I am a lapsed Eastern Orthodox Christian considering returning to the Orthodox faith, wondering if it has room for open theists. As far as I've read, Sergei Bulgakov may have been an open theist.

Daniel 4:34 (NASB95)
“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Such is the analogy of the fall into the life of this world…. For as Nebuchadnezzar lost the sense of the life of a man, so was the fall of man into the life of this world….. For as man’s life is a greater degree of life than that of an animals, so was man’s first created life greater than that of the life that man fell into…. For as plant life has no understanding of animal life and animal life no understanding of man’s life…. Man’s life has no understanding of the Divine life, though all are life, the lesser life has no understanding of the greater life…. The evidence that the above is true, is, the carnal mind of man can not receive the things of God…. It is the new birth that is that life which restores to man the ability to once again receive the things of God… For it follows; to the degree the new birth has grown, to that degree will one be able to see, understand, and experience the things of God…

For just as Nebuchadnezzar’s reason had to be returned to him to understand once again the life of a man, the new birth is the necessary life so man might once again have the ability to understand and experience and know the things of God….

It is this new life grown in an individual that is the salvation purchased by Christ…. All but the growing of this life in one is but man’s attempt to grab onto a salvation of one’s own imaginings…. For the Divine life was lost at the fall, the growing, understanding and experiencing of said life is one’s salvation…. For salvation is a real new life come to life in the soul, which new life can only be experienced by the new life itself…. All other life is but blind and can not see or understand this new life just the same as plant, animal, can not understand the greater life…. Such is the reason for faith, for faith alone can access into the greater life…. For this lesser life must be given up if one would experience the growing of the greater life, for to the degree of the giving up of the lesser will be one’s experiencing of the greater….

So therefore faith is the substance that accesses the sense and understanding of the life that is greater than the life that one was born into when born into the life of this world….

‘access by faith into the grace wherein we stand’

or, for contemplation;

‘access by faith into the life wherein we stand’


Be blessed in the faith that accesses, a fellow follower, Not me

So I’m thinking about buying a diptych for my baby’s nursery. Only thing is, it says it’s a wedding diptych but its medium size (Diptych: Virgin of Kazan and Jesus Christ the Teacher in blue velvet case, medium icons - Wedding Set) and only 5.75 X 10 inches open.


Would this be okay? I mean…it’s not as big as the one in our icon corner of the main part of the house.

Hi guys! Do you guys think God would allow someone to go back in time to give themself a piece of information that would prevent them from falling away after being deceived and losing The Holy Spirit? If so, does anyone know of anyone that might be able to take them there?

Did God want us to go to church, or did He want us to live a specific way ?

I think I may have a mental illness. That may be a reason why I don’t have guilt at all. Still no excuse for the things I have done.

Hi, I have been porn-free since January after 8 years, but often when I see a woman, thoughts like "hot" come to mind, or if I accidentally look at someone's butt, I think that it looks good or other perverse thoughts..

I am in a relationship and I struggle against these thoughts in my head, and I don't want to accept them, I fight them and say to me that there are not true but what can I do to prevent them from arising in the first place?

Is it considered lustful if I have such thoughts but reject or don't want them and feel bad as a result?

I often have such thoughts about other people's appearances, even if they're not of a lustful nature. What can I do about it? Are these thoughts from Satan? Is it my own lust even if I reject them in my mind, sometimes only after a few seconds when I realize it?

Thanks!

Contrary to the myths that are haunting the internet, the word “Easter” has nothing to do with any ancient pagan goddesses, including the most popular claim that Easter is the English name for the ancient Assyrian goddess Ishtar. Notable experts in the field of Assyriology have completely refuted this myth. Addressing the pronunciation of Ishtar as Easter, Jacob Lauinger, associate professor of Assyriology at Johns Hopkins University¹ said: “The equation of Ištar and Easter is crazy … We know very little about how Akkadian (of which Assyrian is a dialect) words and names were pronounced, but it appears that at some point Ištar was pronounced issar.”

And other experts in the field of the history of theology, such as the notable Andrew McGowan, Dean of Yale University’s Berkeley Divinity School², have also refuted this myth: “The Ishtar connection is indeed a modern myth … There is consensus that... ‘Easter’ is derived from the words used in Germanic languages …

The only connection between Easter and Ishtar is that they sound similar. A simple fact check shows these claims to be false: Easter not derived from name of ancient Mesopotamian goddess

The word "Easter" did not exist until the 16th century, when it was coined (invented) by William Tyndale, the man who first translated the Bible from its original Hebrew and Greek languages into English.

