Becoming Human and Spiritual Care
Becoming human has been part of Christian theology for centuries. Orthodox Christians uphold that both God and man have roles in human salvation. God, through the incarnation of Christ, death on the cross, and rising, brought union between the divine and human. Athanasius, a 4th-century Alexandrian bishop, said Christ became human so humanity can become […]
Violence and Possession
A Tale of Shepherds and Farmers Shortly after the fall, Cain and Abel, the first brothers in history, interact and one of them kills the other. Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd. Each of them offered God from their goods: Cain offered fruits of the land while Abel offered lambs from […]
Confession and the Recent Scandal in the Coptic Orthodox Church
The recent abhorrent incident with an ex-presbyter molesting numerous children has shaken many within the Coptic Orthodox Church. The case was condemned by numerous dioceses throughout Egypt and the West with some diocese taking practical steps to prevent this from reoccurring (although sadly some diocese were quite late despite their direct involvement in the matter). […]
On the Eucharist and the Levels of Corruptibility
Both Severus and Gregory agreed on the body and blood of Christ communicating the divine life. Both agreed that the substance remains corruptible or changeable which makes the possibility of its taste and other properties changing feasible.
Eucharistic Incorruptibility and Multiple Spoons
A Christological Vision: The incarnation of the Word is the key to understand all things pertaining to the Christian Faith. When John the Evangelist proclaimed that “the Word became flesh and pitched His tent in us,” John was not speaking of a change from one nature to another. Rather, the holy fathers teach us […]
On the Spoonodules and Spoonoclasts
Approximately 1300 years, there was a major debate in the Eastern Orthodox Church regarding the use of icons. On the one end of the spectrum, some had superstitious beliefs regarding icons. It wasn’t clear whether they understood the difference between worship and veneration of icons or not. Some would go as far as scraping the […]