Orthodukso

The Great Commission - Growth of Christianity in the world

2011-08-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

This video was presented at the MGOCSM North America's 2011 Baltimore Leadership Camp, in which the theme was "Going Beyond Borders", based on the biblical verse Isaiah 40:31. This video highlights significant Indian Orthodox Church history from Christ, all the way to America and beyond. This video is meant to serve as an educational tool as well as to inspire and uplift Christians.

To know more information on how the camp went, visit the following link:
Baltimore Leadership Camp 2011

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

"The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you.'" St. Matthew 28:5-7 (NIV)

Happy Easter to you and your loved ones!

An Indian Orthodox App!

2011-03-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

An Indian Orthodox App??? No way!

Finally, a fellow parishioner had the courage to create an Indian Orthodox Lectionary Facebook app of scripture readings for the current week, of the Great and Holy Lent.

Hopefully, this will lead to the future of Orthodox app development!

Where's our Orthodox App?

2011-02-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

"Are you a sinner? Don't worry, there's an app for that. The Roman Catholic Church has approved a recent iTunes addition called Confession, a $1.99 app that bills itself as 'the perfect aid for every penitent.'"

iTunes salvation: Roman Catholic Church approves Confession app

Someone pointed out by saying "Where's our Orthodox App?" Good question. Hopefully Orthodukso or some other resource will pave the way for an app someday!

55 Maxims for Christian Living

2010-11-23T09:02:00.001-08:00

This article post is something worth sharing, especially during this Thanksgiving season, entitled 55 Maxims for Christian Living by Fr. Thomas Hopko.

They're definitely not Orthodox!

2010-10-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

And in yet another Vatican head-scratching moment, the official newspaper of the Vatican reported that America's favorite family, the Simpsons, are Catholic ... read the complete article through this link. When asked why, the Pope responded 'doh!'!

Orthodox Service Closing Hymn

2010-06-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

This is actually an amazing video posted on YouTube regarding one of the many beautiful hymns the Malankara Orthodox and Malankara Syrian Orthodox churches sing towards the end of the Holy Eucharist, followed by the dismissal benediction from the clergy, which is all after the Hoothomo (closing prayer). Absolutely a blessing!

Since the video is sung only in the Indian native language, Malayalam; Here is the translation for the following hymn:

Jesus, Father's son,
keep us always well
Jesus, Mary's son,
Help us always too
Jesus, strengthen us-
Jesus guard us all
Jesus, remove the
wicked from us all
Jesus, absolve our
sins and our evil deeds
Jesus, have mercy
on the judgement day

Christ is Risen!

2010-04-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter to all and your loved ones!

The Lord is Risen, Indeed He is Risen!

Read it in the Gospels according to:
St. Matthew 28; St. Mark 16; St. Luke 24:1-12; and St. John 20

The Last Supper Supersized!

2010-03-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

The article, Study: Last Supper paintings supersize the food, explains that there have been other foods besides bread and wine being involved in the painting of The Lord's Last Supper.

However, it also says that "The study is 'not very meaningful science,' said Martin Binks, a behavioral health psychologist and a consultant at Duke University Medical Center. 'We have real life examples of the increase in portion size — all you have to do is look at what's being sold at fast-food restaurants.'

A more contemporary test would be to analyze portion sizes in Super Bowl commercials, he suggested.

'That would be a much more meaningful snapshot of how this society's relationship to food has changed,' Binks said."

Orthodoxy on iTunes!

2009-08-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

The MGOCSM North America has released the "NYLC Kymtha Prayer CD" on iTunes. To search, the keyword phrases are "mgocsm america" or "nylc." Also available on iTunes is "The Faith of Our Fathers" CD. Go to www.mgocsmamerica.com for further information on how to purchase one!

Pittsburgh Gym Shooting

2009-08-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

An interesting new clue to the Pittsburgh Gym Shooting emerged; the gunman, George Sodini's, blog. In it he wrote many disturbing entries which show a progressive fall into what we call insanity. This news clip summarizes the information on the blog. http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=14913110
What is insanity?
Insanity can be defined in many different ways. One of these describes insanity as being a "violation of societal norms." In this case, this is what we see. The shooter is in fact the victim. In his blog a struggle can be seen with him continually failing to meet societal norms. He claims he had no friends, no girlfriends and then simply having no relationships at all. To me, it seems that Sodini was just alone and not meeting what society demanded. From an Orthodox Christian perspective he was trying too hard to conform to this world. We always find ourselves in these same type of scenarios. Where we are stuck in between two possible choices. One of these will allow us to conform to this world and be accepted by society. The other seems the less desirable path. It's the one that few take. It is the option to be different, to not conform to this world. The option to not fall prey to the demands of society. It is what lets us be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I will close with a final thought from a poem by Robert Frost, The Road not Taken.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference"

Sometimes, taking and accepting the road less traveled by, will make a huge difference for us. In this case, you could say it was the difference between life and death.
God Bless.

The Orthodox Church and Original Sin- Tenny Thomas

2009-08-04T19:53:00.000-07:00

The Epistle of Romans is St. Paul's magnum opus While it's not the systematic
theology text that some make it out to be, it is his most theological and most
systematic epistle.It's in this chapter that Paul writes most specifically about
the inherited nature of sin, and it is from this passage that St. Augustine gets
his material for 'inherited guilt'. Romans 5:12-19 reads: "Therefore, just as
sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way
death came to all people, because all sinned -- For just as through the
disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the
obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous".

Technically speaking, in their writings the Eastern Fathers and Orthodox
theologians do not use the Latin term introduced by Augustine in his treatise
"De Peccato originali", but instead translate this concept by means of two
cognate terms in Greek, namely, progoniki amartia and to propatorikon amartima,
which is properly translated "ancestral sin". These terms allow for a more
careful nuancing of the various implications contained in the one Latin term.[1]

With regard to original sin, the difference between Orthodox Christianity and
the West is:

In the Orthodox Faith, the term 'original sin' refers to the 'first' or
'ancestral' sin of Adam and Eve. As a result of this sin, humanity bears the
'consequences' of sin, which is death. Here the word 'original' may be seen as
synonymous with 'first' or 'ancestral'.Hence, the 'original sin' refers to the
'first sin' or 'ancestral sin'.[2]

In the West, humanity likewise bears the 'consequences' of the 'original sin' of
Adam and Eve. However, the West also understands that humanity is likewise
'guilty' of the sin of Adam and Eve. The term 'Original Sin' here refers to the
condition into which humanity is born, a condition in which guilt as well as
consequence is involved.

In the Orthodox Christian understanding, while humanity does bear the
consequences of the original, or first, sin, humanity does not bear the personal
guilt associated with this sin. Adam and Eve are guilty of their willful action;
we bear the consequences, which is death.[3]

John Karmiris writes that 'the sin of the first man, together with all of its
consequences and penalties, is transferred by means of natural heredity to the
entire human race. Since every human being is a descendant of the first man, no
one of us is free from the spot of sin, even if he should manage to live a
completely sinless day'.[4]

The Orthodox Church cannot agree with Augustine, when he says that humans are
under a 'harsh necessity' of committing sin in his City of God. The image of God
is distorted by sin but never destroyed and because we still retain the image of
God we still retain free will, although sin restricts its scope. Orthodoxy
repudiates any interpretation of the fall which allows no room for freedom.
However, we agree with the West that sin had set up a barrier which humanity by
its own efforts could never break down. Sin blocked the path to union with God.
Since we could not come to God, He came to us. With all that said I do recommend
works of Augustine for Orthodox believers.

It can be said that while we have not inherited the guilt of Adam's personal
sin, because his sin is also of a generic nature, and because the entire human
race is possessed of an essential, ontological unity, we participate in it by
virtue of our participation in the human race. St. Cyril of Alexandria says:
"The imparting of 'First Sin/Ancestral Sin/ Original Sin' by means of natural
heredity should be understood in terms of the unity of the entire human nature,
and of the homoousiotitos of all men, who, connected by nature, constitute one
mystic whole. Inasmuch as human nature is indeed unique and unbreakable, the
imparting of sin from the first-born to the entire human race descended from him
is rendered explicable: 'Explicitly, as from the root, the sickness proceeded to
the rest of the tree, Adam being the root who had suffered corruption'".[5]

[1] Original Sin in Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford, 2005).

[2] Fr. Anthony Hughes, 'View of Sin in the Early Church: Ancestral Versus
Original Sin'.

[3] Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: A Concise
Exposition, trans. Hieromonk Seraphim Rose (Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of
Alaska Brotherhood, 1994).

[4] John Karmiris, A Synopsis of the Dogmatic Theology of the Orthodox Catholic
Church, trans. from the Greek by the Reverend George Dimopoulos (Scranton, PA.:
Christian Orthodox Edition, 1973), pp. 35-36.

[5] Justo L. Gonzalez, A History of Christian Thought: Volume 2 - From
Augustine to the eve of the Reformation.

Tenny Thomas, New York

The Friars walk: a story of a journey & goodness

2009-07-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

A heart-warming article was published in the Washington Post of a 6-week, 300-mile journey that six Franciscan friars began in Virginia until they reached a friary in Washington, D.C., called the 'Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land'.

The article talks of several examples of goodness they encountered to anyone who wanted to listen, and ends with an inspirational (although non-religious) message that "Anything can happen when you live in the moment, one step at a time".

Oldest known Bible goes online ... does it change your belief?

2009-07-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

Several news agencies (including this from CNN) are reporting on the British Library bringing online the world's oldest known Christian Bible. However, the 1,600-year-old handwritten Codex Sinaiticus is different than Bibles that are commonly found at home, including books that are not part of the accepted Old and New Testament.

Rather than dismiss this as error or conspiracy, we hope all Christians take a moment to reflect and understand how and why the pre-denominational Church undertook the process of Canonization of the Bible.

The Bible did not fall from the sky, nor did writers get possessed by God to pick up quills and begin writing in trance-like states. The printing also did not begin in the middle ages of Europe. If understood, accusations that the Apostolic Churches are not Scriptural are easily dismissed as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church indeed came together to agree on the Books.

This process spanned several centuries, and included councils (small and Great), eloquent defenses on the Faith, prayer and the blood of several martyrs ... culminating in the Church agreement on the books of the Old and New Testaments.

What's most important to understand is our early Church fathers and Saints did not undertake the canonization process in an attempt to rationalize and define who God was, but rather to defend the Truth revealed by Christ. The Church needed to definitely state who God was not in order for the Church to continue to grow and make disciples of all men (Matthew 28:19-20). Literally our lives today depended on numerous acts of the pre-denominational Church during those first hundreds of years after Christ's Resurrection.

Voting with Their Feet

2009-06-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

During an interfaith dialogue in Mumbai, Hindu and Catholic leaders denounced religious conversions and recent anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal district in India.

[…]

The Hindu pontiff, Jayendra Saraswati, pointed to "conversion" as the chief reason for the growing violence on minorities. He sought an assurance from the Catholic Church to halt such activities. Catholic leaders denied engaging in any proselytizing and blamed Protestants.

Not every conversion is a “forced” conversion. The term “forced conversion” seems to run the gamut from providing food and shelter in exchange for attending a Church service (or possibly suggesting it) all the way to REAL coercion at gunpoint. If Hindus are being converted to Christianity by violence, this is wrong, according to the Christian standard. Otherwise, shouldn’t people be free to choose between religions of their own accord. There would be no religion, native or otherwise anywhere unless that were the case.

Even if India has a many thousand year history of Hinduism at some point, people freely chose to be so just as later they’d freely choose to be Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists. Even within Christianity, we Orthodox Christians see people leaving our Church steadily for the charismatic movement. How can we blame them if we ourselves are not offering them the depth and fulfillment our Faith is capable of providing? If there truly is no compulsion, then this is the most free democratic result of people being able to think freely. If a religion, Christian, Hindu, or otherwise is seeing people leave of their own free will, then it is that faith tradition’s responsibility to convince its wayward sheep to stay.

-Steve K.

"Knowing About" and "Participation in"

2009-05-29T06:57:00.001-07:00

We are all so often deceived into the trap of dividing Christianity up into the “ritual” and the “necessary.” The Eucharist along with the other Sacraments are discarded as “ceremony” because of their scripted nature and repetitiveness while believing in a handful of central truths like the Resurrection and the Trinity are all that’s needed. If the intellectual exercise of belief were all that was necessary, then why did Christ even command us to be baptized? Is one born again in the waters of baptism or is he or she born again when the choice is made to be baptized? Obviously at least one “ritual” has been demanded by Christ as a “condition” for Salvation (John 3:5).

