Category Archives: Orthodoxy

Lent, Have Mercy

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Giving up TV for LentWell, friends, it is that time of year again: the (annoying) 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, Protestant, Latin, Agnostic … they’re all in.

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 true asceticism (or what that requires) at all. Like most things in America today, it is a trend that will eventually go by the wayside. One can only hope, honestly.

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The Book of Tobit – Chapters 1-2

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The Archangel Raphael

As we discussed previously, the true importance and meaning of the Book of Tobit for us as Christians is that it teaches us about Christ (as is the case with all of the old testament scriptures). Of this book, then, the Venerable Bede (c. AD 673-735) says:

“The book of the Holy Father Tobit is clearly of saving benefit to its readers even in its superficial meaning inasmuch as it abounds in both the noblest examples and the noblest counsels for moral conduct, and anyone who knows how to interpret it historically (and allegorically as well) can see that its inner meaning excels the mere letter as much as the fruit excels the leaves. For if it is understood in the spiritual sense it is found to contain within it the greatest mysteries of Christ and the Church …”
Venerable Bede, On the Book of the Blessed Father Tobit

Chapter One: The Righteousness of Tobit

From the onset of our study through this wonderful book, we learn that Tobit is a man of Israel (the northern kingdom) who was among those exiled to Assyria by “Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians” (Tobit 1:2). As a faithful servant of the God of Israel, Tobit walks “in the paths of truth and righteousness” and did much “almsgiving to my brethren and to the people who journeyed with [him] as exiles to Nineveh” (Tobit 1:3).

From an allegorical perspective, Bede believes that this exile at the hands of Assyria is a type of our exile from Eden at the behest of the Evil One. We have all been estranged from the “promised land” of Paradise and with a great longing (and need) to return. The mission of the Orthodox Church, therefore, is to reunite the life of this world with the life of Paradise – the reunification of heaven and earth and a reunification of God and man (and we participate in a foretaste of this through the Holy Eucharist). The Lord’s Prayer reflects this desire as well.

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Orthodox Milk

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“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).

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Origin of the Bible – Definitions and Clarifications

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A folio of the book of GenesisWhen talking about the origins of the “Bible,” it is a given that a discussion around the “canon” of the scriptures should take place. So what is the canon, exactly, and do all view it in the same manner?

For most, the canon is a list of writings (or “books”) that is considered to be both authoritative and divinely inspired. In other words, it is the “table of contents” of one’s Bible. The word “canon” comes from Greek, and means “rule” or “measuring stick.” For the Hebrew people prior to AD 70 (when the second temple was destroyed by Roman forces), the canon was supposedly set according to whichever scrolls were in the temple itself (per Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, c. AD 37-100); that is, within the Holy of Holies. If one wanted to know if a particular text or copy of a scroll was “canonical,” they only had to lay it alongside the canonical scroll and make comparisons. It was almost a literal “measuring stick,” if you think about the action of rolling out a scroll and laying them side-by-side.

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Hinting at a Future Post

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The so-called “Lord’s Prayer” (the “Our Father) is a prayer for the “end of the world,” or the “end of the age.”

It is a prayer for the apocalypse, the parousia of Christ.

It is a prayer for Maranatha.

“Thy Kingdom come […] on earth as it is in heaven.”

But … it isn’t a prayer about the future.

The Book of Tobit – Introduction and Overview

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Introduction, Background & Overview

A Coptic Orthodox Icon of Tobias and the Archangel RaphaelSo … what in the world is the Book of Tobit?

I’m sure that’s what most people unfamiliar with the Latin or Eastern Orthodox canon of the old testament scriptures are thinking right about now. In this post, I’m going to do my best to give you a brief overview and introduction to this important work from an Orthodox perspective, including details like the historical context, who wrote it, what it teaches us as Christians, and so forth.

I’m currently teaching a Bible Study class at our parish on this particular scripture, so as I go through and prepare my notes for each week, I will reformat and upload them to this blog as time permits. Please feel free to use and share these at your own parish or for your own study, so long as you link back to here as the source. I must note, as well, that I’m dependent upon a great deal of great reference material for most of this (see the bottom of this post), so this information may not come off as incredibly groundbreaking to many of you. My main intention with this study is to simplify everything for the casual reader, so as to be able to approach Tobit for the first time and without confusion.

