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Patiently Waiting
Read more: Patiently WaitingChrist said, “In patience possess your souls” (Luke 21:19). Orthodoxy presumes patience on our parts. The services take patience – they last a good length of time and without patience your mind will never stop wandering. Catechumenates can take a while. Learning many of the things of an Orthodox way of life cannot be rushed. […]
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Being Saved in Sodom and Gomorrah – The Prayers of the Saints
Read more: Being Saved in Sodom and Gomorrah – The Prayers of the SaintsThis 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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It Is Not Good to be Alone
Read more: It Is Not Good to be AloneOne of the greatest tragedies of the modern world is the continuing collapse of social systems. The most prominent and important of these is the family itself – but many other social systems, including the Church, are equally in collapse. Our consumer culture seeks to maximize our individuality (individuals buy more than groups) and false […]
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Your Weakness Saves You
Read more: Your Weakness Saves YouIt 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
Read more: 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 […]
atheism, Cross, Culture, Incarnation, Modernity, Orthodox Christianity, Secularism, The Sacraments, Union with God
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The Presence in Absence
Read more: The Presence in AbsenceThere is a strange aspect to the presence of God in the world around us. That aspect is His apparent absence. I read with fascination (because I am no philosopher, much less a scientist) the discussions surrounding “intelligent design” and the like. I gather that everybody agrees that the universe is just marvelous and wonderfully […]
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The Secret Hand of God
Read more: The Secret Hand of GodNow Moses built an altar and called its name The-Lord-My-Refuge; for with a secret hand the Lord wars with Amalek from generation to generation (Exodus 17:16 LXX). After a number of decades as a Christian pastor, I am convinced that most of what God does in our lives and in our world remains hidden. I […]
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Beyond a Purpose-Driven Life
Read more: Beyond a Purpose-Driven LifeAmericans are known to be “practical” people. Historically, our culture has seen problems, defined them, set goals and achieved results. Though the mechanics of this simple approach seem to have broken down over time, it is still a habit of thought. We like to plan. Businesses have retreats to develop goals and establish a vision. […]
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The Death of God and the Transfiguration of Man
Read more: The Death of God and the Transfiguration of ManAmong 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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Fr. Stephen, I agree – it’s a risky view. I’m glad it’s not over-emphasized. I still think there is something…
It seems that there is a difference between how the word “flesh” is used in Greek versus Hebrew. The use…
Fr. Stephen, I would add that God made us body, mind and spirit – 3 parts but 1 person. Interesting…
Margaret Sarah, I would take the notion of our corporeality being “after the fall” to be a sort of fringe…
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Father, Since you’ve been in beautiful Protestant Churches it may be a moot point to mention, that in my experience…