The point is that Christianity is not simply an act of knowing a certain truth, but active participation in that truth. So often this is abstracted to have a social meaning, that is to say doing good deeds, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and other certainly righteous acts. However, the Orthodox concept of Sacrament is not restricted to that, but also to real participation in Christ. We are baptized into death and resurrection with Christ as He was also baptized. We participate in the once and for all Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross in the Eucharist. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit in Chrysmation just as Christ gave the Disciples the gift of Spirit at the Pentecost. Just knowing about these acts of Christ is far different from having them realized in our lives in the here and now- which is to say through the Sacraments.

-Steve K.

Orthodox Priest Candidate Suspended from Clerical Duties

2009-05-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

This article with the title above normally signals men behaving badly .. however, in this case, the Finnish Orthodox Church took a courageous and strong stand to divide Church and politics.

The story reports how the Finnish Orthodox Church's Council of Bishops has ruled that Mitro Repo may not serve as a priest while he is running for the European Parliament or if he wins a seat. The bishops explained that participation in political activity violates the tradition of the Orthodox Church canon. They added that a Member of the European Parliament wearing priestly attire would place the Finnish church into a questionable position internationally.

Especially as politics and religion in America, India and elsewhere grow uncomfortably more and more entwined, the Finnish Orthodox stance and explanation that points back to the original Church teachings (Matthew 22:18-22) is wonderful. It's clear in the Holy Scripture and the early Church teachings that Christ was neither a politician nor a power-monger, and it's time for all Christians to understand this point.

But arguably the most thought-provoking point from the article was Mitro Repo's acceptance of the ruling and his statement that "the council had made a wise decision".

It's kind of like MySpace except it's for Orthodox Christians and those interested in Orthodox Christianity.

2009-05-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

After reading reddit. i found this cool site. It like a myspace for Orthodox Christians.
Take a look. http://www.orthodoxcircle.com/

Anil George
St. Mary's Malankara Orthodox Syrian Cathedral of Philadelphia

The Orthodox and the Artificial

2009-05-20T05:49:00.000-07:00

The Orthodox and the Artificial

If there is a future for Orthodox Christianity in America, it will be grounded in its authentic expression of Christianity. Our claim is that we have a living and organic continuity with the Apostles, and the Eucharist we celebrate is the same which was celebrated by Christ with those Apostles in the Upper Room. Each time we gather together for the Eucharist, we participate in the Sacrifice offered once and for all on the Cross. Christ made this manifest around a table, so in essence we too are gathered around a table as well during the Liturgy.

The Eucharist then, is at heart a very simple act; simple yet mysterious. The Liturgy has developed, to be sure, but always keeping in fidelity with the central act of offering by the priest. Every hymn, every vestment, every work of Church art and architecture is never an "innovation" so much as an accessory intended to deepen the mystical experience of the Sacrament.

It is in stating this, then, that I have grown seriously concerned with the use and overuse of instrumentation in the Liturgy. Over centuries the Church has corporately developed a discipline towards Liturgical music particularly demonstrated by the tonal system. Once again, the underlying wisdom behind this is the deepening of the experience of the central offering, particularly repentant and triumphant tones when appropriate. If there is to be instrumentation during the Eucharist, let it be orient the congregation towards the altar. The abuse of the organ, synthesized beats, and raucous tunes do nothing but direct attention to the choir instead. Choirs, of course are expendable, but the altar is not.

If the hallmark of our faith is authenticity, why do we then trade that in for the artificial? If the new generation of Orthodox Christians were simply looking for a good beat, they'd find better quality productions elsewhere. We should be experiencing the Liturgy in calm and in peace, not as if we were at a concert, but instead the Holy Table of Christ.

-Steve K.

Orthodoxy in a Nutshell

2009-05-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Demetrios1 for this quote:

"This is the Church that began with the dudes that hung out with Christ. I figure any other church is going to be more 'dude like' and less 'Christ like.'"

What's Bringing People to Orthodoxy?

2009-05-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been getting acquainted with the podcast "Journeys to Orthodoxy" on the OCN. As is the case with the conversion stories I've heard on Ancient Faith Radio, the most often repeated reason for joining the Orthodox Church is AUTHENTICITY.

Now, I was born in the Church, so my take is admittedly a bit different. But what I thought would be the most attractive part of Orthodoxy would be CONTINUITY, in that over time and space the Church has consistently taught the same thing as Christ did to the Apostles; it's not just antiguity, it's accuracy.

There is so much depth to Orthodoxy that many people will come to this Faith by many different roads, whether it's through the beauty of our services, the mystical experience of asceticism, or even our social outreach. The problem is that anecdotally, in the Malankara Church, none of this is being communicated!

So, from the twitter and facebook readers, I would like to know what draws you to, or keeps you in this Church and how that will continue to sustain you. That's the homework for tonight. Thanks :)

-Steve K.

Swine Flu & Holy Communion

2009-04-29T22:19:00.000-07:00

In response to some of the replies to the twitter posting regarding the above, I only ask because I recalled it being a serious consideration during the SARS (is that still around) scare a few years back, see here.

In fact, I did a quick google search, Catholic Churches in America are receiving permission to take precautions.

I think that we can have this discussion without debating the efficacy of the Communion. We all share the same spoon (if that is what the priest has decided to use) every Sunday. Is it not unreasonable then to consider whether a Swine Flu infected person would be able to spread infection? I'm not saying that this would change the Holy Communion, but the vessels carrying it should be sanitary and sterile for sure (we certainly clean them weekly).

I'm no epidemiologist, I don't know the specific risks. I will say though that some discussion and guidance on the issue would be appreciated.

-Steve K.

Why Are Sheep Leaving the Church?

2009-04-24T22:42:00.000-07:00

Dear all:

Of the reasons usually submitted on this subject, I don’t think any are particularly new. St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians clearly deals with factionalism, immorality, and disunity within the fledgling Church. The people who make up the Church have never been perfect, and they never will be. The First Century Church was able to grow in a world without religious freedom. We have religious freedom but can’t even fathom anything resembling growth. Instead the best we can do is “slow” the exodus. I for one believe the teachings of the Orthodox Church are objectively true; we are the Church that Christ established. That being said, what good is having the fullness of the Gospel in theory when in practice we are either ignorant of or simply don’t care about the real content of our Faith?

In my own spiritual journey I can honestly say I had no idea about my Faith until I made a concerted effort to learn about it on my own. I never learned about our Patristic mindset or monastic heritage until I encountered it in books first and then within my college Orthodox Christian Fellowship. I learned that there is an unbelievable depth to our Faith which spends most of the time sitting on the shelf. For example, within Orthodoxy we have innumerable Saints, Fathers, and Mothers of the Church who have had a hand in forming our Tradition. In actual liturgical practice though, we venerate about five. And while I’ve heard countless references to Gandhi from the pulpit; not once have I heard a mention of the venerable saints who really exist within our tradition such as St. John Chrysostom or the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.

There is much to be offered within Orthodoxy that simply does not get taught or actualized within our daily experience of the Church. How much have we emasculated the Sacrament of Confession by giving no-questions-asked absolution? We have neither interest in iconography nor any theological reasoning behind our Church art and layout. We don’t preach that each and every person can truly pursue a profound personal relationship with Christ within the corporate body of the Church. We have no catechesis program for new converts into the faith (especially by marriage), and we have rationalized our way out of doing any meaningful evangelism work. Therefore, I ask the question: Are people really leaving the Orthodox Church, or are they leaving a shell organization with the word “Orthodox” written on the sign outside?

I realize that I am, of course, painting with broad brush strokes and there are very many reasons to be optimistic. My point though remains the same: people don’t leave the Church because we are “too Orthodox.” They leave because we aren’t “Orthodox” enough and they get a stronger, clearer message elsewhere which gives them a better feeling of fulfillment. We have the tools within the Church, yet we need the resolve to act accordingly. Overcoming the language barrier is but the first step in the process. We can no longer be simply carriers of the Faith, but rather proclaimers of the Gospel as we believe it was really intended to be.

St. Basil on "In the Beginning"

2009-04-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

"Thus the writer who wisely tells us of the birth of the Universe does not fail to put these words at the head of the narrative. "In the beginning God created;" that is to say, in the beginning of time. Therefore, if he makes the world appear in the beginning, it is not a proof that its birth has preceded that of all other things that were made. He only wishes to tell us that, after the invisible and intellectual world, the visible world, the world of the senses, began to exist."
-St. Basil of Caesarea, Hexaemeron, Homily I

If "In the beginning God created," the presupposition must necessarily be that God existed even before time itself, in a manner of existence which must be beyond our understanding. This means that God does not "change" nor is subject to change, but works within the universe of time from outside of it.

We perceive God in time because we are created beings, but God Himself is beyond the beginning and end of things; He knew exactly that Adam would sin, and when he did sin God knew exactly how He would redeem humanity. He knows exactly what will become of each and everyone of us because all of time and space are held in His hand.

-Steve K.

Hooray For Cardinal Dolan, let us pray he does a good job!

2009-04-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

After reading Dolan to fight anti-Catholic bias , it was inspiring to hear Cardinal Dolan reach out to his lost sheep and express that the church misses them and asked them to forgive him and Catholicism on the recent mistakes by particular clergymen of the Catholic faith.

Anil George
St. Mary's Malankara Orthodox Syrian Cathedral of Philadelphia

Christianity's Loss or Seclarism's Gain?

2009-04-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

Newsweek's cover story this week is entitled "The End of Christianity"

The article itself is not really about the end of Christianity in America. That was simply an attention grab. It's more about Christianity losing ground and prestige to the modern Secular Progressive ideology.

Now, my contention would be that this isn't a move from dark to light, from superstition to science. I find activist Atheism itself to be a comprehensive religion itself. It has dogmas, morals, and an eschatology. Simply through science and education, mankind will be able to build for itself a better and more "just" society, if only the unenlightened and uninitiated wouldn't interfere. If American Christianity is in decline, it's because of the evangelistic model of modern atheism which may simply be a Christian heresy.

Only within the Christian West has pluralism been tried and sustained. In the Islamic world, religious minorities were to be contained within a certain sphere. In the far East, cultures were more or less homogeneous and closed to outside interference. Only in the West, where Christianity has directly led to democratization and expansion of personal freedoms has atheism been given a chance to prosper.

In practice, what has the Secular Progressive ideology embraced? "Social justice," radical egalitarianism, extreme environmentalism, extension of rights to the animal world, and sexual liberation have all been causes directly aligned with atheistic,secular forces. Tangentially, every one of these ideologies has a basis in Christianity, but stripped of traditional "God-inspired" context. God, then, has been replaced with scientific order (extending of course into the social sphere), and salvation has been replaced with the utopian just and harmonious society.

Are we headed for post-Christianity? Europe seems much further down that road. However, heresies have also waxed and waned throughout history as well. An orthodox understanding of Christianity, even from the wilderness, has always and can always come back from virtual death.

-Steve K.

The Hidden History of Christianity in Asia- John C. England

2009-04-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

Book Review: The Hidden History of Christianity in Asia- John C. England

The Hidden History of Christianity in Asia: The Churches of the East Before 1500 gives a brief but thorough history of Christianity along the Silk Road, from Central Asia through Mongolia to China, Japan, and Korea, southwards to India and Java. Primarily, this book discusses the far reach of the Church of the East in Persia throughout all of Asia which primarily goes unnoticed by mainstream Christian historians in the West. Christianity has traditionally been divided between West, meaning Latin, and East, meaning Greek. Even if Syriac Christianity has been discussed, focus (in my experience, of course) has been limited to West Syrian Christianity centered on Antioch. The Persian Church’s history, as it has usually been discarded as Nestorian and therefore heretical, has typically been ignored on the whole. However, as Indian Christians the history of this “Far Eastern” type of Christian is critical to our own history as the unique Saint Thomas Christians, or nazranis, of India.

