salvation Archives - Page 6 of 11

The Fifth Wednesday of Great Lent. The Banishment of Hell. Repentance.

04/01/2020

One of my favorite authors as a young man, was Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk. In the introduction to his work New Seeds of Contemplation he wrote: “Hell was where no one has anything in common with anyone else except the fact that they all hate one other and cannot get away from each other and from themselves.” This very much fits with the Orthodox view of hell as being in the presence of

Being, Keeping, Clinging, Focusing

02/04/2020

Being Joyful Witnesses To speak about Jesus and his divine work of salvation shouldn’t be a burden or a heavy obligation. When we go to people feeling that unless they accept our way of knowing Jesus, they are lost and we are failures, it is hardly possible to be true witnesses. It is a great joy when people recognize through our witness that Jesus is the divine redeemer who opened for them the way to

Christ is Born! Glorify Him! Merry Christmas!

12/25/2019

Christ is Born! Glorify Him! Merry Christmas! By Georges Florovsky St. Athanasius writes that the Logos [Word] became man, similar to us in all respects. […] By virtue of its union with the Logos, “because of the Logos, which was in a body,” the body was freed from its weakness and subjection to decay. […] The Logos was not bound by the body but freed the body from its limitedness and its inclination to sin.

Thoughts on the Spiritual and Material. Thoughts on Questioning.

10/09/2019

By Michael Haldas Thoughts on the Spiritual and Material, June 9, 2016 “…the Church’s perspective is not dualistic, but rather sees that the spiritual and material parts of man are both in need of transfiguration and redemption. Man is not saved without the body; through the body he has his being and life. Our quest is not a mental salvation that we seek in the Church through our thoughts about God; such thinking is rationalistic

Getting Saved on Star Trek

08/23/2019

By Father Stephen Freeman, November 1, 2017 Movies have a way of mirroring reality. They are cultural products, even if written by a single person. Our creative mind is formed and shaped in the reality we live. With that in mind, I have been thinking about the guys who wear red shirts on Star Trek episodes. In popular lore, they are the ones who are expendable. They show up in a single episode, maybe beam

Democratic Madness

07/19/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 30, 2017 Dostoevsky’s The Demons tells the story of a revolution within the context of a small village and a handful of personalities. The strange mix of philosophy and neurosis, crowd psychology and fashionable disdain for tradition all come together in the madness of a bloodbath. It is a 19th century Helter Skelter that presciently predicted the century to come. Our own version of the same sickness plays out with less bloodshed though with similar passion. This

The Work That Saves

07/12/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 17, 2015 Do we cooperate in our salvation? Do our efforts make a difference? These questions lie at the heart of a centuries-old religious debate in Christianity. Classically, the Protestant reformers said, “No,” to these questions, arguing that we are saved solely and utterly by God’s grace, His unmerited favor. The Catholic Church replied that “faith without works” is dead and that faith alone is insufficient. This debate, with various

REPENTANCE IN THE PHILOKALIA (Part III)

07/02/2019

Theognostos (fourteenth century?) is known to us only as the author of the work included in the Philokalia. “When you fall from a higher state, do not become panic-stricken, but through remorse, grief, rigorous self-reproach, and, above all, through copious tears shed in a contrite spirit, correct yourself and return quickly to your former condition. Rising up again after your fall, you will enter the joyous valley of salvation, taking care so far as possible

The Fourth Friday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Paschal Gift

05/24/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 18, 2017 It is impossible to describe the joy of Pascha, particularly as I experience it as a priest. This year, I was deeply aware that I stand in a place that was both created for me, and for which I am unworthy. The joy of such a combination is the realization of the Gift. When you are trying to find a gift for someone, the most difficult part, it

The Fourth Monday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! Salvation as At-One-Ment: Divinization

05/20/2019

…. we [have] explored the metaphor of a wedding to describe what God is doing—preparing and drawing us toward deeper intimacy, belonging, and union. The Eastern Fathers of the Church were not afraid of this belief, and called it the process of “divinization” (theosis). In fact, they saw it as the whole point of the Incarnation and the very meaning of salvation. The much more practical and rational church in the West seldom used the

Tags

The Fifth Wednesday of Great Lent. The Banishment of Hell. Repentance.

Being, Keeping, Clinging, Focusing

Christ is Born! Glorify Him! Merry Christmas!

Thoughts on the Spiritual and Material. Thoughts on Questioning.

Getting Saved on Star Trek

Democratic Madness

The Work That Saves

REPENTANCE IN THE PHILOKALIA (Part III)

The Fourth Friday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Paschal Gift

The Fourth Monday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! Salvation as At-One-Ment: Divinization

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