I have studiously avoided online debates regarding an eternal hell and the punishment of the wicked. I do not plan to change that avoidance with this article. However, I believe that hell is important within Christian believing, though not for the purpose that most imagine. The famous dictum of St. Silouan is worth noting: “Keep…

  In St. John’s vision of heaven, attention is drawn to a unique object. There are the four-and-twenty elders, there is a “sea of glass.” There is a throne with One seated upon it. But attention is drawn to what the One holds in His hand: a book. Some translations describe it as  a scroll.…

I read my way towards Orthodoxy. So, though I’ve offered some warnings about reading (Learning to Read), I do not mean to disparage its usefulness. Rather, it’s important to learn how to read across the years of a life. A good question (maybe even essential) is to ask, “Why am I reading this?” It is…

  This article first appeared in 2020. My grandson is now 10 years old, and I am now 72. This word of encouragement holds as true as ever.  This past year, my wife and I developed a delightful habit of “Monday’s with Eli.” He is my soon-to-be 5 year-old grandson. He has a nearly 4…

I was once told that there was a traditional Jewish practice that forbade the reading of Ezekiel prior to age 40. I think of that as optimistic. I also think that the modern mind is unable to fathom the notion that reading is anything other than a neutral activity. At most, we reason, there might…

August 15 is the Feast of the Dormition, the “Falling Asleep” of the Virgin Mary. I offer this article as a reflection. The most difficult part of my Orthodox experience to discuss with the non-Orthodox is the place and role of the Mother of God in the Church and in my life. It is, on…

My attention was drawn to the event of the Transfiguration during my college years. It was then that I first read a book on St. Seraphim of Sarov, who himself was transfigured in a famous incident in his conversation with Motivilov. There, on a snowy winter’s day, the saint shown with a brilliant light, and…

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and…

I love taking “deep dives” into history – going beyond survey material and making my way through pages and pages of boring detail. I can’t do it every day, nor even often. But it helps fill in detail that is often glossed over in broad treatments. My most recent foray has been into a book…