Category Archives: Amerika

A Brief Treatise on Truth

Posted on by
1

Icon of the Lord Jesus ChristOrthodoxy will likely never gain a strong foothold in post-modern, over-Christianized and post-Christian America until it is able to expunge from the societal consciousness of our ailing nation the jello-like adherence to “relativism.” A close cousin to this nonsensicality is that of pluralism, of course, but that is a discussion for another day. I realize I’m painting with broad strokes here, so forgive the broadness, the boldness and the matter-of-fact-ness, if you will. Forgive the use of “-isms,” in general, please.

When the Orthodox Christian approaches the “average American,” the idea that there could be only one Church, with one Gospel, one right way of doing things and one right way to believe, the Orthodox person is often faced with sentiments of absolute horror, disgust and rebuke. “How dare you claim that you’re the only true Church!” they say. Indeed — How dare we. But the fact of the matter is simply this: it’s true.

Now, without debarking onto an extant diatribe on the one-ness of the Church, apostolic succession and the like, I will regain my focus and get to the point: Truth has become the red-headed stepchild (please forgive me, all red-headed stepchildren) of present day American/Western culture. Truth is no longer absolute, it is no longer particular and it is no longer personal. Truth exists somewhere in the world of abstractions and is impossible to nail down with any certainty. It has become completely dependent upon the whims of time, culture, circumstance and necessity. It has become wholly relative. In fact, it seems that the only absolute truth of our present, evil age is that truth is relative.

Continue reading →

Hard to Be (a Christian)

Posted on by
1

David Bazan is an indie-rock musician that once fronted and originated a musical group called “Pedro the Lion,” an easy-listening indie band with some distinctly religious overtones.

David grew up in a typical, evangelical, Protestant family in America, and the faith of his childhood came through in most of his music (whether explicitly or subtly), even when he was being snarky or contrary (often merely for the sake of being snarky and contrary, it seems). When he shuffled off to a solo career a few years ago, his music took a decidedly post-Christian direction and his lyrics and beliefs are now seemingly anti-Christian and a platform for “writing off” his once-adored childhood faith. One such song (that is a great song, from a purely musical and artistic standpoint), called “Hard to Be” makes his de-formation rather clear:

Fresh from the soil, we were beautiful and true
In control of our emotions, ’til we ate the poison fruit

And now it’s hard to be a decent human being

Wait just a minute, you expect me to believe
That all this misbehaving grew from one enchanted tree?

And helpless to fight it, we should all be satisfied
With this magical explanation for why the living die?

And why it’s hard to be a decent human being

Continue reading →

Not All East is East

Posted on by
6

Fr Seraphim RoseI’ve recently been listening to some lectures by Fr Thomas Hopko (Dean Emeritus of St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary) that deal with both the Apocalypse and the Divine Liturgy. I highly recommend his work, especially for those who have come from an evangelical or Baptist background, as he can make things quite simple for us.

A passing comment he made in one of his lectures was in regards to the fact that a lot of what passes for Orthodox “spirituality” today is seemingly little more than repackaged Zen Buddhism. Those who enter into Orthodoxy from a heavily “Western” background are prone to this error, especially, as they have likely never had any experiences of God that were anything but rationalistic, or entirely of the mind.

For those with a proneness to wandering and being “tossed to and fro” (Ephesians), as Saint Paul intimates, the temptation is certainly very real and dangerous. There are, unfortunately, no shortage of misleading and unhelpful people out there (especially in the Internet age) who would dare to combine other forms of atheistic/agnostic meditation with the hesychastic prayer found within the one, true Church. There are even many books out there that are shared among Orthodox people (e.g. The Mountain of Silence) that can lead Christians to believe that meditation and/or individualized “Spirituality” are the pinnacle of one’s Christian life, with little to no regard for other people, the Body of Christ and the importance of our life within the Church (and with other people). Indeed, it seems that those who are the most schismatic, unstable or “led astray” within the Church are those whose interests often align exclusively with that of their own self-interests, rather than the good of the Body (and their own family).

Continue reading →

Sanctioning Idolatry

Posted on by
3

The Seventh Ecumenical Council in NicaeaLet’s be honest — most converts to the Orthodox Faith that have arrived from an evangelical or Protestant background are faced with quite a challenge when it comes to the subject of Icons.