Tyndale, an early “reformer” (which movement gave rise to the Protestant Reformation), was persecuted and driven out of England by the church when his request for permission to translate the Scriptures from the original Hebrew and Greek into English were rejected. He fled England and traveled to Hamburg, Germany and joined up with Martin Luther, who had previously translated the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek into German. Tyndale undertook his translation and relied heavily on Luther's work, coining new English words drawn from many of Luther's German words and phrases (German being the "mother tongue" of English), such as Easter, the English equivalent of the German word Oster used by Germanic people even to this day for the observance of the Resurrection– the word "Oster" in turn derives from an old Teutonic root word "Aufstehen" the word for “resurrection." Tyndale used the German “Oster” and coined the new English word “Easter” for the Christian observance of the Resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is observed worldwide, but only by English-speaking peoples is it called "Easter."

Many other English words were similarly coined by Tyndale, relying on the German, such as the word "passover" (to translate the Hebrew pesach and Greek pascha and German passah), “passover” carrying over the “pas” sound from all three original languages but at the same time creating a new English word that gives a theological definition of the event itself, the angel “passed over” the homes of those who were covered by the sign of the blood. (Tyndale was actually quite a brilliant linguist and we, especially we Protestants, owe much to his work). In every instance in the Hebrew and Greek where pesach/pascha were used, Tyndale translated the words as “passover.” Only in one instance does he translate the word “passover” as “Easter,” and that was the post-resurrection passover mentioned in Acts 12:4 recounting the arrest and imprisonment of Peter during the days of Unleavened Bread. In this one instance, Tyndale translated “pascha” as “Easter” rather than “passover,” his intent being to indicate a post-resurrection observance.³

Tyndale coined many other English words to translate the Hebrew and Greek for which there were no equivalent English words, such as “atonement” (at-one-ment) “scapegoat,” “mercy seat,” “shewbread,” and others. Even the name “Jehovah” was coined by Tyndale to translate the Hebrew tetragrammaton, the four consonants YHVH, and adding the vowels from the name “Adonai” thus producing the name “YaHoWaH” rendered in English as “Jehovah.”

The story of Tyndale’s life and his translation of the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek is quite a fascinating story, which you can read here Words “Fitly Spoken”: Tyndale’s English Translation of the Bible | Religious Studies Center. Not only was Tyndale the first to translate the entire Bible from the original languages into English, but he is credited with creating modern English and, further, with translating the Hebrew into poetical English phrases that have become proverbial in the English language.



¹ Jacob Lauinger, Associate Professor, Assyriology, Director of Graduate Studies: Curriculum Vitae Jacob Lauinger | Near Eastern Studies Jacob Lauinger | Johns Hopkins University - Academia.edu

² Andrew McGowan, Dean and President of Yale University, Berkeley Divinity School, Curriculum Vitae Andrew McGowan | Yale Divinity School

³ There is a theological difficulty with translating “passover” as “Easter” in that the Christian passover is not Easter. The Christian passover is the Lord’s Supper. Easter is the Christian observance of the resurrection on the Sunday following the Jewish Passover.

It’s going to be in the 90’s this weekend and decided to make this. It’s great on a hot day. Refrigerate leftovers.

1 (8 ounces) cream cheese softened
1/2 cup sugar
8 ounces cool whip thawed*
6 cups berries I used:
3 cups strawberries sliced
1 cup blackberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries

Instructions

In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Fold in the thawed cool whip.

Add strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Fold carefully into the cream cheese mixture. Serve immediately.

I feel silly even posting about this because the answer is kind of Occams Razor, but I'm also debating whether I should respond.

Long story short: my cousin has begun a new career as a "life coach" (I know, ew) and she's gathered a big following on Instagram, almost 5,000 followers. She's older than me and has had a lot of trauma in my life, her dad was never around when she was a kid, her first husband walked out on her and their four kids, and then her second husband walked out on her because his son was becoming violent towards her.

What's really weirding my family and I out is that she's taking aim at Christianity as the repressive source of all her pain. She should be acknowledging that she's chosen men poorly and the culprit is the fact that she had an absentee father for the first 25-30 years of her life.

But now her posts on social media over the past six months to a year have taken a more inappropriate tone. She's been on the attack against Christianity's morality, especially revolving around the body, sex, and sexuality. She's made some uncomfortable posts about 'hiding' her femininity and then the straw that broke the camel's back for me was a post she made a couple days ago with a picture card that just said "Masturbation is not sin" followed by a long caption railing on Christianity for essentially being nosy about what people do in the privacy of their homes.

