The Old Testament, Ancient Greek Culture and Christianity
Ippokratis Tavlarios, Theologian In recent years we’ve seen a resurgence of neo-pagan propaganda against Christianity. This polemic derides the historical progress of the Church and presents it as an organ of barbarity. Christianity is accused of having violently extinguished ancient Greek culture. Another charge levelled against it is that...
The Sign of the Cross in the Old Testament
Theodore Rokas In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul mentions that ‘the Jews seek a sign’ (1 Cor. 1, 22), that is they wanted a supernatural sign, such as resurrection of the dead, or healing of the demonically possessed, which would make them believe in the preaching...
The Old Testament Readings in the Triodio
Georgios Zaravelas, Theologian Great Lent is the most holy and the most conservative time in the liturgical year. Among the ancient ritual customs during this period is the particular arrangement of the readings of extracts from books of the Old Testament. In the 7th century, such readings formed the...
The importance of children in Orthodox Tradition
Protopresbyter Vasileios Kalliakmanis In the Old Testament, children are considered to be a blessing from God and are called ‘the crown of the aged’ . Sons are called ‘young olive plants around the table’ of their fathers. In the New Testament, Christ blesses the children and appears to highlight...
Tobit Is a Wealth of Encouragement
We asked our Bloggers to write about Love… Nestled in the midst of the so-called Apocrypha, the Septuagint Old Testament, is the book of Tobit. Tobit is a virtuous Jew living in the time of Israel’s exile by the Assyrians and taken captive to Nineveh. He is known for...
Orthodoxy in the Old Testament Prophets and Music
In celebration of the Three Hierarchs, we went back into our archives to find a conversation between Fr. Chris Metropulos, currently the President of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and Fr. Deacon Irenaios Anderson, Associate Dean of Academics and Instructor of Old Testament for Saint Herman...
The Story of the Savior
Be Transfigured – The Story of the Savior When most people read the Old Testament, they read with the belief they are reading about the saved people of God. If the Old Testament is a story about God saving His people from death, the story is a failure since every human...
What is Pentecost?
Most of us recognize Pentecost Sunday as the day on which the “Kneeling prayers” are said at the end of the Liturgy. These prayers draw to a close our long celebration of the Resurrection of Christ on Holy Pascha. But the roots of Pentecost are far older than Christianity, and...
How to Read the Bible Like Saint Andrew of Crete
Lent has begun. You finish the work day exhausted, stumbling into your darkened church. As you struggle to clear your mind of the worries of the work day, and the troubles that will meet you tomorrow, strange sounds enter your head: “The place of bodily Eve has been taken for...
Fulfilling the Prophecies
Frederica Mathewes-Green is back on the show to talk about the many Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Christ’s birth, as well as the need to understand the entirety of the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus. We’ll also hear from Fr. Laurent Cleenewerck about Mary’s virgin birth and perpetual...
