“Custom is the plague of wise men and the idol of fools†— Thomas Fuller One of the mistakes that is common in liturgical groups is to mistake anything which has been done for a while with Holy Tradition. Even among the Orthodox, there is a common tendency to see what is as what must […]
Can a heretic be saved?
Since the Middle Ages, it is quite common to assume that if one is a heretic, then one cannot be saved. This is not surprising, since it seems that one of the favorite words of the Roman Church was “anathema” (or accursed) in those days. Meantime, the Reformers did their own bit of burning and cleansing. […]
Hmm, back to infallible and imperfect
Ephesians 2:19-22 – “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in […]
What is the he Palaia Diatheke (The Old Testament)?
OK, so what is the Old Testament? Well, in Greek it was called “he Palaia Diatheke,” which was translated into Latin as Vetus Testamentum, from which we get our English, “Old Testament.” “The Latin rendered testament in English originally came from the Latin for ‘witness’ and from there expanded to mean ‘to make a will’; […]
Saint Luke 2:1-20
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of […]
Still infallible and imperfect – shh
There are three Scriptures that I would consider important to the ongoing debate over infallibility. Ephesians 2:19-22 – “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the […]
Infallible and Imperfect, you have got to be kidding!
You will say to me, “Infallible and imperfect, you have to be kidding!” Is it not a contradiction to say that the Church is imperfect and infallible? Well, not necessarily, but, let’s back up a minute an approach the subject from different direction. I will argue that all of Christianity is actually aware that something […]
Wait, so the Church is not perfect?
No, as I pointed out in my previous post, the neither Jesus nor the Apostles claimed the Church was already perfect. In fact, they were overwhelmingly aware of her lack of perfection. But, if you would permit me to use two theological terms, I think they would see the Church as indefectible and infallible. While […]
Who are we, really?
Too many of our discussions about the Church suffer from a failing that I pointed out in an earlier post about heroes. We tend to lionize the Early Church far beyond what the Bible itself, nay Jesus Himself, says about the Church. Mind you, as an Eastern Orthodox priest, I am sold on the Church. […]
What do Eastern Orthodox believe about free will?
I have very obviously not done a good job explaining what Eastern Orthodox believe about free will. So, rather than using my own words, let me quote a couple of excerpts from The Confession of Dositheus. This confession was approved by the Synod of Jerusalem of 1672. It is not considered an Ecumenical Council by […]
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