This is the second of four posts looking to the way various Ante-Nicene Fathers engaged the image of God seen in the Old Testament, with a specific concern on how they dealt with the way God’s anger was represented within it. For the first part, click here. The Ante-Nicene Fathers who tried to take the Old Testament in as literal, straightforward fashion as possible often understood the problems which emerged from such a reading, but they also thought there were... Read more
Silent darkness covers the entire land, Hiding the misshapen faces on parade. The shadows which none can understand, Torment the populace, making all afraid. The moon is covered, the light is extinguished, As the grim festival marches from door to door. From hand to hand, the tribute relinquished, Into cavernous bags ready for some more. While as a Byzantine Catholic, I celebrate All Saints on the Sunday after Pentecost, I have great fondness for Halloween, and the way the West... Read more
In the early years of the Christian faith, one of the many difficulties Christians faced was the attempt of many so-called Gnostics trying to claim Jesus as one of their own. By this the so-called Gnostics caused many outsiders to be confused as to who were the authentic heirs of Christ’s teaching. Marcion, one of the earliest of these Gnostics, was actually a member of the Church in Rome before his beliefs were demonstrated to run counter to the Apostolic... Read more
Twenty-four seven, Trump trumps the faith: Who wants to read about spirituality When you can vote for the diabolic wraith? He is worshiped with a cult of personality. Why put your focus on the prideful lout Spinning his evil as an unqualified good? Why hold faith, without a doubt For the man full of crude certitude? Spin not black into white, crime into justice Accept not the objectification of the other. Wealth and power will not serve us For the... Read more
The brethren came to the Abba Anthony and said to him, “Speak a word; how are we to be saved?” The old man said to them, “You have heard the Scriptures. That should teach you how.” But they said, “We want to hear from you too, Father.” Then the old man said to them, “The Gospel says, ‘if anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.'” (Matt. 5.39) They said, “We cannot do that.” The old... Read more
Shin Godzilla , previously entitled Godzilla Resurgence, brings Godzilla back home to Toho, the 29th of their own Godzilla films, and, once again, another major reboot for the giant monster. After Gareth Edward’s 2014 American Godzilla film, which at least felt like a proper Godzilla film compared to the previous American attempt, Toho has decided to bring back their Japanese flare to the series, allowing them to address many social and political concerns which have emerged since Final Wars. This... Read more
Ancient Christians will tell us, however wrong and faulty their faiths might have been, pagans were right to be concerned about religion. It is a key to the human condition. The problem is not religion, as some in recent times have suggested, but following religious rites without the complement of wisdom. For without wisdom, religion can easily be abused. Wisdom helps counter simple fideism; it helps prevent religion turning into a thing of inspiration to legalism which hinders the good... Read more
One day Abba Anthony received a letter from the Emperor Constantius, asking him to come to Constantinople and he wondered whether he ought to go. So he said to Abba Paul, his disciple, “Ought I to go?” He replied, “If you go, you will be called Anthony; but if you stay here, you will be called Abba Anthony.”[1] We all need to find our proper place in the world, to find where we belong, and where we will do the... Read more
In his epistle to Diognetus, the second century Christian Mathetes explained the relationship between Christians and the world by making an analogy relating Christians to the soul, and the rest of the world, to the body: To sum up all in one word— what the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells... Read more
There is a joke some pagans (and some atheists) have come up with, which they think puts the nail to the Christian faith and destroys it. It is a picture of Thor holding up a hammer next to Jesus on the Cross with a captain stating, “Any questions?” The suggestion is that Thor is greater than Jesus because he is the one who does the nailing. Jesus to them is weak, and weakness is proof of his inferiority, so Christianity... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In