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Orthodoxy and Religious Experience
Read more: Orthodoxy and Religious ExperienceHow do we experience God? Do we hear voices? Do we sense a presence? Are there physical sensations involved? Should we see light or feel warmed? Some may be surprised to hear that our belief in God is not based in an interior human experience. Such things stretch across an incredible variety (such is the […]
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Boundaries, Borders, and the True God
Read more: Boundaries, Borders, and the True GodYears ago, as a young seminarian, I wanted to paint icons. I knew nothing about icons, only that I liked them and that they were holy. The vast wealth of books and materials on their meaning and even on the technique of painting them simply did not exist. My knowledge of painting was also non-existent. […]
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Messiness in the Modern World
Read more: Messiness in the Modern WorldSalvation can be messy. I believe this with all my heart and so I state it at the outset of this article. As such, it marks me as a heretic in Modernity. I not only believe that salvation is messy – I believe that messiness is pretty much inherent to salvation. And along with that, […]
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The Dangers of Apologetics
Read more: The Dangers of ApologeticsWriting in the mid-2nd century, St. Justin produced his famous “Apology,” a defense of Christianity that plead for its toleration within the Roman Empire. Any number of famous examples of “apologetics” can be found in patristic writings – most serving as refutations of heretical teachings (such as St. Irenaeus’ Against the Heresies or St. Athanasius […]
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On Earth As It Is In Heaven – And Deeper Still
Read more: On Earth As It Is In Heaven – And Deeper StillWe live and move in a sea of others. Our first breath (having emerged from a womb of maternal otherness) is drawn from air that has been breathed through timeless years by trees, animals, whales; whistled by birds, and passed through last words of dying lips; life-giving breathed by God in the First Man. The […]
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Your Prayers and Assistance Needed
Read more: Your Prayers and Assistance NeededI began my Orthodox ministry in Knoxville, TN, with the planting of St. Anne Orthodox Church. We grew from a handful of people meeting in a home, then a warehouse, then a storefront, to a small building. That beginning was 26 years ago. The landscape of Orthodox across America and the South has changed dramatically […]
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The Work That Saves
Read more: The Work That SavesDo we cooperate in our salvation? Do our efforts make a difference? These questions lie at the heart of a centuries-old religious debate in Christianity. Classically, the Protestant reformers said, “No,” to these questions, arguing that we are saved solely and utterly by God’s grace, His unmerited favor. The Catholic Church replied that “faith without […]
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The Seeds of Love – Orthodoxy and the World
Read more: The Seeds of Love – Orthodoxy and the WorldI saw a news story recently in which a student was asked for their thoughts on the recent campus turmoil. Her response, “History teaches us that only disruption brings about change.” No doubt, it is a common thought for many. The various mantras and slogans of revolution, as well as the myth of revolution itself […]
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A Different Pascha – 1928
Read more: A Different Pascha – 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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Today – The Cross
Read more: Today – The CrossToday He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung on a tree. 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 Adam in the Jordan is slapped in the face. The Bridegroom of […]
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Thanks so much Owen, Nathan and Fr. Stephen. 🙂 May I continue to improve my vision as I avail myself…
Nathan, Precisely.
Helene, I’ll track down the Maximus reference.
Randy, What I have read, I liked. I was at his book launch in Birmingham back in October and had…
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Matthew, After a bit of reflection, I think that people must be thinking about grace as though it were some…