orthodox practices
One of the most complex and frequently debated questions in Orthodox ecclesiology concerns the recognition of sacraments performed outside the canonical boundaries of the Orthodox Church. While there is a hardline rigorist strain in contemporary discussions that attempts to present the practice of baptizing virtually all converts as THE historic Orthodox tradition, historical evidence reveals a more nuanced approach in both the Greek, and particularly within the Russian Orthodox tradition.
Early Church Foundations: The Baptismal Controversies That Influenced the Creed’s Statement About “One Baptism”
Whether heterodox baptisms performed in water in the name of the Trinity should be accepted first came up in the controversy… Continue reading
In order for this book to be the “patristic consensus and criteria for Orthodoxy” that it purports to be, in spite of the fact that most of Orthodoxy believes differently on these issues, you only have to accept that:
-The Apostolic Canons refer indiscriminately to all heretics rather than just to the non-trinitarian heretics at the time they were written, against the position of Orthodoxy’s great medieval and modern canonists (Balsamon, Zonaras, Milas, etc.).
-You have to accept that St. Cyprian won the debate against St. Stephen regarding the reception of the heterodox, against the testimony of all the Church fathers who commented on it… Continue reading
We have just finished the fast-free week of Pentecost and tomorrow we go back to regular fasting in a big way with the Apostle’s Fast for the next month.
Of course, there is testimony in the New Testament that the Christians continued keeping the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, albeit with new nuances to the meanings of that feast. Tertullian, Origen, and others testify to this continued practice in sub-apostolic times.
The fast-free week following Pentecost is also very ancient and is mentioned in the Apostolic Constitutions of the fourth-century, which is a work compiling ante-Nicene practices of the Christian Church.
It mentions the weeklong celebration of… Continue reading