Reformation Archives - Page 2 of 3

The End of History

03/04/2024

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

Saving My Neighbor – Just How Connected Are We?

09/25/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 9, 2017 If you are in the “helping professions,” confronting problems in people’s lives, it doesn’t take long to realize that no one is purely and simply an individual. The problems we suffer may occasionally appear to be “of our own making,” but that is the exception rather than the rule. Whether we are thinking of economic or genetic inheritance, or the psychological and social environment, almost all the issues

Politics and the Kingdom of God

01/13/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 27, 2017 The modern project holds that the world can be improved and made better. It also holds that human beings can be improved and made better. And finally, it holds that the means of that improvement and betterment are political. Modernity began only partly as a philosophical assertion. It found its voice first, and foremost, in the political experiments of the 18th century. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the rapid

An Audience of None

10/24/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 26, 2016 In the 1980’s sci-fi comedy, Short Circuit, a charming military robot character, “Number 5,” is awakened into consciousness by a lightning strike. He fears going back to his military keepers where he will be re-programmed. And so, with help from human friends, he begins his touching effort to stay free. His famous line, repeated often, echoes his drive to understand, “Need input!” He is an example of our modern

The Third Monday of Great Lent: The Contradictions of Scripture

03/21/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 29, 2016 We can, however, only express the Truth if we foresee the extreme expression of all the contradictions inherent in it, from which it follows that Truth itself encompasses the ultimate projection of all its invalidations, is antonymic and cannot be otherwise. -Pavel Florensky I wrote in a previous article about the importance of contradictions in the knowledge of God. The Orthodox faith utterly delights in paradox and contradiction

The Fourth Friday of Great Lent: The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Moral Improvement

04/09/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 4, 2019 The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church, is dedicated to St. John Climacus, the author of the ancient work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent. It is a classic work describing “steps” within the life of the struggling ascetic. There is an icon associated with this work, picturing monastics climbing the rungs of a ladder to heaven, battling demons who are trying to pull them off. However,

The Need to Know

07/31/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 17, 2015 There is a deep nagging sense in our culture of the “need to know.” We want to know government secrets, intimate details of private lives, pretty much everything. I think this felt need is often present because we lack trust in those who are keeping secrets. We want to know what they’re up to. The secrets of other lives, however, are interesting to us, primarily out of envy

Marriage as a Lifetime of Suffering

09/27/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 5, 2015 When couples come to ministers to talk about their marriage ceremonies, ministers think it’s interesting to ask if they love one another. What a stupid question! How would they know? A Christian marriage isn’t about whether you’re in love. Christian marriage is giving you the practice of fidelity over a lifetime in which you can look back upon the marriage and call it love. It is a hard

The Twenty-Sixth Day of Great Lent. The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Moral Improvement

04/05/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 11, 2016 The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church, is dedicated to St. John Climacus, the author of the ancient work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent. It is a classic work describing “steps” within the life of the struggling ascetic. There is an icon associated with this work, picturing monastics climbing the rungs of a ladder to heaven, battling demons who are trying to pull them off. However,

The Nineteenth Day of Great Lent. Good News – Your Debt is Being Cancelled

03/29/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 27, 2016 Recent conversations on the blog have bounced around the imagery of debt in the Scriptures. Contemporary Protestant thought often likes to express the notion of a “sin debt.” The idea runs that God’s righteousness and justice have proper demands. When we fail to keep the commandments, we create a debt for which God’s justice demands payment. Christ’s innocent self-offering on the Cross is seen as the payment for

Archive

The End of History

Saving My Neighbor – Just How Connected Are We?

Politics and the Kingdom of God

An Audience of None

The Third Monday of Great Lent: The Contradictions of Scripture

The Fourth Friday of Great Lent: The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Moral Improvement

The Need to Know

Marriage as a Lifetime of Suffering

The Twenty-Sixth Day of Great Lent. The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Moral Improvement

The Nineteenth Day of Great Lent. Good News – Your Debt is Being Cancelled

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