Category: Doctrine
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The Death of Christ on the Cross – the Life of Man
Several years ago, someone wrote and asked, “Why did Christ have to die on the Cross?” It is the question that prompted this article. On September 14th (New Calendar), the Church marks the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross. It is a fitting time to ask, “Why did Christ have to die?” His death…
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Being Saved in Sodom and Gomorrah – The Prayers of the Saints
This is an exercise in Orthodox reading of the Scriptures. The habits of modern Christians run towards history: it is a lens through which we see the world. We see a world of cause and effect, and, because the past is older than the present, we look to the past to find the source of…
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Your Weakness Saves You
It is counter-intuitive that God saves man through His own weakness. The irony of the Divine Reversal has provided endless material for the hymnographers of the Church through the centuries: the Strong becomes weak; the Sinless takes on our sin; the Rich becomes poor; God becomes man – the whole of the gospel seems to…
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God’s Absence on the Cross
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The cry of Christ on the Cross, quoting Psalm 22, could also be the cry of modern man in his daily life. We generally experience the world as a place devoid of God’s presence. When we are aware of Him, it is by special effort, and…
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The Death of God and the Transfiguration of Man
Among the most lucid Orthodox thinkers in the contemporary world is Fr. John Behr, Dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary. I recently listened to him for several days during a conference in Florida. He has a new book coming out this fall in which he takes his readers to the place of death – the death…
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No Wedding Vows
Few things differ more clearly between Eastern and Western Christianity than the service of Holy Matrimony. There are things found in Western Christian Marriage ceremonies that cannot be found in the East just as there are things in the East that cannot be found in the West. In many languages of the Eastern Churches, the…
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Back to the Future
History is tyranny. A seemingly inescapable part of human life is its history (and the baggage it brings with it). So much that shapes our identity: language, culture, economics, health, personality (and the list goes on), are largely products of history. As such, all of these things are outside of our control, not a part…
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Are We Connected?
How connected are we? Do your actions, thoughts, feelings, have an effect on me even if I am unaware (or on the other side of the world)? Is my existence bound within the existence of other human beings, or are we simply sharing the same planet for a period of time? Connections between people, particularly…
Christian, Yes. Indeed. Hauerwas famously said, “The first job of the Church is to be the Church.” When we are…