John C. England, a scholar on Eastern Christianity affiliated with Christian institutions of the Pacific Rim, characterizes Christianity in the “East” by its culture, liturgy, and theology. An in depth analysis of all the regions covered will not be given here. What was most interesting perhaps was that East Syrian Christianity was spread by Persian and Armenian laymen and monastics across the existing trade routes, and lasted for centuries before any contact with the “West” was established. The gospel was preached successfully, even to the court of Ghengis Khan, and beyond, using Buddhist and Confucian terminology. For hundreds of years in the Middle Ages, Bishops and monasteries existed in Tang Dynasty China, as a minority to be sure, remaining Christian without syncretism.

Of personal relevance was the chapter on India. Details on the history of the Indian, particularly Kerala, Church were provided, yet to my dismay still remaining sparse. This is not really the author’s fault, as much of the documentation of the Pre-Portuguese era was destroyed by an Indian Inquisition. I am still interested in some conclusive history on whether the Malayalee Church was properly East Syrian Nestorian, Jacobite West Syrian, some of both, or both existing side by side. That historical analysis will have to be written at some point. I do recommend the book, though, for anyone looking to understand that Christianity can be contextual and relevant in any culture without sacrificing any bit of truth.

-Steve K.

Are we allowed to drink wine regularly?

2009-04-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

A year ago, I had a sunday school class discussion and my teacher was asking all of us a question that "Are we allowed to drink wine regularly?" Well, as the question went around and people started to share their thoughts, the common and simple answer to that question was "No, but there are certain conditions."

In my opinion, I was thinking about how we always drink the transformed bread and wine as the blood and body of our Lord Jesus Christ every Sunday during the Holy Eucharist, so I guess it was okay.

St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 5:23 that, "No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities." Also, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, that our Lord taught to his apostles and followers, it says that the Samaritan put wine on the beaten Jew's wounds, and then put olive oil. In other words, wine is good for the body as a whole, as well as for life.

Adam's Apple

2009-04-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

There are many words or phrases in the English language that is thrown around in conversation not knowing where, when, why, or how it originated. Certain words or phrases even have an important lesson behind it that is often overlooked. ‘Adam’s Apple’ is one such phrase that may not be scientifically proved for validity, but can be taken in a theological sense to teach inquirers about their relation to God.

For the readers who have never heard of an 'Adam’s Apple', Wikipedia defines and illustrates it as the following. The laryngeal prominence—commonly known as the 'Adam's Apple'—is a feature of the human neck. This lump, or protrusion, is formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx.

In the biblical account of creation found in Genesis (Genesis 1, 2), God created Eden on Earth and gave it to Adam and Eve along with every plant and tree to eat from, except one particular tree. This tree was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God said the day that fruit is eaten from this tree, Adam and Eve would die (Genesis 2:16-17).

With man's creativity in inventing anecdotes, it has come to be said that just as Adam was swallowing the forbidden apple that Eve brought him, God, knowing of his disobedience, called out his name. The apple went only half way down and got stuck as Adam was startled by God's voice. So the lump seen on the necks of men are said to be a reminder of that incident.

Now that we know where the term 'Adam's Apple' comes from, let's investigate what we can learn from the story and try to answer some frequently asked questions. Ever wonder why God planted such a tempting tree in the garden? What is the significance of the tree? Why a tree?

God planted Eden and gave us everything in it for two very specific and important reasons. Creation is meant to support our biological needs (food, water, shelter, etc.) and provide a way to commune with God. The latter is more important than the first as this is our very purpose in life. God provided creation so that we take the gift of earth and everything in it and return it back to Him in love, to commune with Him. When we were formed, he made us in His image so that we love. Love who or what? We are created to love God and all that is from God (creation, persons, etc.). Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:36- 38 ). The second greatest is to love you neighbor as you would love yourself (Matthew 22:39 ). Because we love, we commune with Him and become like Him. In a previous post, 'Why did Jesus come?', we see that Jesus came to earth to reunite us with God, to turn us back to our original purpose. How great is His love that He allows us to become like Him.

Satan knew one thing that Adam and Eve did not comprehend and which most of us often overlook. Satan in the form of a serpent came to Eve and tempted her to eat fruit off of the forbidden tree (Genesis 3:4-5 ), saying that once she does, she will become like God. Here's how Satan deceived and achieved one of his greatest triumphs over mankind. We must realize that God wants us to be like Him! So then why did Satan tell Eve to eat the apple to become like God? He wanted Eve to want to become like God without God. Please notice the importance here. God allows us to be like Him only if He is involved in the process. Eve chose to become like God without God. She placed her trust in something other than Him to become like Him - the apple.

How amazing is it when you think of the story in this light! Although the story dates back to the beginning of time, we still see the sin today. We often look to worldly things to attain happiness - money, sex, power, careers, drugs, etc. We fail to realize the fact that happiness is the ultimate reward we receive when we commune with the Holy Trinity, our original and constant purpose in life.

Praise be to God.

Reference:
Carlton, C. (1997). The Faith. Massachusetts: Regina Orthodox Press.

Christian & Muslim ... what's the fuss?

2009-04-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

This report on CNN tells of the news of an Episcopal minister defrocked after converting to Islam ... and still remaining a Christian.

Ann Holmes Redding was an ordained minister in the Episcopal Church for almost 30 years, but for the past three years Redding has been both a practicing Christian and a Muslim.

Per the article, her conversion to Islam was sparked by an imam demonstrated Muslim chants and meditation to the group, and Redding said the beauty of the moment and the imam's humbleness before God stuck with her.

May our Lord Jesus Christ illumine the heart of Ms Redding to really understand the true meaning of Christ's teachings, and learn that the One True God who was revealed to us include the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What's worrisome is that she plans to continue speaking about and teaching on her discovery that Islam and Christianity are the same, and let's hope and pray that those who found Christ will not be swayed by a sincere but very confused ex-minister.

The Sign of the Cross

2009-03-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

A common gesture that is seen in the Orthodox Church today is the sign of the cross. It is seen before we commence our prayers, during prayers, end of a prayer, when the word "sleeba" is uttered, during specific celebrations, in liturgy, during sacraments, during benedictions, etc. Do we really understand why it is done? Most Christians, Orthodox included, do not fully appreciate the significance of the gesture. To some it may seem a meaningless act, while to others it is a confession of their faith as well a reminder of God's love towards mankind.

For those who do not know what the sign of the cross is, a description follows. It is the gesture made by taking the thumb, index, and middle finger of the right hand, bringing them together, while the ringer and little finger are pressed into the palm. This hand formation is then traced in a cross-like manner from the forehead, to the breast, and then from one shoulder to the other.

What does all this mean? To the Orthodox, the motion represents the confession of two very important doctrines in the Orthodox Church: the Trinity and the Incarnation. The three fingers that are put together symbolize the doctrine of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). We confess the Trinity that exists undivided, co-eternal and co-equal. The two fingers pressed against the palm symbolize the doctrine of the Incarnation. We remind ourselves that Jesus became man while remaining God. We confess that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. The motion that is made is in the form of the cross. The greatest symbol of love in history is when God died for us on the cross in order for mankind to be right with Him again. We confess God's love for us on the cross. The forehead, breast, and shoulders represent our mind, heart, and strength. We confess that we will dedicate our mind, heart, and strength to the precious cross.

How powerful and beautiful the sign of the cross is to those who understand its message. The message behind it is the reason we begin and end our prayers with the sign of the cross. The message of the cross is why we make the sign in liturgy. The message of the cross is why make the sign in celebrations, sacraments, and benedictions. St. Paul so profoundly says in 1 Corinthians 1:18: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

Reference:
Carlton, C. (1997). The Faith. Massachusetts: Regina Orthodox Press.

Tradition: Part II

2009-03-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

Whether accidentally or incidentally, our outlook is undeniably shaped by tradition. We only know things as we have received them. If this is the case, then those inherited ideas and values we take most seriously should be understood to their fullest. By “fullness,” I mean going beyond our own selves past our current understanding of inherited ideas to their original intention and context- their orthodox understanding. We have no more serious inheritance than Christianity, after all. Undoubtedly we have received it from two thousand years of history, within a Christian Tradition. We the believers affirm Christianity as factually true, but do we go beyond and affirm a real connection with the Faith as it was founded?

In committing ourselves to believing the New Testament narrative of Christ and the Apostles, we also commit ourselves to that same body of believers being exclusively the seed from which Christianity grew. “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle” is St. Paul’s instruction to the fledgling Church in Thessolinica. As Christ commanded, the Apostles faithfully brought the one gospel to the entire world (Matt. 28:19); a vast world of diverse peoples, religions, and languages. Thus the true miracle of Pentecost (Acts 2:5-21) became manifested in that the one gospel indeed remained one and the same over the entire world and through the subsequent generations after the Apostles. The one Faith, including doctrines, liturgies, and administration would be transmitted in fidelity with the teachings of the Apostles. Each subsequent generation then, would abide in fidelity of Faith with the generation before it. Free to change, to be sure, but changing organically to address each people for each time without losing the integrity of the Faith.

Orthodoxy, then, is not simply conscious espousal of the doctrines of the New Testament Church, but organically abiding in fidelity with that Church. The connection to the early Church is real, manifested by the handing down of Faith from one generation to the next, in both unity and continuity with all of Church history. The modern Orthodox Christian claim is that it is the legitimate heir of New Testament continuity; by no virtue of its own but by Grace. It is one thing to declare belief in the Holy Trinity. It is another to say that I believe in the Trinity standing in the same Church as the Apostles along with Ignatius, Ireneaus, Basil of Caesarea, Athanasius, Cyril, Severus, John of Damascus, and Symeon, all united over two thousand years, scattered over the world, in preaching and dying for the same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

-Steve Kurian

Rethinking The Lost 60%

2009-03-03T22:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles-2009/Salaris-Concerning-The-Sixty-Percent.php
- Fr. Salaris, Orthodoxy Today

There's no need to further beat on the ethnic Church and internal strife dead horses any further. I'll add two of my own:

1) Secular Progressivism: By the time every American youth gets through college, they've been beaten down with presumptions that Christianity is outdated, bigoted, unenlightened, and a barrier to one's personal self fulfillment (read: guiltless, consequence free sex). Christianity has been depicted as unintellectual and in enmity with the principles of modern science. The Church hierarchy is ill-equipped to arm its laity with the tools necessary to engage the "world" and each individual has de-prioritized inherited faith in favor of career, relationship, and the vague and nebulous "college experience."

2) Lukewarmness: It seems that getting a priest in my jurisdiction to say that Christianity is the fullness of Truth requires serious arm twisting. I've learned about ecumenism in my 26 years than I've learned about the Trinity. Gandhi has been mentioned in more sermons by far than St. John Chrysostom. I've come to the conclusion that mentioning Mahatma Gandhi in a sermon is a sure sign that priest has officially run out of ideas. We have lost the courage to confess our faith without fear of offending people of other churches or religions. Note: preaching is usually done in the Church...full of people who are ALREADY Orthodox.

-Steve K.

Alleged 'Death with Dignity' Law Taking Effect

2009-03-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,502885,00.html

-Washington (State)

My far libertarian impulse would be that the decision to take one's own life is best left to the individual without outside interference. Seeing as how suicide falls within the "seamless garment" of life issues, is that really the case?

First of all, while the actual decision to undergo the "procedure" is with the patient. All the relevant information needed by the patient to make the decision is EXCLUSIVELY from the doctor (barring of course the patient being a medical professional). The law apparently stipulates a 6-month life expectancy; Who else places a life expectancy on a patient but the doctor?

Should doctors then be empowered to give strong recommendations to actively end a patient's life? This is not the same as "not making heroic life saving measures" which is passive (and not suicide). Once the option is on the table, doctor assisted suicide will migrate from the option of last resort to just another medical procedure.

Meanwhile, the original Hippocratic Oath says:
I swear by Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath. .. I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

"Do these mysterious stones mark the site of the Garden of Eden?"

2009-03-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

From the Daily Mail
By Tom Cox

For the old Kurdish shepherd, it was just another burning hot day in the rolling plains of eastern Turkey. Following his flock over the arid hillsides, he passed the single mulberry tree, which the locals regarded as 'sacred'. The bells on his sheep tinkled in the stillness. Then he spotted something. Crouching down, he brushed away the dust, and exposed a strange, large, oblong stone.

The man looked left and right: there were similar stone rectangles, peeping from the sands. Calling his dog to heel, the shepherd resolved to inform someone of his finds when he got back to the village. Maybe the stones were important.

