Category: Aesthetics

The Mystery of Ourselves

For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11 I think it can be quickly agreed by all that God is a mystery – we do not know…

September 27, 2007
Time in a One-Storey World

It seems to me as I’ve looked over my posts on the “one-storey” world, that one thing I have not paid much attention to is time. Part of the “two-storey” construct which dominates our modern world-view, is a tendency to view time in a purely linear, historical progression. Thus for some very conservative two-storey Christians,…

September 14, 2007
Icons and the Fullness of the Faith – A Story

In 1988 I began studies at Duke University in the Graduate School of Religion. My intention at the time was to complete a doctorate and look for a teaching position. I had served for eight years in the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church and was headed for what I hoped would be a deepening…

September 10, 2007
A Blessed Day to You All

September 10, 2007
When an Icon is not an Icon

When is an icon not an icon? There are several answers to the question. Some of them would be technical, even somewhat argumentative as the strict canon governing icons gave way to more “Westernized” styles in the 17th century and beyond – but there have been notable “icons” among even very “Westernized” icons. St. Seraphim…

September 9, 2007
Icons and the Scriptures

I have had many thoughts this week about problems within the modern academic study of Scripture. An inherent problem is that scholars of Scripture lack both imagination and experience. I do not mean to impugn the intelligence of any particular academic – indeed, I have known many interpreters of Scripture whose work was almost pure…

September 7, 2007
Being Formed in the Light – Icons and Salvation

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.John 3:29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice; therefore this…

September 6, 2007
Windows to Heaven Are Not One Way

I am participating in an icon workshop this week. Lectures, slides, and the slow process of learning how icons are painted, by painting one yourself under the guidance of an accomplished master. My experience is that you very quickly see that here you can only be pupil (at least at this stage of my life).…

September 4, 2007
What Do You See Outside Your Window – Evil in a One-Storey Universe

A question was put several days back about what would be said about “evil in a one-storey universe?” Of course, as I’ve thought about the question, my simplest conclusion is to wonder how one would give an account of evil in a two-storey universe. For it seems that those who have imagined the universe as…

September 4, 2007
Icons – A Room with a View

Dreams are interesting things – our modern age either makes too little of them or too much of them – but mostly, we believe our dreams are about us and about the inside of our heads. Those who make too little of their dreams write them off to anxiety or other stresses of the day…

September 2, 2007

Thanks for sharing about your trip to the Holy Land, Fr. Stephen. I do hope to visit it again someday…

Matthew, My wife and I were there in 2008. I intentionally waited until I was Orthodox before going (it was…

Matthew said: “This is without a doubt the very best news I have ever heard. Thank you.” Well … truth…

Thanks Fr. Stephen. I was there in 2005 (or 2006??). I loved being there, but as a Protestant at the…

Matthew, Orthodox tradition is deeply committed to the birth place of Jesus having been in a “cave” where the animals…