Addendum, 3/19/20 - Since I penned this article the synod of the OCA issued a statement effectively closing all the churches under their jurisdiction. I penned this reflection before that action was taken. In the article, I have strived to offer a reflection based upon an early Christian account of a time of epidemic. That …
Continue reading Christians in Times of Epidemic, Then and Now
This is the last segment in a series in which I examine certain aspects of the modern Evangelical Charismatic/Pentecostal movement. A movement I was once a part of. This movement, as noted in earlier articles, has permeated and influenced most of modern Protestantism and also portions of Roman Catholicism. (Links to the preceding articles are …
Is Christ Jesus faithless? Or is He eternally faithful? How does one's view of the Church reflect on the faithfulness of Christ? Proper Ecclesiology (theology of the Church) has always been vital to true Christianity. A staple doctrine of Protestantism teaches that the Church (again using this word loosely) fell into relative darkness just after …
Continue reading Is Christ Faithless? Examining Protestant Ecclesiology
In the town of Phrygia, central Asia Minor, about the year 160AD, a man named Montanus claimed to be “seized” by the Holy Spirit. He began to receive “special” messages, “speak in tongues,” “prophecy,” and so forth. Two women “prophetesses” soon join him: Priscilla and Maximillia. According to a Charismatic/Emerging Church history scheme, about 300AD …
The modern world is not just secular. It is also the result of a great religious formation. Although I have argued elsewhere that even the secular world is “religious” in a broad sense, and I hold to it, at current I am using “secular” and “religious” in their classical juxtaposition. One of the most prominent …
Continue reading The Charisma of the Age: An Orthodox critique of the Charismatic Movement
“Have I surrendered to the will of God, or am I still acting like the boss? Bob Dylan, Are you Ready. An epidemic of the modern disposition is the search for spirituality without sacrifice. This is reflected in modernity's disdain for absolutes (even though secularism, a fundamental of modernity, is ultimately absolutist in its expression) …
True Christianity is priestly by nature; even more so, it has always had a defined and visible priesthood. To deny priesthood is to deny an elemental component of Christianity. “Wait,” the reply comes from certain groups, “we are all priests unto God, have you not read in the Scriptures, 'You yourselves are being built up …
