Month: May 2010
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God Has Gone Up with a Shout
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the…
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The Mystery of Love
It is common to both the writings of Dostoevsky [particularly in the Brothers Karamazov] and in the teachings of the Elder Sophrony and St. Silouan, that each man must see and understand himself to be responsible for the sins of all. This can be a statement that troubles some – as if doing this were a…
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Our Selves, Our Souls, Our Bodies – More on Faith
And here we offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, our selves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice unto Thee… From Thomas Cranmer’s Eucharistic Prayer Regardless of what opinion one may have of the English reformer Thomas Cranmer’s theology, no one can deny him a central place in the…
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Saving Faith
In a recent post I quoted Vladimir Lossky on the nature of faith. Several have asked me to expand on the Orthodox understanding of faith. I begin with Lossky’s quote: What one quests is already present, precedes us, makes possible our question itself. ‘Through faith, we comprehend (we think) how the ages have been produced’…
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Why Small Things Matter
A reader’s comment on an old posting of mine (from 2007) took me back to read the same. It seemed worth re-posting. Some things bear repeating – again and again, as they say. Perhaps one of the greatest disservices done to Christians by the spate of “Left Behind” novels and the like, and the romanticism…
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Mustard Seed
Christ said: “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you (Matthew 17:20). +++ Skeptics and Naturalists through the years have always had a field-day with this verse. I…
Spencer, I think you’re on the right track. I will say (generously) that all forms of Christianity have at least…