On Iconoclasm

Some time ago I did two posts defending the use of Icons in Orthodox worship. The Orthodox Church, and therefore the Early Church, used Icons in their worship from early on. Saint Luke is said to be the first iconographer, making an icon of the Theotokos. But there is a period when the Church did not use Icons, and in fact forbade their use. This period came to be known as the Iconoclastic period.

Christianity without Repercussions: Prayer pt 2

In the last post of this series, I covered how we Orthodox pray in just about everything that we do, trying to reach a point of praying without ceasing. I also wrote about how using formal prayers - and set times to pray - are biblical and were also used in the Early Church. I will cover why we pray to (and for) the dead, saints, angles, and the Theotokos.

Christianity without Repercussions: Faith Pt. 1

In my last post in this series I touched upon the difference between the Orthodox view of Salvation and the Protestant/Evangelical view of Salvation. I still have a lot to delve in to on the salvation end of things (such as the difference in the views of atonement), but I'm going to leave those alone for right now and focus on the Faith aspect of things.

Sunday of Orthodoxy

Triumph of the Icons

The Sunday of Orthodoxy is the first Sunday of Lent (which started last Monday for us Orthodox folk). This day commemorates the triumph of the iconodules (or iconophiles) over the iconoclasts. Basically, icons were removed from parishes for a number of years and then after a long struggle the icons were replaced. I'll explain a bit more below.

Music and Orthodoxy: Why we venerate saints

Music and Orthodoxy: Why we venerate saints: Wow, new blog. There is no mission statement as such. This is pretty much going to be random musings about music and Orthodoxy (though rarel...