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The Third Friday of Great Lent. Good News – Your Debt is Being Cancelled (Part II)

~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 27, 2016 This bondage or slavery to sin is also similar to language applied to the devil: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage. (Heb 2:14-15 RSV) St. Paul

The Third Thursday of Great Lent. Good News – Your Debt is Being Cancelled (Part I)

~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

The Second Monday of Great Lent. The Communion of Tradition

~By Father Stephen Freeman, June 15, 2023 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life–the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us–that which we have seen and heard we declare to

Grace and the Handbasket

~By Father Stephen Freeman, July 4, 2023 A difficulty arises when making cultural observations – things rarely turn out as expected. The Roman Empire fell once upon a time, although the fall wasn’t nearly as clean and final as Gibbons imagined and it wasn’t really the Roman Empire that fell. But ever since the “Roman Empire fell” people have been rehearsing the lessons learned and expecting its repeat. Yet the empires (or whatever is expected to fall)

A Mediated Presence – Thank God

~By Father Stephen Freeman, August 20, 2018 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (1 Tim. 2:5) There is no way to adequately explain priesthood without reference to mediation. A priest is a mediator between God and Man. From time to time over the years, I have had the verse from 1 Timothy pointed out to me with the argument that there cannot be any mediator

The Third Friday of Great Lent: The Eternal Cross-How Is the Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the World?

~By Father Stephen Freeman, April 20, 2022 Among the many striking images in the book of Revelation, there is one that stands out in particular. In Chapter 13, vs 8, we read: “All who dwell on the earth will worship him [the beast], whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The passage is not unlike that in 1 Peter: “knowing that you

Face to Face

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 2, 2015  Nothing about the human body is as intimate as the face. We generally think of other aspects of our bodies when we say “intimate,” but it is our face that reveals the most about us. It is the face we seek to watch in order to see what others are thinking, or even who they are. The importance of the face is emphasized repeatedly in the Scriptures. In

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent: The Poor, Debts & Your Enemies: Learning to Forgive

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 12, 2017  He who has pity on the poor makes a debtor of God. (Prov. 19:17) Jesus told a story about a man with a huge debt. He owed it to his master and was unable to pay. When he was dragged before his master, he begged for mercy. Strangely, the master was so moved by the man’s begging that he forgave him the entire debt. This same man, Jesus

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

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! Bright Wednesday: The Senselessness of Suffering and Death

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 11, 2017  I recently posted a note on social media in which I said that Christ’s death and resurrection changed the “senseless” character of death. Therefore, Christians need no longer fear it. I got a bit of push-back. What is senseless about suffering and death? There are two aspects of suffering and death that are particularly felt to be senseless. The first is suffering that seems to have no purpose: