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. […]
On requesting intercessory prayers from the saints
Are there any Biblical and historical quotes that appear to demonstrate that both the Apostles and the Early Church Fathers expected that the saints and angels would be aware of what we are doing and would intercede for us? And is there anything that says that we should revere them and remember them with special […]
I miss Advent
I miss Advent. Yes, the Orthodox have Advent, but it did not develop the multitude of rich traditions that the West did. In every culture into which Christianity has travelled, local traditions have developed that enrich the local Christian culture. To put it another way, there is no such thing as a “culture-less” Christianity. That […]
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 […]
Faith comes by hearing
One of the conclusions of post-modernist linguistic philosophers is that words do not speak for themselves. Rather, words function within a context. That context includes culture, history, personal experiences, etc. This is particularly true with written words. Written words not only lack the context of culture, history, personal experience, etc., they also lack the verbal […]
Why are we afraid of free will?
The definition of a hero is: “a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.” We do sometimes use it for a person with heroic qualities, such as the widowed […]
Imperfect people do great deeds
“I don’t confuse greatness with perfection . . . all great deeds have been accomplished out of imperfection.” I am a fantasy and science fiction fan in my reading-for-relaxation. I love going to other worlds that imagine other realities. Today–for Monday is my day off–I read the following quote: “‘Are you saying that no matter […]
Patriarch Alexiy of Russia – 1929 to 2008
This morning, Patriarch Alexiy of the Russian Orthodox Church died at the age of 79. He was the man credited with restoring much moral authority to the Russian Orthodox Church after the years of Communism. He became patriarch in 1990, shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union. I can remember that he faced serious […]
Sacramental, Attractional, Missional, what is the Church? – Aslan knows!
The author of another blog asked several of us a question. “What is the way to go to be the church Jesus is building: Sacramental, Attractional or Missional? And in what mixture? For what reasons?” I answered as follows: In the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle, the Pevensie children, after […]
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