Month: April 2009
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The Presence in the Absence – A Timely Re-posting
This short post is among the first to appear on this blog – dating back to October of ’06. In the light of conversations here over the past few days, it seemed timely to bring this back to our attention. I I have written on the topic of the absence of God (or our sense…
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Eastern Christian Blog Awards
Eastern Christian Blog Awards is receiving nominations in a variety of categories. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a category “Best Eastern Christian Blog that Atheists Read”. But here is the web address should you want to nominate a blog. My blogroll contains some excellent blogs – any number of which could be called “best.”…
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A Pascha of Incorruption
I urge readers to follow the link to the website Ora et Labora and read the newly translated article: A Pascha of Incorruption, written by the New Hieromartyr Hilarion (+1929). It is an exquisite commentary on the Orthodox teaching of Pascha, but also demonstrates how the theology of the Church survived and prevailed through its…
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Unbelief and the Two-Storey Universe
I have written extensively about what I have described as a “two-storey universe.” In short, this is a description of how many modern Christians see the world. There is the first floor – the natural world which operates according to naturalist, “secular” rules, and the second floor – the world of God, heaven, hell, angels, etc.…
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The Unplanned Life
The following article was first written and posted in March of 2007. I have added a few additional thoughts to the end. One of the geniuses of modern life is the plan. It is certainly the case that if you have a company and a product, or whatever passes for those in these days, there is…
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Everywhere Present
Everything you do, all your work, can contribute towards your salvation. It depends on you, on the way you do it. History is replete with monks who became great saints while working in the kitchen or washing sheets. The way of salvation consists in working without passion, in prayer…. May God give you the strength…
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On Behalf of All and For All
There is a great mystery in the life of the Christian faith. An example can be found in words of St. Nikolai of Zicha (Prayers of the Lake XXIX). It is this mystery of communion that is so easily missed by those who dismiss Orthodox Christianity, or reduce Christianity to an argument about miracles. The…
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A Faith That Cannot Be Defended
There is such a thing as a Christian faith worth defending (in some sense). However, it seems like those who enjoy attacking the Christian faith find its least worthy representatives for the marshalling of their meager intellectual forces. This often means that atheists attack a faith nobody (virtually) believes, and that defenders sometimes defend something…
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Singleness of Heart
Perhaps the most scathing reading during Holy Week occurs in the Bridegroom Matins of Great and Holy Tuesday of when we hear Chapter 23 of Matthew’s gospel. There is a refrain which marks many of the verses: “Woe to you scribes and pharisees, you hypocrites!” A single such sentence would carry a punch, but in…
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Relative to Pascha
If you have attended Pascha services, or served them, it is quite possible to suffer some of the “natural consequences,” which for me means that after a somewhat disordered sleep I am sitting, having coffee and writing at 3:30 in the morning, wide-awake. I have no complaints. I generally like to be up by around…
Father, at my parish we have quite a few wealthy folk who have jobs that are often secular in nature…