We are made up of soul and body; the two cannot be separated in our conduct. Let the physical therefore come to your aid: Christ knew our weakness and for our sake used words and gestures, spittle and earth as media. For our sake He let His power flow from the fringe of His garment (Matthew 9: 20; 14: 36), from the handkerchiefs or aprons that were carried away from the apostle Paul’s body (Acts
By Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris In our sacraments we emphasize the use of matter precisely because of this Orthodox stress on the incarnation, the resurrection and the resulting theological affirmation of the goodness of matter because Christ took on a material body and in the resurrection our material bodies so that they may participate in the glory of the Kingdom. Therefore matter as created by God is good (“And God saw everything that He had
By Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris This theological emphasis on the incarnation as foundational for the way we worship has been somewhat forgotten in some other Christian denominations, and this has resulted in clear differences in the venue and style of Orthodox and non-Orthodox worship. For example, some Western churches are reminiscent of a classroom: the proverbial stark chapel, devoid of icons and church furniture except for pews and a pulpit in a prominent position in
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