ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
An interview with Dr Jean Claude Larchet(*), University Professor who holds a doctorate in the Humanities, has studied Psychopathology, Philosophy and the Eastern Church Fathers and has also had clinical experience in psychiatric hospitals. Continue reading “Is secular “psychotherapy” compatible with the principles and the anthropology of the Orthodox Church?”
The position of the Church has always been, however, that we need help and guidance if we’re to understand Scripture in depth. Thus, as early as the Apostolic age (Acts 8, 30-31), Philip encounters an Ethiopian reading the Book of Isaiah. ‘Do you understand what you’re reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ This is a strange answer because the man can obviously read and the words are simple enough, a lamb being led to slaughter, but it’s only when Philip explains the deeper meaning of the prophecy that the man can understand. Continue reading “On Spiritual Knowledge”
Church: Greek = Ecclesia (the summoned ones)
An essay by Fr. Anthony Hughes of St. Mary’s Church, Boston
The differences between the doctrine of Ancestral Sin—as understood in the church of the first two centuries and the present-day Orthodox Church—and the doctrine of Original Sin—developed by Augustine and his heirs in the Western Christian traditions—is explored. The impact of these two formulations on pastoral practice is investigated. It is suggested that the doctrine of ancestral sin naturally leads to a focus on human death and Divine compassion as the inheritance from Adam, while the doctrine of original sin shifts the center of attention to human guilt and Divine wrath. It is further posited that the approach of the ancient church points to a more therapeutic than juridical approach to pastoral care and counseling. (Abstract [1]) Continue reading “Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy”
by John Brady
The roster of 20th-century saints includes some who lived very public lives, such as Russia’s Royal Martyrs, and not a few who strove to live “hid with Christ in God.” Saint Silouan of Mount Athos might have passed without a worldly trace if God had not sent Archimandrite Sophrony to record his life for our benefit. Continue reading “Mother Gavrilia: “A Holocaust to His Love” – The Ascetic of Love”
By Archmandrite George, Abbott of the Holy Monastery of Saint Gregory at Mount Athos
In the Orthodox Church of Christ, man can achieve theosis because the Grace of God, according to the teaching of the Holy Bible and of the Church Fathers, is uncreated. God is not only essence, as the Westerners believe, but also energy. If God was only essence, we would not be able to join, to commune with Him, because the essence of God is awe-inspiring and inaccessible to man, according to “You can not see My face; for there shall no man see Me, and live” (Ex. 33:20). Continue reading “Theosis (deification) is possible through the uncreated energies of God”
Novo Scriptorium 