Christian doctrine, and the tradition in which it is found, is important, but we must engage it honestly. We must come to recognize and accept that tradition has developed over time. It is constantly changing, indeed, it can be said to be evolving, as the people who hand down what they have been given to another generation add their own views, their own opinions, their own ideologies, their own errors and mistakes, as well as their own innovations and new... Read more
Over the weekend, I noticed more and more people are getting sick. At my local Half Price Bookstore, the cashier was constantly blowing her nose, making me wonder why she was there, and why they were having her work on the cashier. While I thought about buying a book, I decided not to buy anything that day. I did not want to expose myself to the risk and get needlessly sick. Then, the next day, when I went to church,... Read more
The mother of God, Mary, a remarkable woman, was herself born of another remarkable woman, St. Anne. Mary, to be sure, can be seen as the most extraordinary woman of all time, for she was a virgin-mother who gave birth to the Son of God. This is why we should not expect Anne to be the same as her daughter. She was not filled with grace from the time of her conception, but she did live a faithful and devout... Read more
God created everything, making it all good. To be sure, it is not good in and of itself, that is, creation did not give itself its goodness. Rather, it is a gift given to it by God. Nothing comes from nothing. God brought everything into being, granting it a share in God’s own goodness. Insofar as anyone or anything participates in that goodness, it can be said to be good. Due to this goodness, God sees something in creation, in... Read more
There is a story concerning St. John of Damascus indicating that his right hand had been cut off. According to tradition, the Byzantine emperor, Leo III, who was an iconoclast, forged a letter under John’s name suggesting that John was orchestrating an attack and attempted take-over of Damascus. The emperor did this because he was angry at John’s apologetical writings defending the use of icons. The caliph, upon receiving copies of the letter, had John’s hand removed and then hung... Read more
Not long after I was chrismated, one of my Orthodox contacts asked me what I thought of the Sophiologists. At that time, I answered as only I could: I had no thoughts on them because I had not read anything they had written. They barely even registered on what I read or studied up to that point. That would soon change as I would find used copies of several books by Vladimir Solovyov for sale at my favorite used bookstore... Read more
The Jesus prayer, one of the more important meditative prayers of the Christian tradition, used especially by Eastern Christians, is at its heart, a simple prayer. While there are a few variations as to how the prayer can be said, the most common words used for it are: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.” The simplicity of the prayer helps us still our mind, and in doing so, helping us to attain some level... Read more
While Christians all have one and the same calling – that is, to be united with God and participate in the divine life, each person will find the way they do this will be different from each other. God’s nature infinitely transcends the capacity of human nature, so that there is an infinite variety of ways for human persons to interact with and integrate themselves into the divine life. Thus, every Christian, indeed, every human person, will have a different... Read more
It was not long after I was chrismated, becoming Byzantine Catholic, that I was in the classical section of a local music store and discovered John Tavener. This was long before he before he became famous due to his involvement Princess Diana’s funeral. I bought my first Tavener CD, and quickly found myself becoming a fan of his work. This is not to say I connected with all the music he made, as I have not, but I have found... Read more
Extremes can destroy us. We can find many examples where something which is good loses its goodness when it is taken to an extreme. We can see this in the foods we eat. Many nutritious foods will end up being poisonous if we eat too much of them at a time. We can see this also with medicine. The right dose can save lives; too high a dose, and they can kill. The same, then, is also with many other... Read more
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