OrthodoxyToday.org | Fr. George Morelli | Mar. 15, 2008
In the first chapter of Genesis we read that man is made in God’s image and called to be like Him. The image, the Church Fathers say, is mainly our intelligence and free will. God so loved us, He sent His only begotten Son for our salvation (John 3:16). [Read more…]
Anchorage Daily News | Lisa Demer | Feb. 29, 2008
The Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska is in turmoil. Priests from around the state are seeking removal of the top official here, Bishop Nikolai Soraich. They say he is hurting the church and ruling by intimidation.
The Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska is in turmoil. Priests from around the state are seeking removal of the top official here, Bishop Nikolai Soraich. They say he is hurting the church and ruling by intimidation. [Read more…]
OCANews.org | Fr. Michael Oleksa | Feb. 22, 2008
…
Obedience is the chief concern and the most often preached topic in Alaska, for it is in obedience that we are being asked, no forced, to accept the “corrections” and “guidelines” as well a the decrees periodically issued by the bishop and chancellor. Obedience in itself is, first of all, not a spiritual gift. The Holy Spirit brings love, joy, peace, self-control, but not obedience. Obedience is a means to an end, and a very useful, even essential means, provided one has found a loving spiritual father whose guidance one freely accepts in full confidence that all that whatever the elder commands is not for the elder’s benefit or satisfaction, but for the one’s own salvation. [Read more…]
Crunchy Con Blog | Rod Dreher | Jan. 31, 2008
Some readers are aware that the Orthodox Church in America, my church, is undergoing a huge scandal now centered on the hierarchy — especially Metropolitan Herman and his coterie at church headquarters. It involves money, mostly, but also — it has been alleged — sexual impropriety of some of the players. The scandal has been going on for quite some time, and the bishops, being bishops, cannot or will not take decisive action to clean out the Augean stables. What is it with bishops, anyway? Anyway, should you care to, you can read all about the scandal at the exhaustive OCANews.org site, which has become an invaluable source of news and commentary on the mess. [Read more…]
OrthodoxyToday | Fr. Richard Demetrius Andrews | Jan. 20, 2008
Since in the teaching of the Church, abortion is wrong and equivalent to the taking of innocent life, that is, a form of murder, it is a “thing that does damage.” The name take by those who encourage and facilitate abortions, to promote their cause is “Pro-Choice.” Because few would agree that abortion is a “thing that is good in itself,” they do not usually call themselves “Pro-Abortion.” By projecting “choice” rather than “abortion” they distract us from the fact that they are encouraging and making easier a behavior that is wrong. [Read more…]
Moral clarity from Metropolitan Kyrill, foreign minister of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Spiegel Online | Metropolitan Kyrill | Jan. 10, 2008
Metropolitan Kyrill, foreign minister of the Russian Orthodox Church, discusses Christian values in the post-communist era, his relationship with the pope in Rome, Vladimir Putin the churchgoer — and wrangles with SPIEGEL about homosexuality.
+Kyrill: “The Bible calls it a sin. But we do not condemn these people. The church is opposed to these people being persecuted or offended. But why should sin be propagated? The gay parade is a blatant display of sodomy. In that case, we might as well promote other sins, as has long been the case on television. This degenerates public morality.” [Read more…]
Greek Orthodox Church of America | Archbishop Demetrios | Dec. 25, 2007
On this glorious day of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ we celebrate the truly historical, universal, and eternal event of His Incarnation. It is historical, for at the divinely appointed time He entered our human history by being conceived and formed in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and was born of her in a cave in Bethlehem. It is universal because the Son of God, the divine Logos of Creation, took upon himself human flesh and blood so that He might redeem us and all of the universe from the burden of sin and death.
His Incarnation The Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and birth has eternal significance because through His life, we are offered life, not just a mortal and earthly life, but unending life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). [Read more…]
OCANews.org | Fr. Thomas Hopko | Dec. 11, 2007
A St. Nicholas Day Reflection
The Orthodox Church’s main hymn (troparion/apolytikion) for the feast of St. Nicholas of Myra is the general hymn for all of the Church’s holy bishops. As such, for example, it is sung the day after the feast of St. Nicholas for the celebration of St. Ambrose of Milan. This hymn tells us what a Christian bishop (and, by extension, also a presbyter) ought to be for his people. And so it also tells us how all Christians should be. [Read more…]
by Dennis E. Engleman –
Throughout the Church age, the mystery of iniquity worked subtly and insidiously to foster unbelief. Satanically inspired humanism, which had received such impetus during the Renaissance and Enlightenment, reached its nihilistic nadir in the early twentieth century in the form of atheistic communism. The utopian ideology which is at the root of communism, and in fact of most secular thought, is seldom clearly realized even by its adherents; it has become part of the unexamined ideological inheritance of the post-Enlightenment era.
“One has to realize what communism is,” insisted Father Seraphim Rose. “Not merely a power-mad political regime, but an ideological-religious system whose aim is to overthrow and supplant all other systems, most of all Christianity. [Read more…]
