In a way, we can say life is suffering. This is not because life should be so filled with suffering that all we think about when we think about life is such suffering; rather, it is because suffering is all around us, and is something we will experience throughout our lives. Evil, both that which we do, and the evil which others do, creates the conditions for such suffering. “Evil is a world-wide fact; all natural life begins in violence... Read more
I have never understood those who object to environmental concerns by suggesting that those who are concerned about protecting the environment, those who want to be good stewards of the world we live in, are engaging some sort of idolatrous worship of the earth and so must be denounced by Christians. It is like claiming those who clean their homes, patch their roof when it gets hail damage, or paint the walls, are worshiping their homes. No one would claim... Read more
We are called to pray without ceasing, and in this way, we can and should have God and God’s presence with us in all that we do. If and when we find ourselves able to do this, and to be sure, it is something which most will not likely be able to do outside of the eschaton, we should not become prideful, thinking it makes us better than those who have not. We should be humble, not proud. Our pride... Read more
Sin creates confusion as it corrupts and divides up humanity, seeking to destroy (or deconstructing) it from within. Humanity was meant to act together and work as one interdependent whole, but the embrace of sin has brought about the embrace of the ego over and above humanity, so now humanity has been cut up, as it were, into are many “parts,” parts which fight against each other instead of seeing how everyone is best off if they seek after the... Read more
Why Every Reading Is Interpretation: The Hidden Process Every time we read a text, we are interpreting it. No matter what the text is, no matter how simple it seems it should be for us to understand what its author wants us to know, we still have to engage some sort of interpretive process to get that meaning. Often, we are unaware that the process is happening as it is automatic, making us think there is no interpretation going on.... Read more
When I was young, my primary understanding of the value of the prophets was in the way Christians believed they predicted the coming of the messiah. It was only much later, when I was in college, and then later in my graduate studies, that I gained a greater understanding of who they were and why their texts should be read and engaged. I saw how vital their work was and why it was a terrible disgrace that many Christians only... Read more
Peter and Paul are remembered for the way they helped establish and develop the structures of the institutional church, structures which were and continue to be vital for church, even if the structures can and should develop over time. Together, they also founded the See of Rome, and with it, the way for their combined authority to be preserved shared with their successors. Because of this, the See of Rome had the rights and privileges, indeed, missions of two apostles... Read more
Historically, many considered talk about heaven, or the heavens above, to be a purely physical place, that is, outer space, and it is the place Christ is to be found after his ascension. They believed that Christ reigns in glory in the heavens above us all, looking down upon us, and if we could make our way there, we would be with him. It is also where Enoch, Elijah, and Mary are also to be found. While a popular, and... Read more
I became a Byzantine Catholic in my junior year of college. At that time, and for years afterward, two of the most important influences I had for my theological and philosophical development were the works of patristic writers and those philosophers who were, in some way or another, associated with the Platonic tradition (from the ancient Platonists like Plato, Plutarch, Iamblichus and Proclus, to medieval philosophers from the school of Chartres, to modern writers including C.S. Lewis and many of... Read more
It’s hard not to believe that much of Trump’s support comes from those who embrace some sort of nihilistic death cult. They want the world to end. They come from Christian traditions which talk about the end of the world, and they think they can and will make the conditions right so that prophecies concerning the end can be fulfilled. They want to force Christ’s hands, to make him come back, and to do so in their lifetime, thinking if... Read more
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