by Very Rev. Dr. Isaac Skidmore I would like to respond to the Statement on Same-sex Relationships and Sexual Identity, issued by the Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America during the recent All-American Assembly in Baltimore in July. I believe it will be evident I have concerns about the statement’s curtailment of…
Continue readingFreedom from Fear
Response to the Statement of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18) In our inaugural editorial in 2015, we stated: “The Wheel is a journal for the intelligent and constructive articulation of the Christian Gospel…
Continue readingTo Baptize or Not: God’s Love and Image
On July 9, 2022, Archbishop Elpidophoros, the primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, baptized the children of celebrity fashion designer Peter Dundas and Evangelo Bousis in a church near Athens. Reactions to the news of the baptism of children of a same-sex couple were predictable. The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of…
Continue readingFullness of Faith or Fullness of Fear?
On Prohibiting Open Theological Discussion
by Gregory Tucker At the conclusion of the “Bridging Voices” conference in Oxford in 2019, I thanked the distinguished group of participants for restoring my confidence in the church as a discursive society bound by love of and in Christ. Our meeting was demanding, at times very tense, and inconclusive, but commitment to working through…
Continue readingDomestic Violence, Faith, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
by Romina Istratii As the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign takes off, it is an opportune time to revisit the role of faith and theology in addressing domestic violence. The relationship between faith/spirituality and domestic violence is not a simple one, but it is definitely one that should be understood with the…
Continue readingThe Paradigm of Compassionate Denial
by Inga Leonova | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски To a casual reader of social media, it may appear that the culture war battles in the Orthodox circles around human sexuality have finally ceased, especially compared to the raging 2010s. I think that, rather, the lines have been drawn,…
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