There is the initial “creeped out” phase that associates them with idolatry or some strange form of “eastern” sorcery and magic. There is the phase of acceptance and reluctance to acknowledge them as you walk on past them into the nave. And finally (hopefully), there is the phase of acceptance, where you go online and immediately purchase thirty of your favorite Saints’ Icons and place them all over your house or assemble a massive Bright Corner that is the highlight of your living room (and which scares your family and non-Orthodox friends when they stop by to visit). Eventually, the convert comes to accept them as part of our Church’s Sacred Tradition and they are incorporated into one’s lifestyle of faith and belief.

Continue reading →

In a Foreign Land

Posted on by
7

Icon of the TransfigurationToday is actually Palm Sunday.

If you’ve been an Orthodox Christian for less than three years, then you were probably taken by surprise when you realized that we celebrated Pascha a week later than the rest of America this year. But don’t worry, it gets even more awkward next year, when the celebrations are five weeks apart (March 31st and May 5th, respectively).

It is at times like these that Orthodox Christians living in “the west” have that realization and reminder that we are not quite “at home” here in America and that we are very much pilgrims in a foreign land.

This differentiation goes far beyond the celebration of Easter/Pascha, however. There is a completely different understanding of the most basic of ideas and experiences, such as “salvation,” prayer, worship, grace, the scriptures and much, much more. While it is certainly true that we must adapt to the culture we are living in — to a certain extent — in order to minister and be “salt” to others, we must also realize that there are times when we have to draw a line in the proverbial sand and make our differences known.

In our culture, we know that it is common to promote things like “pride” and the idea of “selling” one’s self in the workplace, while in the Church, we are called to humility, suffering, chastisement and servanthood. Our culture says that “whatever is true to you” should be one’s guide for things like morality and ethics, while Jesus Christ said I am the Way, the Truth and the Life — there are not competing, mutually exclusive claims to truth (as if truth is floating around “up there” somewhere or merely in our heads), but the reality that Truth is Incarnate in the Person of Jesus Christ (and maintained in His Body, the one, true Church). Our culture says that you are free to live as you please, so long as you don’t bother or hurt anyone else. However, the Church tells us to fast for over half of the year, to do almsgiving, to help the poor and needy and to crucify our passions and desires — in other words, to emphatically not do a lot of the things that we’d “like” to do, and that our culture encourages us to do (even within the western Christian sub-culture).

Continue reading →

The Identity of the Antichrist

Posted on by
5

The Archangel Michael slaying the AntichristAmong those who adhere to a radical “end times” philosophy (especially in our day), there is much attention paid to the Apocalypse to St John, or the book of Revelation.

A great deal of the concern is over the figure of the Antichrist, and there is an abundance of rather interesting, humorous and ridiculous speculation regarding who this figure may or may not be. The irony, however, is that this figure (the Antichrist) is not mentioned once in the book of Revelation.

Further, the approach taken by these so-called Biblical scholars is a hermeneutical method I would call the “delusional-arrogant” method, whereby one assumes everything that’s happening in one’s lifetime is some sort of fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and that such a person is living in the most important era in Christian/redemptive history. Of course, people around the world have behaved this way in practically every generation, and – in a very real sense – they’ve all been wrong. Gary Demar and his ilk have likened this approach to “newspaper exegesis,” as one interprets every war, earthquake and rumbling of apocalyptic fervor recorded in the news as some sort of direct fulfillment of Biblical (self-fulfilling) prophecy. It is all absurdity, and shows just how full of ourselves (or full of something else) we can become.

As one example, then, I shall briefly examine the identity of this figure called the “Antichrist” by the Theologian and apostle Saint John.

Continue reading →

Fasting of Time

Posted on by
Reply

“Life is long if you know how to use it.” -Seneca

Clock on fireSo much of the modern life is wasted in vain pursuits.

Fame, popularity, wealth, “happiness,” pleasure, self-depreciation, self-love, selfishness, hoarding, lust, anger, jealousy, entertainment … I could go on.

And in America, we are given everything needed to – in many cases, instantaneously – satisfy all of these vain pursuits or desires, handed to us on the proverbial silver platter. This is the “way of the world” for us, and it is no wonder you have nations like Iran calling Americans “decadent” and “the Great Satan.” Sure, they’re Islamic extremists, but they have a point. Guilty as charged. Our culture is – for the most part – brain-dead and soulless.

