by Nikolaos Asproulis | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски It was a normal Greek summer day in July 2022, before an Orthodox baptism provoked a fervent debate, or another episode in the “culture wars,” regarding the requirements (are there any?) of a child being baptized in the Church. Although Greeks are accustomed to reading about Church activities…
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 readingLiving Epiphanies: The Baptism of Christ and the Restoration of Creation
by Rev. Dr. Philip LeMasters | български | ქართული | Ελληνικά | Русский | Српски On this great feast of Theophany, we celebrate Christ’s baptism, when the voice of the Father identified Him as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. Epiphany reveals that the Savior Who…
Continue readingThe Presence of Christ in our Homes on Holy Week and Pascha
by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko | ελληνικά | Română | ру́сский When COVID-19 first arrived on the scene as a nuisance, and not a pandemic, the Churches responded by making slight alterations to the rite of receiving communion. Catholic and Protestant Churches instructed people to refrain from partaking of the cup, and the people exchanged…
Continue readingSome Notes on the Byzantine Practice of (Re)Baptizing Latins
by Nicolas Kamas The impending Great and Holy Council has provoked a number of reactions, from joy to hostility, on many of the topics it has promised to address. Among these has been the relationship of the Orthodox Church to other forms of Christianity, which highlights the long-standing problem of the reception of converts who…
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