individual, but for the entire community.\u00a0 For this reason St. Paul is teaching Eucharistic discipline, including excommunication both to preserve the community and for the sake of the salvation of the person who must be brought to repentance (1 Cor 5:1-12).<\/p>\n

For St. Paul, sexual immorality represents the pinnacle of sin as the degradation of humanity which leads to destruction (Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:12-20).\u00a0 As he observed the pagan Roman world, therefore, it was not at all surprising to him that idolatry went hand in hand with sexual immorality.\u00a0 Indeed, the pagan rites were themselves manifestations of sexual immorality as well as the worship of demons.\u00a0 It is therefore, for the Apostle, impossible to separate right belief and right worship from chastity as the pinnacle of moral purity.\u00a0 This is true not only for St. Paul as if it were peculiar, but for all of the New Testament authors (cf. Rev 14:1-5).\u00a0 For the entire Christian Church, the abandonment of pagan idolatry and sexual immorality represented the one absolutely necessary condition for Gentile converts to the Christian faith (Acts 15:19-20, 28-29, discussed further here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

This call to sexual purity and holiness became a marker of the early Church over against a sexually degraded Roman society. \u00a0The pagan Roman physician Galen, observing the behavior of early Christians from without, said that average Christians, in their sexual morality, were ‘advanced in self-discipline and…moral excellence…in no way inferior to true philosophers.”\u00a0 By speaking to women regarding the covering of the head, St. Paul did not demean them, but called women to a role of leadership in the preservation of chastity.\u00a0 Christian women, as exemplified by great saints such as St. Thekla, assumed this role, such that another pagan, Libanius, said regarding them, “What women these Christians have.” \u00a0\u00a0Chastity before, within, and outside of marriage is as critical an element of Christian Orthodoxy as the dogmas of the faith or the celebration of the liturgy.\u00a0 From St. Paul’s perspective, in fact, it is worse to hold to the dogmas of the faith and receive the sacraments while leading an immoral life than to live one’s life in ignorance of the truth apart from Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a previous post, the role of the angelic realm in liturgical worship was briefly discussed.\u00a0 The primary place in which the lives of Orthodox Christians intersect dynamically the angelic realm of God’s heavenly council is within worship broadly and the Divine Liturgy in particular.\u00a0 The reality of angelic presence and participation in the worship of the Holy Trinity is referenced continually in liturgical hymns and prayers as a means to awareness of this reality.\u00a0 God’s divine council, including the angels and the saints in glory, participates in Christ’s reign over creation in both governance and in the public work (Gr. leitourgeia) of worship.\u00a0 This takes places continuously in the unseen, heavenly realm and is joined by human persons in\u2026 <\/i> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist - The Whole Counsel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist - The Whole Counsel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a previous post, the role of the angelic realm in liturgical worship was briefly discussed.\u00a0 The primary place in which the lives of Orthodox Christians intersect dynamically the angelic realm of God’s heavenly council is within worship broadly and the Divine Liturgy in particular.\u00a0 The reality of angelic presence and participation in the worship of the Holy Trinity is referenced continually in liturgical hymns and prayers as a means to awareness of this reality.\u00a0 God’s divine council, including the angels and the saints in glory, participates in Christ’s reign over creation in both governance and in the public work (Gr. leitourgeia) of worship.\u00a0 This takes places continuously in the unseen, heavenly realm and is joined by human persons in\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Whole Counsel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-20T18:29:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/7d040addd0ed35d8fd453b994de13622.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Stephen De Young\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Stephen De Young\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/\",\"name\":\"Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist - The Whole Counsel Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/7d040addd0ed35d8fd453b994de13622.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-20T18:29:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-20T18:29:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#\/schema\/person\/247da0ea47cc50719afc0ec2a8ee5e90\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/7d040addd0ed35d8fd453b994de13622.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/7d040addd0ed35d8fd453b994de13622.jpg\",\"width\":448,\"height\":325},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/\",\"name\":\"The Whole Counsel Blog\",\"description\":\"The Scriptures in the Orthodox Church\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#\/schema\/person\/247da0ea47cc50719afc0ec2a8ee5e90\",\"name\":\"Fr. Stephen De Young\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54dc899af5499978d3770526996cf817d0a8e3c9e776a06507dd686f6923d420?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54dc899af5499978d3770526996cf817d0a8e3c9e776a06507dd686f6923d420?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Stephen De Young\"},\"description\":\"The V. Rev. Dr. Stephen De Young is Pastor of Archangel Gabriel Orthodox Church in Lafayette, Louisiana. He holds Master's degrees in theology, philosophy, humanities, and social sciences, and a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Amridge University. Fr. Stephen is also the host of the Whole Counsel of God podcast from Ancient Faith and author of four books, the Religion of the Apostles, God is a Man of War, the Whole Counsel of God, Apocrypha, and Saint Paul the Pharisee. He co-hosts the live call-in show and podcast Lord of Spirits with Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/stgabriellafayette.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/author\/frstevedeyoung\/\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist - The Whole Counsel Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist - The Whole Counsel Blog","og_description":"In a previous post, the role of the angelic realm in liturgical worship was briefly discussed.\u00a0 The primary place in which the lives of Orthodox Christians intersect dynamically the angelic realm of God’s heavenly council is within worship broadly and the Divine Liturgy in particular.\u00a0 The reality of angelic presence and participation in the worship of the Holy Trinity is referenced continually in liturgical hymns and prayers as a means to awareness of this reality.\u00a0 God’s divine council, including the angels and the saints in glory, participates in Christ’s reign over creation in both governance and in the public work (Gr. leitourgeia) of worship.\u00a0 This takes places continuously in the unseen, heavenly realm and is joined by human persons in\u2026","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/","og_site_name":"The Whole Counsel Blog","article_published_time":"2018-11-20T18:29:43+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/7d040addd0ed35d8fd453b994de13622.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Fr. Stephen De Young","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Stephen De Young","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/","name":"Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist - The Whole Counsel Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/7d040addd0ed35d8fd453b994de13622.jpg","datePublished":"2018-11-20T18:29:43+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-20T18:29:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#\/schema\/person\/247da0ea47cc50719afc0ec2a8ee5e90"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/7d040addd0ed35d8fd453b994de13622.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/11\/7d040addd0ed35d8fd453b994de13622.jpg","width":448,"height":325},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/2018\/11\/20\/angels-demons-and-the-eucharist\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Angels, Demons, and the Eucharist"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/","name":"The Whole Counsel Blog","description":"The Scriptures in the Orthodox Church","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#\/schema\/person\/247da0ea47cc50719afc0ec2a8ee5e90","name":"Fr. Stephen De Young","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54dc899af5499978d3770526996cf817d0a8e3c9e776a06507dd686f6923d420?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54dc899af5499978d3770526996cf817d0a8e3c9e776a06507dd686f6923d420?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Fr. Stephen De Young"},"description":"The V. Rev. Dr. Stephen De Young is Pastor of Archangel Gabriel Orthodox Church in Lafayette, Louisiana. He holds Master's degrees in theology, philosophy, humanities, and social sciences, and a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Amridge University. Fr. Stephen is also the host of the Whole Counsel of God podcast from Ancient Faith and author of four books, the Religion of the Apostles, God is a Man of War, the Whole Counsel of God, Apocrypha, and Saint Paul the Pharisee. He co-hosts the live call-in show and podcast Lord of Spirits with Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick.","sameAs":["http:\/\/stgabriellafayette.org"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/author\/frstevedeyoung\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":487,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478\/revisions\/487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ancientfaith.com\/wholecounsel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}