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Women’s Ordination

Women’s Ordination

Aug 10, 2012

This controversy hasn’t gained a high profile in the Orthodox Church, probably due to our way of approaching such issues...

Basil on traditions

Basil on traditions

Dec 27, 2011

“Of the beliefs and practices which are preserved in the Church, some we possess derived from written teaching; others we have received by the tradition of the apostles; and both of these in relation to true religion have the same force.”

When Is Christmas, Anyway? (a post for the second day of Christmas)

When Is Christmas, Anyway? (a post for the second day of Christmas)

Dec 26, 2011

Terry Mattingly writes: For those who follow Christian traditions, Christmas begins when the darkness of Christmas Eve yields to bright midnight candles and the Mass of the Angels or the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Christmas season then lasts 12 days, ending with Epiphany on Jan. 6. But things aren’t that simple in modern...

Orthodox Advent Wreath

Orthodox Advent Wreath

Nov 28, 2011

Advent is the 40 day period prior to Nativity during which we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Messiah. It is a period of fasting, prayer and participation in the church services and sacraments to help us understand the full meaning of Christ’s coming.

The Excommunication of Ronald Reagan

The Excommunication of Ronald Reagan

Jun 9, 2011

Can a person with Alzheimer's receive Communion? What role does understanding play in the action of grace?

The Superiority of Pre-Critical Exegesis

The Superiority of Pre-Critical Exegesis

Feb 23, 2011

In 1859 Benjamin Jowett argued that "Scripture has one meaning-the meaning which it had in the mind of the Prophet or Evangelist who first uttered or wrote, to the hearers or readers who first received it." But is that hermeneutical theory true?

We three kings of orient aren’t

We three kings of orient aren’t

Dec 20, 2010

We're all familiar with the image of three men on camels, traveling trackless sand dunes by starlight: “Field and fountain, moor and mountain, / Following yonder star.” But how accurate are our Hallmark greeting cards?

An early creed

An early creed

Jan 13, 2010

The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith...

When Tradition Fractures

When Tradition Fractures

Oct 7, 2008

St. Augustine Lives on in the Great Theological Conflicts of Today. When it comes to St. Augustine, the great fifth-century bishop of Hippo, Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox all have a similar reaction: none of us quite know what to do with him. Or at least that was my impression, based on the conference I attended at Fordham University last June.

Call no man “Father”

Call no man “Father”

Aug 5, 2008

Certain statements made by Jesus have often been the basis of great controversy, both inside and outside the Church. His saying, "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven", has proven to be no exception...