I just find that I'm offended by this new worldview she's adopted not just because of it's content but because she was basically raised by my grandma, one of the most pious and devout Christians I've ever known, and I can just imagine how deeply hurt my grandma would be by my cousin basically walking away from the faith and entertaining a lot of this new age, secular, feminist trash.

My first instinct was just to unfollow her, and I'm still going to do that, but I wonder whether I should respond first. I just don't know what the ripple effects might be of me wading into that swamp. For context, I've never been close to my cousins or any extended family other than my grandma. I think in part because my cousin was just old enough that she was always at a slightly different stage of life than me so we never tried to hang out, but we've get along well. I wouldn't call us friends though like a lot of people are with their extended family.

I typed up this response and I'm still debating whether I might post it to her comments, "Gotta disagree cuz. As a Catholic I affirm the Church’s teaching on the conjugal act which states that it must be both unitive and procreative. Anything that isn’t unto both of those ends runs contrary to the natural law, including masturbation. If I’ve learned anything in the last 15 years it’s that while Protestant doctrine is often (and almost always) arbitrary, Catholic teaching is always well-reasoned and developed from 2000 years of natural wisdom and divine revelation"

Kenneth Hagin Ministries founded RBTC in 1975 and has now grown and expanded to 280 campuses globally. Their student global population has passed 22,000 students.

That is amazing!

Well done Speaker McCarthy. Your leadership forced a bipartisan response.

Welp, there goes the defense of, "I Vulcan mind melded" the documents as unclassified as I walked out the door.
Moreover, it's clear indication of Trump's state of mind given retention and refusing to relinquish classified documents.

IMHE (in my humble experience), I have found that faith is not necessarily blind faith (devoid of proof, evidence, knowing facts)... but rather belief in God which grows stronger as evidence and proof accumulate growing our knowledge and understanding of God... and affirming our ongoing trust in him on the matters we may never have all knowledge / proof of.

Saving faith (IMHE) is total trust in God who once we believe in his Son makes up every shortcoming in us and our walk with him by the inputted righteousness of his Son into our account. Saving faith in Jesus is a complete lack of faith in my self or my abilities. Anything less is not saving faith.

I’m an employee at my home church and have an issue with something going on. You’re welcome to go read my last thread for all of the details, but basically another employee us harassing me and the church isn’t doing enough about it. I’ve done all I can do on my end to try and stop it, but the matter has escalated to the where I have gotten church leadership involved to get him to stop.

It has come to the point where I have told my pastor I am considering resigning. I was going to resign right then, but after a discussion with him, I’m giving the church one more shot to make it right, and if they don’t, I’m leaving. (This issue has gone on for months and this man’s sin has not properly been reprimanded. He’s been encouraged by the church: He still prays over the offering and is spoken highly of by everyone, even those who know the situation.)

I have gotten income from the church that I haven’t tithed yet. I’m also expecting more money coming in from different sources in the next few days. Should I tithe to the church I have a dispute with, or should I donate my tithes to a Christian organization until the matter is resolved/I move churches?

In Matthew 5 it says to leave your tithe and reconcile with your brother before offering your gift to God. But I’ve done all I can to reconcile: the man won’t stop harassing me and the church isn’t doing their duty to make it stop. My relationship with God is fine, if not better than it was when all of this started. So what should I do with my tithe?

A new report by Pew Research Center and the General Social Survey published Tuesday found a surge of adults leaving Christianity to become atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular." It predicted that if the number of Christians under 30 abandoning their faith accelerates beyond the current pace, adherents of the historically dominant religion of the U.S. could become a minority by 2045.

Noting how approximately 90% of Americans identified as Christians in the early 1990s, the study observed that number, which includes children, had fallen to only 64% by 2020. The number of people in the U.S. who identify as religiously unaffiliated, meanwhile, skyrocketed from 16% in 2007 to 29% in 2020, the research showed. Other religions such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, accounted for approximately 6% in 2020.

Hebrews 8:13 (KJV)
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
The author of the book of Hebrews affirms the Old Testament which stated:
Jeremiah 31:31–34 (KJV)
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
In fact, the subject of the previous verses to Hebrews 8:13 (and in fact the entire book of Hebrews) is referring to this very text in Jeremiah. The book of Hebrews is as a commentary on Jeremiah 31:31–34.
The book of Hebrews (written to Hebrews) is about the Torah and the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. But Jeremiah 31:31–34 is the key passage regarding the New Covenant replacing the Old.
And it was the people of Israel that broke the Old Covenant, not Paul… and not God.