Continue reading →

Lent, Have Mercy

Posted on by
Reply

Giving up TV for LentWell, it is that time of year again: the time of year when a great number of people in the world – for seemingly no particular reason at all – “give up something” for Lent. Buddhist, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Agnostic, Baptist … they’re all in, it seems.

For many, it is nothing more than an attempt at “discipline.” We can liken this to “new year’s resolutions” – those pesky ideals that help drive retail sales of vitamins, energy bars and exercise equipment around the first two weeks of January. I say “an attempt at discipline,” because – for the most part – no one really follows through or makes it out of January alive. This is not because the ambitions are beyond one’s potential reach, necessarily, but because we live in a culture of excess, self-satisfaction and pleasure, and are simply ill-equipped (most of us having a “will” that is in bondage to sin and not wholly “free”) to handle the prospect of extended discipline.

In these cases, it doesn’t really matter what “faith tradition” one comes from, and the “fad” of “giving up stuff for Lent” is neither spiritual nor inherently Christian. It is empty, bare, legalistic, pseudo-asceticism practiced by those without any experience of the true asceticism of the Church. Like most things in America today, it is a trend that will eventually go by the wayside. One can only hope, honestly.

Continue reading →

Orthodox Milk

Posted on by
1

“We have much to say [...] but it is hard to explain because you have become slow at understanding. For although by this time you should be teachers, you still need to have someone teach you even the basic principles of God’s oracles. You have come to need milk, and not solid food. Everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness; such a person is a baby. But solid food is for those who are fully grown, who have trained their senses to discern good and evil.”
Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews 5:11-14

Milk from GreeceI think we Orthodox Christians in the United States underestimate just how much our culture influences, shapes and controls us, and that in a profoundly negative way. Orthodox Christianity “across the pond” has been through some interesting times, to say the least.

What was once really no more than a small, newly-founded missionary effort has since become a place of excitement and the locus of promising growth for the Orthodox Church – even in spite of the many difficulties that were presented by the communist rule over Russia and into eastern Europe in recent memory (and our disconnect with their past). But still, despite the introduction of Orthodoxy to the American culture in the last century or so, we must come to grips with the predominate, individualistic, “whatever works for you” worldview that pervades every aspect of society (and churches).

Continue reading →

Hypocrisy as the American Dream

Posted on by
Reply

AntigoneNo doubt the result of several fairly recent historical developments, American “Christianity” has produced a whole generation of hypocrites. The hypocrisy of which I’m speaking is found most commonly at the individual level and is part and parcel of our relativistic, “whatever works for you” culture. To put it in fancy, theological words, American Christians have become ontologically and epistemologically Modalists.

Modalism (or Sabellianism) was a heresy that spread in the first few centuries of the Church and espoused that God was one Person but that He simply took on different “modes” or “forms” (as a single Person). God the Father was one “form,” and then He revealed Himself as the “form” of God the Son and then finally as God the Holy Spirit. At no one time were all three “forms” existing concurrently. It was as if God simply put on a different “mask” whenever it suited Him. This is a denial of the Orthodox view of the Trinity, of course, wherein God is three Persons in one Essence (without beginning or end).

Unfortunately, as an aside, there are many actual Modalist movements in the world today, such as some branches of Pentecostalism. Really, any “church” that emphasizes the Holy Spirit over Christ and the Father are semi-Modalist in scope, and this is easy to spot because of their emphasis on “experiences” of the Holy Spirit and ecstatic, chaotic nonsense – while they de-emphasize or undermine the role of the Church (which is the Body of Christ) and His Incarnation and role as its Head (remember, Christ said He would never leave us – cf. St Matt. 28:18-20) as well as the leadership role of men (a de-emphasis of the role of God the Father in the union of the Trinity) in the Church. In other words, just turn your television to TBN and you’ll see this clearly.

The word “hypocrite” comes from the Greek ὑπόκρισις which can mean “play-acting” or “coward” depending on the context, and was also used in reference to a stage actor in the ancient world. In other words, someone who played several different characters on stage was a “hypocrite,” as he adorned different masks, costumes and voices to play varying characters. He was not a solitary Person with a single “form,” but a Person with multiple “forms” or appearances, depending on the context (and never more than one “form” at once).

Continue reading →