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The Fourth Monday of Great Lent. The Church is the Cross through History

By Father Stephen Freeman, April 14, 2023 St. Paul wrote that he had determined to restrict his preaching to the Cross. (1 Cor. 2:2) This was not an effort to diminish the gospel. Rather, it was an effort to rightly understand the gospel. One of the great temptations of Christianity is to allow itself to become a “religion,” that is, to serve whatever role that religions of any sort play within a culture and the

The Seed of the Word of God and the Ground

Ioannis Karavidopoulos, Professor of the School of Theology of the University of Thessaloniki The parable of the sower is a wake-up call for self-criticism and self-knowledge. People often wonder and are surprised at the apparent failure of Christianity in the world, which can be seen to a greater or lesser extent in different places. Shouldn’t we be looking at a greater impact on the part of Christianity on humankind and a more encouraging implementation of

Search Me, O God

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 20, 2023 Jesus was not a theoretician. He was not all words and theories. His teaching had practical applications and consequences. His core message was about the presence of the kingdom of heaven within us and among us here and now using metaphors from daily life, fishing and farming, wedding feasts and banquets to anchor Christian spirituality in the real stuff of this world. Although many

The Ninth Day of Christmas. Another Opportunity: A New Year’s Day Sermon by Father George Papadeas

Another New Year has dawned, and it is normal that we give extra thought to the new time frame. We all make the customary New Year’s resolutions, only to have them short-lived. To this there could only be one answer, and this was spoken by the Lord: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) Our intentions may be honorable, but we so easily capitulate to the espoused routine of life, simply

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Third Monday of Pascha: When Death Dies

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 22, 2022  Christianity is not reconciliation with death. It is the revelation of death, and it reveals death because it is the revelation of Life. Christ is this Life. And only if Christ is Life is death what Christianity proclaims it to be, namely the enemy to be destroyed, and not a “mystery” to be explained. Religion and secularism, by explaining death, give it a “status,” a rationale, make it

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

A Noetic Life

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, September 17, 2021  The Native Peoples of Alaska and the far north really do have over 50 words for snow. In total, there are around 180 words for snow and ice. There is “aqilokoq” for “softly falling snow” and “piegnartoq” for “the snow [that is] good for driving a sled.” There is also “utuqaq,” which means, “ice that lasts year after year” and “siguliaksraq,” the patchwork layer of crystals that forms as the

The Radical Nature of Christianity (2)

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on March 2, 2022 George Mantzarides, Professor Emeritus of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The rejection of Christ, but also his acceptance by many, is an enduring phenomenon which can be seen in our own age, too. He himself said to his disciples: ‘If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you. If they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also’ (Jn. 15, 20). The world in general

Not a Single Individual Will Be Saved

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 24, 2018  Perhaps the most striking thing about human beings is that we don’t actually come into existence by ourselves. There are parents (two of them when the laws of biology are allowed to work). The parents themselves are points of contact to a much larger world of the family and the culture itself. Human beings do not come without cultures. In a relatively short time, we acquire language and

The Radical Nature of Christianity (1)

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on February 23, 2022 George Mantzarides, Professor Emeritus of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The Gospel of Christ doesn’t come from this world, nor is it compatible with the spirit of the world. Moreover, the Gospel of Christ isn’t usually preached intact in the world, nor has it ever been applied in its true dimensions by humankind as a whole or by any particular people over the course of history.