Every religion has odd things on its fringes, things that make most of its adherents cringe and wince, and which they are not eager to share with outsiders. These things are not so much dirty little secrets as examples of pathology,...
Recently I was asked the question, “How can a loving God send anyone to hell?” I appreciated the question because it provided an opportunity to focus more closely upon the question of what we mean by the phrase “a loving God”. It is my...
Some months ago it was arranged by the good people of the Russian Orthodox diocese of Souroz in Britain that I would give a talk at their diocesan conference this May entitled Unveiling the Scriptures. That plan came to grief with the...
We conclude this series by examining the role of the Fathers in Christian Scriptural interpretation and by offering a threefold summary of our study.The Role of the FathersThe Church Fathers were a varied lot. They lived in a number of...
We now turn to a look at how Christians read the Old Testament.The Christian Exegesis of the Old TestamentThe Christian approach to the Old Testament shared with the Second Temple interpreters their approach to the Scriptures in that the...
We continue our study by a look at Scriptural exegesis during the period of the Second Temple.Second Temple ExegesisIt is important to understand how the Scriptures were read during this period. Because the Scriptures functioned as the...
This series continues with an examination of the Scriptural tradition during the period of the kings of Israel.The Period of the KingsThis situation began to slowly change under the kings of Israel and Judah. There had always been...
We continue this series with an examination of the Scriptures in the Mosaic period.The Mosaic PeriodIt was with Moses that the first written records of God’s dealings with His people began to be written. But even then, the main gift was...
Some months ago it was arranged by the good people of the Russian Orthodox diocese of Souroz in Britain that I would give a talk at their diocesan conference at the end of this month entitled Unveiling the Scriptures. That plan came to...
Lately I was listening to Jann Arden’s poignant song Will You Remember Me? and it occurred to me that in one hundred years from now, no one would. In this I am, of course, hardly unique: in one hundred years from now, no one will...
I remember once hearing a light-hearted and self-deprecating bit of comedy from a country music station, in which the person repeatedly said, “You might be a red-neck if…” followed by a series of scenarios. For example, “You might be a...
I have just finished reading a very interesting book entitled Mixed Marriages by the Reverend Anthony Roeber, an Antiochian priest and Professor Emeritus of Early Modern History and Religious Studies at Penn State University. As one...
Buried away in the Book of Deuteronomy lies a poetic treasure and an exegetical puzzle. In Deuteronomy 32 we find the Song of Moses, an old Hebrew folk song written by Moses to warn succeeding generations about the dangers of apostasy....
Like many, I was more than a little surprised to see an American Orthodox archbishop of prominence suggest that inter-communion is a good idea—i.e. that an Orthodox priest should give Holy Communion to a non-Orthodox person. Admittedly...
Recently I was listening to some very old music—that of Barry McGuire. Barry McGuire is perhaps best known in popular culture from his 1965 hit Eve of Destruction, but I was listening to him sing with the (then) young trio The Second...
