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My oldest son is getting to an age (soon 12) where school-sanctioned/mandated "education" about sex, relationships and the like will be coming. He's thankfully (to God!) grown up in a home where his parents are married, there's no abuse, no addictions, no affairs, and no cable TV -- both sets of...

Lately I've been reflecting on how my life has developed, and how in hindsight I can see fairly distinct stages that I didn't know I was in at the time. It also makes me wonder what stage I may be in now. But I've noticed a distinct ebb and flow of my interest (for lack of better word -- maybe...

I've found over the last several years, that my interest in studying Christianity has waned considerably from what it used to be. In my 20s through about 33, it seemed all I wanted to read, learn, discuss, argue about, etc. was Christianity. I also traveled through a few different Protestant...

So, a cousin in our family is getting married next year, and she has set the wedding date on Orthodox Holy Saturday. The entire family is Catholic (anywhere from totally nominal to fairly pious), and while she said she tried to avoid this date for us, it's what worked out for the majority of...

So, having read (why, oh why?) quite an endless series of debates around Facebook, and recently also here in TAW, about Kim Davis and others who object to performing some aspect of their job because of religious convictions or reasons of conscience...I can say I'm really rather confused. For all...

I've noticed, especially in the jurisdication known as "Facebook Orthodoxy," that there's a certain hatred toward Fr. Thomas Hopko and pretty much anyone else who wrote in America in the last 100 years. "New School," "liberals," other allegations are flung around. People seem to love to hate...

I was talking with an Orthodox friend the other day, who said that sometimes he's hit with this nagging sort of doubt: "Where is God today?" We read of healing miracles, parting of seas, walking on water, and all sorts of miracles in the Bible. We read of Ananias and his wife being struck dead...

I had a very good discussion with a Protestant friend last week, who asked a number of good questions about Orthodoxy (and Catholicism with which he's more familiar). He observed--rightly--that Christianity existed and functioned well before the very high, formalized liturgies were established...

In light of some of the recent discussion here about the OCA priest who openly advocated for accepting same-sex "marriage," and some responses posted by other priests, I thought I'd toss out some questions. I guess it's an assume-the-worst exercise, a what-would-you-do-if question. Since the...

http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/2014/10/31/bones-bodies-belief/ I hope someone will read it :)

GRACE IN THE SAINTS "The grace of deification is, therefore, above nature, virtue, and knowledge and, according to St. Maximos, all such things infinitely fall short of it. For all the virtue we can attain and such imitation of God as lies in our power does no more than fit us for union with...

Just lamenting how difficult it is to, oh say, pray for 10 minutes when I'd rather stare at a wall...and yet it can be so easy to waste hours discussing prayer with people on the Internet...or worse, debating about it. I don't know how many books I've read on fasting now. But boy, when...

Does anyone know, did the Roman Catholic Church ever formally reject or anathematize the eastern teaching on God's essence and uncreated energies, and our participation in them?

Here's a practical sort of question. I've been pondering the pastoral matters, of how to deal with people who are living in sin, but have not fallen away entirely...and example... I spoke with someone recently about his conversion to Orthodoxy. He was converted by his wife, who'd grown up...

I have a small prayer book containing morning and evening prayers. In it, is a prayer of St. John of Damascus, containing these words: ...I know indeed, Lord, that I am not worthy of your love towards mankind, but rather of every condemnation and torment. But save me, Lord, whether I want it...

Lately there have been oodles (yes, that's a technical theology word) of discussions and arguments here about "Lordship Salvation" and "...not...Lordship Salvation." Everyone seems to agree to some general points, like: - All who have true faith will come to holiness - Faith without works...

Can anyone help me sort something out? I've read through a fair amount of material on the issues surrounding the 6th Ecumenical Council and the Orthodox decision on the two wills of Christ. What I've gleaned, is that those who followed Maximos the Confessor, confessed that a "will" is proper...

Part 1 of 2: This is my response to a thread posted in the Soteriology subform of GT. The OP there, abacabb3, posted his response to a blog article written by a Calvinist-turned-Orthodox author. The original blog entry is here: Why I Stopped Being a Calvinist (Part 1): Calvinism presents a...

BAM! Well, I guess I lived that dream.

I've heard before, the argument that unconditional election somehow nullifies the practice of offering prayer for the dead. I recently ran across this passage from St. Augustine...the same Augustine who gave birth to the doctrine of absolute predestination: If you hold to "unconditional...