They certainly were important. The solitary Kurdish man, on that summer's day in 1994, had made the greatest archaeological discovery in 50 years. Others would say he'd made the greatest archaeological discovery ever: a site that has revolutionised the way we look at human history, the origin of religion - and perhaps even the truth behind the Garden of Eden.

The site has been described as 'extraordinary' and 'the most important' site in the world

A few weeks after his discovery, news of the shepherd's find reached museum curators in the ancient city of Sanliurfa, ten miles south-west of the stones.

They got in touch with the German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul. And so, in late 1994, archaeologist Klaus Schmidt came to the site of Gobekli Tepe (pronounced Go-beckly Tepp-ay) to begin his excavations.

As he puts it: 'As soon as I got there and saw the stones, I knew that if I didn't walk away immediately I would be here for the rest of my life.'

Remarkable find: A frieze from Gobekli Tepe

Schmidt stayed. And what he has uncovered is astonishing. Archaeologists worldwide are in rare agreement on the site's importance. 'Gobekli Tepe changes everything,' says Ian Hodder, at Stanford University.

David Lewis-Williams, professor of archaeology at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, says: 'Gobekli Tepe is the most important archaeological site in the world.'

Some go even further and say the site and its implications are incredible. As Reading University professor Steve Mithen says: 'Gobekli Tepe is too extraordinary for my mind to understand.'

So what is it that has energised and astounded the sober world of academia?

The site of Gobekli Tepe is simple enough to describe. The oblong stones, unearthed by the shepherd, turned out to be the flat tops of awesome, T-shaped megaliths. Imagine carved and slender versions of the stones of Avebury or Stonehenge.

Most of these standing stones are inscribed with bizarre and delicate images - mainly of boars and ducks, of hunting and game. Sinuous serpents are another common motif. Some of the megaliths show crayfish or lions.

The stones seem to represent human forms - some have stylised 'arms', which angle down the sides. Functionally, the site appears to be a temple, or ritual site, like the stone circles of Western Europe.

To date, 45 of these stones have been dug out - they are arranged in circles from five to ten yards across - but there are indications that much more is to come. Geomagnetic surveys imply that there are hundreds more standing stones, just waiting to be excavated.

So far, so remarkable. If Gobekli Tepe was simply this, it would already be a dazzling site - a Turkish Stonehenge. But several unique factors lift Gobekli Tepe into the archaeological stratosphere - and the realms of the fantastical.

The Garden of Eden come to life: Is Gobekli Tepe where the story began?

The first is its staggering age. Carbon-dating shows that the complex is at least 12,000 years old, maybe even 13,000 years old.

That means it was built around 10,000BC. By comparison, Stonehenge was built in 3,000 BC and the pyramids of Giza in 2,500 BC.

Gobekli is thus the oldest such site in the world, by a mind-numbing margin. It is so old that it predates settled human life. It is pre-pottery, pre-writing, pre-everything. Gobekli hails from a part of human history that is unimaginably distant, right back in our hunter-gatherer past.

How did cavemen build something so ambitious? Schmidt speculates that bands of hunters would have gathered sporadically at the site, through the decades of construction, living in animal-skin tents, slaughtering local game for food.

The many flint arrowheads found around Gobekli support this thesis; they also support the dating of the site.

This revelation, that Stone Age hunter-gatherers could have built something like Gobekli, is worldchanging, for it shows that the old hunter-gatherer life, in this region of Turkey, was far more advanced than we ever conceived - almost unbelievably sophisticated.

The shepherd who discovered Gobekli Tepe has 'changed everything', said one academic

It's as if the gods came down from heaven and built Gobekli for themselves.

This is where we come to the biblical connection, and my own involvement in the Gobekli Tepe story.

About three years ago, intrigued by the first scant details of the site, I flew out to Gobekli. It was a long, wearying journey, but more than worth it, not least as it would later provide the backdrop for a new novel I have written.

Back then, on the day I arrived at the dig, the archaeologists were unearthing mind-blowing artworks. As these sculptures were revealed, I realised that I was among the first people to see them since the end of the Ice Age.

And that's when a tantalising possibility arose. Over glasses of black tea, served in tents right next to the megaliths, Klaus Schmidt told me that, in his opinion, this very spot was once the site of the biblical Garden of Eden. More specifically, as he put it: 'Gobekli Tepe is a temple in Eden.'

To understand how a respected academic like Schmidt can make such a dizzying claim, you need to know that many scholars view the Eden story as folk-memory, or allegory.

Seen in this way, the Eden story, in Genesis, tells us of humanity's innocent and leisured hunter-gatherer past, when we could pluck fruit from the trees, scoop fish from the rivers and spend the rest of our days in pleasure.

But then we 'fell' into the harsher life of farming, with its ceaseless toil and daily grind. And we know primitive farming was harsh, compared to the relative indolence of hunting, because of the archaeological evidence.

To date, archaeologists have dug 45 stones out of the ruins at Gobekli

When people make the transition from hunter-gathering to settled agriculture, their skeletons change - they temporarily grow smaller and less healthy as the human body adapts to a diet poorer in protein and a more wearisome lifestyle. Likewise, newly domesticated animals get scrawnier.

This begs the question, why adopt farming at all? Many theories have been suggested - from tribal competition, to population pressures, to the extinction of wild animal species. But Schmidt believes that the temple of Gobekli reveals another possible cause.

'To build such a place as this, the hunters must have joined together in numbers. After they finished building, they probably congregated for worship. But then they found that they couldn't feed so many people with regular hunting and gathering.

'So I think they began cultivating the wild grasses on the hills. Religion motivated people to take up farming.'

The reason such theories have special weight is that the move to farming first happened in this same region. These rolling Anatolian plains were the cradle of agriculture.

The world's first farmyard pigs were domesticated at Cayonu, just 60 miles away. Sheep, cattle and goats were also first domesticated in eastern Turkey. Worldwide wheat species descend from einkorn wheat - first cultivated on the hills near Gobekli. Other domestic cereals - such as rye and oats - also started here.

The stones unearthed by the shepherd turned out to be the flat tops of T-shaped megaliths

But there was a problem for these early farmers, and it wasn't just that they had adopted a tougher, if ultimately more productive, lifestyle. They also experienced an ecological crisis. These days the landscape surrounding the eerie stones of Gobekli is arid and barren, but it was not always thus. As the carvings on the stones show - and as archaeological remains reveal - this was once a richly pastoral region.

There were herds of game, rivers of fish, and flocks of wildfowl; lush green meadows were ringed by woods and wild orchards. About 10,000 years ago, the Kurdish desert was a 'paradisiacal place', as Schmidt puts it. So what destroyed the environment? The answer is Man.

As we began farming, we changed the landscape and the climate. When the trees were chopped down, the soil leached away; all that ploughing and reaping left the land eroded and bare. What was once an agreeable oasis became a land of stress, toil and diminishing returns.

And so, paradise was lost. Adam the hunter was forced out of his glorious Eden, 'to till the earth from whence he was taken' - as the Bible puts it.

Of course, these theories might be dismissed as speculations. Yet there is plenty of historical evidence to show that the writers of the Bible, when talking of Eden, were, indeed, describing this corner of Kurdish Turkey.

Archaeologist Klaus Schmidt poses next to some of the carvings at Gebekli

In the Book of Genesis, it is indicated that Eden is west of Assyria. Sure enough, this is where Gobekli is sited.

Likewise, biblical Eden is by four rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates. And Gobekli lies between both of these.

In ancient Assyrian texts, there is mention of a 'Beth Eden' - a house of Eden. This minor kingdom was 50 miles from Gobekli Tepe.

Another book in the Old Testament talks of 'the children of Eden which were in Thelasar', a town in northern Syria, near Gobekli.

The very word 'Eden' comes from the Sumerian for 'plain'; Gobekli lies on the plains of Harran.

Thus, when you put it all together, the evidence is persuasive. Gobekli Tepe is, indeed, a 'temple in Eden', built by our leisured and fortunate ancestors - people who had time to cultivate art, architecture and complex ritual, before the traumas of agriculture ruined their lifestyle, and devastated their paradise.

It's a stunning and seductive idea. Yet it has a sinister epilogue. Because the loss of paradise seems to have had a strange and darkening effect on the human mind.

Many of Gobekli's standing stones are inscribed with 'bizarre and delicate' images, like this reptile

A few years ago, archaeologists at nearby Cayonu unearthed a hoard of human skulls. They were found under an altar-like slab, stained with human blood.

No one is sure, but this may be the earliest evidence for human sacrifice: one of the most inexplicable of human behaviours and one that could have evolved only in the face of terrible societal stress.

Experts may argue over the evidence at Cayonu. But what no one denies is that human sacrifice took place in this region, spreading to Palestine, Canaan and Israel.

Archaeological evidence suggests that victims were killed in huge death pits, children were buried alive in jars, others roasted in vast bronze bowls.

These are almost incomprehensible acts, unless you understand that the people had learned to fear their gods, having been cast out of paradise. So they sought to propitiate the angry heavens.

This savagery may, indeed, hold the key to one final, bewildering mystery. The astonishing stones and friezes of Gobekli Tepe are preserved intact for a bizarre reason.

Long ago, the site was deliberately and systematically buried in a feat of labour every bit as remarkable as the stone carvings.

The stones of Gobekli Tepe are trying to speak to us from across the centuries - a warning we should heed

Around 8,000 BC, the creators of Gobekli turned on their achievement and entombed their glorious temple under thousands of tons of earth, creating the artificial hills on which that Kurdish shepherd walked in 1994.

No one knows why Gobekli was buried. Maybe it was interred as a kind of penance: a sacrifice to the angry gods, who had cast the hunters out of paradise. Perhaps it was for shame at the violence and bloodshed that the stone-worship had helped provoke.

Whatever the answer, the parallels with our own era are stark. As we contemplate a new age of ecological turbulence, maybe the silent, sombre, 12,000-year-old stones of Gobekli Tepe are trying to speak to us, to warn us, as they stare across the first Eden we destroyed.

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Direct Link to the Story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1157784/Do-mysterious-stones-mark-site-Garden-Eden.html

The Abbeville Story

2009-02-27T16:28:00.000-08:00

Often on ESPN, there are stories that transcend sports ... this article summarizes the pain of 2 coaches (one white and one black) who learned that the great-grandfather of the white coach had lynched and murdered the great-grandfather of the black coach.

The story is heart-wrenching in several aspects, especially in the small Southern town with an infamous history. What's striking from a Christian perspective is the difficulty that we have in the Lord's commandment to forgive ... in the eyes of Christ, the difficulty to forgive is as damaging as the tragedy of murder.

The Season of Lent began in the Indian Orthodox Church this past week with the Shub-khono service, which is marked with prayer and request for forgiveness. May we remember all those who struggle, and ask for strength to those who need to do the right thing.

"Abstinence is unrealistic"

2009-02-18T05:53:00.001-08:00

In an interview with Fox News, Bristol Palin shared her experiences with being a young mother especially with the political spotlight.

There are many thought-provoking opinions given throughout the interview, but one among them was Bristol's opinion that abstinence is "unrealistic".

In today's world, being a "good person" has become synonymous with being a Christian and the danger of this is obvious i.e., society's acceptance of what is good and bad continues to slide in the wrong direction away from God. Watching a World Wrestling Federation show from the 1980s and comparing that to WWE today is a striking example of society's lowered standards!

What we need to think of seriously is how easy it is for us to cast stones at acts such as homosexuality as it does not apply to many of us ... however, our judgment on immoral behavior has become more accepting arguably because we can imagine ourselves falling to these temptations if we were in that situation.

We have no better teacher than our Lord Jesus Christ, who rebukes but with love ... and without wavering shows the Way towards which we can return to Him who's image and likeness we have ALL been created. Condoning actions that are not moving us towards being perfect like our Heavenly Father is missing the point of being a Christian.

Tradition: Part I

2009-02-17T23:44:00.000-08:00

What is Holy Tradition?

Perhaps the most important thing to learn about the Orthodox Church is simply that the Church is orthodox. By that I mean the word “orthodox” itself was an adjective long before it was the name given to the Church. This word “orthodox” is generally defined as that which keeps to the original principles of any given system of thought. In the United States, for example, there are those who hold to an orthodox understanding of the US Constitution; an understanding based on how that document was originally intended and envisioned. In a similar way, the Orthodox Church, wherever it may be, makes the claim that it is indeed Christianity as it was once originally envisioned. I am sure many groups with vastly different doctrines and worship styles undoubtedly would make the same claim. The Orthodox claim to orthodoxy, however, runs deeper than the mere assertion of ideological uniformity with the past, to the very means of understanding embodied by what we call “tradition.”

