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Today Is Suspended – The 15th Antiphon
Read more: Today Is Suspended – The 15th AntiphonAt the Matins service of Holy Friday the following hymn is sung: Today is suspended on a tree He who suspended the earth upon the waters. The King of the angels is decked with a crown of thorns. He who wraps the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery. He who freed […]
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The Mystery of Holy Week
Read more: The Mystery of Holy WeekFor 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 hope in Christ, we are of all men the […]
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Double-Minded
Read more: Double-MindedA double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8 The debate between an ontological atonement and a forensic atonement will doubtless continue – they represent two very different world-views and understandings of our relationship with God. The details of that debate will likely be tedious for most people and seem like much ado […]
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Therapeutic Substitutionary Atonement
Read more: Therapeutic Substitutionary AtonementFor I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures… (1 Cor. 15:3-4) No statement is more central to the Christian faith than St. Paul’s […]
Atonement, Communion, Forgiveness, Holy Week, Mystical Theology, Orthodox Christianity, Pascha, Salvation, Union with God
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Sweet Commandments
Read more: Sweet CommandmentsSomewhere in the early ’70’s, I recall being in a group of Church youth. They were singing a song based on Psalm 19: The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The […]
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Reading in Communion
Read more: Reading in Communion“Seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear…” (Matt. 13:13) This is Jesus’ description of those who encountered Him but did not understand. Just because we see something doesn’t mean we see it. Just because we hear something doesn’t mean we’ve heard it. This is particularly true of Holy Scripture. Just because […]
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The Tree Heals the Tree
Read more: The Tree Heals the TreeThe Third Sunday of Great Lent is given to meditation on the Holy Wood of the Cross. I offer this mediation. Readers of the New Testament are familiar with St. Paul’s description of Christ as the “Second Adam.” It is an example of the frequent Apostolic use of an allegoric reading of the Old Testament […]
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Unmediated Grace
Read more: Unmediated GraceThis Sunday the Orthodox Calendar commemorates St. Gregory Palamas – perhaps the most significant theologian and teacher of the late Byzantine period. He particularly is important when considering the nature of the Christian experience of God. Orthodoxy believes that it is truly possible to know God though He remains unknowable. The mystery of this true […]
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People of the Book
Read more: People of the BookHow obvious is the Bible? In my part of the world, a simple, cultural Protestantism prevails, one where many people when asked what Church they go to will say, “I just read the Bible and try to do what God says.” They may or may not go to a Church. They may, if questioned have […]
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“Hail, Mary, Full of Grace,” – the Cause of All Things
Read more: “Hail, Mary, Full of Grace,” – the Cause of All ThingsI treasure the small volume of George Gabriel, Mary the Untrodden Portal of God. Gabriel occasionally strikes hard at the West and the book would perhaps be strengthened with a less combative approach to the differences of East and West in the faith (my own opinion), but I liked the book and found Gabriel addressing many […]
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Ok after having said what I just wrote to Mallory, I do remember that the have saint’s relics and that…
Mallory, I sincerely appreciate your open honesty about what you accept and what you do not accept. This, to me,…
Meant to say: In fact this is how life is— sorry for the many typos. Typing on my phone again.…
Father and Mallory, What Father says about the scripture and particularly the OT is not only a historical view point…
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Here’s the result of a quick search online: https://www.saintjohnchurch.org/why-orthodox-christians-venerate-relics/ I’m going to stop writing now. Please forgive me if my…