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The Slow Work of Grace
Read more: The Slow Work of GraceIn the minds of many, grace is a legal concept – an expression of the kindness of God in the forgiveness of sins. As such, grace is instant and complete. This fits well within the legal conceptions of salvation. In the classical understanding of the Orthodox faith, salvation can indeed have a quality of “suddenness” […]
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A Milestone for the Blog
Read more: A Milestone for the BlogGlory to God for All Things is nearing the publication of its 2,000th article. The total amazes me, and simply speaks for how things add up over time. I certainly did not set out to write in such volume (although I think I published two articles the first day). I simply set out to write. […]
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The Consent to Reality
Read more: The Consent to RealityCatholic philosopher, Alasdair MacIntyre (After Virtue), has presented perhaps the most cogent account of our modern cultural landscape. It is not an account of how one set of ideas gave way to another set of ideas, but how a once-upon-a-time consensus gave way to our current collection of competing truth-claims and world-views. Indeed, he demonstrates […]
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To Have More – Pleonexia
Read more: To Have More – PleonexiaAddictions are strange things. I have a friend who says that the problem with alcohol is that there “simply isn’t enough.” Non-addicts frequently misunderstand. I once heard someone say to an addict, “When you decided to go down that road…” There is very little decision within an addiction. The disease of addiction itself does the […]
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You Don’t Mean a Thing
Read more: You Don’t Mean a ThingI am having surgery this week (cataracts) and will be less able to work on the computer. I will post a few chosen posts from the past for readers. I find that I gain something myself by re-reading older material. I offer this meditation on a quote from Stanley Hauerwas that I have shared previously: […]
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Psychology as the New Sacrament
Read more: Psychology as the New SacramentThe creation of the “two-storey universe” was an unintended consequence of the Protestant Reformation. I have recently been enjoying Brad Gregory‘s The Unintended Reformation, in which he traces the various historical currents and ideas that gave rise to the modern secular notion of the world. It is a magisterial treatment, and I recommend it to […]
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Driving By Faith
Read more: Driving By FaithSeveral years ago my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting England. The beginning of the trip was terrifying – we had decided to rent a car. Our modest little Fiat fit well among the many toy cars that fill British highways. But there was a problem. Everything on English roads is backwards. You […]
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Passionately Drunk
Read more: Passionately DrunkThe Philokalia, that wonderful collection of writings by the fathers on prayer of the heart, has as its full title, The Philokalia of the Neptic Saints gathered from our Holy Theophoric Fathers, through which, by means of the philosophy of ascetic practice and contemplation, the intellect is purified, illumined, and made perfect. Little wonder it is […]
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A Father’s Wisdom
Read more: A Father’s WisdomIt is interesting that in reading the life of St. Silouan of Mt. Athos the figure that stands out most in his life is that of his (unlearned) peasant father. His father was clearly a man of great faith. St. Silouan thought his father to be wiser than many so-called spiritual fathers. The following story […]
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Seeing and Believing – A Noetic Life Part 2
Read more: Seeing and Believing – A Noetic Life Part 2“I see what you mean.” Language holds many secrets that we ignore. Some of the secrets are quite old. If we pay proper attention, we are able to discover things that we already know, but did not yet know that we knew. The phrase, “Now I see,” or other various uses of “seeing” as a […]
Thanks so much Fr. Stephen and David.