:: St. Stephen's Musings ::

:: Monday, August 30, 2004 ::

Baby Update, Paul Haam, Donations, Technology: Random Monday Musings

* Baby update! The latest ultrasound has revealed the "bowel abnormality" previously detected is of no consequence. Glory to God and thanks for your prayers!

* I've noticed the more liberal one is in one's politics the better the chance that one is calling for Paul Haam to give up his gold medal as all-around men's gymnastics champion. The more conservative one is, the better the chance that one feels Haam should keep it.

No comment really....just an observation of the media coverage.

* You know, I hate to ask, but we could really use your support.

* Orthodoxy continues to utilize technology: web builders and electronic publishing.

:: Karl :: 8:22:00 AM [Link] ::

Orthodoxy in the Olympics, In-Service, Books, and Feast: Random Thursday Musings

Time is of the essence this week for me, so this post will be short and sweet.

* "Churches look Olympic best as priests skip summer holidays." This is good to see. I've really enjoyed these Olympic Games--almost more than the '96 Atlanta Games.

* In-service training for Agia Sophia Academy the past 4 days has been exhilarating, but also exhausting. The highlight was having my wife lead several of the seminars!

* Thanks to my sister-in-law I found this excellent collection of full length books online.

* If this doesn't scare you, I don't know what will. 1984, here we come....

* Our parish patronal Feast Day is coming up this weekend. St. John the Baptist, pray to God for us!

:: Karl :: 8:45:00 AM [Link] ::

A Calvinist Who Went to an Orthodox Seminary

Doug links to a short article written by a Calvinist who received a Master's from SVS. The author starts by reviewing aspects of Orthodoxy he appreciates and then proceeds to explain why he couldn't become Orthodox.

He writes, "Orthodoxy has no doctrinal statement comparable to the Westminster Confession of Faith..."

My question to the author would be--why do we *need* one? Christianity is a way of life that includes, but is not circumscribed by our Creeds, Scriptures, definitions etc. Plus, if you really need a systematic theological text, just look at St. John of Damascus' "Exposition on the Orthodox Faith."

"Orthodoxy also has a real problem with nominal members"

That is for sure. But then again what church doesn't? Would the author really want someone to judge the Reformed teachings or Presbyterian church based on either the existence or number of her nominal members? I doubt it. The tares always exist among the wheat--why does that always seem to scandalize people? That Chesterton quote about "Christianity has been found hard and not tried" comes to mind.....

"The Orthodox have not thought a lot about sin, regeneration, election, and so forth..."

Doug did a nice job of explaining why statements like this come from the very common error of trying to stuff Orthodox theology into Protestant categories and then claiming victory before one has actually addressed the issue *in context*. My question is how could the author think this after attending services, reading the Fathers, and studying Orthodox teaching? He's free to disagree with the Church's teaching, of course. But to say we haven't given it much thought is just amazing.

"If you want to see this for yourself, read Chrysostom on John 6:44-45, and then read Calvin on the same passage."

As long as you ignore all the other Patristic sources, then sure; you can always find a "one-on-one" match-up with quotes taken out of context to support almost anything.

"Many of the Orthodox tend to have a lower view of the Bible than the ancient Fathers had..."

Sadly, this conclusion is probably based more on his experience with certain liberal professors he encountered in seminary than anything else. The Orthodox have a very "high" view of the Bible--we simply don't limit God's revelation to it via a priori theological presuppositions.

"Almost everything else in any liturgy is a later adaptation and development..."

But wait! Just a few sentences earlier he was claiming that Orthodoxy was "underdeveloped" and thus not to be trusted. So which is it?

Lastly, given the typical Reformed squeamishness with icons and the sacraments in general, his "I don't agree with icons" paragraph leaves many questions begged. I'd love to see his "new and revised" critique....

Update: John has a few things to say about this post and I responded to his thoughts--both in the comments here and there.
Update 2: "Description is ever more real than definition." Seraphim pulls in a little of Florovsky to help explain the Orthodox position on formal confessional/doctrinal statements of faith.
Update 3: Clifton, building on what Doug and I have already said, offers a brilliant critique of the Kinneer article.

:: Karl :: 7:45:00 AM [Link] ::

Pregnant Wife Goes to the Hospital

The sight of your pregnant wife slowly sliding out of her chair, eyes rolling, skin turning white and clammy, ending up with her arms twitching as she lies unconscious on the floor is not something you see every day.

Needless to say, we had a very eventful day yesterday.

It turns out that she had a kidney infection and the acute pain and resultant low blood pressure brought about a lack of iron in the blood caused her to faint. After several tests (including an EKG) everything truly horrific was ruled out. Glory to God, she and the baby seem to be doing ok after yesterday's ordeal at the hospital.

There was one bit of potential bad news: the routine ultrasound revealed "an abnormality in the bowels" of the baby. Hard to say at this point if that means anything or nothing. We would certainly appreciate your prayers and I'll keep you posted as time goes by.

In other news, I start in-service training this coming week as I prepare to begin teaching this fall so posting may be scattered for the next few days. I do have a couple of posts in the works though, so stay tuned...

