Christ—fangzhipin or fuzhipin of God?

On By R.A. CarreraIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

This is an interesting take by Tom at An Open Orthodoxy blog on the Originator (God) and the copy (Logos/Christ).

An Open Orthodoxy

China_s

Please enjoy this very interesting description of Eastern (Japanese) aesthetics by Byung-Chul Han (“The Copy is the Original“). I’d love to hear David Bentley Hart reflect on how this different aesthetic sensibility (as transcendental as is our aesthetic appetite here in the West yet contrary in how it manages and propagates its values) would express core Christian beliefs like the Trinity (Father as the ‘original’, the Logos as the ‘image’, etc.), Incarnation, etc. After reading this I wondered how beholden to a Western aesthetic palate Hart’s Beauty of the Infinite: An Aesthetics of Christian Truth, might be. What sort of “aesthetics of Christian truth” would a thoroughly Eastern/Japanese aesthetic palate produce? Here’s just a sampling. You’ll have to digest the whole piece to appreciate my question: Is Christ the fangzhipin (仿製品) or fuzhipin (複製品) of God? In addition, which are we?

In 1956, an exhibition of masterpieces…

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[Religion] A Brief History of Icons — Fr. Ted’s Blog

On By R.A. CarreraIn Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, ReligionLeave a comment

Thanks to Fr. Ted for this illuminating, if brief, history on icons as used by the Eastern Orthodox Church.


“Compared to metal and mosaic icons, the painted wooden icon is perhaps the longest lived subcategory of the Byzantine artistic medium of portable devotional icons. The earliest collection of wooden painted icons is found at St. Catherine Monastery in Sinai: some twenty-seven pieces dated to the sixth through seventh centuries. They are all painted in […]

via A Brief History of Icons — Fr. Ted’s Blog

 

Welcome to 2018!

On By R.A. CarreraIn Personal2 Comments

Folks, I can’t quite say why, but I have a feeling that this year will leave a lot of people satisfied, no matter what part of the great divide you rest in.  May everything be better for you this year, and may we find some common ground (we always have music, though, don’t we?).

“Glory to that Voice that became a body”

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A beautiful poem by St. Ephrem the Syrian, courtesy of Fr. Aidan Kimel’s blog. Note the Ethiopian icon, one I’ve not seen before.

Eclectic Orthodoxy

Glory to that Voice that became a body,
and to the lofty Word that became flesh.
Ears even heard Him, eyes saw Him,
hands even touched Him, the mouth ate Him.
Limbs and senses gave thanks to
the One Who came and revived all that is corporeal.
Mary bore a mute Babe
though in Him were hidden all our tongues.
Joseph carried Him, yet hidden in Him was
a silent nature older than everything.
The Lofty One became like a little child,
yet hidden in Him was a treasure of Wisdom that suffices for all.
He was lofty but he sucked Mary’s milk,
and from His blessings all creation drinks.
He is the Living Breast of living breath;
by His life the dead were suckled, and they revived.
Without the breath of air no one can live;
without the power of the Son no one can rise.
Upon the living…

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Christmas 2017 (Gregorian Calendar)

On By R.A. CarreraIn Personal10 Comments

the-christmas-hamper-robert-braithwaite-martineau

It seems 2017 was a rather pleasant year for some, a horrifying ordeal for others. I’d have to say that I split the difference. Some things happened which were immensely pleasant, and some minor irritants popped up in my work life and health. Otherwise, 2017 was a success.

First, a lot of preparatory work was done on a project that I hope to partake in in the early part of 2018, which includes a big move to a location I have yet to solidly pick. Next, a lot of friends, both local and overseas, were either newly made or reconnected with. Iceland and the Czech Republic were absolute joys for me (and I thank my good, beautiful and gracious hosts for making me feel welcomed). Macedonia was something of a homecoming, seeing people I consider to be my brothers, and Bulgaria was phenomenal. The quality of people I met there this year was beyond my wildest expectations, and dear brother Yasen did a wonderful job of organizing Without Borders (it’s only a shame that one has to wait two years to visit these good folks again).

Many amazing releases came out, (just check out the blog to see) and I’m particularly thankful for forming digital friendships with so many, but especially Santiago and A. M. Ferrari-Fradejas, Noël Akchoté, Jeff Gburek, and maintaining good ones with Kopeikin, Gregory Ayriyan, and so many others.

The personal and mushy details I’ll leave out, except to say that it feels good to love and to be loved.

My friends (and I’m proud to call each one of you that venerable word), I wish you the best for 2018. We’ll surely have to endure a few headaches, but we’ll survive it intact. We always do.  A Merry Christmas (twice if you’re Julian Calendar Orthodox), Hanukkah, Eid, Diwali or average day to you all.

Your Hip Priest and friend,

Rudy

Excerpts from the Letters of Cyril to Nestorius, and the 12 Anathemas.

On By R.A. CarreraIn Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, ReligionLeave a comment

A great post on why Apostolic Christians are not Nestorians. Many thanks to Marcelo P. Souza for this post.

Luminous Darkness

cyrilApproved by the Council of Ephesus, AD 431.

“To the most religious and beloved of God, fellow minister Nestorius, Cyril sends greeting in the Lord . . .

The holy and great Synod therefore says, that the only begotten Son, born according to nature of God the Father, very God of very God, Light of Light, by whom the Father made all things, came down, and was incarnate, and was made man, suffered, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven. These words and these decrees we ought to follow, considering what is meant by the Word of God being incarnate and made man.

For we do not say that the nature of the Word was changed and became flesh, or that it was converted into a whole man consisting of soul and body; but rather that the Word having personally united to himself flesh animated by a…

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America’s First Addiction Epidemic

On By R.A. CarreraIn Uncategorized1 Comment

A tragic history on alcohol and the devastating effects it had on the Native American population.

Longreads

Christopher Finan| Drunks: An American History | Beacon Press | June 2017 | 28 minutes (7,526 words) 

The following is an excerpt from Drunks, by Christopher Finan. This story is recommended by Longreads contributing editor Dana Snitzky.

* * *

The men full of strong drink have trodden in the fireplaces.

In spring of 1799, Handsome Lake, a Native American, joined members of his hunting party in making the long journey from western Pennsylvania to their home in New York. Handsome Lake was a member of the Seneca Nation, one of the six nations in the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). He had once been renowned for his fighting skill. But the Iroquois had been stripped of almost all their lands after the American Revolution. Now fifty years old, Handsome Lake, too, was a shadow of what he had been. He would later say that heavy drinking had…

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Sermon on the Dormition

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Though the Dormition Feast took place on August 15 according to the Gregorian Calendar, I was received into the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-MP, which used the Julian Calendar. I’m still partial to it. For those of you celebrating the Dormition Feast today, may the Theotokos ever pray for us.

Sermon on the Dormition

On this day of the Dormition of our Lady Theotokos I would like to speak primarily about her place in the history of salvation and just make a few minor references to this feast.  The character of my words will be primarily apologetic.  Why is that so?  Because we, as Orthodox Christians in the Americas, find ourselves in an atmosphere in which we are challenged.  The Church in America is a Church in dispersion from its roots.  We are a minority among those who call themselves Christians, and engulfed by a multitude of philosophies and religious systems at odds with our Faith.  Our Faith is challenged.  It is unfortunate, yet not undeniable, that challenges to the Orthodox Faith are occurring not only from without but also sadly from within the Church.  Why?

There are truths that we Orthodox acknowledge about Mary, the Birth-giver of God, which…

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