Archive

Orthodoxy Versus Christian Materialism (Part I)

By Father Stephen Freeman Over the years I find myself coming back to a number of ideas within the modern world that differ markedly from Orthodox thought. These are ideas that are imbedded so deep within our culture that they seem self-evident to most people. Many Orthodox believers hold to one or more of them, distorting their understanding of the faith. This article is an effort to create a list and address each one. If

Fear: Cause and Cure

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on July 25, 2021 Protopresbyter Georgios Dorbarakis The Christian faith doesn’t doubt the existence of fear in people’s lives. It accepts it as a reality and interprets it. Fear is the product of our Fall into sin- that which opened the gates for every kind of fear to enter our life, and therefore the tragedy of our time on earth. But with Christ’s coming, we found our true path again and once more felt the

The End of History

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 17, 2017  There is a proverb from the Soviet period: “History is hard to predict.” The re-writing of history was a common political action – enough to provoke the proverb. Students of history are doubtless well-aware that re-writing is the constant task of the modern academic world. The account of American and World History which I learned (beginning school in the 1950’s) differs greatly from the histories my children have

Self-Emptying Prayer

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 29, 2021  We are told that Christ “emptied Himself” in His death on the Cross (Philippians 2:5-11). Further, we are told that this self-emptying is to be the “mind” that we ourselves have. It is possible to grasp that such self-emptying can be practiced in our dealings with others when we place them above ourselves – when the “other” is our greater concern. But how is this possible in prayer?

Rest for Your Soul

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, December 31, 2016  If…then… Among the most alluring ideas in our lives are the notions of cause and effect, performance and award. Nothing seems more soothing than the simple promise that doing one thing leads to the reward of the other. It is predictable, subject to control, clearly delineates the rules of reward and punishment and makes obvious who deserves what. Nothing could be neater. The limit to this idea comes

The Dormition of the Mother of God

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 14, 2007 In giving birth you preserved your virginity, In falling asleep you did not forsake the world, O Theotokos. You were translated to life, O Mother of Life, And by your prayers, you deliver our souls from death. Troparion of the Feast – Tone 1 It is easy to be put off by Orthodox devotion to the Mother of God when coming at Orthodoxy from a Protestant background. Both

More on the Will of God

By Father Stephen Freeman The priest, Seraphim, spent 30 years of his life in the Soviet Gulag. During that period he was tortured from time to time and was assigned the duty of cleaning out the contents of the latrines. Other prisoners avoided him because of the stench that hung about him at all times. He was a living saint and saved the souls of many around him. His story, in brief, is told in

Orthodoxy Versus Christian Materialism (Part I)

By Father Stephen Freeman Over the years I find myself coming back to a number of ideas within the modern world that differ markedly from Orthodox thought. These are ideas that are imbedded so deep within our culture that they seem self-evident to most people. Many Orthodox believers hold to one or more of them, distorting their understanding of the faith. This article is an effort to create a list and address each one. If