:: Karl :: 8:45:00 AM [Link] ::

"Let Us Pray for the Catechumens..."

My good friends Cory (Christopher) and Tiffany (Hope) became catechumens this past Sunday at St. John the Baptist

Cory will be my first godson.

If someone would have told me two years ago that they would be well on their way to becoming Orthodox, I would have laughed ruefully and given a weak smile in return. O ye of little faith.

It is amazing what God's grace, prayer, perseverance, and (coincidently) hope can do.

Keep them in your prayers as they enter their "final leg" of their journey toward the Church. As many of us know, the spiritual warfare only intensifies during this time.

:: Karl :: 8:19:00 AM [Link] ::

Top 5 Movie Villians: 1974-2004

Yes, this is a silly post topic but once in a while I get in the mood to write about something a little less serious. Humor me!

When I was a journalist I wrote for the "A&E" section occasionally and enjoyed doing film reviews. Here are my top 5 movie villain characters from the last 30 years:

1) Darth Vader, "Star Wars: Episodes IV-VI"
Is this even debatable? His sinister costume, mesmerizing voice, immense spiritual power, relentless will to dominate and (in the end) human fragility make him the best villain of all time.

Best line: "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

2) SS Commandant Amon Goeth, "Schindler's List"
A chilling ruthlessness mingles with a tortured conscience in what might be the finest portrayal of a Nazi in cinematic history.

Best line: "I realize that you are not a person in the strictest sense of the word..."

3) Hannibal Lector, "Silence of the Lambs" + "Hannibal"
What is it about extremely well-educated people? They always go off the deep end. Lector, as the postmodern anti-hero, gives evil a sophisticated face. And a horrifying palate.

Best line: "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chanti!"

4) John Lawrence, "Karate Kid I"
I know this is a controversial selection. But this character really embodies, in a way no one has done since, everything wrong with high school jock culture. Some say I look eerily similar--sans the 80's feathered mullet.

Best line: "You just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you, you little twerp! Well now you're going to pay!"

5) Hans Gruber, "Die Hard"
Alan Rickman in one of his most entertaining performances. The script for this character is one of the best ever for a villain, IMO. Intelligent and witty.

Best line: Well, you know what it is! (he repeats one of McClain's lines)

Honorable Mentions:

* General Kaal, "Willow" The costume alone is worthy of mention.
* Francis Dolarhyde, "Red Dragon" (another brilliant performance by Ralph Fiennes)
* Agent Smith, "The Matrix"

:: Karl :: 8:32:00 AM [Link] ::

The Olympics, Rules of Life, and "They": Random Friday Musings

* The 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens officially begin today with what has become one of the most elaborate and expensive liturgical celebrations in history: Opening Ceremony Night. Interestingly, much of what we consider to be iconographic of the Olympics (the torch relay, the huge stadiums, the meticulously choreographed pageantry) are innovations introduced by the Nazis at the 1936 Games in Berlin.

* The 11 Rules of Life. I especially liked this one:

Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Huw writes some pithy commentary on the rules.

* The acceptance and endorsement of homosexual relations in both the Catholic and Orthodox Church in Medieval Europe is "proven" in this "scholarly" text. Whew! I'm glad we got that cleared up.....Sheesh.

* I was just talking about this with someone the other day--The omnipresent "They"...

* Lord willing, we will celebrate the Feast of the Dormition this Sunday. A blessed Feast to all!

Update: Thanks to James, here is the famous sermon on the Dormition by St. Gregory Palamas.

:: Karl :: 7:38:00 AM [Link] ::

The Firstborn of Satan?

In Orthodox circles one often hears about the dangers of what Fr. Seraphim Rose called the "correctness disease."
While Fr. Seraphim's brilliant insights are spot on and need to be taken to heart by Americans coming to Orthodoxy, the concept itself has been cheapened in modern times by the those who try to distinguish the "level-headed" and "moderate" mindset of themselves over the uber-evil and triumphalistic inner attitude of the converts or traditionalists.

"Zeal not according to knowledge" (Rom. 10:2) is certainly to be avoided, of course. But it makes me wonder--would the first few generations of Christians (most of whom were converts themselves) have had the heart to be martyred the way they were if they did not, in some small way, have an "ugly convert syndrome" toward paganism (or, like St. Stephen, toward Judaism)?

I get the feeling if we met some 2nd or 3rd century Christians in the flesh, some of us would be pretty embarrassed by the saint's zeal for the Church, for Christ, for the Truth. I'm not sure whether that says more about us or more about them.

Here are two amusing examples of this from church history:

* St. Polycarp tells us that the apostle John once went to the public bath in Ephesus and found inside a Gnostic teacher named Cerinthus. John ran out crying, "Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within."

* Polycarp himself once met the infamous heretic Marcion walking down the street. Marcion hated the creator-God of the Hebrews and, to get rid of Him, had tossed out the Old Testament and much of the New and rewrote the bits he kept. Marcion asked Polycarp, "Do you know me?" and Polycarp answered, "I do know you. You are the firstborn of Satan."

