Glory to God For All Things

June 12, 2015

The Secular Challenge

Fr. Alexander Schmemann held that secularism was the single greatest challenge of the modern era. I took up this understanding and made it the heart of my book, Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe. It is at the heart of every serious challenge the Church faces in our time. The news is not so […]
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Icons, Knowledge of God, Modernity, Reflections, Secularism, The Sacraments
June 9, 2015

Truth, Lies and Icons

As verbal beings, we live in a world of icons. We experience the world in an iconic fashion. A major difficulty for us is that we have lost the vocabulary of iconic reality. We have substituted the language of photography. The dissonance between reality and our photographic assumptions has led us to doubt […]
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Fathers, Icons, Knowledge of God, Reflections
June 4, 2015

Speaking of Reality

The idea that certain realities are “social constructs” is in the process of becoming mainstreamed with its popularization in the culture’s discussion of sex and gender-related issues. The argument is that various aspects of reality are only perceived in a certain manner because of a social agreement – a sort of collective prejudice. We see […]
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Knowledge of God, Modernity, Morality, Personhood, Reflections
June 3, 2015

A Word on What Matters

I began writing this blog in October of 2006. Printed below is the second article that I wrote. I have reprinted it from time to time, as much for my sake as anything. When I wrote it, almost no one was reading the blog. It was simply a reminder not to take myself too seriously. […]
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Reflections
June 2, 2015

A Tendency to Beauty

Evolutionary theorists have a very difficult time suggesting a mechanism for life. How do plain chemicals – minerals and dissolved substances – combine in a manner that constitutes a living thing? In fact, why would they? I have no interest in discussing the pro’s and con’s of evolutionary theory. It is not interesting to me […]
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Beauty, Icons, Reflections, Union with God
May 31, 2015

The Last Pascha – A Reverie

I had a reverie around the time of Pascha. My life has had many chapters. I have loved friends and lost friends. My memory is filled with much that is bittersweet – not my favorite flavor. But my reverie was a dream of Pascha – the Last Pascha. I wrote this in a Facebook post […]
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Last Things, Pascha, Reflections
May 31, 2015

The Lord and Giver of Life

The opening verses of Genesis offer the mysteries of creation for our consideration. Of particular note is the primary role of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters… “ Light and dry land are made to appear and then, the miracle of life: “Let the earth bring forth…” […]
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Beauty, Reflections
May 28, 2015

Weak, Sick, Poor and Tired: A Story for Losers

The American Dream is embodied in strength. Gen. George Patton famously said, “America loves to win and cannot abide a loser.” The spirituality of winning is probably the fastest growing and most attractive version of “Christianity” to be found on the American scene. Mega Churches, seating 10’s of thousands have sprung up as temples of success. […]
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Reflections, Salvation, Union with God
May 25, 2015

Is Hell Real?

Because sometimes the people of God need a basic lesson in the nature of existence… On one of the roads leading into my small city a billboard has recently appeared. It is part of a larger campaign by a nationally known evangelist who is to have a revival in Knoxville. The sign is simple. In […]
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Last Things, Reflections, Salvation
May 23, 2015

The Cruciform Human

In my March lecture in San Francisco, I made an assertion that is worth isolating for an article. That assertion is that we are created in the image of the Crucified Christ, and that this is essential in understanding what it means to be human. I have been asked where I got such an idea. […]
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Cross, Reflections, Salvation

Can someone explain, why, if the Orthodox do not believe in the Immaculate Conception do the then celebrate the Assumption/Dormition…

Father Stephen, forgive me, but for returning to the holy Mother of God, whose Dormition is celebrated this evening and…

Simon, As a grandpa (who believes that the past should include a few tall tales), I occasionally describe to the…

Fr. Stephen said: “The advent of smart phones, arguably a huge cultural change, took place with almost no conversation at…

Excellent points Simon. Excellent points Nathan. Now what??? I guess I have to draw my own conclusions based on the…