Christos Anesti! I’m quite fond of "Greek Easter," as Mr. Panos called it fifteen years ago. Even though we’ve never been part of the local Greek parish, over the years, we’ve come to call Pascha “Greek Easter” (in contrast to “American Easter”) in our household in honor of Mr. Panos. There is a sense in …
Christ is risen! Glorify him! I’ve had more contact with Protestants in the last year than I have had in quite some time. That interaction has clarified my thinking on several subjects, and Pascha is certainly one of them. I’ll begin with the Paschal Tropariaon (or Easter Hymn, if you prefer English), because it has …
Continue reading Reconciled through His Death and Saved by His Life
Lutheran theologian Gerhard Forde took the Western theories of salvation to task with some frequency. All three major Western theories (Anselmian satisfaction along with the closely related Protestant substitution, Abelardian moral exemplar, and Christus Victor) are problematic, according to Lee McCracken (quoting Forde) in that they direct our attention away from the murder of Jesus …
Continue reading Gerhard Forde and Justin Popovic on Salvation
Yesterday (Apr 17, 2022) was the Orthodox feast of “The Entry of the Lord Into Jerusalem” (better known as Palm Sunday). Pascha (Orthodox Easter) will be celebrated on Apr 24 this year. The weekend before Pascha is strange because there is a sense that nothing took hold. It’s a last gasp before rejection and defeat. …
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death, and bestowing life to those in the tombs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HOb3r6GZJM
Earlier this month I mentioned Winter Lent. I figure I can’t bring up Winter Lent without a few words on Winter Pascha, better known as Christmas. There has always been a close connection between Christ’s birth and Christ’s death and resurrection in Orthodox and Oriental liturgies. The connection is less overt in the western communions. …
Being a common word that is used frequently when we talk about salvation, it’s easy to forget that redeem is a fiscal term. It is first used to describe the Israelites salvation from slavery to the Egyptians (Ex. 6:6). In a normal slave transaction, humans are bought and sold. If a person wants to free …
This spring, before it was so rudely interrupted by two record breaking snow storms, I was noticing how slowly and methodically spring blooms. The bark on the new growth of willows turns from a faded yellow or red to vibrant color over a period of weeks The gray hillsides take on a barely noticeable greenish …
Just Another Jim 