G.K. Chesterton: It is the State which changes; it is the State which destroys…
“It is the State which changes; it is the State which destroys; it is nearly always the State which persecutes. The Totalitarian State is now making a clean sweep of all our old notions of liberty, even more than the French Revolution made a clean sweep of all the old ideas of loyalty. It is the Church that excommunicates; but in that very word implies that a communion stands open for a restored … (more...)
Ancient Faith Goes Live! First Program this Sunday at 8pm Eastern
I hope all of you tune in this Sunday. Along with Dr. John Mark Reynolds, I will be discussing "Atheism" particularly the New Atheism, our responses to it as informed by our Orthodox faith, and so forth. It holds great potential and promise. The purpose of the program is to bring timely and important topics to a larger Orthodox audience. The show will be live and include caller questions and … (more...)
Totalitarianism Arrives in Increments
Behind the efforts to remove Christian symbols from the public square lurks a desire to erase Christianity from the collective memory. Why? Because Christianity references something higher than the state as the source and judge of morality and thereby affirms man serves first God and neighbor and only secondarily the state, and only then as far as this first and greatest commandment is not … (more...)
Fr. Gregory Jensen: Pursuing Our Own Good By Serving the Common Good
From the essay: Does the State serve the people or the people the State? The question here is more than just matter of personal or institutional conscience. Rather we must now ask whether the State is willing to acknowledge, and more importantly to defer, to any other authority or law other than its own in the Public Square? If it doesn’t then the State claims for itself the … (more...)
Attn: Grand Rapids, MI — Edith Humphrey Speaks Tonight (March 23, 2012) at 7:00pm
The West Michigan Orthodox community is gathering for the 4th Salutations to the Theotokos (Akathist Hymn) on Fri., March 23, at 7:00 pm at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church. Following the Akathist, a Baker Publishing Group author, and Orthodox Christian, Edith Humphrey will be speaking. Last year, Baker published her marvelous new book on liturgy, "Grand Entrance: Worship on Earth as in … (more...)
Russian Church: British Authorities Adopt Double Standard on Public Symbols
Source: Russian Orthodox Church Department for External Affairs Moscow, March 13 – People in the Russian Orthodox Church are amazed at the loyalty that the British authorities, who have forbidden wearing crosses at work, have shown towards other religious and non-religious symbols. ‘This decision of the British authorities cannot but give rise to anxiety, especially given the existence … (more...)
Egypt’s Coptic Christian Pope Shenouda III dies
Source: BBC Egypt's Coptic Christian Pope Shenouda III has died at the age of 88, state television has announced. The leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority was reported to suffer from cancer that had spread to several organs. Coptic Christians make up 10% of Egypt's population of 80 million. After attacks on Coptic Christians in recent years, Pope Shenouda urged … (more...)
Alexander Tsiaras: Conception to Birth — Visualized
Tell me this is not a miracle, and I'll respond that your vision is truncated. From the filmmaker: The mathematical complexity of how these things are done [the rapid development of the child in the womb] are beyond human comprehension, and even though I am a mathematician I look at this with a marvel; how did these instruction sets not make mistakes as they build what is us? It's a … (more...)
Church vs. Reich
What happened to Christians under the Nazi Regime? The traditionalists went to concentration camps, many fell away and adopted the Nazi neo-paganism, and some clergy actively supported the Third Reich. From the essay: [T]he persecution of the Church was camouflaged as “positive Christianity,” which claimed through the use of quotations from the Bible to be fulfilling God’s commandments: … (more...)
Conscience Objections and Religious Liberty
ROME, MARCH 13, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Source: ZENIT News The following is an English version of a presentation originally given in Italian, at a Feb. 29 event organized in Rome by the Tocqueville-Acton Institute, Fondazione Caelo et Terra, and Rubbettino Editore for Italian parliamentarians and the public. I would like to thank everyone who helped organize this event. This is an important … (more...)
Fr. Peter-Michael Preble: Sunday of Orthodoxy Calls us to Emulate the Courage of our Fathers in the Faith
Fr. Peter-Michael Preble tells us just as our Orthodox Fathers fought to preserve the sacred images (because they knew that destroying the icons of Christ would lead to a denial of the Incarnation in the end), we are called to defend the icons of "flesh and blood" -- the human person. It's a strong sermon but entirely fitting for our times. Source: Fr. Peter-Michael Preble Blog To the … (more...)
Advice Orthodox Can Heed — Abp. Timothy Dolan: A Good Time to Revive Your Faith
Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan offers advice that applies to Christians across the board. Some highlights: If there is not some sacrifice, hardship, and challenge to living our Catholic faith, we usually end up taking it for granted and setting it aside. Dr. Philip Jenkins, the scholar of religion at Penn State University, observes a bit of raw data: the Church grows rapidly, and … (more...)
Urban Mission Retreat — Equipping Orthodox Missionaries — June 20-24, 2012
Webmasters: Download the code (text file) to display this flyer on your site. How can I make a difference here at home? In June 2012, St. Raphael church is hosting a hands-on missionary retreat to take on that very question. Held at the St. Andrew Center in Detroit, the retreat will focus on the church's mission and ministry to those in need right here in our own back yard. For high … (more...)
Something Deadly This Way Comes
- HT: OrthodoxNet.com Blog The insatiable appetite of the Culture of Death The debate over abortion comes down to one essential issue — the moral status of the unborn child. Those making the case for the legalization of abortion argue that the developing fetus lacks a moral status that would trump a woman’s desire to abort the child. Those arguing against abortion do so by making the … (more...)
The Church Will Become Small
Source: Catholic Education Resource Center | Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) The church will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes . . . she will lose many of her social privileges. . . As a small society, [the … (more...)
