Fr. Bill's Orthodox Blog – Orthodoxy from the Third Coast
Saints, Seasons, Society, Sins, plus Travels mostly to Greece and who knows what next? by Father Bill Olnhausen
… at least not today in the Orthodox Church, when we commemorate Saints Auxentios, Maron and the martyrs Nicholas and Damian. No hearts and flowers there. We Orthodox do commemorate two Saint Valentines – one on July 6, the other on July 30 A Confusing Introduction I thought this was going to be a simple […]
Read More »That’s a devious way of saying this is a re-run of my old Post, written seven years ago: The Groundhog Who Stole Candlemas When I look back at my former Posts, almost invariably I’m unhappy with them. I think I surely could have written that better. Except for this one. Forgive me, but I really […]
Read More »These days when people are breaking the “Seven Deadly” publicly and unashamedly and even proudly, I thought this might be a relevant topic. Brief Introduction What is “sin”? In the New Testament, by far the most common word for sin is “amartia / ἁμαρτία”, an archery term which means being “off the mark” – the […]
Read More »So Jesus’ birth was the result of Mary’s being raped by a Roman soldier?! That is the suggestion of Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton, University. * The evidence for this is… You’re right. There isn’t any. As for the Christmas stories? They, she says, are only “metaphors”. Metaphors for what? That’s not clear. […]
Read More »Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker Bishop of Myra December 6, 343 Saint Nicholas was Bishop of the city of Myra on the south coast of Asia Minor (now Turkey) in the Fourth Century, back in the days when the Greek-speaking world stretched across much of the eastern Mediterranean. * He is perhaps the most popular, most […]
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