For the ancient philosopher Heraclitus, πóλεμος (polemos or strife) is “the father of all things,” an aphorism that seeks not to encourage actual warfare, but rather to acknowledge that conflict and struggle in one form or another bring to light what is finer and higher. Lest this be shocking, we should remember that Christ Himself reminds us that He came not … [Read more...] about Chesterton and the Noble Value of Declaring Enemies
Philosophy & Theology
The Importance and Power of Words
We communicate mainly through word, and it does matter how we do it. Our word is a reflection of the Incarnate Word. The Lord said, "Let there be light." And the invisible received its existence through word. Word is the greatest power in the world. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth" (Ps. 33:6). So also in us the … [Read more...] about The Importance and Power of Words
In Memorium: Reader Herman (H. Tristram) Engelhardt (1941-2018) [VIDEO]
PART ONE One of the towering figures in American Orthodoxy has reposed. Struggling to recover from surgery performed last December, Herman fell asleep in Christ on the morning of June 21 in Houston, Texas among family, friends, and clergy. As an author, as a lecturer, as a teacher and mentor, as a friend and brother and father to so many, as a man whose heart was as big as … [Read more...] about In Memorium: Reader Herman (H. Tristram) Engelhardt (1941-2018) [VIDEO]
The Meaning of Holy Chrism and Holy Unction
By Mario Baghos The Holy Oil used for Holy Unction in the healing prayers and Holy Chrismation during baptism is a symbol but in the Greek, not English, meaning of the term. In Greek the term symbol (σύμβολον) means the place where two realities come together, in this case the oil becomes a concrete means by which the grace (energy) of God is offered. Grace and nature work … [Read more...] about The Meaning of Holy Chrism and Holy Unction
The Unbearable Essentializing of Being: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s Sorrowful Joy of Sex
Sexual identities, in contrast to sexual practices or passions, are a relatively new concept. Only recently were passions taken to define people, i.e. seen as constituting an identity or essence, such as homosexual or heterosexual—an understanding that even many secular circles now scorn as untenable. It is, then, discouraging to see a highly respected Orthodox hierarch … [Read more...] about The Unbearable Essentializing of Being: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s Sorrowful Joy of Sex