“Tradition” itself is another confusing word trapped by our common associations. We understand traditions as being those quaint little things we have inherited from our distant past. We have traditional Thanksgiving meals and traditional graduation ceremonies. What’s important is that we are paying homage to the past by repeating those old and ancient things that our parents taught us to revere.

This is innocuous enough; in fact very pleasant and comforting. Yet, beyond those “pleasant” things we consciously do to honor our past ritually, we are also subconsciously imbibing a greater tradition. The language we speak has been formed through the processes of history. Every lesson we learn was somehow handed down from the vast bank of knowledge acquired in the past. Even the way in which we perceive objects and facts is shaped by our inherited culture; which is how we know a particular song or painting is indeed “beautiful.” Tradition is more than just the repetition of practices from the past for the past’s sake, but more so the inherited framework of thinking in which we have individually learned to know and interpret facts.

to be continued...

-Steve K.

Movie challenges Coptic restrictions on divorce

2009-02-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

An upcoming Egyptian movie has caused a stir over it's portrayal of the struggles faced by divorced women to remarry in the Coptic Church, reports the LA Times.

"Christian lawyer Nabil Gobriel has filed a legal complaint and called on the Egyptian prime minister to ban the movie. “Freedom is not absolute, it must have limits, it should not infringe on religious fundamentals,” Gobriel told The Times in a phone interview. "

Obviously, I would argue that the lawyer is out of line for calling for the banning of the movie. I don't think laws regarding divorce are this strict in the Indian church. Is there not a "canonical standard" on this among the Oriental Churches?

Newly born lion cub named after the Patriarch Kirill

2009-02-16T07:28:00.000-08:00

Interfax-religion.com reports that a Lion cub born in the Safari zoo circus in Pyatigorsk will be named "Kirill," after the newly enthroned Russian Patriarch.

“We hurried to name a cub after him – Kirill (or Kira if it turns out to be a girl,)” head of the Moscow travelling circus, which is now on tour in the Caucasus, Gamlet Kasyan was quoted as saying by the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily."

Anyone in favor of starting a petition to get a lion cub in Kerala named "Didymos?"

More bugs from Bill Gates

2009-02-07T12:09:00.001-08:00

In this strange story, Microsoft founder turned disease-battling philanthropist Bill Gates released a swarm of mosquitoes at a technical conference to spread awareness of malaria.

All Mac lovers will appreciate the irony of Bill Gates releasing more bugs into this world! We speculate that when you have billions of dollars, one afford to do crazy stunts like this without fear of going bankrupt in penalties and lawsuits!

Regardless, kudos to Bill and Melinda Gates for charitable works, especially those suffering from illness directly linked to poverty.

Victory for suspended Christian nurse

2009-02-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

TimesOnline reports on a Christian nurse who was suspended for offering to pray for the health of a patient.

"The nurse who was suspended without pay for offering to pray for a patient's recovery has been reinstated and will return to work in the next few days. "

If this nurse had been using her faith in an intrusive manner, this would have been a different issue. But suspending her for merely offering to pray?? Unbelievable.

Stimulus Money to Go to Pretty Much Everything But Religion

2009-02-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

Why stop when you're on a roll?

According to the bill, which the Democratic-controlled House passed despite unanimous Republican opposition, funds are prohibited from being used for the "modernization, renovation, or repair" of facilities that allow "sectarian instruction, religious worship or a school or department of divinity."

Critics say that could include public schools that permit religious groups to meet on campus. The House provided $20 billion for the infrastructure improvements, of which $6 billion would go to higher education facilities where the limitations would be applied.

"What the government is doing is discriminating against religious viewpoints," said Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that works to advance religious freedom.

full article, Fox

First of all why is school renovation and rebuilding part of an "economic" stimulus package? Is that going to stimulate the economy today, tomorrow, or next week. It's kind of a reach, isn't it?

Secondly, my problem isn't with a government bill not promoting a particular religion. My problem is that these things do and have left the door open to such situations as denying funding to schools which support religious groups meeting on campus. Haven't we already stretched the wording of the First Amendment far enough in creating a "wall" between Church and State.

Actual Wording of 1st Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

No state religion, no prohibition on the free exercise of it. Simple enough?

How about facilities which give equal access to all religious groups? Does an atheist or secular humanist group count as religious?

-Steve K.

White House to Form Faith Advisory Board

2009-02-03T22:15:00.000-08:00

Wasn't the NCC useless enough already??

The advisory council is scheduled to be introduced Thursday with the formal announcement of the new White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, according to a religious leader familiar with the details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the details have not been announced.
...

The religious leader with knowledge of the advisory group said representation from the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is also anticipated.

"Certainly, they'll be encouraged to voice their individual voices," the leader said.

full article, Newsvines/AP

Now I'm not sure exactly what an advisory board does, but I can say that this seems likely to be HEAVILY politicized. Is the LGBT community entitled to a token slot in such a committee? I'm sure there are people who can reconcile both being gay and being Christian, but by the same kind of logic, if there are as many gays as there are Orthodox (or vice versa), would the Orthodox be entitled to a slot on this religious all-star team?

Is social service something that can be done by religious ministries without reference to religious dogma? If not, than how can a committee apportion funds to anti-homosexual faiths (err...most of them) as well as to LGBT-friendly groups?

Here's an interesting article I read a few years back about the state of affairs in Canada that came to mind.

2009-01-31T14:59:00.000-08:00

This CNN reports on an emerging story where a mother gave birth to octuplets, and the ensuing questions and debates on the religious, economic, moral and social issues that has resulted. At heart is that the single mom had been artificially implanted with the embryos, and had previously 6 other children.

Raising 14 children in an affluent household with 2 parents is a challenge, and that's what is most alarming of this story. The mom stays with her parents, and the grandparents are all ready on record of being against the new additions. Clearly not an ideal situation to raise children, and wish more adults would seriously think of the consequences on the child.

What's also saddening is the quick thought of using abortion to "fix" the problem ... what needs fixing is immature or arguably even mentally imbalanced adults who require very strong counseling, but instead a greedy infertility clinic went ahead with the implantation.

Let us all pray for all involved as this story continues to develop.

Catholic vote video

2009-01-31T13:54:00.000-08:00

A new Catholic website intended to inform and unite the Catholic electorate in America had it's debut (abortion-related) ad rejected for Super bowl airing by NBC. Whatever one's views on abortion may be, the profound nature of this video is evident.

Charles Darwin's Marriage...of Science and Religion

2009-01-29T22:55:00.000-08:00

from LA Times

He was too honest. He told Emma of his doubts about the veracity of the Bible and of his growing skepticism about religion. Emma said she would marry him anyway. She prized his candor, and she knew he was a good and moral man. But in a letter she sent him soon after their engagement, she told him that she was sad that "our opinions on the most important subject should differ widely."

It turns out that Charles Darwin himself was married to a pious Christian woman, Emma Darwin (news to me, at least). What IS surprising to me though is that evolution theory has caused so many to doubt and reject belief in God. It's almost as if God is rejected if He does not fit in our a priori definitions of Him. Part of me believes if the Orthodox Tradition were available in the West at the time, the emphasis on a God existing beyond understanding would soften the shock of this kind of science. Our sort of mystical theology emphasizes that God stands within and without creation as the author of creation.

Granted, I am not completely embracing the theory of evolution as true. The movement to completely discount any serious study into disproving certain elements of evolution is a travesty. For more information on this, I recommend Ben Stein's recent movie Expelled as well as the Politically Incorrect Guide to Science by Tom Bethel. Whatever the actual means of creation are, we will certainly never show for sure. How can you prove events of the past with 100% certainty? Regardless, the author, mover, and holder of all things is eternally the Lord.

-Steve K.

Ancient church found in Syria

2009-01-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

BBC reports that a 1500 year-old church has been unearthed in the ancient city of Palmyra, in central Syria.

You mean ancient churches were built in Synagogue-like fashion and had chancels?? Who knew?!

Pope Benedect XVI Channel on Youtube

2009-01-23T22:49:00.000-08:00

I guess "Popetube" was a bad idea for a name.

full report

For the Vatican, it was the latest effort to keep up to speed with the rapidly changing field of communications and new media. For a 2,000-year-old institution known for being very set in its ways, it was something of a revolution.

At the same time, though, the pope warned he wasn't embracing virtual communication without some reservation.

...

But he also warned that virtual socializing had its risks, saying "obsessive" online networking could isolate people from real social interaction and broaden the digital divide by further marginalizing people.

And he urged producers of new media to ensure the content respected human dignity and the "goodness and intimacy of human sexuality."

The Church seems to usually be a step behind every new development of communication. I can understand in as much as not willing to fully jump into a trend before understanding its full ramifications. Inevitably though, every piece of mass media has been shown to be a useful opportunity to evangelize. The real genius then, will be the Evangelist who can jump on the NEXT big trend before it happens.

More Buddhists than Orthodox Christians

2009-01-23T06:55:00.000-08:00

This survey by Pew Forum reports that there are more people who call themselves Buddhists than Orthodox in the United States.

A large part of this is arguably the lack of awareness and knowledge of the Orthodox Faith, which is one of the primary reasons for the significant opportunity in America to bring non-believers to the early, pre-denominational Church.

However, I wonder how many "Orthodox" Christians who are members of culturally based Churches are embarrassed to say they are Orthodox. We should take this as a reminder of the need for internal evangelizing especially within culturally closed communities.

Saints in the shortlist

2009-01-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

BBC reports on a TV show that's causing quite a stir in Georgia:

"A row has erupted in Georgia after a TV show called Top Ten Best Georgians included 18 saints in its shortlist ... A spokesman for the patriarch, who is the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, said it was wrong to ask the public to put saints in rank order."

Are there canonical impediments to people favoring one saint over the other?

The execution of Atefah

2009-01-22T20:10:00.000-08:00

BBC reports on a truly stomach churning story about the abuse and execution of a 16 year old Iranian girl. The story is a clear example of how religion can be perverted and misused by fundamentalists. Read Full story here.

St. Vlad’s seminarian carries scholarship aid to Uganda

2009-01-21T22:49:00.000-08:00

In an inspiring story of pure Christian ministry, this story explains how SVS seminarian Troy Hamilton provided his time, prayers and aid to Christians in support of Fr. George Lakony, a priest serving two Orthodox parishes in the Gulu area of Uganda.

From the article,

he saw something else…opportunity—specifically, opportunity for education and enterprise. “The Ugandans have almost a ‘mythic’ faith in education,” he noted, “and I wanted to help provide them with the means to obtain that.”

So, prior to leaving on his African journey, Troy solicited the seminary community, along with the people at his parish assignment, Holy Trinity Church in East Meadow, Long Island, for books, clothing, and cash.

Truly a model for all of us to learn and share Christ's message, not through forced "Westernization" of the Word but rather adapted to the culture and situation at hand.

Obama Treats Oath of Office like a Sacrament

2009-01-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

Well didn't we learn in Sunday school that sacramentum in Latin means oath?

President Obama retakes the Oath of Office:

The do-over was aimed at dispelling any confusion that might arise from Tuesday's take -- in which "faithfully" was said out of sequence -- and erase any question that Obama is legally the president.

However, per the Constitution, Obama became president at noon Tuesday without taking the oath.

"We believe that the oath of office was administered effectively and that the president was sworn in appropriately yesterday," White House counsel Greg Craig said Wednesday in a written statement.

"But the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of an abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice Roberts administered the oath a second time," the statement read.

full article, CNN

As a devotee of Sacramental Christianity, I find this whole exercise refreshing. They respected the words and spirit behind the oath of office enough to do it right; albeit on the second try. Aside from the obvious motive of avoiding litigation, the Obama Administration is showing that what's written in the Constitution regarding the proper transfer of power actually matters.

I don't think it's a stretch to connect this to our concept of Sacrament in the Orthodox Church. The Liturgy shouldn't be done sloppily nor are we free to rearrange or reword it solely for our convenience. Now, I won't go ahead and argue that a mistated word in the liturgy makes the Eucharist null and void, but I will say that just as Obama recognized that there was indeed something amiss, we too should be meticulous with things as they are handed down to us.