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True Prayer and the Spirit

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Orthodox Icon of Saint Innocent of Alaska

“The Holy Spirit teaches true prayer. No one, until he receives the Holy Spirit, can pray in a manner truly pleasing to God; because if anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit begins to pray, his soul is distracted in different directions from one thing to another, and he cannot fix his thoughts on any one thing. Moreover, he does not know properly either himself or his own need, or how to ask or what to ask of God, in fact he does not even know what God is like. But a person in whom the Holy Spirit dwells knows God and sees that He is his Father, and knows how to approach Him, and how to ask and what to ask of Him. His thoughts during prayer are orderly, pure, and aspire to a single object – God. And by prayer he can do literally anything, and can even move mountains from place to place.”

Saint Innocent of Alaska, Indication of the Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven, p. 33

The “Song of Simeon” and the Bible

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The Great Library of Alexandria

The Great Library of Alexandria (established during the reign of Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphius, c. 283-246 BC, and originally organized by a student of Aristotle) contained an innumerable amount of manuscripts, works and scrolls from all over the world.

In order to ensure everything possible was included in their library, the Egyptians would even require their citizens (and even foreign travelers through Egypt) to hand in their own personal scrolls for copying so that they could be added to the overall collection. It is during the reign of Ptolemy II that the sacred scriptures of the Hebrew people were translated into the Greek language – which was the lingua franca of the world at this time – in order to be included in the Alexandrian library’s already impressive collection of scrolls.

In order to have the scriptures accurately translated into Greek, Ptolemy II summoned 70 scribes from the Hebrew people to Alexandria. These were scribes and elders who were familiar with both the languages and the scriptures themselves. Initially, the Pentateuch (the first five “Books of Moses”) was alone translated, with the rest of the scrolls to follow. In an event that was no doubt guided by the Holy Spirit, all 70 scribes ended up translating identical copies of the books from Hebrew into Greek, with no variations whatsoever.

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Resources for Those Interested in the Orthodox Faith

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As you can see above, I’ve added and expanded some of the other individual pages on this blog, for the sake of Orthodox seekers, inquirers, catechumens and the newly-Chrismated/Baptized. To summarize:

First, there is a disclaimer that explains the intentions of this blog and the many shortcomings. Lord, have mercy.

Second, there is a helpfully organized archive of various articles or posts from over the years, arranged by topic (broadly speaking). This provides a quick-reference starting point for whatever subject it is you’re interested in learning more about.

Next, I have put together a brief outline of “how to pray” in the Orthodox manner for those interested in such things (which is hopefully everyone). This is a simple and ancient daily assembly of prayers that can be said at home (in the morning and evening as a starting point). Your prayer life can and will grow from there.

Closely connected to Orthodox prayer is our “confession of faith” or “Symbol of Faith” (a.k.a. the Nicaean-Constantinopolitan Creed). It would be helpful to learn and memorize this confession and to make it part of one’s daily prayers (and not only reciting it on Sunday during the Liturgy).

And finally, there is a brief introduction to the Orthodox Church written for those with little-to-no knowledge of the Church at all (which is, sadly, a surprisingly large number of people in America today). This can be a helpful starting place for anyone interested in the Faith or for those trying to explain it to an outsider.

I pray these resources are helpful for you in your own journey of Faith. Please forgive me for any errors or causes of offense therein. Lord, have mercy on me the sinner!

Hypocrisy as the American Dream

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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).

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Clerical Dress and American Worship

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An Eastern Orthodox priest.This might not be a very popular post …

Schmemann began his book For the Life of the World with the phrase “Man is what he eats,” quoting the German philosopher Feuerbach. In a similar fashion (wait for the pun), I believe that “man is what he wears.”

Yes, friends, the way we dress matters. It shapes and transforms the way we think, the way we work, the way we act and – most importantly for the Christian – the way we worship. While the rationalism of our Enlightenment culture might deny the effects of “matter” (you know, earthy stuff), simply denying the reality of something doesn’t make it true. Everyone knows that when you dress professionally, you are more productive and focused at work, and that dressing in a casual manner actually reduces productivity and the mental faculties of the average person – these are widely accepted viewpoints, it seems. In a similar way, surrounding yourself with certain decorations or trappings can affect the way one thinks and acts, as well. Aesthetics matter.

