Think of the standard theological debates in Western Christianity: Is conversion a matter of divine grace or human free will? Are theological disputes to be arbitrated by appeals to the Bible or to church tradition? Do the church’s authority and unity cohere in the pope, in a set of bishops, or in assemblies of the faithful? These sorts of questions expose a traditional line of demarcation from which Catholics and Protestants generally break in opposite directions. Yet in none of... Read more

Those interested in Christ & Culture issues may wanna bookmark Steve Beard’s site: THUNDERSTRUCK. Long overdue in the margins of this site is a link to Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green’s. Both are now added to the side margin. BTW, I understand that those using Mozilla, Foxfire, are not seeing the material in the side margin until late in the page. Sorry. Hope to figure out a fix soon. Read more

Imagine, if you can, a small room, hexagonal in shape, like the cell of a bee. It is lighted neither by window nor by lamp, yet it is filled with a soft radiance. There are no apertures for ventilation, yet the air is fresh. There are no musical instruments, and yet, at the moment that my meditation opens, this room is throbbing with melodious sounds. An armchair is in the center, by its side a reading-desk—that is all the furniture.... Read more

JibJab’s Second Term. Caveat Lector! Voyeur! (Whatever!) Read more

Fr John Oliver, author of the excellent book, Touching Heaven: Discovering Orthodox Christianity on the Island of Valaam, has filed a report on the Consecrations of three new bishops for the Antiochian Archdiocese H E R E. A while back, I mentioned the Essence magazine article regarding the degrading of black women by Hip Hop music videos and culture. H E R E’s more. And, in case you haven’t heard, Kid Rock will NOT be jammin’ with the Bushes. Read more

The Dawn Patrol provides an interview with Martin Luther King’s neice, Alveda King, which might surprise you. (Psst … she’s conservative!) For those unable to make it to the annual March for Life in our nation’s capitol on January 24th, here is the Office for the Victims of Abortion which our Mission will pray outside a local killing place. O most merciful, all gracious and compassionate Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, Son of God: we entreat Thee, most gracious Master:... Read more

Recently, in a piece on The Deification of Man, I mentioned the Prodigal Son’s “coming to himself” as being a place of reality, decision and conversion. In another article on Orthodox Evangelism, death is mentioned as a prerequisite. Here follows a quote from Archimandrite Zacharias in his work, Christ, Our Way and Our Life, which touches on similar themes: Mindfulness of death raises man from the age-long torpor of sin and offers him a vision of divine eternity. This vision... Read more

Sponge Bob chimes in to redefine the Family. I’m thirty-three years old now. I see a lot of things differently now than I used to. I try to do more right than wrong and to keep God in everything I do and to keep the devils away from me. But I know by trying to stay so right, the devil is going to keep on working on me. That’s going to be a curse around me all the time. But... Read more

Tsunami donations until January 31st — deductible for 2004 Tax Year. Orthodox conversion testimony & exegesis from a former Calvinist. THX: Karl Read more

Huw Raphael remembers St Gregory on his feast day. You can find some of the Saint’s writings on line. Especially T H I S — from one of my favorite books, Presence and Thought …, by Hans Urs von Balthasar. St Gregory of Nyssa pray to God for us! Read more