Rick Warren's inaugural invocation gets mixed reviews

2009-01-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

The LA Times reports on mixed reactions to Pastor Rick Warren's inaugural invocation that apparently appeased angry gay/lesbian opponents but offended others who do not like to hear anything Christian in public events.

"he raised other eyebrows by invoking Jesus' name and concluding with the Lord's Prayer -- both distinctly Christian practices on a day that has typically been characterized by more general expressions of "civil religion."

The last minute of the invocation were without doubt the highlight of the invocation, and theological differences aside it was nice to see Pastor Warren have the courage to invoke the name of Christ on this historic day!

Obama Era Set to Begin

2009-01-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

The time for the rhetoric of hope is over. People, particularly the African American community are sincerely and genuinely hopeful. The inauguration isn't the culmination of the movement, though, it's Day 1. So, let's pray for the new president, that he may serve the nation as a good shepherd guided by Faith.

One of his first decisions is choosing a Church (article here) . Is it wrong for a President to choose an ethnic or black Church? If I were President, would I continue to attend an Indian Orthodox Church? Formally, the Indian Orthodox Church is not supposed to be ethnic, but has been so in America because of its immigrant history. If his Church is generally open to people of all races, then that does not seem to me controversial. However, I do the find Black Liberation Theology which his former reverend subscribed to, to be controversial indeed.

Economic Downturn Putting Prosperity Preachers Out of Business

2009-01-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

If you believe that God rewards faithfulness with material goods, then going under must mean you've done something very very wrong.

"I believe the charismatic movement, of which I am a part, is in the midst of a dramatic overhaul," said J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine. "God is shaking us." Grady predicts the movement will look much different in a few years as it refocuses on evangelism and overcoming what he calls the distraction of "materialism, flashy self-promotion, and foolish carnality." But Scott Thumma, a Hartford Seminary sociologist who studies megachurches, is not so certain.

"Most clergy who preach a prosperity gospel would interpret for their congregation any conflict, scrutiny, or questioning as an attack of the Devil and proof that they are following God," he said.

full article, Christianity Today

So basically, you take the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you're preaching and explain that it ACTUALLY PROVES YOU RIGHT. Meanwhile Jesus, St. Peter, St. Thomas, etc., ALL died humiliating deaths in poverty.

Ancient Faith Radio had an excellent podcast on the prosperity gospel recently.

Christian driver refuses to board bus carrying atheist slogan

2009-01-19T06:35:00.000-08:00

A Christian bus driver refused to drive a bus displaying an Atheist advert, Guardian reports.

"I was just about to board and there it was staring me in the face - my first reaction was shock horror. I felt that I could not drive that bus, I told my managers and they said they had not got another one and I thought I better go home, so I did."

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. On one hand, you could argue that the driver shouldn't be forced to drive around something he finds repulsive. On the other hand, simply driving the bus doesn't imply agreement with what's displayed on it. Comments?

A Catechumen's Journey from Hinduism - Recommended Article

2009-01-16T17:06:00.000-08:00

I stumbled today on what I thought was an extremely intriguing article about a young woman's journey from Hinduism to Orthodox Christianity. It's not the actual conversion itself that caught my interest as much as the way in which she comes to believe in the church and convinced in it's historical "credibility."

"To make it even more shocking, I started reading about evidence for Christ's resurrection - not only did I feel there was more evidence supporting this event than we have for other events which we take for granted as being historically true, from reading the Gospels and knowing the horrible deaths these apostles underwent, it became very clear to me that they really believed in a physical resurrection, and they were dying for something more than this “be nice to each other” message."

As if the article weren't enough, there's also a link to a video of her baptism. There's something you don't see everyday!

Christianity Is No Longer the Default Faith of the USA

2009-01-16T06:16:00.000-08:00

A nationwide survey from the Barna Group indicated that most adults view Christianity as just one of many options and that a huge majority of adults pick and choose what they believe rather than adopt a church or denomination’s slate of beliefs.

This is not a surprise, considering the modern day trend to separate Church from Christ and view the former as rigid and ritualistic and Christ as everyone's best friend.

To call oneself Christian is a huge responsibility, and the importance of turning to the teachings of the pre-denominational Church and not only understand but apply in our everyday life the wisdom of the Church fathers. To quote from a 2007 USA Today article on the growth of Orthodoxy in America,

"I had become convinced that the Eucharist was the center of Christian worship — ancient Christian worship. Once I had reached that point in my personal walk with Christ, there was no going back."

Don't swear in Church!

2009-01-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

A woman who got a little too heated during a Romanian Orthodox church service has been slapped with a fine.

"A woman who upset worshippers by swearing during a church service in Romania has been fined 400 lei ($126, euro94), about one-third of the average monthly salary in her country."

I couldn't help but wonder what would transpire if such fines were enacted in India :)

Anglican Bishop Denied Visa to India on Suspicion of Preaching

2009-01-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

The Right Reverend Michael Perham had wanted to visit the city's partner dioceses in Dornakal and Karnataka Central.
He had a tourist visa, which the Indian High Commission said was insufficient for "work" purposes.
A commission spokesman in London, said: "On a tourist visa he should not and must not preach."

full article from BBC

After having read this article over, it turns out it is NOT in reference to India's anti-proselytization laws.

It's actually far far cornier.

If I am to understand this correctly, since the Reverend is a Bishop, his "work" is ministry, and going to India to preach would be therefore work and not tourism. However, if I, a layperson were to go preach in India on a tourist visa..it's OK because my "work" is something different. Gotcha!

Gay Bishop Included in Inauguration Festivities

2009-01-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

Though not quite the prime slot that Rick Warren will be getting, gay Bishop Eugene Robinson will be offering a prayer at an event on Sunday

full article

President Elect Obama and VP Elect Biden will be in attendance.

"It's important for any minority to see themselves represented in some way," Robinson told the newspaper for a story in Monday's editions. "Whether it be a racial minority, an ethnic minority, or in our case, a sexual minority. Just seeing someone like you up front matters."

I'm not terribly sure what a 'sexual minority' is. Would there just be two options: gay or straight? If you include transsexuals, polygamists, furries, robo-sexuals, etc. in the list of sexual classification groups, would Robinson then include religious leaders of THOSE persuasions in inauguration festivities.

...Robinson said he doesn't yet know what he'll say, but he knows he won't use a Bible.

"While that is a holy and sacred text to me, it is not for many Americans," Robinson said. "I will be careful not to be especially Christian in my prayer. This is a prayer for the whole nation."

Honestly, I can understand not quoting the Scripture at the event. But, if he's not going to be especially Christian in his prayer, who exactly is he praying to? Is he praying for the nation, or for the nation to hear?

By the way, Obama has specifically asked to include "so help me, God" in his swearing in, according to CNN.

-Steve K.

Founder of Ancient Faith Radio now CEO of Conciliar Press

2009-01-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

All fans of Ancient Faith Radio will be happy to hear the news that John Maddex (founder of Ancient Faith Radio) was appointed President and CEO of Conciliar Media Ministries under the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

Hoping and praying that Ancient Faith grows from a niche Internet station to more mainstream media outlets!

Jesus Is My Quarterback

2009-01-08T19:58:00.001-08:00

As some of the other boys of Orthodukso are no doubt engrossed in the NCAA Football National Title Game this evening, I ran across an short article about two of the major players in this evening's game. So while die-hard alums like the Street Theologian are cheering themselves hoarse....those of us who have no "dog in the fight" can find other interesting angles to the big game.

First off, for our international readers....this is American Football. Please do not ask me why it is played with hands and not "the foot". (This is a favorite question of our foreign born brothers which would be bareable if only it wasn't asked in that "oh you silly americans" tone of voice...)

At any rate, this evening's game pits the University of Florida Gators vs. the Oklahoma Sooners. It just so happens that both quarterbacks have more than Heisman trophies in common....they share a deep profession for their christian faith. In a world full of Pacman's, Ocho Cinco's, and TO's (Mr. I Love me Some Me), it is refreshing that there are athletes who keep grounded and are lead by their faith. (If none of those names are familiar, count yourselves fortunate)

The below article briefly mentions the faiths of both Tim Tebow (UF) and Sam Bradford (OU):
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2009/01/jesus_is_my_qua.html

Disney Backs out of Next Narnia Movie

2009-01-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Disney will not take up its option on the next film in the Chronicles of Narnia series, the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Both 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and this year's followup Prince Caspian were produced by a partnership between Disney and Walden Media, the Christian education-focused company which owns the film rights to the books. The first movie took an impressive $740m (£500m) across the globe on a budget of $180m (£122m), but its sequel's take was way down on that – $420m (£285m) from a $200m (£135m) budget, prompting Disney to pull out.

So $ 220 million is a let down? Well, I imagine it's trending downward, with five more movies at least to produce (based on less familiar titles). However, that doesn't excuse the number of terrible movies Disney DOES invest in (i.e. Mighty Ducks, the two later Lion King movies). I'm waiting for the Culture War angle on this, as to whether Disney wanted to dissociate itself from a movie unavoidably linked with traditional Christian ideas and symbols.

-Steve K.

The End of Iraqi Christianity- Recommended Article

2009-01-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a very clear to the point article about the history of Iraqi Christianity.

Not noted is how the history of the Indian Orthodox Church is bound up in the history of the Church in Persia. First of all, as inheritors of the "Syriac" tradition, we have to look at Iraq/Iran as the cradle of our theological tradition. In India, we have relics from both West (Antiochene) and East (Assyria, Persian) Syriac. Moreover:

From the 4th century through the 14th, Iraq had many centers of Christian scholarship and devotion. Apart from Baghdad itself, the Church of the East had metropolitans at Basra, Kirkuk, and Erbil. Jacobite leaders often made their home in Tikrit, which served as the seat of the Maphrianus (Consecrator), head of the Jacobite church throughout the East. Tikrit in modern times gained notoriety as the home of Saddam Hussein and his Sunni Muslim al-Tikriti clan.

Our Catholicos traces his lineage from St. Thomas through this very same Maphrianate mentioned. The idea of 'thrones' is very nuanced, I know, but still we should look at the dying of the Church in Iraq as the loss indeed of a part of our own (Malankara Syrian) heritage.

On top of that, as the fate of this church and the other churches in the Far East indicates, we are by no means guaranteed that a particular church will last forever. Christianity of course, the Body of Christ will forever endure, but we must remain vigilant that our own local and national Churches will not erode and fade away.

-Steve K.

Happy Epiphany!

2009-01-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Most people are not aware that January 6th was the day that the early Church celebrated both the Baptism of Jesus and Christmas. This article by St Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church in Niranam, India provides a great explanation on how this feast day evolved over the ages, and today how many Western churches celebrate only the 3 wise men coming to give honor to the infant Jesus.

Logical Proof of God

2009-01-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here are two videos that one of my friends sent me. These videos are very interesting and worth watching about the existence of God.

Logical Proof of God is Real

An Answer to "What Created God?"

Black Ministers Rally Behind Burris

2009-01-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

Warm words of support and prayers for Roland Burris contrasted with the frigid reactions from Senate leaders, many of whom say his appointment by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is so badly stained that Burris shouldn't be seated when the new Congress convenes this week.

Burris took the stage at New Covenant Church on Sunday evening to a crescendo of drums, organ music and applause from hundreds of supporters, including black leaders and ministers.

"The appointment is legal," he said, thanking those gathered at the prayer service. "That is all there is. I don't know what all the confusion is about."

Before the service, Burris supporter U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush and about 60 ministers condemned Senate Democratic leaders for rejecting Burris.

Rush, a Chicago Democrat, called the Senate "the last bastion of plantation politics."
"We are just faced with a hard-headed room of people in the Senate who want to keep an African-American out of the Senate," Rush said.
- full article

Remember how we Orthodox were always told that the Church should stay out of politics. It's probably a good idea...meanwhile some churches seem to dive right in. The black churches have been instrumental in the fight for civil rights in the past. However, as an 'ethnic' Orthodox, I'm inclined to think that our Church shouldn't play a similar role as an ethnic advocacy group. It works for some churches, but the Orthodox churches theologically shouldn't be bound to advance a particular group's agenda.
-Steve K.

More Americans join Orthodox Christian churches

2009-01-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

The Orthodox church in America is seeing a greater percentage of it's membership consisting of incoming converts, USA Today reports.

