Over the weekend of November 3-6, at Antiochian Village, an important conference took place. It was a conference that dealt with Scripture, but even more important, it was a cross-jurisdictional conference. Let me quote some lines from the Antiochian website: The 2011 Orthodox Institute, held at Antiochian Village, near Ligonier, PA, over the weekend of […]
Archives for November 2011
Opinions around the state concerning Alabama law
Earlier today I documented the retreat that is beginning on the provisions of the Alabama immigration bill. Since I wrote that post, additional opinions have been posted by Alabama newspapers. For instance, The Anniston Star says that the law should be entirely repealed, not merely amended: … According to the Center for American Progress, Alabama […]
Alabama oversteps itself and starts to retreat
A few months ago Alabama passed and put into effect the toughest anti-immigrant law on record in the United States. Now the very representatives that helped back that law are beginning to back off. Why? Because the unintended effects of that law have angered the citizens who voted them into office. The early abuses were […]
Gun rights in the USA
Reporting from Washington— The House gave gun rights advocates their first legislative win of the year in a move that some saw as a Republican back flip on protecting states’ rights: Approval of a federal regulation that would require states that issue concealed-weapons permits to honor such permits from other states. This actually happened yesterday. […]
Sacrifice and the Divine Liturgy, part 02
In yesterday’s post I spoke of the sacrifices that are offered at the altar that we have. But, I do need to mention that the altars that are found in the various Orthodox churches are not the altar that we have, but rather are icons of the altar that we have. Just like there is, […]
Sacrifice and the Divine Liturgy
So, in my previous post I mentioned that sacrifices were still being offered in worship. Almost all Christians would agree on that, as talk of the “sacrifice of praise” abounds in many Evangelical/Charismatic circles. But the Orthodox (and the Roman Catholics) view that sacrifice as involving much more. First, we do say that we have […]
Sacrifice, worship, and our God
Among many Christian groups, sacrifice is equated merely with worship. Now, there is absolutely no doubt that sacrifice and worship are connected. For instance, the Letter to the Hebrews says: By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. […]
Veterans’ Day 2011
I am a veteran. Recently, I was listening to the audio version of a book about the next hundred years by a man who has a doctorate and is a professor of geopolitical studies. As I was listening to the book, it struck me that early in the book, as he made his geopolitical analyses, […]
Law of unintended consequences
We have all heard of the “Law of Unintended Consequences.” Do you know what it is? In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences) are outcomes that are not the outcomes intended by a purposeful action. The concept has long existed but was named and popularised in the 20th century by […]