Worship. What is it? Let's start by talking about what it is not. Interestingly, the phrase "worship and praise" is not in the King James Bible. Worship and praise, most often associated with music, is not a Biblical association. Not that it is wrong mind you. I make the point in order to show you a more glorious thing.



Likewise, worship and prayer are not associated contextually in the Bible. That means two things: 1) worship and prayer are not equivalent, and 2) they are not Biblically associated although again, this is not necessarily a bad thing.



On the other hand, the Bible associates the words “worship” and “serve” fifteen times. To understand the association, we must know God's first commandment. According to most Hebrew scholars, the first commandment begins with “I am the LORD thy God.” “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…” is part B. Finally, God says that we shall not worship or bow down to these idols.



We'll come back to the importance of the association of worship and serve in a moment.



First, let’s look at exactly what the act of worship is.



In Psalm 95:6 God says to worship, bow down, and kneel. In Psalm 29:2 and 96:9 God says to worship in the beauty of holiness. In John 4:24 we are told to worship in spirit and in truth. In Philippians 2:9-11 God says that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.



The word "worship" in Hebrew and Greek means to bow down to or to prostrate oneself. Every single usage of the word in the Bible means exactly that. There is no singing, hand waving or raising, praying, crying, or blessing.



Jesus clearly told us how to worship - in spirit and in truth. Does anybody know how to do this? I struggled for months with it. "In spirit" means in one spirit to Spirit communion with God. Worship in the beauty of holiness. Holiness comes from God alone. Our personal holiness comes from the sin-saving blood of Jesus. In our moments of worship, we must therefore be right, clean, holy, and sinless before God (both positionally and experientially).



"In truth" means in God's truth. That means we are to worship God's way. He made that explicitly clear in the first commandment. He made it abundantly clear to us in Paul's letter to the Philippians. At the name of Jesus, we are to kneel and worship (bow down). Again, how often do you see this? How often do you do this? Why or why not?



---------------------------------------



One thing that should drive us to our knees every time is fear. I think we presume too much at times when we boldly come to God's throne and we don't come in fear. This requires much meditation to recognize the depth and power of that last statement. I will simply say, as a friend did to me as I shared this with him, "Coming to God on our knees or prostrate certainly minimizes the opportunity for pride. We have to come in humility." Indeed, what is on your mind when you come boldly?



As I studied and struggled with God’s impression to worship Him, He kept asking. I sense He asks for two reasons. First, because it is the glory due His name. Second, because I fear He gets too little of it from His Church. I don't think He feels alone or forgotten. He is just trying to wake us up to what we should be doing consistently, lovingly, willfully, desperately, and whole-heartedly.



God says that when we seek Him with our whole heart, we will be blessed (Psalm 119:2), we will have understanding and keep God's law (Psalm 119:34), and we will praise Him both in the world and in the congregation (Psalm 138:1, Psalm 111:1). I think most of all what God wants is for us to come away from worship in complete obedience to His commandments. This is what Jesus meant in John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."



Finally, what is the connection between worship and serving? To serve means exactly that, to labor or work. How do we worship and work for the Lord our God? The work, in Biblical context, always links to worship and sacrifice. No exceptions. The work is the services performed in sacrifice. What sort of sacrifices do we give to God today?



When we come to God boldly in obedience to Romans 12:1-2, we do our reasonable service. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."



Again, when you walk away from true worship, God is pleased. He will have impressed upon your mind and heart His specific will for you. It will be directly in line with the keeping of His commandments. It will glorify Him. It will always come in prayer according to Romans 11:36, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to the glory of God, Amen.” If you want to know what God knows, do what God wills for you, be certain of His truth, then it must come from your time of prayer in heaven.



Have you seen Jesus on your bended knee or prostrate frame? Has He given a Word just for you to obey? Have you ever worshipped in your life before now?

I have posted here several times for this problem. I always find peace and rest after. Several things can keep me awake. Tinnitus sound in head comes and goes every several days. Also have neck injury and the tinnitus can be from that. Both can make it hard to sleep. Thank you for all your prayers from before. Thank you in advance for new ones. I will also pray for any that have simular troubles. God bless you through Jesus Christ.

Dear Friends,

Pastor Torben still incarcerated in a US prison.

Latest update here.


Legal team taking case to Federal Court.

Please pray for Torben and his family.

Green Acres.

My husband turned to it and it's not one of his favorite shows. But sometimes a body just gets in the mood for silliness.

hi. i have an appointment this afternoon and need prayer... feeling stressed

Out of curiosity, is the 2019 BCP mandated in ACNA, or are there still dioceses or parishes where the 1979 BCP, or the 1928 BCP, or the officially sanctioned traditional language version of the 1979 BCP, the Anglican Service Book, etc, are still allowed?

