Source: Fordham University Though Syriac Christianity is one of the oldest Christian cultures, many people in the West are unaware of its existence and unfamiliar with its traditions. If we recognize, however, that some of Syriac Christianity’s most important ancient centers—Nineveh, Babylon, and Beroea—are today’s Mosul, Baghdad, and Aleppo, we get a better understanding of how it is imperiled by today’s violent conflicts. Now, some of the most beautiful and sophisticated Syriac manuscripts of the ancient world are at risk of being lost forever, said one of the world’s leading experts on Syriac texts. Columba Stewart, O.S.B., professor of theology…
Browsing: Christianity
Source: The Christian Science Monitor In a fundamental shift in American Protestantism, hundreds of churches across the country are allowing people in the pews to deliver sermons and handle pastoral duties. G. Jeffrey MacDonald FEBRUARY 6, 2017 BETHEL, VT.—After a week of painting art by day and playing saxophone in a funk band by night, Katie Runde still manages to roust herself for church. One big reason: On any given Sunday, she’s either giving the sermon at Christ Episcopal Church in this central Vermont town, or she’s listening as a friend takes a turn from the pulpit. As two dozen…
Source: All Saints Monastery Christ certainly did not have in mind that those who follow “The Way” would “fix the world,” rather that they were gathered “out of the world,” that they would be “in the world, but not of the world,” that the world would “hate them” etc. Christianity trying to “fix the world” has become “of the world” not gathered out ot it, and political Christianity has become “of the world” and part of its system. Trying to “fix the world” is a betrayal of the calling the Christ gave us. We may minister to the world, but…
Source: Breaking Israel News By Raphael Poch “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord . . . ” (Isaiah 1:4). In an anti-Christian incident which has largely gone unnoticed, the St. Charbel (Maar Charbel) Monastery in Bethlehem was attacked and burned down on September 26th. The monastery is located in the Wadi Maali neighborhood of the city where King David was born and is the reputed birthplace of Jesus. As a result of the fire, several rooms on the church’s second floor were completely destroyed. No one…
Source: Ahram Online Our beloved lady: Exploring Egypt’s fascination with the Virgin Mary Dina Ezzat The Virgin Mary continues to be a figure of faith and fascination for Egyptians of different religious traditions The festival of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which took place on Saturday 15 August, received unprecedented recognition in the public sphere in Egypt. The festival is celebrated by Coptic Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and many other denominations worldwide, who believe that Mary was bodily taken up into heaven at the end of her life. Throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday, a number of presenters on Egyptian radio…
Source: Archaeology in Bulgaria BULGARIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS SHOW LEAD CROSS RELIQUARY FOUND IN MEDIEVAL CITY MISSIONIS (KRUM’S FORTRESS) by Ivan Dikov A lead cross, which is also a reliquary, found during the excavations of the Early Byzantine and medieval Bulgarian city of Missionis, also known as Krum’s Fortress, whose ruins are located near today’s northeastern city of Targovishte, has been presented to the public for the first time byBulgarian archaeologists. “This is an absolutely unique item. Personally, I have never seen lead crosses that are also reliquaries. I have seen lead icons which are used as reliquaries but lead crosses – never,”…
Editor’s note: The Orthodox Christian Church in the United States is in Crisis. What actions will the Assembly of Bishops take? Stonewalling and ignoring the facts only contributes to the decline of Orthodoxy in the USA. By a Layperson in the New Jersey Metropolis of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese An extensive, highly-cited study of religious trends and affiliation of Americans [America’s Changing Religious Landscape] published on May 12 by the well-regarded Pew Research Center found that the Christian share of the U.S. religious population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion…
Source: Archbishop Cranmer “Peace be upon all auspicious prophets of God, from Adam, Noah and Abraham to Moses, Jesus and Mohammed Mustafa.” That wasn’t quite how the prayer was rendered in Westminster Abbey during the service of commemoration and thanksgiving marking the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign – a bloody and disease-ridden battle of attrition during the First World War, which helped to forge the national identities of both Australia and New Zealand (not to mention the rise of Mustafa Kemal [aka Atatürk] and the establishment of the modern state of Turkey). In the presence of the Queen, the great and…
Source: Oinos Educations Services / Frankly Speaking By Frank Marangos, D.Min., Ed.D. “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Thomas Jefferson Fifty is a fascinating number. It marks the milestone of a golden anniversary, the sacred Pythagorean Triangle (9 + 16 + 25 = 50), and the atomic designation for tin (Sn). Apart from enjoying celebrity status as the fifth magic number of nuclear physics, it delineates the number of chapters in the ancient Book of Genesis, coincidentally, the longest script of the Bible. Commemorating deliverance from personal and…
Source: FrontPage Mag by Susan Warner Founded in 1948, The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of 345 Protestant and Orthodox Christian churches in 110 countries. Their aim is “to support the member churches and ecumenical partners to journey together, promoting justice and peace in our world as an expression of faith in the Triune God.” To advance their “justice and peace” initiatives, they collude with Islamic and Palestinian friends in a covert scheme to sabotage Israel. Their web of anti-Zionism extends throughout Europe, the Americas and Africa. While this may seem a bold assertion, it is nonetheless worth examining some undeniable evidence. WCC is among the many coalitions of Christians…
Source: Voices from Russia The website of Novospassky Monastery noted that on 5 February, a Greek Orthodox Church delegation, headed by Metropolitan Panteleimon Kalpakidis of Veria and Naousa arrived in Moscow from Greece bringing a reliquary containing the hand of St Demetrios of Salonika the Great Martyr. At the airport, the superior of the Novospassky Stavropegial Monastery and the MP First Deputy Chancellor, Bishop Savva Mikheyev of Voskresensk met the delegation. From the airport, they took the reliquary to the Novospassky Monastery, where the clergy served a molieben at the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God. St Demetrios is the patron saint of…
Source: First Things by David Gelernter Not for many generations has the Church amassed as much prestige as it has under John Paul II and his successors. They underline (or have so far) the formidable quality of church leadership. Since John Paul II’s elevation in 1978, no nation on earth has been led better. That prestige ought to be used in an important cause, and one where it will matter. There is a desperate cause right under the pope’s nose. What is he doing in the Philippines and South America at a moment when, throughout Europe, Christianity is dying?… Read…