Category Archives: Theology

Lent, Have Mercy

Posted on
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

Origin of the Bible – Historical Context

Posted on
2

A page from Codex VaticanusIn my short life, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a topic discussed that involved more anachronisms than the topic of the Bible and its origins.

Perhaps this is because of the fact that – in the evangelical circles in which I grew up – the idea of Christian history older than your own parish (or “denomination,” back when American evangelicals still cared about such distinctives) was virtually unknown. We were entirely a people “of the moment,” and oblivious to any real history beyond our own generation or lifespan. This is, of course, a major part of the reason these groups are lacking any connection (whether real or ideal) with the Church of the Apostles. But more specifically, this is why they have a hard time engaging in dialogue about the “origins of the Bible” without anachronistically forcing present-day context onto the discussion.

Continue reading →

Orthodox Milk

Posted on
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 →

Origin of the Bible – Definitions and Clarifications

Posted on
2

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.

Continue reading →

Hinting at a Future Post

Posted on
Reply

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.

More on Melchizedek as Christ (and Elohim)

Posted on
1

Just a brief addition to my previous post:

“And it will be proclaimed at the end of days concerning the captives, as He said, ‘To proclaim liberty to the captives.’

Its interpretation is that He will assign them to the Sons of Heaven and to the inheritance of Melchizedek; for He will cast their lot amid the portions of Melchizedek, who will return them there and will proclaim to them liberty, forgiving them of all their iniquities. And the Day of Atonement is the end of the tenth Jubilee, when all the Sons of Light and the men of the lot of Melchizedek will be atoned for. And a statute concerns them to provide them with their rewards.

For this is the moment of the Year of Grace for Melchizedek. And he will, by his strength, judge the holy ones of God, executing judgement as it is written concerning him in the Songs of David, who said, ELOHIM has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgement [...] And Melchizedek will avenge the vengeance of the judgements of God [...] and he will drag them from the hand of Belial.”

Dead Sea Scrolls, Cave 11 (11Q13), the “Melchizedek document”

Saint Paul and the Apocalyptic Visions of Second Temple Judaism

Posted on
12

An Orthodox Icon of the Prophet EnochAs I continue to examine Second Temple apocalyptic literature, it seems more and more likely that St Paul was drawing on his vast knowledge of this work at times in order to help make illustrations or “give wings” to many of the themes and ideas he was espousing throughout his epistles in the early years of the Church.

For example, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, St Paul makes a connection between the culmination of the priesthood of Melchizedek and Jesus Christ Himself. He of course makes reference to Psalm 109:4 (LXX): “The Lord swore and will not repent, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’”  Beyond this, he also intimates that the Melchizedek order was always superior to that of the Levites (e.g. 7:4-10), and that a “change in the priesthood” necessitated a “change in the law” (liturgically speaking, cf. 7:11-12) as well.

Continue reading →

True Prayer and the Spirit

Posted on
Reply

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

Hypocrisy as the American Dream

Posted on
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 →

Clerical Dress and American Worship

Posted on
4

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.

Continue reading →

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

Posted on
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

To Destroy Augustine

Posted on
1

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”

Posted on
6

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).

Continue reading →

Book Review: “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy”

Posted on
3

"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.

Continue reading →

I Love Religion

Posted on
6

Orthodox Temple of Saint Sava

I’m glad that Fr Andrew replied to this silly video – it saves me a lot of trouble.

Regardless, a key here is that simply saying “All I need is Jesus, not religion” is the most complicated religion of all, for all it does is pose an infinite amount of follow-up questions: Which Jesus? Who is Jesus? What did he do? Why do I need him? How do I live for him? etc.

Continue reading →