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by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev In the Orthodox tradition the theme of primacy is closely connected with that of church authority, which, in its turn, is for the Orthodox theologian indivisible from the idea of 'catholicity' or 'conciliarity.' As is well known, for various historical reasons the Orthodox Church never had and to this very day does not have a unified administrative and governing structure. Among the primates of the Local … [Read more...]
by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo This article reminded me of a statement by C.S. Lewis, "You don't have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body." The Western Understanding of Nous. According to the 18th century German Philosopher, Emmanuel Kant, reality is divided between phenomena and noumena, that is, the realm of time, space and matter and its relation, if any, to the unknown realm of the spirit. All knowledge is rational, the result of the … [Read more...]
by Kevin Allen Our friend, the award winning host of "The Illumined Heart" Kevin Allen, is a convert to Orthodoxy from Hinduism (see his story HERE at Journey To Orthodoxy) and is also a fair hand at theological distinction, and this article is right up our alley at Preachers Institute. I try to read St Athanasius’ classic, On The Incarnation (DE INCARNATION VERBI DEI) or parts of it, during the forty days of the Advent season. I am … [Read more...]
It's older than you've been told! The present Feast, commemorating the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, was established by the Church. Its origin goes back to the time of the Apostles. In the Apostolic Constitutions (Section 3, 13) it says, "Brethren, observe the feastdays; and first of all the Birth of Christ, which you are to celebrate on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month." In another place it also … [Read more...]
William J. Tighe on the Story Behind December 25 In this, one of my favorite articles, William Tighe explodes the notion we were all taught in public school about the 'Christianization' of a pagan festival for the date of Christmas. He uses historical fact to prove his point, and has thereby offered all Christians that most precious of all jewels - the truth, regarding the Church's celebration on Dec. 25th. Enjoy! Many Christians think that … [Read more...]
The Errors of Those Who Ignore the Liturgists by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo When we mention "liturgists," many people think of those whom we used to call "typikon commandos." There was a humorous reference to them, "What is the difference between a terrorist and a typikon expert? You can negotiate with a terrorist." This is not what we mean by "liturgist." We are referring both to Saint James the Apostle who gave us the Christian … [Read more...]
Symbolism and Neuroplasticity: the work of the mind in the brain. by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo This essay is not being written for every level of reader. It is intended to respond to a stream of rationalism which is drawing a kind of Episcopalization or Anglican style "liturgical reform" movement within the Orthodox Church. There are a many of such rationalists who would lead us on the same path that the Anglican-Episcopalian Churches have gone … [Read more...]
The Human Need For Symbolism and Ritual by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo Recently, near our monastery, a seventeen years old girl was killed in an auto accident. She had been speeding and lost control of her car. By evening, there were dozens of candles burning beneath the tree into which she had crashed. Mounds of flowers, cards and notes appeared, and someone placed a wooden cross against the tree with her name on it. A month later, candles are … [Read more...]
by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo His Eminence, the Most Reverend Lazar (Puhalo) of Ottawa, is a retired hierarch of the Orthodox Church in America, and is the founding abbot of the Monastery of All Saints of North America, Canada. He is known for his prolific theological writings, particularly regarding his criticism of the aerial toll house teaching of the Bogomil heresy that has crept into some Orthodox circles. This is taken from his blog … [Read more...]
Continued from Part One. 3. THE CASE OF THE MISSING PROPHET We have written in a previous article (“The Neutralization of the Netherworld”) that the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament represents an ancient and authentic Hebrew tradition. Due to the fact that there were variances in the Hebrew texts, the textual tradition that the Septuagint translation presents often differs widely from the Masoretic Hebrew text of … [Read more...]
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