Tag: History
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Christian Hellenism — The Foundation of Western Culture
From the chapter on “Liturgy and Theology and Byzantine Culture” in The Formation of Christendom by Christopher Dawson (Sheed & Ward, 1967): The essential achievement of the patristic age was the synthesis of Eastern religion and Western culture, or, to be more precise, the uniting of the spiritual traditions of Hellenism and the political and…
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George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
A blessed Thanksgiving to Observer readers. [New York, 3 October 1789] By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation. Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor–…
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Fr. Symeon on the Manhattan Declaration
(HT: ONet) On the one hand there are those who find it [the Manhattan Declaration] “shocking” and part of the culture war, etc. These are frightened that the document will be perceived as harsh and unloving, etc.. God forbid that anyone Christian ever stand in public for Truth. And on the other hand those that…
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The question of European identity
From Pat. Kirill’s message to the Conference on the Identity of Values for Europe held on November 19-10, 2009, in Venice. The further existence and fruitful development of the European project depends on a clear answer to the question of the European identity. It is necessary to understand what exactly constitutes the backbone and uniting…
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Frontier Orthodoxy
The folks over at the always-interesting Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas are introducing a new column called Frontier Orthodoxy by Fr. Oliver Herbel. Fr. Herbel provides an introduction to his work, and some biographical detail, and what surely is the Quote of the Week in the Orthodox Christian blogosphere: I have come…