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Christ – the End of All Things
Read more: Christ – the End of All ThingsI have written on this subject in other contexts, but wanted to bring it front and center: Jesus Christ is described in Scripture as the “Alpha” and “Omega,” the “Beginning and the End.” This is not simply a statement of who Christ is at the beginning of things, or who He is at the end […]
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Faith and Fasting
Read more: Faith and FastingIn our world of Christian variation, it is easy for some to think of things like fasting as though they were “works” and somehow opposed to grace (if you had a radical protestant understanding of these matters). The truth, however, is quite different. Actions such as fasting are grouped under the general heading of “asceticism” […]
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Scripture, Icons, and the World We Know
Read more: Scripture, Icons, and the World We KnowI ask for grace in writing this, lest I go beyond my ability. It seems to me well worth saying as discussions of the relationship between Scripture, dogma and science have surfaced. I offer this as food for thought as well as a ground of discussion. First, I will note an American Protestant tradition (somewhat […]
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A Request for Prayers and Patience
Read more: A Request for Prayers and PatienceI ask my readers for your prayers – I’m having trouble with an old injury in my back. I hope to be back to my relatively normal state, but have not been able to keep up with my full schedule for the past week or so. If it seems I’m writing a little less, pray […]
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Where Was God?
Read more: Where Was God?I have made reference to an interview with David Bentley Hart, an Orthodox theologian, in an appendix to the article on “What makes the world go ’round.” The more I have read his response the more important I think it is for others to read. I have always held his writing in a bit of […]
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“Learning” to Sin
Read more: “Learning” to SinI wrote this more than a year ago. As I go through Great Lent, particularly as it is marked with successive Saturdays (“Soul Saturdays”) in which we pray for the departed, these thoughts become increasingly relevant. I repost them here for that reason. As strange as it sounds – human beings have to “learn to sin.” […]
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What Makes the World Go ‘Round?
Read more: What Makes the World Go ‘Round?It is a popular theme in music to suggest various possibilities for “what makes the world go ’round.” I know of two immediately: music and love. Both are wonderful sentiments but not very useful to me as answers. I have asked the question in this way to yet again bring our thoughts to the nature […]
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New Zealand and Orthodoxy – A Question
Read more: New Zealand and Orthodoxy – A QuestionI know I have readers in all sorts of corners of the world. At the moment I have a young parishioner who is spending some months in New Zealand. He’ll be on the South Island during Pascha and is looking for a good parish to attend. Can any of you good readers recommend a parish […]
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With A Secret Hand
Read more: With A Secret HandOne of the joys of the newly published, Orthodox Study Bible (OSB), containing all the canonical Orthodox books of the Bible, is the fact that the Old Testament was carefully brought into agreement with the text of the Septuagint, long a standard and important liturgical translation for Orthodox Christians. The early Church generally used the […]
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The Walking Wounded
Read more: The Walking WoundedThe more years I serve as a priest, the more aware I become of the “walking wounded.” I do not mean a special category of person by this, but simply a description of who we are as we walk through whatever journey we take. I reflect on this particularly because I can remember not always […]
Going off Mark’s musings about Judas, I suspect there are always more layers and nuances than can be transmitted through…