The story of the Tower of Babel allegorically demonstrates the way sin divides humanity. Avarice, hate, and pride are not only temptations which we face on a daily basis, we find that when we embrace them, we begin to divide ourselves from the rest of humanity, cutting ourselves off from the common good. With vainglorious self-deification, humanity sets itself up for a fall in which every man and woman become focused upon themselves above all others, losing not only the... Read more
Slavery, as a human institution, existed since pre-historical times, and remains with us to this day. Its form changes, but the reality behind it remains the same, as Pope Francis recently stated: Slavery is not something from other times. It is a practice that has deep roots and continues to manifest itself today and in many different ways: trafficking of human beings, exploitation of work through debt, exploitation of children, sexual exploitation and forced domestic work are some of the... Read more
Theology, by its nature, will express itself in kataphatic forms. Most people will begin and end with kataphatic theology; it is what they are taught and it is what they believe. They have not been introduced to apophaticism and the limitations of kataphatic theology. They think the best way to discuss God is to take what has been given to them through positive dogmatic statements and discern secondary insights which they believe logically follow what they have already accepted. As... Read more
After Israel’s sabre-rattling with questionable claims against Iran, President Trump has called for the United States to back out of its nuclear deal with Iran. Trump’s decision should be seen as troubling to all, not only because the United States has been shown that it cannot be trusted, but also because Iran will now be fearful of its own position in the Middle East and will seek to do all it can to keep itself safe, including building nuclear weapons... Read more
When You had fulfilled the dispensation for our sake, and united earth to heaven: You ascended in glory, O Christ our God, not being parted from those who love You, but remaining with them and crying: “I am with you and no one will be against you!” (Kontakion for the Ascension). Strange as it might seem, before his ascension Jesus told his disciples that he would always be with them, even to the end of time: “lo, I am with... Read more
After mentioning his Theological Outlines and his Divine Names, presenting the names and titles given to the person of the Trinity and the Godhead as a whole, Dionysius mentioned his Symbolic Theology and how he explored the various metaphors which could be used to describe the activity of God in creation. As with the Divine Names, divine revelation served as the foundation for his theological reflection. In explaining what he thought was important in the Symbolic Theology, he wrote: Further,... Read more
As the good is one with the truth and beauty, so evil, the debasement of the good, seeks to destroy that which is true and beautiful, corrupting it so that it establishes in return something which not only can be said to be ugly, but, with the denigration of truth, irrational as well. It takes what is good and ordered, something with its own internal logic, and deconstructs it, turning it into a chaotic mess without a rational center by... Read more
Christ came to redeem the earth, to purify it from its filth. One way he sought to do this was to launch a spiritual reformation, and for this reason, he consistently opposed the shameful actions and attitudes of authorities in his day. As a result, he was often accused of being a sinner because he was a friend to sinners who were looked down upon by the authorities (cf. Matt. 11:19), or worse, he was said to be demon possessed... Read more
Dionysius’s Theological Outlines demonstrated the basic elements of Trinitarian theology, explaining especially the differences found in relation to the three Divine persons by exploring what could be properly associated with each of those persons. He understood that the distinct relationships of the immanent Trinity did not divide the divine nature, so that the divine nature remained one. While it seems as if Dionysius discussed some of the ways the divine nature was one in his Theological Outlines, it was in... Read more
The kingdom of heaven is like a beautiful golden statue, intricately carved by the best artist, adorned with wondrous jewels, mistakenly thrown into a large refuse pile. A garbage man, putting garbage into the heap, saw the statue and entered into the pile in order to pick up the statue and clean it off. Once the filth was washed off the statue, the garbage man rejoiced in what he had found and showed it to all of his friends. The... Read more
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