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Recent content by Isaac32

  1. Isaac32

    Do we "deserve" hell.....

    It isn't about forcing the will but rather about leaving one in darkness, which is quite the opposite. Viewed this way, one sees that it is no longer about God compelling the one condemned, but about liberating the one condemned. A human being unhindered by the passions and other distractions is...
  2. Isaac32

    Why I like David Bentley Hart

    Gracia Singh sums it up pretty well above, but here is Hart in his own words: Who are we other than all the others who have made us who we are and to whom we belong as much as they to us. We are those others. To say that the sufferings of the damned will either be clouded from the eyes of the...
  3. Isaac32

    Why I like David Bentley Hart

    But as Hart succinctly points out, the notion that someone will choose hell eternally is absurd. It goes against our human nature. Thus either God does force us to remain in hell, or he forces us to remain in a state of deception or delusion in which hell seems to be the preferable option...
  4. Isaac32

    Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria move to restore female deacons

    I don't think it is fair to compare the more strict, rigorist approach of the Russians as "more orthodox." It is instead one end of a spectrum containing approaches that are all equally orthodox.
  5. Isaac32

    Why I like David Bentley Hart

    I generally like Hart because I find him to be thoughtful and genuine. I have my own criticisms of his work, though. He gets a lot of heat in Orthodox circles because 1) he is a gadfly who often comes off as needlessly verbose and annoying and 2) he highlights that things aren't always as...
  6. Isaac32

    St Vladimir's Seminary

    You are correct. Reconciliation will require a lot of grace and humility on both sides.
  7. Isaac32

    St Vladimir's Seminary

    I think their position is a little more nuanced than that, so far as there is a difference between saying "there aren't any real or serious impediments to shared communion between our comunions" and "we are the same." Even so, everything I have read on this topic coming out of St. Vlads hasn't...
  8. Isaac32

    Do we "deserve" hell.....

    I think that we Orthodox Christians should always hesitate to answer questions like these because we often understand the terms so differently than does the person asking the question. Often times, what we are actually affirming isn't what the inquirer thinks we are affirming. I have even heard...
  9. Isaac32

    The Ecumenical Patriarch

    The modern Church needs to remember the words of Orthodox individuals like Romanides, Ware, Florovsky, and now Sr. Vassa Larin that remind us that placing too much weight on the institutional boundaries of the "church" is platitudinous and fails to reveal the true extent of the Body of Christ.
  10. Isaac32

    The Ecumenical Patriarch

    I think these sorts of things are often grossly exaggerated and opponents of the EP like to spin things. One needs to be careful when assessing these issues, considering the exact words that were used and the context in which these words were stated. There is nothing wrong with referring to...
  11. Isaac32

    What do The Orthodox Church believe about what happens after death?

    Thanks for the reply, Matt. I guess it is hard to make heads or tails of a world we don't understand. I've always thought that maybe there is a pleasure, a satisfaction to hell and that is what makes it possible for people to choose it.
  12. Isaac32

    Revd Dr Christopher Knight – Science and Orthodoxy: The historical and methodological background

    http://pemptousia.com/video/revd-dr-christopher-knight-science-and-orthodoxy-the-historical-and-methodological-background/
  13. Isaac32

    What do The Orthodox Church believe about what happens after death?

    This view has always seemed strange to me. As soon as a person dies and sees demons and angels, aren't they going the be like "dang, all this Christianity stuff is real. I'm going to do whatever the angels tell me to do"? In other words, I can't see how anyone would listen to the demons, knowing...
  14. Isaac32

    Types of universalism?

    I agree, Kristos, though I freely admit that my reason inclines me towards universalism.