Scriptures

The Gradual Nature of Spiritual Development

The Gradual Nature Of Spiritual Developmentby St. Nikolai Velimirovich –
“For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14). [Read more…]

Riches in Every Sense Can Alienate Us from God

by C.S. Lewis –
The Christian view is that men were created to be in a certain relationship to God (if we are in that relation to Him, the right relationship to one another will follow inevitably). Christ said that it was difficult for “the rich” to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, referring, no doubt, to “riches” in the ordinary sense. [Read more…]

Man’s Unhappiness and Despair Caused by His Alienation from God

Man’s Unhappiness and Despair Caused by His Alienation from Godby Fr. Thomas Hopko –
We have abandoned communion with God and have gone off on our own, following our own ideas, enacting our own plans.

And the result? Through our reckless wasting of the gifts given us by God, we have stripped ourselves of our original and fundamental dignity, glory, wisdom, beauty and strength: we have lost our legacy as God’s children. And the whole cosmos suffers with us in our affliction.

People feel unhappy and they don’t know why. They feel that something is wrong, but they can’t put their finger on what. They feel uneasy, confused, frustrated, alienated and estranged – and they can’t explain it. [Read more…]

Man and Woman – An Orthodox Christian Understanding

Man and Woman – An Orthodox Christian Understanding
In Volume I, Doctrine of The Orthodox Faith four book series, Father Thomas Hopko provides a clear and thorough overview of the sources of Christian doctrines and the theology of the Orthodox Church. In the chapter titled “Man” Father Hopko explains how God created man in His “image and likeness” as male and female and gave them dominion over [Read more…]