Category: Church
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At the Edge of Tradition
There are many things that we see in our lives to which the word “traditional” may be attached. It can refer to a style of dress or an understanding of relationships. In Church it may refer to the use of certain kinds of music or a sytle of worship. Many years ago, pastoring my first…
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The Theological Task of Orthodoxy – A Further Word
Last October I ran the following quote from Fr. Georges Florovsky: Orthodoxy is summoned to witness. Now more than ever the Christian West stands before divergent prospects, a living question addressed also to the Orthodox world… The ‘old polemical theology’ has long ago lost its inner connection with any reality. Such theology was an academic…
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All the Fullness of God
A good Biblical word, used frequently in Orthodox writing and liturgy, is the word “fullness.” I think I have long preferred to say that the Orthodox Church is the “fullness” of the Christian faith, rather than say, “This is the one, true Church.” I believe it is the one, true Church, but how I understand…
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Reading the Nativity Story
I was right. I said in a sermon several days ago that my congregation should expect the usual presentations on various parts of the Christmas story, the thrust of the articles (and letters to the editor) being about how either they did not occur on a literal level or how they did occur. This goes…
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How the Orthodox Read Scripture
The following quote is from the Christian history website maintained by Christianity Today (an evangelical source). It describes the crucial teaching role of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, an early Bishop of the Church and later a martyr, and perhaps the most articulate spokesman of Orthodox theology in the 2nd century. The article discusses Irenaeus’ refutation of the…
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A Short Post on Culture
A short thought today on Orthodox Christianity and American culture. My intention in my recent post on this topic was not to lament the lack of Orthodox-produced culture in America, but rather to emphasize how productive of culture Orthodoxy is. It is something completely natural to Orthodox life if it is being lived in its…
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In the Secret Place of the Most High God
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 There aren’t many secrets anymore. I live in a city that is known as the “Secret City,” because in the Second World War it was one of the main sites of the Manhattan Project…
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Mission and Worship – America and the Orthodox
The following post is an expanded version of a comment I wrote in a recent thread. The question to which it responds is the Scriptural mandate of St. Paul (1 Cor. 9:19-23): For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. To…
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What Faith Shall I Defend?
Contemporary challenges to the Christian faith, whether from children’s writers such as Pullman or various scientific voices in the world of mass media, are frequently not challenges to the Christian faith but attacks on the misperceptions of the Christian faith. By the same token, many professions of the Christian faith are not professions of the…
Thank you Father Stephen for your answer, what a wonderful reminder that we are more persuaded by stories than ideas–before…