Do you think these denunciations were said with a wink and a twinkle in the eye, or with sober conviction? Or, what seems more likely given the nature of the saints, both?

:: Karl :: 7:44:00 AM [Link] ::

Grammatista

I have accepted, with a mixture of trepidation and excitement, a part-time position this coming school year at Agia Sophia Academy as the Latin and grammar teacher.

I will be teaching 3 days per week for about 30 minutes per session. While this isn't very much class time, the students are young and the curriculum is meant to be taught at a slower pace.

Please keep me in your prayers. I will still be working full-time in the media industry, starting an upper division English course in literary criticism that runs from late September through early December, teaching Latin at ASA, and getting ready for the birth of my first child.

More on all of this in future posts.

:: Karl :: 7:49:00 AM [Link] ::

Orthodox Inquirer Roundup

Cory: "Probing the scriptures, I could not find an instance where Christ assured me I was entitled to a Christian life free from challenge, absent of faith, void of intellectual thought."

Now there is a truth to remember, especially as we become weary of daily Orthodox life, troubled over jurisdictional or ethnic issues, or feel that the truths of the Faith are (as a family member who has left the Church put it to me) "inaccessible."

John has on his list of things to do:
1) Figure out "Authority" in Eastern Orthodoxy and write a paper on it.
2) Figure out "Authority" in Christian Church Protestantism and deal with it.

I pointed him to this great series of essays on the topic.

Rusty: "I remember what God has been doing in my life - how He's changed me in the months I've found out more about His Church. I remember the service yesterday, about the feeling I had when I prostrated before the cross. How it felt to partake of the blessed water, and yearn for the day I can partake of the Eucharist. About how I can almost remember every sermon I've heard preached during the Divine Liturgy. I know that there was life where I was, but now I've found it more abundantly."

Good point, Rusty. Today being the Feast of the Transfiguration it is good to remember that our former life is transfigured, not annihilated.

Nathan: "I am starting to realize that God demands we accept the church on his terms, not our own....We either accept the church as she has come to us through the centuries, or try to fashion our own - with all that either decision implies about God and ourselves."

Amazingly, the choice is really that clear.

:: Karl :: 8:32:00 AM [Link] ::

Cut to Pieces

The first few days of ascetic struggle during a fasting season are always difficult; not so much because of the fasting per se, but because of what the struggle reveals about the human heart.

Fr. Artemy speaks of this well. "Perhaps the only way for a modern man, crazed by inner pride, to come to humility is to be crushed by life, to be cut into pieces by his sins, and to understand that he hasn't any strength to live without God. Our ancestors were like birds who soared to our Lord; now we must crawl to Him."
Props to Bill

Of course, our ancestors in the faith also had to crawl. Their struggle, while unique to their circumstances and lives, was the same podvig. But, oh, how difficult this struggle seems to us in our day with the myriad of temptations undreamt of in ages past and the seemingly irresistible power of the Evil One's juggernaut.

Update: "In retrospect, perhaps I'm not keeping the fast as well as I had originally thought..."
Update 2: In keeping with the spirit of the great discussion in the comments, I thought Seraphim's debate on the virtues of English with a weight-lifting partner was quite amusing.

:: Karl :: 7:50:00 AM [Link] ::

Napoleon, Quotes and the Translation of St. Stephen's Relics: Random Monday Musings

* I saw this over the weekend. About 75% of the people in the theater roared with laughter (some of us with tears in our eyes) and the rest seemed confused. A brilliant and hilarious comedy that doesn't rely on vulgarity is a true rarity in our day. Highly recommended.

* Speaking of vulgar, what are your kids wearing? Goodness sakes. I think that about confirms we are in the end times.

* Why the church must repent of inclusivity.

* The Prayer Blog. Add your commemorations and take a few minutes to run through these prayers yourself.

* Quote du Jour: "What's another word for heresy? Progressive orthodoxy."

* Deep Thought du Jour. I feel like this all the time.

* Today is one of the Feast days of my patron, St. Stephen the Protomartyr.

"After the First Martyr had been stoned to death, Gamaliel, his teacher, encouraged certain of the Christians to go by night and take up the Saint's body and bury it in his field, which was at a distance of some twenty miles from Jerusalem and was called by his name, 'Kaphar-gamala,' that is, 'the field of Gamala,' where Gamaliel himself was later buried."

"About the year 427, a certain pious man called Lucian, who was the parish priest of a church near to that field, received from God a revelation in a dream concerning the place where the First Martyr was buried. He immediately made this known to John, the Patriarch of Jerusalem."

"Thus coming to the place indicated and digging there, they found a box with the word 'Stephen' in Aramaic letters. On opening it, they took these most sacred relics and transferred them to Jerusalem with great honor and in the company of a very great multitude of the faithful."

Update: "If you've let your child start being immodest, someone, somewhere is going to be immodest back."
Update 2: The opinions expressed in the comments of this post reminded me of a similiar topic and the intriguing and provocative discussion that followed.
Update 3: Jennifer notes the important truth that modesty is not just a "girl problem"

:: Karl :: 7:46:00 AM [Link] ::