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A Way that Seems Right – A Meditation on St Mark of Ephesus

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Orthodox Icon of Saint Mark of EphesusIt would be safe to say that receiving the approval of others is highly desired among most people today.

This applies not only in one’s “personal life” (if one actually has one) but also in their “professional life,” where the careful manipulation and posturing of relationships can be the “key to success,” so to speak. The scariest part about this is that when we begin to segment our lives along such boundaries (personal and professional), the lines between these aspects of our life become blurred and things begin to overlap.

While it may be considered clever and even acceptable to manipulate people in a professional environment in order to be “successful” (for example, “buddying up” with the right executive or senior employee in a company in order to leverage that relationship for career advancement, even if that means doing things or being in situations a Christian should not), most people would hopefully agree that in your “personal life,” people are to be treated fairly and as you would wish to be treated – with honesty, love, dignity and respect. Unfortunately, however, the lines are blurred and we are now manipulating everyone around us and simply “using people” for personal gain. Things like truth take a backseat in such meanderings and it is easy to see how this lifestyle can cause a person to degenerate to the point of pure selfishness. We live only for ourselves, and we only seek that which is a benefit for ourselves in this life. It is the very disposition that reached for the prized fruit of Eden and took a big bite.

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To Destroy Augustine

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Orthodox Icon of Saint Augustine of Hippo

“To destroy Augustine, as today’s critics are trying to do, is to help to destroy also this piety and love for Christ – these are too ‘simple’ for today’s intellectuals (even though they also claim to be ‘pious’ in their own way). Today it is Augustine; tomorrow (and it’s already begun) the attack will be on the ‘simple’ bishops and priests of our Church. The anti-Augustine movement is a step towards schism and further disorders in the Orthodox Church.”

Fr Seraphim Rose, The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church, p. 100

What to Read as an “Orthodox Inquirer”

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An Orthodox Icon of St Athanasius the Great of AlexandriaAs a follow up to my previous post, I thought it might be helpful to provide a “recommended reading” list for those who are at varying points on their journey to the Orthodox Church.

This list won’t necessarily be objective or even a “perfect” list that will be helpful to everyone, irrespective of their background, experiences, etc. However, for those who are, 1. Somewhat familiar with basic theological concepts and the Scriptures, and, 2. Coming from a Protestant background, these are the things I would personally endorse (at least as a starting point).

As a disclaimer, I should emphasize that beyond reading some helpful books and other ancient works, actually experiencing Orthodox prayer and worship (so far as the non-Orthodox can experience it) is absolutely essential. In other words, one should be regularly attending services at an Orthodox parish, be in communication with and under the careful, spiritual guidance/oversight of an Orthodox priest and also regularly engaged in a prayer rule (even if it is just as simple as the Trisagion prayers or the Lord’s Prayer every day).

Without these elements, you are just “puffing up” and wasting your time. You will, by no means, actually understand or begin to experience the fullness of the Orthodox Church. In fact, you might even be calloused against it, and the Evil One will likely try to use this experience (separated from the Life of the Church) to arouse doubt, suspicion and animosity with regards to the ancient Faith (from which you may never recover). Approaching the Orthodox Church is not a merely intellectual endeavor – it requires the nous and the devotion of one’s heart (the whole self).

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Book Review: “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy”

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"Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy" by Fr Andrew Stephen (Damick)I normally don’t think about this sort of thing in great detail, but since I’m presently spending time with a catechumen on a regular basis, I’m developing a “mental list” of the top 10 or so books one should recommend to an inquirer of the Orthodox Faith. This book is one of those 10, and it might even be in the top five.

Fr Andrew Stephen (Damick) is the protos of an Orthodox parish in Emmaus, PA and has a series of podcasts (available here) on various Orthodox topics – most of which are particularly helpful for those outside of the Orthodox Church or relatively new to it. His book Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy (available here and here) is an expansion and codification of one of those podcast series by the same name.

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