Search results for: “theology of the cross”
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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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The Sweetest Name of Jesus
Read more: The Sweetest Name of JesusSome years back, I was given instruction on saying the “Jesus Prayer” by Archimandrite Zacharias of Essex. We spoke about the form of the prayer, and the pace it should be prayed. But it was his final instruction that touched my heart: “Pay particular attention to the Name when you pray it.” It is, after […]
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The Mother of Us All
Read more: The Mother of Us AllA young friend recently lost his mother. It has been an occasion of reflection for me, thinking about the emptiness created by such a loss. Despite all of the confusion and conundrums in our contemporary culture surrounding gender issues – they only serve to underscore the fact that male-and-female, on the most fundamental level […]
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St. Melito and Pascha – Hell Is Not the Last Word
Read more: St. Melito and Pascha – Hell Is Not the Last WordAmong the most powerful meditations on Pascha are the writings of Melito of Sardis (ca. 190 AD). His homily, On Pascha, is both a work of genius as poetry and a powerful work of theology. Its subject is the Lord’s Pascha – particularly as an interpretation of the Old Testament. It is a common […]
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Conformed to His Image
Read more: Conformed to His ImageOne of the most distinctive doctrines in Orthodox theology is that of theosis – divinization – becoming “like God.” Those who inquire into the faith likely stumble across this teaching fairly early, and, no doubt, some are drawn to it. Of course, there are those who run away from it and fear that it is […]
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It’s a Lying Shame
Read more: It’s a Lying ShameThe story of the first sin begins not with a choice, but with a lie. As much as we tend to emphasize “free-will” as the origin and dominant factor of human sin, we do well to remember the true nature of our lives. Things are much more complicated than freedom can account for. Rather, we […]
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The Kingdom of God – One-Storey in Time
Read more: The Kingdom of God – One-Storey in TimeAmong the stranger phrases found in St. John Chrysostom’s Liturgy is this: It was You Who brought us from non-existence into being, and when we had fallen away [past tense], You raised us up again [past tense], and did not cease to do all things until You had brought us up to heaven [past tense], […]
I hope adding these words will be helpful. I’m adding them mainly to flesh out the meaning and use of…