Actions speak louder than words, which is why we should be more concerned about doing what is good and just than speaking about it. This is not to say no one should speak up, because certainly it is important to help people realize what is and is not good, but our focus should be to get people to do what is good and not just know it. Sloth must be avoided. This is not to say everyone can do everything.... Read more
The distinction between God’s nature and energy (or energies), between God’s essence and God’s activity, has caused some confusion concerning the way that distinction is to be understood. Is it a real distinction? Is it a substantial distinction? Do the energies somehow exist separate from God’s essence, becoming an independent reality of their own? Because the distinction is called real, some critics believe this is meant to indicate a substantial division making God composite instead of simple. Others critics believe... Read more
Before his ascension, Jesus said he would not leave the faithful behind. His presence would be with them until the end of the world. Likewise, he said that they would be provided another Comforter, the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn. 14:16). The two promises go together. Through the Spirit, the presence of Christ is made spiritually present. Likewise, the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, is the living water which Christ said he would give to all who would believe and, in... Read more
The bloodthirsty nature of many of those who call themselves pro-life reveals itself every time they defend the death penalty. They prove that they do not care about the dignity of life and its preservation. Their bloodlust does not allow them to think life is of inalienable value. Instead, they believe some have lost their right to life and should be put to death. It doesn’t matter if someone is innocent, if the supposed victims of an accused criminal plea... Read more
God truly is all-deifying, acting and working with creation, matter and spirit, seeking to elevate it with grace. All things can receive and partake of God’s divine energies for themselves. Deification is meant for all creation. And we find that everywhere God is present, God is willing to purify, illuminate and perfect those given free will with grace, so that God can be and will be present to them in their perfection: Truly, my beloved in the Lord, not one... Read more
God reaches out towards us, indeed engages us so that we can become partakers of the divine nature; all things which pertain to godliness, the graces which we need, are granted to us so that we can become like god: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very... Read more
More than anyone else, Ossius of Cordova is the unsung hero of the Council of Nicea. In part, this is because criticisms coming from various Novatians and Donatists influenced the West and its understanding of his character. They suggested that not only was he corrupt, but he willingly lapsed from the faith by signing an Arian decree (the Decree of Sirmium). His defenders, among whom was St. Athanasius, held him in high esteem; they indicated that he was not culpable... Read more
“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it” (Isa. 2:2 RSV). Whatever is on earth shall be raised on high and glorified as it finds its place in heaven. Even what happens in the tragedy of history will not be lost but will be collected by... Read more
The plurality of God’s works with creation, the plurality of the divine energies, do not undermine the simplicity of God. Rather, they help preserve it by reminding us that what we apprehend of God is not God in essence. That is, since we apprehend God in a diversity of ways, using many names to talk about the divine nature, it would be easy to think this means God is composed of parts. The reality is, however, that God is simple,... Read more
What we know of God, we know through God’s energies, that is, God’s operations. We do not know what God is by nature. Those operations, those energies, provide us the means to describe God, indeed, to predicate names to God: From this we see the necessity of giving to God many names. For, since we cannot know Him naturally except by arriving at Him from His effects, the names by which we signify His perfection must be diverse, just as... Read more
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