by Fr. Thomas Hopko –
The Cross says everything about God, everything about human life, everything about history. [Read more…]
Scriptures
The Gradual Nature of Spiritual Development
by 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…]
Hear God’s Warnings: Everything in This World is Temporary, Only God is Permanent
In this video Father Spyridon Bailey cautions us that everything in this fallen world is temporary and will pass away. He reminds us that only God is permanent and will give us what our souls desire most in eternity. [Read more…]
Impossible to Follow the Crucified Lord Without Your Cross
Whoever desires to follow Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (Mark 8:34). [Read more…]
Man’s Unhappiness and Despair Caused by His Alienation from God
by 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
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…]