While in prison for his part in the 1923 Munich “beer hall putsch,” Adolf Hitler wrote a book setting forth his vision of Germany, past, present, and future. Ever since then people have pointed to his book, Mein Kampf (“My … Continue reading
Another enjoyable discussion about the push for deaconesses in the Orthodox Church, this time with Fr. Lawrence Farley in British Columbia, Fr. Patrick Ramsey in the UK, and Ioannis Nusias of According to John.
Six years since Fr. Peter Heers and I collaborated in drafting the 2018 Public Statement on Orthodox Deaconesses signed by over 50 other clerics and scholars, we meet again online to talk over the current push for deaconesses, in advance … Continue reading
Shortly after my talk with Fr. Thomas Soroka on Ancient Faith Radio, I had the great pleasure of also talking about gender issues with Rebecca Dillingham for her blog, Dissident Mama. I mentioned our talk and linked to the podcast … Continue reading
The argument over deaconesses in the Orthodox Church tends to center around past history and present needs, but the history of deaconesses is obscure, easily distorted, and not always relevant. After all, history is not tradition; it only becomes tradition … 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
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
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
