Category: Doctrine
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A Good Life Versus The Good Life
One way to contrast modern sensibilities with Christian sensibilities is to describe the difference between “the good life” and “a good life.” “The good life” is an advertising theme, a photoshoot of the American Dream where all obstacles are overcome through the miracles of technology, market forces, and unfettered freedom. “A good life” is an…
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Providence, Freedom, and Love
I was married at age 22 (my bride was 21). Both of us were believers and sought to ground our lives in the life of God. I remember that my wife was quite clear that “God had brought us together.” For a variety of reasons at the time, I chafed at the expression. I had…
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Messiness in the Modern World
Salvation can be messy. I believe this with all my heart and so I state it at the outset of this article. As such, it marks me as a heretic in Modernity. I not only believe that salvation is messy – I believe that messiness is pretty much inherent to salvation. And along with that,…
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The Dangers of Apologetics
Writing in the mid-2nd century, St. Justin produced his famous “Apology,” a defense of Christianity that plead for its toleration within the Roman Empire. Any number of famous examples of “apologetics” can be found in patristic writings – most serving as refutations of heretical teachings (such as St. Irenaeus’ Against the Heresies or St. Athanasius…
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On Earth As It Is In Heaven – And Deeper Still
We live and move in a sea of others. Our first breath (having emerged from a womb of maternal otherness) is drawn from air that has been breathed through timeless years by trees, animals, whales; whistled by birds, and passed through last words of dying lips; life-giving breathed by God in the First Man. The…
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The Work That Saves
Do we cooperate in our salvation? Do our efforts make a difference? These questions lie at the heart of a centuries-old religious debate in Christianity. Classically, the Protestant reformers said, “No,” to these questions, arguing that we are saved solely and utterly by God’s grace, His unmerited favor. The Catholic Church replied that “faith without…
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The Seeds of Love – Orthodoxy and the World
I saw a news story recently in which a student was asked for their thoughts on the recent campus turmoil. Her response, “History teaches us that only disruption brings about change.” No doubt, it is a common thought for many. The various mantras and slogans of revolution, as well as the myth of revolution itself…
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Suffer the Children
In 1994, Jonathan Shay wrote a ground-breaking book on war and PTSD, Achilles in Vietnam. Those who have read Timothy Patitsas’ The Ethics of Beauty will be familiar with some of his observations. Shay worked directly with veterans who were struggling with the emotional consequences of their war experience and the process of their healing.…
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Dust of the Earth
“You are dust, and to dust you shall return…” (Gen. 3:18) Human beings have a fundamental bond with the planet on which we live – we are made of its stuff. We are not made of Mars dirt, or Moon dust, Jupiter gas, or Saturn rings. We are made of earth dust – we always…
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What We Really Want
One of the great misunderstandings of our modern world centers around the place of the “will” in our lives. Modern democracies are built around slogans of freedom and fancy themselves to be the vanguard of advancing that cause. It has been a powerful force. Coupled with various aspects of free-market capitalism and the technological revolutions…
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