It has become increasingly common for Christians to suppose that the full gospel includes the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Thus the question: Is speaking in tongues the evidence of being baptized by the Holy Spirit? First, as the apostle Paul makes plain, believers are “all baptized by […]
The Continuing Validity of the Moral Law of the Old Testament
February 12, 2018 By
by Fr. John Whiteford One of the earliest heresies that the Church had to confront was the Marcionite heresy, which taught that the God of the Old Testament was not the God of the New Testament. The God of the Old Testament was evil, whereas the God of the New Testament was good. Consequently Marcion […]
Priestesses in the Church?
January 31, 2018 By
by C.S. Lewis “I should like Balls infinitely better,” said Caroline Bingley, “if they were carried on in a different manner … It would surely be much more rational if conversation instead of dancing made the order of the day.” “Much more rational, I dare say,” replied her brother, “but it would not be near […]
Eating Food that has Blood in it According to Canon Law
January 16, 2018 By
Q: I wonder if it is ok to eat food that has blood in it? What about Acts 15 where the Apostles forbid it and what about blood transfusions? A: Actually – and this is not well-known – the Orthodox position is that the Apostolic Council is still binding, and this includes the prohibition on […]
St. Photius the Great, The Photian Council, and Relations with the Roman Church
November 12, 2017 By
by Dr. David Ford Introduction There is considerable discussion today within the worldwide Orthodox Church about the status of the so-called “Photian Council,” held in Constantinople in 879-880. This is an exceedingly important council in the history of the Orthodox Church, and therefore deserves to be much more widely known among the Orthodox faithful. […]
How do you know that the Orthodox, not the Iconoclasts, preserved the more ancient Christian view of Icons?
November 6, 2017 By
For one thing, Iconoclasm would have thrived in Islamic dominated territory… but it didn’t. The first out break of Iconoclasm began in Moslem territory, though this was not Christians destroying images, but Moslems destroying Christian images (Pelikan, p. 105). There is also reason to think that Moslem influence inspired the Iconoclastic Emperors (for one, all […]
Can the Dead Repent?
November 1, 2017 By
If someone dies without repentance, is it possible for such a person to repent after death? Fr. John Whiteford answers this question through the writings of the holy fathers of the Church. by Fr. John Whiteford Scripture, as explained by the Fathers of the Church, states that this is not possible. Psalm 6:5 says: “For […]
Why Should Reading in the Orthodox Church be Unemotional?
August 24, 2017 By
By Fr. Andrew Chizhenko I remember the words of Alexander Griboyedov from his play “Woe from Wit”: “Read it not like an altar server, but with passion”. For centuries, that aphorism was the reason of sarcastic mockeries about church readings in intellectual circles. In fact, they do not correlate with the truth and ancient thousand […]
