John 6:60-63 Therefore, many of His disciples, when they heard this, said “This is a hard saying; who can uncerstand it? When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?” What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? Anyway, I was just jerkin’ around with you with that “eat my body, drink my blood” stuff. It’s all figurative. Y’all know, don’t ya, that Christianity will be all about angels’n’feelin’ good about yourself? … From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. (More Spiritual than God Version) Continue reading “John 6:60-63, 66 (MSGV)”
Category: Orthodoxy
Memo to myself
You didn’t figure it out for 48 years
and then it took a few more years to figure out
that figuring it out wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
So have patience, old man
with all the young whippersnappers of the world.
Either they aren’t idiots
or you were an idiot, too.
The Role and Richness of Orthodox Liturgical Texts
I hope that some folks follow my blog partly for occasional comments about Orthodox Christianity, and that some of those are non-Orthodox but interested or open to thinking about it. Continue reading “The Role and Richness of Orthodox Liturgical Texts”
Milk, meat, mystery
I’m reminded this morning, by a daily reading from the Orthodox Lexicon, how much I’ve always loved the Epistle to the Hebrews and how much one passage used to puzzle me. Continue reading “Milk, meat, mystery”
Catholicism versus Orthodoxy
A former Calvinist convert to Eastern Orthodox, I nevertheless have for 13 years tried to give Roman Catholicism its due. But having just finished Scott Hahn’s book Rome Sweet Home, where he dismisses Orthodoxy fairly perfunctorily, I rise in brief defense, letting chips fall where they may. Continue reading “Catholicism versus Orthodoxy”
You can’t make this stuff up
I recently stumbled upon a fundamentalist site, so absurd that it has lingered with me, explaining “why the Apocrypha isn’t in the Bible.” It’s absurd as any patent circular “reasoning” is absurd: the Apocrypha isn’t in the Bible, in substantial part, because it teaches false doctrine. And how does one discern false doctrine? By seeing if it’s in the Bible. Continue reading “You can’t make this stuff up”
Hymns from the Matins of Nativity
All the hymns of the Orthodox Church are remarkably rich theologically, especially in paradox and in typology. Rarely does one get the sense that the hymnographer is trying directly to play on the hearer’s emotions; any emotional “uplift” comes from contemplation of the holy mysteries evoked by the hymns.
The Summons of the Star
Father Jonathan Tobias at the Second Terrace blog appears to appreciate Auden’s For the Time Being, too. Here, he quotes and comments on passages that I savored, but that I don’t think I passed along or commented on earlier this Nativity season: Continue reading “The Summons of the Star”
Orthodox Economics (with a shame-faced eucharistic postscript)
I’m unlikely for years, if ever, to compose a better introductionto Distributism for Orthodox Christians (or others) than this article from the Orthodox Peace Fellowship . All the following quotes, accordingly, are from it unless otherwise noted.
“Capitalism immediately appeals to Americans, who value freedom above just about everything,” the article acknowledges But don’t expect me to bite my tongue about what I see of Emperor Capital’s new clothes. Continue reading “Orthodox Economics (with a shame-faced eucharistic postscript)”
