Happily stolen from Classical Anglican. Read more

We confess one and the same individual as perfect God and perfect Man. He is God the Word Which was flesh. For if He was not flesh, why was Mary chosen? And if He is not God, whom does Gabriel call Lord? If He was not flesh, who was laid in a manger? And if He is not God, whom did the angels who came down from heaven glorify? If He was not flesh, who was wrapped in swaddling clothes?... Read more

In my amateur critique of the Presiding Bishop’s 2005 Christmas Poem, I was taken to task in the Comments about my implication that, after the Fall, Man was clothed with flesh — as opposed to dead animal skins. I love this subject. It is also a subject which will naturally be given short shrift in Blog format. Be that as it may … Genesis 3:21 — Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make them coats... Read more

The philosopher Daniel Dennett visited us at the University of Delaware a few weeks ago and gave a public lecture entitled “Darwin, Meaning, Truth, and Morality.” I missed the talk—I was visiting my sons at Notre Dame and taking in the Notre Dame-Navy football game. Friends told me what I missed, however. Dennett claimed that Darwin had shredded the credibility of religion and was, indeed, the very “destroyer” of God. In the question session, philosophy professor Jeff Jordan made the... Read more

For further reading, thanks to Fr Seraphim Holland’s SITE, here’s some other writing (prose and verse) concerning the Incarnation.On the Night of NativitySt. Ephraim the Syrian Pure is the present night, in which the Pure One appeared, Who came to purify us! Let our hearing be pure, and the sight of our eyes chaste, and the feeling of the heart holy, and the speech of the mouth sincere! The present night is the night of reconciliation; therefore, let no one... Read more

I was raped at 11, by my 17 year old boyfriend. I chose not to tell my parents because I didn’t think their involvement would help, that was the right choice for me. Planned Parethood helped me deal with the aftermath of the rape allowing me to deal and cope as best as I could in my own way. I was 14 when I decided to start having sex, the day I made that choice I made an appointment to... Read more

Absolutely contrary to consolidation scenario advocated by Moscow Patriarchate, [Metropolitan] Laurus said they “are not talking about “unification,” “merging” or “union” with the Moscow Patriarchate, but of reconciliation of the two parts of the Russian Orthodox Church.” But this is not the scenario advocated by Moscow Patriarchate that expects the Outside Church to acknowledge itself an integral part of the Russian Orthodox Church and yield to the Patriarch ruling. Even last year the higher clergy in Russia counted on solving... Read more

A few thoughts — actually, a goodly measure of criticism — on the Presiding Bishop’s 2005 Christmas Message … from Episcopal News Service Incarnation is God’s shocking insistence that flesh and blood like ours be the medium of God’s Word. No abstraction, no lofty vision, no finely wrought dogma, no sacred tradition can mollify the shock of this truth: As one of us The Word comes to dwell among us and within us, as a newborn child, as Jesus. May... Read more

Each one of us, whenever we turn from God, whenever we sin, makes the coming of the Christ child necessary. Christ is born only to save us. Our preparation for Christmas should be much more than putting up decorations, buying gifts and sending out cards, none of which is a bad thing. Giving gifts to people and sending greetings are, in fact, good things, but they easily can become our sole focus and preparation. Full text. Read more

The “winter program” at Ridgeway Elementary School In Dodgeville, Wisconsin, changed the lyrics of the Christmas carol “Silent Night” to the more inclusive “Cold in the Night.” (“Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite.” ) After this success, the program’s next step will obviously be: a) Changing “O Holy Night” to “Uh-oh! Wholly night!” a song about a lunar eclipse b) Singing “O Little Town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.” c) A song celebrating the comeback... Read more