"Today, Mencotti is one of about 250 million Orthodox believers worldwide — and among a significant number of newcomers attracted to this ancient way of worship. The trend is especially notable since so few in the United States know about the Orthodox churches here."

There was one line that somewhat irked me: "Orthodoxy was born from the Great Schism of 1054, when feuds over papal authority and differences in the liturgy split Christianity into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox halves."

Orthodoxy was "born" on the day of Pentecost.

All in all, it's an interesting article.

An Orthodox Wedding for Jennifer Aniston

2009-01-05T06:03:00.000-08:00

The news sources for this are very weak and this may finally be exposed as yet another Internet rumor, but several outlets are reporting that actress Jennifer Aniston will be marrying again to current boyfriend John Mayer ... and her dream wedding is Greek Orthodox!

"Jen was exposed to the Greek Orthodox religion growing up because that's her dad's background. Her first marriage, to Brad Pitt, was a huge, extravagant affair, but it was not a church wedding. Jen isn't overly religious, but she wants one now."

In many culturally-rooted Orthodox churches (Indian, Greek, Russian, etc), this is a very common observation i.e., the Sacrament of Marriage given to a couple who is not spiritually connected to the Church. The tragedy in most cases is the community and the priest fails in their Spiritual obligation to the new couple and do not leverage their interest in the Church to bring that couple closer to Christ.

Dr. Bradley Nassif wrote on the Orthodox church forgetting it's evangelical roots, and it's almost impossible to argue this point. Our Church must wake up and respond to the natural tendency of people to search for God as they get older in order for a healthy growth, as in almost every cases the person's search begins with what they had experienced in their childhood.

Barack Obama's inaugural invocation "controversy"

2009-01-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

MSNBC reports on the controversy that is being fueled by media outlets with nothing better to report. Initially it started with President-elect Obama's choice of Rick Warren and the thoughts that it would offend the gay and lesbian communities. But, recent news focused on whehter Rick Warren will use the name of Christ in his prayer.

Warren did not answer directly when asked whether he would dedicate his prayer to Jesus. In a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press, Warren would say only that, "I'm a Christian pastor so I will pray the only kind of prayer I know how to pray."

What's sad is that MSNBC tries to emphasize that using the name of Christ is an "evangelical" thing.

"For a Christian, especially for an evangelical pastor, the Bible teaches us that we are to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. How can a minister pray any other way?" Franklin Graham said.

When the name of Christ is used to divide, then we are not holding true to His message and teachings. However, using the name of Christ in prayer is clearly imperative, not only for evangelicals but all Christian denominations including Orthodox!

Patriarch Paulos visits Church in India

2009-01-01T16:13:00.000-08:00

"Ethiopian Patriarch Abuna Paulose inaugurated the valedictory function of the year-long centenary celebrations of the Mar Gregorios Orthodox Christian Movement at a function held at Paumala Seminary on Tuesday. Catholicos and Supreme head of Malankara Orthodox Church, Baselios Marthoma Didimos I, presided over the function."

It's good to see how the Indian church has been eager to interact more with sister churches as of late. Hopefully this trend will continue. I wouldn't mind seeing a Patriarch or bishops from sister churches present for the Bishop ordination that's coming up.

Atheists File Suit Against Inauguration

2008-12-30T19:59:00.001-08:00

"We're hoping to stop prayer and religious rituals at governmental functions, especially at the inauguration," Barker told FOX News Radio.
"The inauguration is not a religious event. It is a secular event of a secular country that includes all Americans, including those of us who are not Christians, including those of us who are not believers," he continued.
...
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the same group that fought to have atheist displays next to holiday displays, most notably in Washington state this year.
He said if Obama wants to hold a private religious ceremony, that would be more appropriate than having religious figures up on stage at his swearing in ceremony.
Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council, said it's Obama's decision whether to include a prayer, not the government's.

full article

Well they never seem to get tired of this.

Question: Was America founded as a non-theistic state? Or was it founded as a state where presumably religious people were allowed the freedom to practice religion without a "state Church?" There's clergy on the Declaration of Independence. The Continental Congress opened with a prayer. There's a difference between a secular state and Secularism.

An interesting thing i heard today

2008-12-30T19:59:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,
Today i was reeducating myself into orthodoxy and i came across this lecture/sermon. after listening to it, i was curious to see what you all opinions on it. Being all of you, being passioniate of Christendom, I thought you get a kick too out of this snippet. Please respond back and let share what we feel about this piece of lecture.

Click here to listen

Aint No Party Like a Fr. Greg Party..

2008-12-30T19:43:00.000-08:00

You might remember Fr. Greg Malia...from the New York Party Circuit...

Driving from distant Wilkes Barre, Pa. - where bedtimes are early and life is slow - Malia would arrive in clubland and shell out thousands of dollars in tips, send bottles of Dom Perignon to fellow clubgoers and squire cocktail waitresses around town on shopping sprees.

When word got back to the hardscrabble precincts of northeastern Pennsylvania, the Right Rev. Paul Marshall, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem, relieved Malia of his priestly duties at St. James Trinity Episcopal Church.

Of course, the Episcopal Church has no monopoly on Priestly indiscretions. That's why we have to accept...the Church is full of sinners...and even if it's full of sinners...that doesn't make the truth less true.

It used to be that you had to confess Islam to get suspended in the Episcopalian Church though.

-Steve K.

Coptic Pope bans phone confessions

2008-12-30T07:16:00.000-08:00

"The head of the Coptic Church in Egypt, Pope Shenuda III, has banned confession conducted over the phone for fear that the phones might be monitored and that the confession might reach state security services, the Egyptian Daily News Egypt reported. "

I'm not sure how I feel about phone confessions in general, in view of confession being a sacrament and all.
One could argue that it be allowed in dire situations where the priest is unable to be physically present with the person undertaking confession. Any comments?

OCA

2008-12-29T07:38:00.000-08:00

This from the Washington Times reports on members and friends of the Orthodox Church in America gathered Sunday at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Washington D.C. to enthrone 49-year-old Metropolitan Jonah as the head of the church in North America.

This is clearly a wondrous and joyful occasion, and all our support and prayers to the entire Orthodox Church of America!

Peruvian Jesus Born to Virgin Mary

2008-12-26T13:15:00.000-08:00

Virgin Mary, a 20-year-old Peruvian woman, gave birth to a baby boy on Christmas day and named him Jesus, Peru's state news agency said on Friday.
Full Article from Reuters

Wait...is "Virgin Mary" her name? Or was this one of those freak "conceived without sex" births like Allen Iverson? Maybe Peruvians are just that bored...

-Steve K.

Man in a Santa Suit Kills at Least 8 at a Party

2008-12-25T23:19:00.000-08:00

The New York Times reports on another senseless killing, and this time the tragedy involved not only children but a killer who dressed as one of the most symbolic representations of Christmas - Santa Claus.

What's saddening is the nightmares and trauma of those who survived, and the re-living of this event on the day the world celebrates the birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ. May we all pray for strength for the survivors, mercy for the victims who died and forgiveness for the killer.

Bartholomew I: Turkish bureaucracy is trying to make us disappear

2008-12-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

The Ecumenical patriarch, the "first among equals" of all Orthodox hierarchs, has accused the Turkish government of trying to diminish his office.

' It seems that the Turkish foreign ministry is trying to make the Ecumenical Patriarchate "disappear," continuing to call Bartholomew I "the patriarch of Fanar [editor's note: the neighborhood where the Ecumenical Patriarch resides]," refusing to use the title "ecumenical" and acknowledging only that he has spiritual responsibility for the domestic Greek minority, and not for the Orthodox communities connected to Constantinople. It also seems almost a concession from above to accept that Bartholomew I uses the title "ecumenical" abroad. All of this has an impact on the juridical status of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, on its freedom to travel abroad, and to host foreign delegations in Turkey.'

It's quite amusing to me that the Turkish government thinks it's opinion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has any effect on how H.H. is perceived by the church. The Patriarchs of the church derive their powers and privileges from the church. For the Turkish government to think it has any authority over the same is laughable. Personally, I think the Ecumenical Patriarchate should be relocated to some place where the government is a little less silly, and natural rights are taken more seriously.

Dress Like Jesus to Work Day...

2008-12-24T05:31:00.001-08:00

So what happens when Mall Jesus and Mall Santa meet?

Members of a church in Kansas City, Ks., are protesting the secularization of Christmas by dressing like Jesus at their jobs, malls and restaurants.
...
"A lot of businesses and people are saying that they have to say, 'Happy Holidays' and 'Season’s Greetings,'" church receptionist Chelsea Johnston told FOXNews.com. "They’re not allowed to say 'Merry Christmas.' It makes us upset because that is the holiday and it goes against our freedom of speech."

full article

I can imagine their hearts being in the right place, but I don't think this is what is meant by "imitation of Christ." At what point does protest become mockery? Based on the same logic, why wouldn't you dress like Jesus throughout the entire year?

Also interesting to me (and perhaps unrelated): Protestantism and Puritanism have historically been against the celebration of Christmas. When the Puritans overthrew the English monarchy, they cancelled Christmas. Whereas in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, Christmas (and Epiphany) are major pillars of the Church calendar, many evangelical Churches scramble to put together a Christmas Service. In fact, I'd say that 50% of our modern Christmas imagery comes from medieval Catholicism (the other half coming from Dickens, and slick advertising).

-Steve K.

Priest Removes Obama Books from School

2008-12-19T12:58:00.000-08:00

A Roman Catholic and a very pro-life priest, Rev. Ron Elliot, from a Missouri Catholic school removed two books about Barack Obama from its library because of Obama's view on abortion.

"Obama has said he believes abortions should be legally available in accordance with the landmark Roe vs. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that said abortion was a constitutional right to privacy under the due-process clause of the 14th Amendment."

Even though the priest did not find anything wrong with the books, he said he will put them back on the shelf either in February or March.

In my opinion, according to my former sunday school teacher, abortion is completely wrong and unethical in which it goes against the Bible, killing another of God's creation. But, also it is wrong to take informational books from a children's library and judge it based on that. Any comments?

Click to read full article for more information.

Rick Warren to Invocate Inauguration, Anger LGBTs

2008-12-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama defends his decision to include Rick Warren in the Inauguration:

"During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented," Obama said. "And that's how it should be, because that's what America is about. Part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated."

Some people you just can't please. I'm sure Obama actually wanted Warren to give the invocation, but now must reference "diversity??"

From the letter sent to the President-Elect:
Rev. Warren cannot name a single theological issue that he and vehemently, anti-gay theologian James Dobson disagree on. Rev. Warren is not a moderate pastor who is trying to bring all sides together. Instead, Rev. Warren has often played the role of general in the cultural war waged against LGBT Americans, many of whom also share a strong tradition of religion and faith.

We have been moved by your calls to religious leaders to own up to the homophobia and racism that has stood in the way of combating HIV and AIDS in this country. And that you have publicly called on religious leaders to open their hearts to their LGBT family members, neighbors and friends.

Sounds more like the LGBT community has a problem with religion in general and Christianity in particular. Is there a prominent national Christian leader that supports gay marriage. That pretty much eliminates every Orthodox, Catholic, Southern Baptist, Black Southern Baptist, and any other Evangelical Christian group. On top of that, is there any religion that supports the homosexual agenda. The only group that may meet the LGBT criteria would be mainline protestants such as the Episcopalians. But that would defeat the whole point of unity.

Expect the ACLU to protest invocations and benedictions at national events soon...

Catholicos Aram wants Christians to celebrate Easter on same day

2008-12-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

Rome : Armenian Orthodox Catholicos Aram I has at a Vatican meeting with Roman Pope Benedict XVI proposed that the world's churches set a common date for Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

"There are no special doctrinal problems to achieve this goal, but only problems of the calendar," Aram, who heads the Catholicosate of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, told journalists in Rome at the end of his 23-27 November visit to Rome.

In most years, Christians celebrate Easter on two different dates. One is marked by most Protestants and Roman Catholics, and the other by most Orthodox churches.

Catholicos

Aram

I said he believed an ecumenical initiative to celebrate Easter on the same day would help give visible expression to Christian unity.

Photo: Roman Pope His Holiness Benedict XVI and Catholicos of Cilicia His Holiness Aram I on Monday 24 November 2008 at Vatican, Italy.

