Month: December 2010

Deborah Belonick, Advancement Information Officer, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, www.svots.edu 914-961-8313 ext 363, 914-961-4507 FAX, deborah@svots.edu

[SVOTS Communications • Yonkers, NY] The English-language U.S. premiere of the St. Matthew Passion, by renowned Russian Orthodox composer and churchman Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, will debut in New York City on February 7, 2011. St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary will host the concert—which has received standing ovations from huge audiences in Moscow, Rome, Melbourne, and Toronto —at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, 405 West 59th Street, at 7:30 p.m.

“Just as J.S. Bach drew church congregations into the drama of Christ’s Passion in his day, so now, Metropolitan Hilarion is offering our post-modern world a corresponding experience with his fresh and original St. Matthew Passion, a profound piece of music that combines Gospel narrative with liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church,” said seminary Chancellor Archpriest Chad Hatfield. “We invite lovers of sacred music to hear this magnificent, inspired work, which not only is beautifully stirring but also is a testament to the Orthodox Christian faith.”
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Introductory remarks given at the debate held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

By: Fr. Hans Jacobse

I want to thank the Orthodox Christian Fellowship and the Secular Student Alliance of UMBC for their invitation to debate this evening. I am looking forward to a healthy and vigorous debate that is not only academically interesting, but I think is one of the central questions of our age.

We live in what some people call a post-Christian or post-modern society – an assessment I generally agree with, but like most sweeping claims it can mean different things to different people. It’s prudent then that we define our terms.

The question we are discussion this evening is: Can there be morality without God? I argue no it is not possible. But before giving you my reasons, let me rephrase the question more in line with atheist presuppositions.

Atheism, properly understood, allows for no objective existence for anything non-material, not made of matter. Materialism is the philosophical ground of atheism, a point that anyone familiar with more than the surface character of the atheist argument will recognize as true.
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It’s Christmas Lent and we are to prepare for Nativity. This might help: