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 Sciences
On Suicide
Orthodoxy not uncommonly calls on us to maintain a sort of binocular vision, affirming two seemingly opposing views. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of suicide, where we are asked both to love the perpetrator and refrain from judgment, while at the same time condemning the act as itself profoundly abhorrent. Our therapeutic mindset finds the former easy, and the … [Read more...] about On Suicide
The Embryo in Orthodox Christian Theology and Tradition
As we approach the Feast of the Annunciation, we may recall the words of the Troparion for the feast: “Today is the beginning of our salvation, the revelation of the eternal mystery! The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin.” That is, Christ becomes incarnate as fully man at the time of His conception, and so too did each one of us become fully man at the time of our own … [Read more...] about The Embryo in Orthodox Christian Theology and Tradition
Sexual Sin, Powerlessness, and Communion
Source: Finding the Freedom to Live. Reprinted with permission By Andrew Williams Today I’d like to offer a reflection on the experience of some people who have struggled with sexual sin and the effects of sexual sin. Hopefully some of these reflections will be useful both for those who suffer the ongoing effects of sexual sin willingly entered into, and also some … [Read more...] about Sexual Sin, Powerlessness, and Communion
Impulsivity and Self-Control: The Problem of Being of Two Minds
Source: Ancient Christian Wisdom By Fr. Alexis Trader The Apostle James once wrote, “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). That being of two minds, or more literally of two souls (δίψυχος), creates an instability of the will that makes the task of overcoming impulsivity especially challenging. Part of us is utterly persuaded that … [Read more...] about Impulsivity and Self-Control: The Problem of Being of Two Minds