Bloodguiltiness and States

“The world is soaked with mutual blood. When individuals commit homicide, it is a crime; it is called a virtue when it is done in the name of the state. Impunity is acquired for crimes not by reason of innocence but by the magnitude of the cruelty.”– St Cyprian of Carthage, To Donatus, chapter 6
“I’m [...]

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Hagiology

Excellent article [here].

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Kafka and the Saints

I like Kafka. His treatment of the world is that of reductio ad absurdum. I find a lot of people, with a sort of evangelical framework, can’t understand my feeling at home in such things. Kafka gives us the world in its injustice, but reduces it to its utter mindlessness, its senility, its deprivation of [...]

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Ultimate Questions

Fundamental religious questions. Where I’ve been, and where I am going.

Ultimate Questions
Protestant

Anglican

Orthodox

Who am I?
A Christian
* A Sinner
* Dust
The Sinner

Who are others?
Needing salvation
Brothers
* Superior
* “By their prayers save me.”
* “All shall be saved, I alone condemned.”

Why am I here?
For Salvation
For Life
For Repentance

How should I live?
Scripturally
* Morally
* Ethically
Theosis (Union w. God)

Where are we in history or time?
The [...]

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Secret Prayers vs. PA (Public Address System)

“I would like people not to forget this: why is it forbidden to read the secret prayers aloud? Why is it very harmful for the priest and the bishop to start reading the secret prayers aloud. The question why the Holy Fathers forbade reading them aloud must be explained…it is completely unOrthodox and it must [...]

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On the Myth of General Absolution

“General confession is a not a mystery. We do not understand this simple fact even today. It is dangerous to do a general confession and then read the prayer of absolution for all, not letting people come individually to the priest” (Vol 2, P. 106). “General confession has no validity. It does not absolve sins, [...]

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Our Claymore

I believe that, when we do spiritual combat, we are escorted by angels. It is just like this, except the banners are more numerous than stars, and the hermits are surrounding us with prayers, but there is always the cross, “invincible weapon, adversary of demons, glory of martyrs, true ornament of holy monks.” It is [...]

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The ultimate swear word.

I came across an “Orthodox” blog that had these rules: no hate speech, no obscenities, no anti-religious comments, no sacreligious images. It’s awfully tempting, but no, I didn’t post anything. But I thought about posting one word: GOD. It is all these things to someone, in some way. It is hate speech: “I abhor [...]

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Who Killed Christ?

A question was asked “In the Brother’s Karamazov, Fr. Zosima mentions that a man must realize he is responsible for all the sins of mankind. How is this possible?”
Answer: Every time I have sinned, I am again guilty of the entire fall of all creation into Death. Each time. When I sin, I bring death [...]

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A Wife is an Ikon of all Others

I once told a friend that I was setting out on a journey to learn to love my wife. I believed that if I learned to love my wife, I would learn to love others. And if I can’t learn to love my wife, I told him, then I fear I will never learn to [...]

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Orthodox doesn’t always mean Christian

I have found that it is possible for a person to be Orthodox, in the sense that they are baptized, chrismated, do penance, and receive communion, and yet not be Christian. Likewise, it seems possible for an organization to be an Orthodox Church, but not be a Christian community. This will seem controversial, but I [...]

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The Loss of Sons

I was led to the Faith by a priest who had introduced many others to Orthodoxy as well. I began a series of discussions with a friend who hated Christianity, and over time, he began to soften. I introduced him to my priest, and he completed his conversion. He then began conversations with a younger [...]

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What is a Cult?

In the field of sociology, much really excellent work has been done on analyzing the polity of cult behavior. The analysis has proceeded quite helpfully across confessional boundaries, to think in terms of cult social behavior, cult attitudes (in terms of social psychology), cult social structures, etc. There have been many studies and many lists [...]

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Christ vs. the Messiah of Culture

“Whereas the Jesus of scripture wants to change the world, the Jesus that we invent in the American society approves of the world the way it is; he legitimates the social order. It becomes the OK world. And as a matter of fact, once we use Jesus to legitimate the society, youth leaders are basically [...]

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