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ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! Bright Tuesday: The Resurrection of Christ is the Quintessence of the Divine Revelation

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, May 12, 2016 The author offers thoughts on the Resurrection with a look at current and ancient views on faith, death, and belief in immortality.  The Resurrection is forgotten in this day and age. Even the immortality of the soul is ignored. It’s typical that scientists who concern themselves with the human soul don’t usually treat it as an ontological feature of a person, but more as a biological function. People

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent: Sin Is Not a Legal Problem – Athanasius and the Atonement

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 12, 2016  I often struggle when people speak of their “sins.” Indeed, it is not unusual to be asked, “Is ___ a sin?” The question always makes me feel like a lawyer. Imagine that, instead of a doctor, you have a lawyer whom you consult for your medical problems. You are having trouble breathing. You’re short of breath and occasionally you cough up blood. You go to your doctor (lawyer)

The Fifteenth Day of Christmas Advent. The Christmas When Everybody Was There.

By Stephen Freeman, December 24, 2018  The soldiers were scattered across Europe with the loneliness of war. The world was caught up in a total struggle. Women had gone to the factories; children were collecting scrap metal. The “war effort” was universal. In many places, food was rationed. The madhouse of consumption belonged only to the war; everything else could wait. And there was Christmas. Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley were part of the effort

The Second Day of Christmas Advent. Apostle and Evangelist Matthew.

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, was also named Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27); he was one of the Twelve Apostles (Mark 3:18; Luke 6:45; Acts 1:13), and was brother of the Apostle James Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). He was a publican, or tax-collector for Rome, in a time when the Jews were under the rule of the Roman Empire. He lived in the Galilean city of Capernaum. When Matthew heard the voice of Jesus Christ:

The Mystery of Death. Preparing for our Death.

Death can be a mystery precisely because the triumph over death is not a mystery By Abbot Tryphon, December 16, 2019  As a priest and monk of the Russian Orthodox Church, I am comfortable with the mystery of death, as all Christians should be. Death can be a mystery precisely because the triumph over death is not a mystery. As the Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann wrote, “in essence, Christianity is not concerned with coming to

Fearing Love

If we fear to love we will remain dead By Abbot Tryphon, December 15, 2019  There are those who fear commitment for fear of loss. They fear the other will either leave them, or be lost in death, so they remain aloof from any possible relationship. Some put on a facade of indifference, for fear of rejection, depriving themselves of any possible happiness. In fear of possible loss, they become the ultimate losers, for the

The Mystery of Death

The Mystery of Death Death can be a mystery precisely because the triumph over death is not a mystery By Abbot Tryphon, December 16, 2019 As a priest and monk of the Russian Orthodox Church, I am comfortable with the mystery of death, as all Christians should be. Death can be a mystery precisely because the triumph over death is not a mystery. As the Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann wrote, “in essence, Christianity is not

Reading Beneath the Words

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 3, 2016  The relationship between Old and New Testaments is much less straightforward than most people realize. A majority of Christians, particularly in our contemporary world, probably assume that their relationship is mostly historical, that the Old Testament is about things that happened before Christ while the New Testament speaks of Christ Himself and things that come later. That is “sort of” true, but not the real story. The New

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Third Tuesday of Pascha: Sentenced to Immortality

A Paschal Homily, by Blessed Justin Popovich                                                                             Sentenced to Immortality Man sentenced God to death; by His Resurrection, He sentenced man to immortality. In return for a beating, He gives an embrace; for abuse, a blessing; for death, immortality. Man never showed so much hate for God as when he crucified Him; and God never showed more love for man than when He arose. Man even wanted to reduce God to a mortal, but God

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Second Wednesday of Pascha: Thoughts on the Resurrection

By Michael Haldas, Quotes of the Day for April 17, 2017 “Jesus did not “cheat” death—He destroyed the power of death. We will not cheat death either. Each of us will eventually die an earthly death, but because the Resurrection destroyed the power of death over us, when we die on this earth, we will be resurrected with Christ. The power “death” has over us will indeed be destroyed.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis) “I believe