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The Debt of Sin and the Sin of Debt
Read more: The Debt of Sin and the Sin of DebtThere are a number of ideas and phrases that most Biblically literate Christians would swear were in the Bible, but are not. Among those is the phrase (or concept) of the “debt of sin.” It is simply not there. Nor is there a phrase that describes sin as something that we “owe.” Again, it’s simply […]
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The Scope of Passover and Penal Substitution Theory
Read more: The Scope of Passover and Penal Substitution TheoryOne of the terms used in the early fathers when interpreting the Scriptures was the “scope” of Scripture. By this they meant backing away from the detail of the text to see the larger picture, the “scope” of a broad reading. This technique was particularly valued in the so-called Antiochene School of interpretation, which is […]
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Christ Our Passover
Read more: Christ Our PassoverSt. Paul offers the familiar words: “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us!” (1 Cor. 5:7). Most readers of the Bible will find nothing surprising about this – though they should. It is an extremely sophisticated commentary on the death and resurrection of Christ uttered at a very early date in Christian history. For what […]
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A Pascha of Beauty – In a Soviet Prison – 1928
Read more: A Pascha of Beauty – In a Soviet Prison – 1928Serge Schmemann, son of Fr. Alexander Schmemann, in his wonderful little book, Echoes of a Native Land, records a letter written from one of his family members of an earlier generation, who spent several years in the prisons of the Soviets and died there. The letter, written on the night of Pascha in 1928 is to […]
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Christ Is Risen!
Read more: Christ Is Risen!It is with great joy that I repost this video from Serbia. One of our readers and occasional commenters, Dejan, (without a doubt my favorite Serb), provided the English translation. The words are from a poem by St. Nikolai Velimirovich who served for a time as the Rector of St. Tikhon’s Seminary – truly one […]
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Judas Loves Money
Read more: Judas Loves MoneyJudas has always presented a problem for movie-makers. How do you create a believable character who carries out the greatest betrayal of all time? Some movies use a political motivation – this usually has Judas “accidentally” betraying Jesus in an attempt help Him politically. Others puzzle with him in other ways. The Scriptures are quite […]
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The Strange Case of Lazarus
Read more: The Strange Case of LazarusSt. John’s Gospel records the story of Christ’s raising Lazarus from the dead as the last action of Christ before His entry into Jerusalem. That setting has given rise to the feast of Lazarus Saturday in the Orthodox Church – a small Pascha before Holy Week. The three synoptic gospels make no mention of these […]
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His Appearing in the Liturgy
Read more: His Appearing in the LiturgyStanding in the Church, listening to the choir or chanter sing while priest censes the icons, words swirl with the rising smoke and connections and associations multiply as words evoke images and images evoke thoughts: participation, coinherence, incarnation, mystery, timeless form and formless time, fullness and emptiness, fulfillment and… And then the thought comes, full-formed […]
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The Mystery of Holy Week
Read more: The Mystery of Holy WeekAs we journey through the Great and Holy Week… For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have […]
Father Stephen, There is a lot here to digest! I will need to spend some more time pondering this post.…