Differences in the dates for celebrating Easter go back to the earliest Christian communities, although these were mostly resolved in AD 325 by the Council of Nicea. The major problems arose in the 16th century when Roman Pope Gregory XIII replaced the Julian calendar that had been established in 46 BC with the Gregorian calendar.

It took some time for the new calendar to be adopted by all countries. However, most Orthodox churches still celebrate Easter on the date calculated by the Julian calendar.

Much of the impetus for fixing a common date for Easter has come from the Middle East where Christians from different traditions live in close proximity, though very much as small Christian minorities. In some parts of the Middle East local churches have between them reached agreement on common dates for Easter.

Speaking on 24 November at an ecumenical ceremony with

Aram

I, Roman Pope Benedict noted that in many parts of the world, Catholics and Armenians live side by side. "Increased understanding and appreciation of the apostolic tradition which we share will contribute to an ever more effective common witness to the spiritual and moral values without which a truly just and humane social order cannot exist," said Benedict.

Despite the different methods used, in some years Easter does fall on the same date, as in 2001 and 2004, and again in 2010.

In 1998,

Aram

had urged delegates at an assembly in Harare of the World Council of Churches to make 2001 "the beginning of a common celebration of Easter". The Lebanon-based church leader was then moderator of the WCC, which now groups 349 churches, predominantly Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox.

“You can't be doing that in here!”

2008-12-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

Looking for a school that emphasizes tolerance and welcomes diversity? Take Alameda College in California off the list:

“When the instructor indicated she was ill, Kandy offered to pray for her. The instructor bowed her head, and Kandy began to pray -- until she was interrupted by another faculty member, Derek Piazza, who walked in and said, ‘You can't be doing that in here!’ Kandy quickly left and rejoined her friend and fellow student, Ojoma Omaga. Piazza followed Kandy outside and repeated his rebuke.”

It gets better. The students were threatened by the college with suspension if they prayed on campus again, and were sent letters stating the same. The students are currently undertaking legal proceedings.

A quote attributed to Robin Williams comes to mind: “When the Iraqis were having trouble writing a constitution, we should have said: ‘Take ours, we’re not using it.’”

This country is supposed to be a beacon of freedom and diversity. What are we becoming??

New quest for historical Jesus draws skeptics and scholars

2008-12-17T06:21:00.000-08:00

I can agree that no matter how hard we try, we will never know enough about Christ. The Christian's life goal is to answer the question "Who do you say that I am?". Our lives have a dynamic relationship with that answer because it is a personal revelation that changes our being.
This article is about a group of people, all from different backgrounds and different interests, taking up a scholarly approach in knowing who the "historical Jesus" is, which I guess is fine, but I wonder what their motives are.

The Jesus Project is trying to scientifically inquire about Jesus while at the same time excluding any theological perspective. Perhaps I'm too quick on my judgement, as I often am... but how can you learn of Christ if you don't acknowledge Who and What He is? In other words, to try to learn of the historical person of Christ while ignoring His Godhead is not really knowing Christ at all.

Excerpt from the article:
"Scholars now at the beginning of the twenty-first century are able to take advantage of a plethora of new texts, sources, and methods, including the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, various lost Gospels that are not in our New Testament, and a rich archeological record”.

Again, the issue I have is that the tradition held by any churches is completely and utterly ignored. Or perhaps this is a good thing considering how fragmented Christianity is today. Maybe they will find the understanding and practice of the early church and come to Orthodoxy the way the Evangelicals did.

Any comments?

Is the Orthodox Church losing ground? Another perspective....

2008-12-16T20:47:00.001-08:00

Many forums debate the inroads and losses being made on a human level by the Orthodox Church. In particular, our Indian churches have their own ethnocentric take on why we might be losing or gaining members. (Blame the westerners, blame the pentecostals, and be sure to blame the t-shirt/blue jean crowd!!)

If we can stop shaking our angry fists long enough.... An article was posted on a blog written by a resident of Addis Abbaba ...regarding the same issues within the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. I think it's fascinating to see a similarity in concern.

http://arefe.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/is-the-orthodox-church-losing-ground/

- Advocate

A Russian church for a Saudi mosque? by Julia Duin

2008-12-16T19:53:00.000-08:00

This delightful story just came in thanks to getreligion.org: The Saudis have recently asked permission to build a mosque in Moscow, a city where there are only four mosques and 2 million Muslims. The Russians, however, are saying they want, in return, an Orthodox church in Saudi Arabia.

As we all know, the Saudis have a habit of constructing mosques in dozens of world capitals while forbidding houses of worship for any religion whatsoever outside its Wahabist brand of Islam. They've gotten some bad PR locally for some of the hate language in textbooks at the Saudi Academy in northern Virginia. Not only are hapless Christians terrorized and jailed for daring to hold private prayer services in Saudi Arabia, but God help them should they try to convert someone to their religion. And that's for a fellow People of the Book: One can only guess at what the treatment of Buddhists and Hindus must be like.

Wouldn't it be so ironic if the Russians were the first Christian body to win acceptance of the right to build a church in, say, Riyadh? (Some of the Russians are calling for a church in Mecca, but the chances of any other religion getting a foothold within walking distance of the world center of Islam is less than zero.) Of course we all know the Saudis aren't about ready to let Bibles or other religious literature, let alone a church, anywhere near their homeland, but all the same, it's amusing to see the Russians give the Saudis a taste of their own medicine.

-Julia Duin, religion editor

Coincidence or Not?

2008-12-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

So I recently picked up a copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses, something I've been wanting to read for a while now (don't ask why). It's basically a compilation of Ovid's stories and basic Greek mythology with change and transformation as a central theme. Well, the book starts off with "The Creation", and it describes the creation of the world. First, everything was one, and then the gods separated the elements into the Earth, stars, sun, and moon. After that, the oceans, land, animals, and plants were created, and finally man. Sounds familiar, eh? Well the story goes on to describe how man was innately good and pure but then became evil, which angered the gods. So how did they purge the world of this evil and start fresh? How about a flood? Yeah, you get the idea...

I'm only about 15 pages in and the above summary is pretty general, but it already sounds like the Creation story from Genesis. Ovid completed the Metamorphoses in 8 A.D., making it possible that he had knowledge of the Jewish teachings. Ovid's book, however, is mostly retelling of Roman mythology, therefore representative of the basic beliefs of the Romans, which happen to parallel those of the Hebrews.

What do you think? Any thoughts? Let me know!

1st American face transplant

2008-12-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post reported today on an operation in Ohio where surgeons replaced 80% of a woman's face with that of a dead female donor.

From the article, "such transplants are controversial because they are aimed at improving a patient's quality of life rather than saving it". Although some Christian denominations such as Christian Scientists take an extreme position of all medical procedures, the topic of cosmetic surgery often falls in the "grey" area. But, from a purely Christian perspective, there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that plastic surgery in and of itself is wrong.

So far in all cases of face transplants, there was serious damage that was affecting the day-to-day life of the individual. However, as the Washington Post article indicated, what is more of more concern in these procedures is post-operative depression and guilt that could truly damage a person's spiritual and mental health. Our directive in these cases are quite simply to pray for the sick and their loved ones that they may all find comfort in the Lord.

Disgraced Gov. Blagojevich was raised Orthodox

2008-12-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

The Chicago Sun-Times reported today on reactions from members of the Serbian Orthodox church that disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich attended as a child.

What's encouraging was the willingness to forgive by the Orthodox parishioners, i.e.,

'The church is a place of forgiveness, and our doors are always open to him'

Playboy's Not So Virgin Mary

2008-12-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

Playboy Mexico insults its mostly Catholic population with a semi-nude Virgin Mary on its December cover. So, what was THAT like during the shoot? You know...giving the order to be a "sexy mother of...your Lord and Savior." Still...it's not as bad as Piss Christ or Elephant Dung Virgin Mary.

See article at the Sun here

-Steve K.

Twilight Unconsciously Mormon

2008-12-13T07:24:00.000-08:00

So I watched Twilight this past Thursday (not my idea...really!). The movie was painfully slow and terribly directed. The concept itself is actually cool...but the movie missed every opportunity for more upbeat fiercer music or more dramatic camera work. OK so maybe that's what I expect from a vampire movie nowadays.

I came across this nugget of knowledge this morning. Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight Series is a devout member of the Church of Latter Day Saints aka Mormon Church:

Unconsciously, I put a lot of my basic beliefs into the story. Free agency is a big theme, as is sacrifice. One very kind fan wrote to me and said, “instead of gore and horror there was lyrical beauty.” (Okay, so she was probably too kind). Even after I explain all that, I still have LDS friends (and extended family) who look at me funny.

full interview with A Motley Vision

I really didn't expect that at all. It vaguely makes sense...sucking blood equals sex...not sucking blood equals abstinence...no really it is interesting. I also didn't expect Orson Scott Card who wrote Ender's Game was also a Mormon. Then again, this is all I know about Mormonism.

Then again, belonging to a particular faith tradition doesn't necessarily mean that an author will write about that faith's themes in his work.

-Steve K.

Modern Christian Martyrs

2008-12-11T19:02:00.000-08:00

Catholic Online published a story on modern-day Christian martyrs around the world, that also includes victims of the anti-Christian violence that is occurring in India by Hindu extremist groups.

We often take our liberties for granted, and freedom of religion is arguably the most important.

Tonight's Episode of Televised Assisted Suicide...

2008-12-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

"Craig wasn't interested in this as his personal story, he was interested in people actually coming to grips with death, with the fact of death - I think that's often hidden from us. It's very sanitised.

"He wanted to use his decision and his death to demonstrate what actually happens, so that people could see it was very peaceful, that it was a rational decision on his part."

from the BBC

I've been blessed enough to not have to deal with serious pain or suffering, so it's difficult for me to put myself in this man's shoes. What I will say is:

1) The last moments of life are sacred-even mysterious. It should be approached with fear because life itself cannot be restored once it's gone. Broadcasting a suicide on national television is a sign of a coarse and unfeeling society.

2) "Coming to grips with death?" I thought doctors were in the business of saving lives? We Christians resist the power of death over us as death has been triumphed over by Christ; and we belong to him. I paraprase GK Chesterton when he said that, suicide isn't simply the killing of one's self, but from the suicidal person's perspective, the complete murder of the whole world.

Pastor Testifies to Power of Prayer with $1.5M

2008-12-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

This article talks of how a Texas pastor's prayer for $1 million to pay for his congregation’s church building had been answered abundantly. Rev. Tom McDaniels was quoted in the article saying he believed his prayer was answered as “the Lord wanted to show his power.“

The words of George Bernard Shaw need to be remembered when reading such articles i.e., “most people do not pray; they only beg”. Would the unchanging and Almighty Lord be less powerful if He had not moved the heart of the parishioner to open his wallet? The lives of the saints are the strongest reminder that our prayers are to bring us closer to Him, not closer to worldly gains. As we read in Luke 9:25, what is the benefit of gaining all the wealth in this world if we lose our salvation?

Tragic story: Man loses family when jet hit house

2008-12-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

In truly a heart-wrenching story, a man who lost his entire family when a Marine Corps jet slammed into the family's house did not blame the pilot who ejected and survived.

"Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," a distraught Dong Yun Yoon told reporters gathered near the site of Monday's crash of an F/A-18D jet in San Diego's University City community. "He is one of our treasures for the country," Yoon said in accented English punctuated by long pauses while he tried to maintain his composure.

Many question God when tragedy occurs, but this man's trust in God is truly an inspiration. May God grant him strength and our prayers for his entire family.

"Truth Talk"

2008-12-09T08:43:00.000-08:00

“Botros has been hosting Truth Talk since 2003. The weekly show grew out of an internet chat room attended by thousands where the Coptic priest engaged Muslims on the inherent contradictions of their own religion and found that he was leading many to faith in Jesus Christ. As the geographic scope of the show has grown, so has its reach into the lives of Muslims. It is broadcast in Arabic, and this year began also to be translated for Turkish audiences and into Farsi to be aired in Iran.”

Religious conversion is a sensitive topic in many places in the world (Indian Christians can attest to this). I am of the opinion that rather than being hostile to those who are proselytizing, religious leaders should seek to better educate their own flocks. This holds to be especially true as far as the Indian Orthodox church's struggle with charismatic groups is concerned. Rather than harboring hatred for these groups, we should seek to educate our laity so as to make the church "impervious" to such attempts at conversion.