Nicea and Afterward
The Church had always confessed the divinity of Christ. The New Testament had proclaimed Jesus as the divine Son of God, and the phrase “Christ our God” had been used since the days of St. Ignatius of Antioch (in his Epistle to the Romans), who died about 107 A.D. The...
The Work of a Leader Begins at Liturgy
“Let no man’s place, or dignity, or riches, puff him up; and let no man’s low condition or poverty abase him. For the chief points are faith towards God, hope towards Christ, the enjoyment of those good things for which we look, and love towards God and our neighbor.” (St....
Maslenitsa: An Orthodox Mardi Gras…With Snowball Fights
Maslenitsa, sometimes called Butter Week, Crepe Week, or Cheesefare Week (i.e. the week we say goodbye to cheese), is a very popular religious and folk holiday for Orthodox Christians in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other nearby areas. It’s similar to Mardi Gras or Carnival, in so far as it is...
“Faith Seeking Understanding” (Part I): Patristic and Early Christian Touchstones
Christianity entered the Greco-Roman world as a religion of the incarnate Logos – word or reason – of God. With such a message and with the growth of conversions from the educated Hellenized culture, Christian theologians were compelled early on to reflect upon the “ways of knowing” – that is,...