I suppose it’s because I’m in ROCOR that I am not terribly bothered by the push now on in the Greek Archdiocese to make women deaconesses. Many of us in ROCOR tend to assume the Greeks have become unhinged and … Continue reading
Just a note to let you know about my podcast interview on Ancient Faith posted earlier this week and to remind you of the other helpful posts on deaconesses and on the much bigger issue of male and female, so … Continue reading
How is one to understand a scholar—a theologian no less—who writes a book accusing the Orthodox Church of not living up to its own theology in its treatment of women while ignoring everything in Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition, and the … Continue reading
Is not personalism merely a form of individualism—more humane (perhaps) than old-fashioned, rights- based individualism, but not humane enough to keep from reducing the human person to an inhuman abstraction stripped of the concrete particulars that define every human life, … Continue reading
For many Christians, the issue is this simple: The Church once had deaconesses, so it can have them again. The reality, as usual, is rather more complex. History is not tradition; history only becomes tradition when it is handed down. … Continue reading
“Immanent critique” is a Marxist method of analysis arising out of the notorious Frankfurt School of subversive scholarship. In theory, the immanent critiquer enters intellectually into a targeted culture to develop its thinking along its own lines so as to … Continue reading
Is the difference of male and female to be “completely shaken off” so that men and women are no longer men and women but merely human beings? The great seventh-century saint Maximus the Confessor said yes, but such thinking is … Continue reading
“The whole Church has never had a tradition of having deaconesses, but the whole Church has had a tradition of not having them.” — The Disappearing Deaconess examines not just the history of deaconesses but also patristic teaching on male … Continue reading
The following was written recently for Parish Life, the monthly newsletter of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Church in Washington, D.C. A parishioner posed the question; I was asked to provide an answer. QUESTION: How should we … Continue reading
I am pleased to announce a new edition of A Crown of Life, now available at the new low price of $19.95 for paperback and $4.99 for ebook. The book was written decades ago but is now more relevant than ever. … Continue reading
