Among the many things that Christians say that annoy people is their assertion that Christianity is the only true religion. Given the tremendous number of alternatives to Christianity on the religious market today, the assertion savours of intolerable arrogance, blindness, insensitivity, and self-righteous conceit. “The only true religion?” Who do […]
Sunday reading
Healing The Soul And Unbelief
I have long been convinced that “believing” is grounded in something other than intellectual activity. I am simply unimpressed by most of the intellectual arguments that I see regarding both belief and unbelief. In both, I hear so much that is unspoken, and even much that is likely hidden from […]
Traditional Family Values
What are “traditional family values” and what is their role in the life of a Christian? First of all, it is important to understand what is not meant by the term “traditional family values”. In particular, the term does not mean that the family is the most important thing in […]
Pentecost And The Liturgy Of Hades
Pascha (Easter) comes with a great note of joy in the Christian world. Christ is risen from the dead and our hearts rejoice. That joy begins to wane as the days pass. Our lives settle back down to the mundane tasks at hand. After 40 days, the Church marks the […]
The Meaning Of 1453
The year 1453 marked a very significant event in the life of the Orthodox Church, for that was the year that the city of Constantinople fell to the Turks, effectively bringing to an end the long thousand year reign of the Christian Roman Empire (also known as “Byzantium”). Of course […]
Don’t Ask Why
Archpriest Andrei Tkachev answers questions for a Serbian TV channel. Part 3 Part 1, Part 2 This is an interview from January 5, 2022, before Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, which began February 24. Fr. Andrei Tkachev is from Lvov in western Ukraine. He was serving as the priest of […]
The Evil One Has A Purpose: To Scatter, Divide, And Dominate – One At A Time
Archpriest Andrei Tkachev answers questions for a Serbian TV channel. Part 2 Part 1 This is an interview from January 5, 2022, before Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, which began February 24. Fr. Andrei Tkachev is from Lvov in western Ukraine. He was serving as the priest of a church […]
Why Is It All the Russians’ Fault
Archpriest Andrei Tkachev answers questions for a Serbian TV channel. This is an interview from January 5, 2022, before Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, which began February 24. Fr. Andrei Tkachev is from Lvov in western Ukraine, and was serving as the priest of a church in Kiev during the […]
The Doors And God
You cannot attend an Orthodox service and not be aware of doors. There are the doors that form the center of the icon screen, opening directly upon the altar. There are the two doors that flank them, one on either side, known as the “Deacon Doors.” Someone always seems to […]
“The Autonomy of Women”
At the recent March for Life in Washington, D.C. one person gave a speech. In it he said, “We affirm the gift and sanctity of life—all life, born and unborn. As Christians we confess that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. Every life is […]
Modernity And The Temptations Of Christ
If I have done modernity a disservice, it might be in giving the impression that its temptations might be something new. In truth, there is nothing particularly new in the philosophy of modernity other than its peculiar assembly of old ideas and the capture of the general culture as its […]
Autocephaly And The Episcopate
I have just finished reading a very important and immensely depressing book about the autocephaly of the OCA entitled, The Time Has Come: Debates over the OCA Autocephaly Reflected in St. Vladimir’s Quarterly. It is an important book because it offers so many insights about the OCA’s autocephaly and church […]
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