Author: Fr. Stephen

  • Worshipping a Weak and Foolish God

    This is a reprint of an article that is deeply apropos of the present conversation on the blog. I offer it within that context. I cannot begin to measure the amount of time I have spent over the years in conversations about the “problem of evil.” That problem, in short, is the impossibility of reconciling…

  • The Useless God

    The statement, “God is useless,” is, undoubtedly, sure to strike someone as an insult, not a statement of a faithful believing Christian (much less, a priest). That reaction tells me much about how we feel about the word, “useless,” rather than how we feel about God. In current American parlance, “useless,” is mostly a term…

  • Again and Again

    I was visiting a hospice patient back around 2000. The home was quite modest as was the woman who was the subject of my visit. We had conversations that ranged over her life and her family – the things that mattered most for her in her last days. The climax of our time together came…

  • The Tide of Faith

    Dover Beach – (Matthew Arnold, 1867) The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full, the moon lies fair Upon the straits; on the French coast the light Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand, Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay. Come to the window, sweet is the night-air! Only, from…

  • St. Silouan on the Love of God

    I cannot remain silent concerning the people, whom I love so greatly that I must weep for them. I cannot remain silent because my soul ever grieves for the people of God, and I pray for them with tears. I cannot refrain from making known to you, brethren, the mercy of God and the wiles…

  • When America Got Sick

    It was in the years following the Civil War, America was hard on the path to “becoming great.” The industrial revolution had moved into full swing, railroads criss-crossed the country, immigration was gaining speed, and wealth was accumulating at a rate never seen before. We were slowly moving from our original agrarian economy towards life…

  • Stumbling Toward Salvation

    On occasion I have written on topics that seem to scandalize readers, or certainly cause difficulty for many. Some of those topics have been articles on the wrath of God; the radical forgiveness of everyone for everything; the commonality of our life and our salvation; and various posts on giving thanks always for all things…

  • The Peaches of Paradise

    The parish to which I have retired, St. John of the Ladder in Greenville, SC, has the extreme blessing of an iconographer-in-residence. The Church was built but a few years ago, and has slowly seen its walls frescoed. It is a place of beauty. Serving in the altar, I find that my eyes are frequently…

  • Knocking Down the Gates of Hell

    The Swedish Lutheran theologian, Gustav Aulén, published a seminal work on the types of atonement theory in 1930 (Christus Victor). Though time and critical studies have suggested many subtler treatments of the question, no one has really improved on his insight. Especially valuable was his description of the “Classic View” of the atonement. This imagery,…

  • Prayers for a Dear Friend of Us All

    I spoke by phone this morning with Michael Bauman, for years a faithful part of our conversations on the blog. He shared with me that he is now in home hospice care (in Wichita) and has been given a terminal diagnosis. His faith is truly evident in his conversations, even as those present their own…


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Latest Comments

  1. Father, I so appreciate your words. I’ve been suffering a lot over the last night and today. It helps to…

  2. Father Stephen, [quote]The character, Father Zossima, in The Brothers Karamazov, teaches that “each man is guilty of the sins of…


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