by Fr. Patrick Henry ReardonIt is instructive to reflect on the apparent implausibility---indeed, the scandal---of the biblical claim to a favored position for a particular people within history. How is it possible that any people could be God's chosen people? The claim represents an affront to both … [Read more...]
Disaster & Disillusion: History Without The Messiah
by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon History was not kind to the Jewish people during the century following the trial of Jesus. Just before that trial, Israel’s last prophet wept over Jerusalem and foretold the destruction of its Temple, and within a generation of that prophecy the Holy Land was engulfed … [Read more...]
The Historical Development of Holy Week Services In Orthodoxy
The Paschal fast of Holy Week1 is the most ancient part of the Great Fast.2 It is already well attested by the second century, in conjunction with the rites of Christian initiation through baptism. At first spanning one or two days, the fast lengthened to four and then to a full six already by the … [Read more...]