I would assume the Reformed Episcopal Church would continue to use their distinctive BCP version?

Now, I have warmed up a bit to the 2019 BCP, but I really wish it was entirely public domain like the Episcopalian tradition indicated, and likewise, that ACNA had followed the tradition of publishing a Standard Edition, which sadly there hasn’t been one since D.B. Updike’s typographical masterpiece of the 1928 BCP. Speaking of which, I desperately want to see first hand one of the high end versions of the 1892 Standard Edition, also by Updike, with the Art Nouveau / Arts and Crafts / Late Victorian border artwork, a scan of which is here: The 1892 Book of Common Prayer: The Standard Book

Also on this page you can find fascimiles of the less expensive, but still incredibly expensive 1892 Standard Edition, the 1928 Standard Edition (which only had one design, but each diocese was issued one printed on vellum, whereas the subscribers got high quality paper stock), and the very elegant design prospectus prepared for a planned Standard Edition of the 1979 BCP, which sadly never made it into production (that said, the regular 1979 BCP copies in the pews have very elegant typography).

Speaking of which, I actually like the 1979 BCP, in particular because it allows for Rite II services to be translated into traditional ecclesiastical English, which the Anglican Service Book basically is, and also because of the range of daily offices it provides for, in contrast to earlier editions. Also the contemporary language is not that bad; the only aspect of it I think could be improved would be replacing the response ”And also with you” with the more semantically correct “and with your spirit”, but this was an error resulting from the 1979 BCP drawing heavily from the Novus Ordo Missae. However the Novus Ordo Missae I would like quite a bit more if it included the Tridentine liturgy as a Rite I, like the 1979 BCP. The 1979 BCP also has the advantage of “Rite III” which allows for the occasional use of other liturgies such as that of St. John Chrysostom provided just a few specific phrases are present.

I am greatly disappointed by the fact that the Episcopal Church reversed its earlier decision not to replace the 1979 BCP for fear of repeating the schism that resulted (which could have been avoided by allowing continued use of the 1928 BCP, and for that matter the 1892 BCP, which is a very good and very underrated edition), and is now working on a new one. The documents about the process suggest that it will be very much in line with the prevailing theological direction of the Episcopal Church, and I also fear that if its use is made mandatory, it could interfere with, among other things, the liturgy at St. Thomas Fifth Ave., whose boy’s choir (an increasing rarity in the Anglican community) and dedication to the choral heritage of the church make it something of a national treasure - it is also noteworthy as T. Tertius Noble served as an organist there before going to York Minster, and indeed many accomplished Church of England musicians have had a stint at St. Thomas Fifth Ave. Of course, this probably won’t happen, given the permissiveness of the Episcopal Church to liturgical variation, but what would happen would be use of Rite II and the 1979 book becoming quite rare, which would be a pity, especially from an Anglo Catholic perspective, in my opinion. Basically I am dreading something like the 2006 hymnal which replaced the Lutheran Book of Worship in the ELCA, which I actually like quite a bit, and which is a direct relative of the 1979 BCP.

Thus, I am very interested if there are places in the ACNA where the 1979 BCP still survives, because of course, while I greatly love the Continuing Anglican churches, they are committed to the 1928 BCP, which is good, because the 1928 American BCP is in my opinion one of the three best editions ever compiled, the others being the 1928 Deposited Book approved by the C of E but rejected by Parliament, and the exquisite 1929 Scottish BCP (I suppose if I were asked to name my three favorite editions that actually made it into print, it would be the 1892 and 1928 American books, or the 1549 English book and the 1928 American book, and in either case, the 1929 Scottish book). Still, I very much like the 1979 BCP, for the reasons stated above.

I cannot recommend The Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England enough for Prayer Book versions, as it is masterfully curated, and I would note that among the prayer book versions hosted there, the 1938 Melanesian BCP and the early 20th century proposed Mexican BCP, which is an English and Spanish translation of the Mozarabic Rite still celebrated in the cathedral in Toledo, Spain, in a dedicated chapel, but alas nowhere else, which is a spectacular liturgy of the Gallican family which was for a time predominant in Spain during the Islamic occupation. Also of great interest for supplementary liturgical material such as the classic 19th century Anglo Catholic Ritual Notes and the Directorum Anglicanorum, and the brilliant Parson’s Handbook by Rev. Percy Dearmer, is this site: Anglican Liturgy

Can you recommend any YouTube channels for developing faith, following Church matters, or general inspiration/devotion? Thanks!