Daily Meditations Archives - Page 290 of 332

The Untamable Textbook and Its Handouts: Ruminations on Scripture—Tradition Relationship (Part IV)

10/10/2013

REV. DR. EUGEN J. PENTIUC Still, there are biblical writers who are not satisfied with such a quick fix to man’s cry of inquiry regarding suffering and evil. For instance, the author of Job 40-41 suggests that God Himself created these monstrous creatures that are to be blamed for all sufferings because He wanted to be challenged so that His power might be eventually made manifest. This is God’s puzzling answer to the lengthy complaints

The Untamable Textbook and Its Handouts: Ruminations on Scripture—Tradition Relationship (Part III)

10/09/2013

REV. DR. EUGEN J. PENTIUC Just prior to the first powerful fiat (Genesis 1:3, “Let there be … “), we are informed rather abruptly of some enigmatic realities whose origins are unexplained. “Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, with God’s Spirit hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2). According to the Priestly author, “darkness;’ “deep” and “water” were neither created by God nor had any existence of themselves. In

The Untamable Textbook and Its Handouts: Ruminations on Scripture—Tradition Relationship (Part II)

10/08/2013

REV. DR. EUGEN J. PENTIUC Scripture, most especially the Old Testament, is an untamable textbook. Holy Tradition in all its avatars—conciliar statements, writings of Church Fathers, liturgy, iconography, ascetic teaching, etc.—functions as its guiding handouts. Following this analogy, one may note a certain complementarity. Handouts summarize and explain the salient points of a textbook. Similarly, Tradition, based on Scripture, complements the latter by condensing and illuminating its content. Nevertheless, the handouts, however complete they may

The Untamable Textbook and Its Handouts: Ruminations on Scripture—Tradition Relationship (Part I)

10/07/2013

The Bible is a scented garden, delightful and beautiful … Let us seek in the fountain of this garden “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” We shall taste a joy that will never dry up, because the grace of the Bible garden is inexhaustible. ~ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS, AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH, 4. 17 REV. DR. EUGEN J. PENTIUC The fourth-century exegete and theologian St. Gregory of Nyssa passionately

The Destiny of Eros: Monks and Martyrs

10/04/2013

When the emperor was converted, and the ever-present danger of martyrdom disappeared, monasticism arose to take its place. There was a fear that Christianity would be secularized, that, as it stood, it would become the cement of an earthly city. Monasticism was the revolt against all compromise. Monasticism, in its early form, was a steep path, that of ‘the violent, who take the kingdom of heaven by force’. Utter obedience to the Gospel demands the

Serious about the Scriptures

10/03/2013

My dear friend, Dr. Gerald May, made a distinction years ago that I have found myself using frequently. He says spirituality is not to encourage willfulness, but in fact willingness. Spirituality creates willing people who let go of their need to be first, to be right, to be saved, to be superior, and to define themselves as better than other people. That game is over and gone; and if you haven’t come to the willing

The Forgotten Connection between Liturgy and Theology (Part III)

10/02/2013

By Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris In our sacraments we emphasize the use of matter precisely because of this Orthodox stress on the incarnation, the resurrection and the resulting theological affirmation of the goodness of matter because Christ took on a material body and in the resurrection our material bodies so that they may participate in the glory of the Kingdom. Therefore matter as created by God is good (“And God saw everything that He had

The Forgotten Connection between Liturgy and Theology (Part II)

10/01/2013

By Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris This theological emphasis on the incarnation as foundational for the way we worship has been somewhat forgotten in some other Christian denominations, and this has resulted in clear differences in the venue and style of Orthodox and non-Orthodox worship. For example, some Western churches are reminiscent of a classroom: the proverbial stark chapel, devoid of icons and church furniture except for pews and a pulpit in a prominent position in

The Forgotten Connection between Liturgy and Theology (Part I)

09/30/2013

By the Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris Since the theme of this issue of PRAXIS is the application of theology in real life, I have decided to write on this subject from the point of view of liturgics, the study of liturgy. Our Orthodox liturgy, our communal worship services and especially the Divine Liturgy, the Eucharist, are the best reflection of this “lived theology.” At first sight this statement might seem surprising, because most people seem

The Destiny of Eros: Eroticism, Passion and the Gospel

09/27/2013

Today, partly as a result of daring experimentation, but mostly because of a willingness to go along with fashion, sex seems to be everywhere. The mass media, advertising, and a general inclination to rebelliousness, have together encouraged the spread of a sub-Freudian culture which, combined with Marxist fantasies, has even lost the awareness of death which Freud had recovered. The horror of ‘repression’, the shallow sensation-seeking demanded by our jaded nerves and imagination, seem to