Doug’s Theological Thoughts

  • Epistle Reading 2024-12-07

    ST. PAUL’S SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:1-6Brethren, I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. But I am afraid that as the serpent…

  • Saints of the Day 2024-12-07

    Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (339 – 397) Orthodox Christianity Then and Now Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Arianism and paganism.[5] He left a substantial collection of writings, of which the…

  • It is the Nativity Fast

  • Pedigree of the Patriarchs of Antioch

    Antioch is where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians. Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. There is an…

  • Gospel Reading – 2024-12-06

    LUKE 6:17-23 At that time, Jesus stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean…

  • Gospel Reading 2024-12-05

    MATTHEW 11:27-30 The Lord said to his disciples, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  Come to me, all who labor and are…

  • Epistle Reading – 2023-12-07

    ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO THE HEBREWS 13:17-21 Brethren, obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account. Let them do this joyfully, and not sadly, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure…

  • Saints of the Day – 2014-12-06

    Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra Lived 15 March 270 – 6 December 343. His story. Account of his life from 400 AD. Thrown in prison, beaten and tortured for being a Christian. Set free by the Emperor Constantine when he made Christianity legal. He was at the First Great Ecumenical Council. Performed miracles. Not…

  • What is “the words of truth” in 2 Timothy 2:15?

    The phrase “word of truth” is used in this passage. When I was a Protestant I would have said it was about the Bible. but what is Saint Paul talking about? 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.…

  • Study to show yourself approved

    I’ve got to admit this. I misunderstood this verse. 2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. This verse is in a section of the Scripture where the Apostle Paul is telling Timothy how to do Christian apologetics. I…

  • Worship v Veneration

    I’ve often wondered what the difference between worship and veneration is. In particular, with respect to the veneration of Saints and Angels vs the worship that is only for God. Superficially it seemed like a distinction without a difference particularly where it comes to prayer… But The Lord of Spirits podcast clarified it for me.…

  • Saints of the Day – 2024-12-05

    Sabbas the Sanctified (527-565 AD) Orthodox Christianity Then And Now Website Holy Martyr Diogenes Orthodox Christianity Then And Now Website Philotheos the Righteous of Mount Athos Orthodox Christianity Then And Now Website Nektarios the Bulgarian Orthodox Christianity Then And Now Website

  • Angels and Prayer

    When I was an Evangelical Protestant I missed quite a few things in the Bible. I read it often enough and could quote it back well. But there were a lot of passages which I didn’t really see certain details in. One of these was the role of angels in prayer. In Scripture, Angels play…

  • Hidden History of Early Christian Art

     

  • Orthodox Demographics

     How many Orthodox are there?

  • Orthodoxy in the News

    Orthodoxy tends to stay out of the news. Recent growth in converts to Orthodox have got some notice this week in the NY Post article Young men leaving traditional churches for ‘masculine’ Orthodox Christianity in droves. In Droves? It is true that there is an uptick in the number of people being received into the Orthodox…

  • Thoughts on Authorship of the Pauline Corpus

    Modern scholarship sees some of the letters of Paul as being genuinely written by Paul and others as written later by others. There is strong consensus in modern New Testament scholarship on a core group of authentic Pauline epistles whose authorship is rarely contested: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon.…

  • Epistle Reading 2024-12-05

    ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIANS 5:22-26; 6:1-2 Brethren, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also…

  • Gospel Reading 2024-12-03

    LUKE 21:12-19 The Lord said to his disciples, “Beware of men who will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore…

  • Gospel Reading 2024-11-26

    LUKE 19:45-48 At that time, Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and…

  • Nazarite Vows

    Josephus briefly recounts an episode where, in the 12th year of the reign of Nero, during the outbreak of the First Jewish-Roman War, Bernice (the sister of King Agrippa II) had put herself under a Nazirite vow and had come to Jerusalem thirty days before she was to offer her sacrifices, Wikipedia Did Mary take…

  • Epistle Reading 2024-11-26

    ST. PAUL’S FIRST LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS 1:6-10 Brethren, you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit; so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of…

  • Saints of the Day 2024-11-26

    Alypius the Stylite of Adrianopolis Orthodox Christianity Then and Now Nikon Metanoeite Orthodox Christianity Then and Now Stylianos the Monk of Paphlagonia Orthodox Christianity Then and Now George the New Martyr of Chios Orthodox Christianity Then and Now Akakios of Sinai who is mentioned in The Ladder, Innocent of Irkutsk Orthodox Christianity Then and Now

  • Church Fathers 2024-11-25

    Catherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine[a] (Greek: Αίκατερίνη) is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian…