I am going to produce some draft copies of a small little 24pp A6 booklet to introduce the very basics of the Gospel. I’d be interested in comments. This is the text. Good news? The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1 The Christian message is one of […]
There are few of the Fathers of the Oriental Orthodox communion who escape uncritical censure on the part of the Eastern Orthodox. Uncritical because based on a few polemical comments deriving from the period of the Christological controversies and failing entirely to take into account any of the writings and historical records deriving from the […]
From the earliest years of the Church the role of bishop, or episkopos, has developed as a means of preserving the ministry of the Apostles into the more settled situation of organised Christian communities. The Apostle Paul, in his letters to Timothy and Titus, describes the moral character of the man who should be considered […]
I was recently asked how our Orthodox Church might be able to defend the practice of infant baptism when it does not appear to be taught in the Bible. This is a good question, and I will respond in this brief post. I am not going to explore in any great depth the nature of […]
Here are videos of the two lectures I gave at the 2017 SCOOCH Youth Conference with the blessing of HG Anba Angaelos, HG Anba Karas and the Oriental Orthodox bishops of the US. All of these recordings are from the Church of St Mina, Holmdel, New Jersey.
It is hard to imagine that controversy can become so engrained an attitude that even the words of hymns become the subject of polemics. But this is the case. In every Liturgy in our Orthodox services we sing the hymn of the Trisagion in one form or another, and in our Coptic Orthodox Tradition it […]
I was asked this morning by a friend, how it is that we have bishops and priests in the Orthodox Church, and how we should understand this structure in the Church from a Scriptural perspective. It is a good question. Most Protestant groups have neither bishops nor priests, and when Protestants read the Scriptures they […]
There are times when I write about something which is doctrinal and even dogmatic. There are times when I write about the authentic spirituality which is the basis of our Christian faith and experience. But there are other occasions when I am simply writing about my reflections and opinions, and do not intend them to […]
The First Letter of St Severus to Julian of Halicarnassus Of the Patriarch, to the same Julian. From the instant when I received the letter of your Holiness, I rejoiced, as always, to see myself addressed in a salutation which is most dear to me. As you have also encouraged me to read the Tome, […]
There is an extensive collection of texts between Julian and St Severus which describe the controversy caused by Julian’s view that the humanity of Christ was immortal and incorruptible. This material is available in a French translation which I will begin to publish here in English as God wills and my poor ability allows. Translation […]