“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.” - Psalm 49:23 (LXX) Next year is the 400th anniversary of the celebrating Thanksgiving to God for the mercy, love, and bounties he pours out on us. The giving of thanks is the central act of Christian worship, and it is an integral feature of Old Testament worship, which are types of Christian worship. There are many instructions for sacrifice throughout the Pentateuch, but Leviticus chapters 1-7 is completely dedicated to the 5 Levitical offerings which were the main sacrifices used in the rituals. The 5 kinds of sacrifices described in such detail in Leviticus … [Read more...]
A Life of Thanksgiving
by Fr. Stephen Freeman I do not believe it is possible to exhaust this topic. I have set forth a few suggestions of how we might build and maintain a life of thanksgiving. Particular thought is given to those times when giving thanks is difficult. 1. I must believe that God is good. I struggled with this for many years. I believed that God was sovereign; I believed that He was the Creator of heaven and earth; I believed that He sent His only Son to die for me. But despite a host of doctrines to which I gave some form of consent, not included (and this was a matter of my heart) was the simple, straight-forward consent that God is good. My father-in-law, a very simple Baptist deacon of … [Read more...]
ASONA Prayerbooks and Door to Paradise back in stock.
Two of our most popular booklets, the ASONA Prayerbook and the Door to Paradise, are back in stock at ASONA. The ASONA Prayerbook is, of course, our parish published Orthodox Prayer book, containing all the necessary prayers for one's prayer rule, as well as a special prayer for peace, the Prayer Rule of St. Pachomius, and an Examination of Conscience in preparation for Confession. Prayerbooks are available for a donation of $10. The Door to Paradise is a booklet, published by St. Hermans Press, that we offer for free to first time visitors, or other visitors who have not had the chance to be offered a copy. It is an excellent introduction to the Orthodox faith and spiritual way of life. … [Read more...]
What Happens to Those Who Have Never Heard of Jesus?
What happens to those who have never heard of Jesus? Will God condemn people to hell for not believing in someone they have never heard of? First, people are not condemned to hell for not believing in Jesus whom they have never heard of. Rather they are already condemned because of their sin. Thus, the real question is not how can God send someone to hell, but how can God condescend to save any one of us? As Paul has so beautifully written in the book of Romans, "God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." (Romans 5:8-9). It is hard to … [Read more...]
“God’s Wrath” Was Not Part of the Theology of Israel’s Sacrificial System
by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon Adult converts to the Orthodox Church often remark on a sense of relief---not to say liberation---they felt when they became acquainted with Orthodoxy's teaching on Salvation. I have heard testimonies on this point times out of mind. These folks, coming mainly from Western Christian backgrounds, had previously thought about Salvation chiefly in forensic terms. They were accustomed to hearing the word "merit" a lot with respect to the Cross. Their former Soteriology might be summarized in Archbishop Cranmer's lines in The Book of Common Prayer, which declare that on the Cross Jesus Christ, "by his one oblation of himself once offered," made "a full, perfect, … [Read more...]
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