morality Archives - Saint Sophia

The Twelfth Day of Christmas Advent. Saint Stylianos, The Protector of Children

11/26/2024

Saint Stylianos was born in Paphlagonia, Asia Minor, between 400 and 500. He was blessed even from his mother’s womb. As he grew up, by the grace of God he increasingly became a dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. From childhood he displayed the rare qualities of his blessed life. When he was young and still an adolescent, although, of course, he was of the flesh, he never allowed desires to pollute his spirit and soul.

Orthodoxy Versus Christian Materialism (Part I)

10/29/2024

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

Mere Morality

08/30/2024

By Father Stephen Freeman, July 14, 2014 What makes an action moral? I use the word to describe something done in an effort to conform to a rule, a law, or a principle. It is a matter of the will and a matter of effort. All societies require some form of moral behavior. If there were no such behavior, life would be unpredictable, unstable, and quite dangerous. Governments encourage some form of morality (it is

A Generous Repentance

08/26/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 19, 2014 I have learned over time to expect cultural expressions of the Orthodox faith that are mentioned nowhere in books and articles. Many of these surround major life events and their sacraments: Baptism, Marriage, Funerals. And so I was not surprised when the family of a recently deceased Romanian in my community called me for help giving away his clothes. I was told that it needed to be done

The Marriage of Love and Hate

07/23/2024

By Father Stephen Freeman, June 27, 2014 The genius of Dostoevsky lies in the profound theological insight of his tumbled novels. They can be difficult reads for many people – particularly in our modern setting. He has “too many characters” and they “talk a lot.” His characters are complex: I was a scoundrel, and yet, I loved God… Good and evil are in a monstrous coexistence within man. So says Dmitri Karamazov. And this statement

An Independence Day Message from the Founding Fathers

07/04/2024

Without Religion the Government of a Free People Cannot Be Maintained. Americans of the twentieth century often fail to realize the supreme importance which the Founding Fathers originally attached to the role of religion in the structure of the unique civilization which they hoped would emerge as the first free people in modern times. Many Americans also fail to realize that the Founders felt the role of religion would be as important in our own

Being Saved – The Ontological Approach

08/22/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 12, 2016 I cannot begin to count the number of times I wished there were a simple, felicitous word for “ontological.” I dislike writing theology with words that have to be explained – that is, words whose meanings are not immediately obvious. But, alas, I have found no substitute and will, therefore, beg my reader’s indulgence for dragging such a word into our conversations. From the earliest times in the

The Eighth Day of Christmas Advent. The Morality of Christmas.

11/22/2021

By Stephen Freeman, November 16, 2019 You might be thinking that it’s too early to hear about Christmas – Thanksgiving is yet a couple of weeks away. However, for the Orthodox, the Nativity Fast began on November 15. It is already time to give our thoughts to Christmas – our Winter Pascha. This article (a reprint) reflects on a theme that has been present in my thoughts for several years. I pray it will be

Thoughts on basic kindness, on morals and virtues.

11/03/2021

Thoughts on basic kindness By Michael Haldas, July 21, 2016 “One of the New Testament commands is that Christians display kindness toward other believers (Romans 12:10) …Such kindness is a response to God’s wonderful kindness to us….as we bless others in this way, we will find ourselves receiving similar blessings of kindness (Luke 6:38).” (Foundation Study Bible, Romans 15:25-26) “We need to have our lives and relationships reflect the admonition of St. Paul who wrote

The Change We Should Believe In

09/17/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 25, 2016 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Co 3:18) Among the many losses within modern Christianity has been the place of transformation. Nineteenth-century revival movements and theology emphasized a single experience that was associated with salvation. Those who concerned

Archive

The Twelfth Day of Christmas Advent. Saint Stylianos, The Protector of Children

Orthodoxy Versus Christian Materialism (Part I)

Mere Morality

A Generous Repentance

The Marriage of Love and Hate

An Independence Day Message from the Founding Fathers

Being Saved – The Ontological Approach

The Eighth Day of Christmas Advent. The Morality of Christmas.

Thoughts on basic kindness, on morals and virtues.

The Change We Should Believe In

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