In considering the liturgical element to Eastern spirituality and piety, we cannot avoid facing the very difficult question of a possible influence of the mystery cults on Hellenistic Christianity. That Christianity sometimes borrowed from the vocabulary and rites of the … Continue reading
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I have been sharing in this article the thoughts of Maximus the Confessor on divinization and spiritual progress. He taught that the experience of God is a type of knowledge that is based on active engagement or relationship with God … Continue reading
In Chapters 9-11 of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he returns to the explicit theme of Jew and Gentile. He agonizes about the non-response of many Jews to Jesus, emphasizes his own Jewish roots, and ponders what God promises to … Continue reading
Jesus said to them, “Are you confident I can do this?” Perhaps the one question that each person must ask is: Do I truly have confidence in God’s promise that, if I attempt to live like Jesus, I will be … Continue reading
The official language of Byzantium at the time of its founding was Latin, the anguage of Rome; however its locals spoke Greek. The Code of Justinian was written in Latin. However, over time, Greek replaced Latin as the language of … Continue reading
As we consider and study Paul’s Letter to the Romans, we discover that just as salvation meant something different for Paul than it does for many Christians today, faith and what it means to believe in Jesus have often been … Continue reading
It is my hope that this article about being called to holiness is beginning to resonate with my readers. Spiritual growth comes when we understand that we are called to holiness – called to be saints. It is my belief … Continue reading
I have been in this article the ideas of Maximus the Confessor about spiritual progress and divinization. Maximus is considered one of the preeminent Fathers of the Eastern Church. He expressed his belief that by practicing asceticism (life of habits … Continue reading
In thinking more about eastern spirituality, I have decided that at this point I would like to present some information about the historical development of this spirituality. Some of this information, I believe, will put into context some of the … Continue reading
In the last issue of the article, I suggested that there was a great interplay between Byzantine church architecture and the Liturgy. For example, two parts of the Liturgy directly impacted the structure of the church building, namely the Little … Continue reading