“For the peace of the whole world, for the stability of the holy churches of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.” (Divine Liturgy) This text is also available in pdf format in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Ukrainian, Croatian, Estonian, Hungarian, Portuguese, and…
Continue readingIslam, Orthodoxy, and Tyranny
by Phil Dorroll | български | ქართული | Ελληνικά | Русский | Српски When it comes to religion and politics, Eastern Orthodox Christians and Sunni Muslims find themselves in the same predicament. Both of these religions adhere to a particularly strong concept of sacred tradition. This tradition is distinct from revelation itself, but revelation can…
Continue readingA Reflection on the Church in the Political Arena
by Fr. Robert M. Arida Democracy and the separation of church and state are relatively new for the Orthodox Church. From both derive the many challenges the Church in America encounters as it stands unfettered in the political arena. Paraphrasing the British historian and theologian G.L. Prestige, the concept, let alone the reality, of a…
Continue readingDon’t Confuse Autocephaly with Theology
For our entire history, secular geographies have dictated the boundaries of episcopal sees and autocephalous churches. The decisions of ecumenical councils, which occasionally affirmed these jurisdictions, were pragmatic efforts to align—and often realign—the ecclesiastical map according to shifting political realities. In short, there is nothing theologically significant about ecclesial borders.
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