The advent of Jesus into the Jewish world, which awaited a Messiah that would rescue them from Roman domination, caused some to rethink not only what the anticipated Messiah would do but also what their God was like. According to … Continue reading
Category Archives: GAINING A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF OUR FAITH
Let me continue this article by sharing some thoughts about the Church’s understanding of Who Christ Is. Put simply, the Church confesses about Christ that He is the Son of God become human, become man, without ceasing to be God. … Continue reading
In order to gain a deeper understanding of our faith, we must discover the essential beliefs of our faith. Contrary to popular belief, there are not that many specific things in which we are called to believe. I truly believe … Continue reading
In the last issue of this article I suggested that our Eastern spirituality interprets Paul’s letter to the Romans as saying: “because of death all sin” instead of “because of sin all die.” Because of linguistic limitations of Latin, St. … Continue reading
We Eastern Christians follow St. Maximos the Confessor, one of the greatest of systematic theologians. He died in 662 CE from mutilation that was inflicted by the government after his arrest along with Pope St. Martin I. He named eight … Continue reading
As I shared, our faith believes that while God provides all that is necessary for human salvation and personal transformation, we must accept and apply these gifts. The mutual cooperation, and the personal relationship that it brings about, is called … Continue reading
In Byzantine spirituality the emphasis on the communal does not, in any way, mean that the individual is lost in the crowd. The purpose of an individual’s life is to achieve the aim declared in St. Peter’s second letter: “To … Continue reading
Byzantine spirituality is intensely communal. It is deeply rooted in Byzantine thought that an individual is not saved as an individual but as a member of the Body of Christ, the Church. Incorporation into the Church brings not only salvation … Continue reading
To gain a deeper understanding of our Greek-Catholic faith, we must first attempt to determine what it considers to be its most basic beliefs. I believe that these basic beliefs are made manifest in its spirituality. I would preface my … Continue reading
In this article I have been sharing with my readers what I believe is the basic difference between Eastern Christian and Western Christian understanding of salvation. In the East, our traditional story of salvation commences not with man as sinner … Continue reading