Priestly Advice

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

Monday we celebrated the memory of St. Alexis Toth, and I’ll post something on him in the near future.  For today, I’m going to give another cross-posting.  It’s perhaps not the best way to use a blog, but hopefully it can be excused.  A classmate of mine from seminary, Fr. Richard Rene, wrote a letter to a newly ordained priest that is worth reading not only by clergy, but I think laity as well.  We can all find ourselves in here somewhere:

http://www.thewordfrommysterion.com/2012/05/letter-to-newly-ordained-priest.html

I think those of us who are priests have either learned these lessons or had another priest forewarn us with similar words of advice.  Those of us in the laity can also learn from this, for it can help us discern whether we are entering into a situation that a newly minted priest might not see.  It can be helpful all around.  I believe it will also apply to non-Orthodox clergy as well.

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Abuse is Not a One Way Street

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

The following article concerning “toxic” parishes has made the rounds in the blogosphere:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-briggs/silent-clergy-killers-tox_b_1437857.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=2487314,b=facebook

I think this is an important reminder that keeping a parish healthy is not simply the work of the priest, nor of the priest and bishop.  Healthy parishes involve goodness and kindness across all levels of parish life, from the priest to the council, to the teachers and choir members to those who tithe, pray, and worship together.  We have worked hard to build a healthy parish community here in Fargo, and thanks to God for such dedication, but this article is a reminder of how we must be ever vigilant, never giving in to temptations to make things difficult and toxic.  Like parish growth and evangelism, parish health is an ongoing activity.

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Humanity as Made in the Image of God in St. Athanasius

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

St. Athanasius (sometimes Athanasios) was a fourth century bishop of Alexandria and the removal of his relics was listed as noting on the Orthodox calendar yesterday.  Recently, I had referenced him in the talk I recently gave at the Science and Religion Lunch Seminar at NDSU.  Specifically, I utilized him when discussing what it means to be made in the image of God.

When seeking to understand Christian teaching on this, St. Athanasios provides us with some key points (which are found in many, many writings we have from the other fathers of the church as well).  First, God is beyond being.  God is beyond our creation.  This also means to understand him, we are reliant upon revelation and tradition.  Second, God is good, which is to say he wanted an ordered creation.  This was in contrast to Gnostics (see the Church History Series 1) who believed, generally, that the material world was made (or at least shaped) by an evil being.  Third, humanity was to connect to God through the mind and instinctively tries to do so, often finding false gods or worshipping false gods.

This last point is sometimes difficult for us to process in light of something called the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR).  CSR advocates often argue for the evolutionary development of our “god-faculty” and claim that for that reason, we believe in God (or any gods or goddesses or fairies or any such things).   As Christians, we should not object to the research surrounding a “god-faculty.”  All have minds intended to commune with God and all seek God instinctively, even if that instinct is directed in different ways or is denied later in life.  As Orthodox, especially, we should acknowledge that such a faculty exists.  That is, after all, something we’ve been saying for some time now.

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An Orthodox Priest and an Atheist Mayor Walk into a Bar

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

Well, OK, Jon Lindgren would much prefer “skeptic” to “atheist” but skeptic doesn’t make for as catchy of a title.  This past weekend, the Forum ran a nice piece on Jon Lindgren, the former mayor of Fargo, in which I was mentioned as well.  It’s worth reading:

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/359176/

Non-belief and outright atheism is a growing trend in America.  Jon is hardly alone and is joined by others every day.  Recently, a Methodist minister admitted that she is an atheist:

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/Minister_Steps_Down__145835335.html

Although I do not agree with the atheist path in life, I do think it is important for Christians, especially Orthodox Christians, to remain in dialogue with such people.  We have a hope in Christ that is meant to be shared.

Those who are open to church history but are not yet Orthodox or not yet Christian at all, there is the Church History Series on this blog.  In the future, I hope to offer an additional series or two as resources for readers who may have other concerns.

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Reading the Bible

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

It is common to hear Christians (Protestants, really) note “sola scripture,” or “scripture alone,” when discussing religious authority.  Of course, no one actually does that.  Sure, sit down a Jehovah’s Witness and a Baptist and it will seem that such is what they’re doing, but they’re not.  They each have their own traditions of biblical interpretation shaping their discussion.

For this reason, it is great to note that the Popular Patristic Series, published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, is now being integrated into Logos Research System’s biblical studies software.  This doesn’t mean people will be able to generate a “patristic” reading of any given text, but it does mean they will have recourse to some patristic uses of various texts and that can be helpful.  One can always hope that non-Orthodox Christians will pursue the idea of tradition further and consider biblical interpretation in light of it.  Of course, this new development also makes the Logos software more appealing to Orthodox.  You may read more here:

http://oca.org/news/headline-news/st.-vladimirs-seminary-popular-patristic-series-now-linked-to-bible-study

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Fighting Dragons on St. George Day

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

Today is the feast day for St. George.  Those interested in reading up on St. George may turn here:

http://orthodoxwiki.org/George_the_Trophy-bearer

and here:

http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101184

In icons of St. George, the saint is portrayed as riding a horse and spearing a dragon.  Our parish received a a gift of an icon of St. George in memory of an Orthodox resident of Fargo in the 1960s also named George.  Not long after receiving that icon, my son, in skepticism (he was seven at the time) asked me, “dad, did St. George really kill a dragon?”  I told him that although there are Orthodox in some parts of the world who do believe this literally, I do believe, most understand the dragon as representing Satan and demonic powers.

Indeed, last night at Vespers, we heard precisely such language within our church’s liturgical texts, where St. George is praised for following Christ, even to the point of martyrdom, and for his victory over the hoards of demons.  The latter is a reference to St. George’s refusal to offer incense before any pagan idols, idols in which demons dwelt as if gods.  In this way, St. George most certainly did defeat a dragon, indeed, the dragon–Satan.

Thus is similar to our calling too.  For, in our very own society, we are often tempted by things that may become idols.  We might be caught up in materialism or our own views of self-worth or any number of other things.  Yet, just as St. George recognized the pagan idols for what they were, so we, too, need to recognize the indifferent things of life as indifferent.  Rather, we should seek after Christ, for in imitating him, we also come to love our neighbors and, indeed, the world, all the better.  By imitating Christ, we can slay the dragon seeking to make a lair in our own hearts.

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Iconography Retreat in Montana

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

Come July, there will be an iconography retreat the first week in Billings, MT, for those who are interested:

Billings poster 2012

You might remember that we recently co-hosted an iconography retreat with Ss. Anne and Joachim Catholic Church, in which we brought in Orthodox iconographer Deb Korluka:

http://holyresurrection.areavoices.com/2012/02/27/2012-iconography-retreat/

One result from that retreat, about which I will post later, was an icon Lorie painted, which we blessed and sent as a memorial gift to another mission parish.

 

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Orthodoxy and Atheism

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

Well, yesterday’s talk went well overall.  There were a couple of points where someone asking me a question and I were talking past each other a bit, but I think that sort of thing was generally sorted out.  There was also an individual who was heavy on the loaded language and light on the argumentation when pressing with his questions, but that is to be expected.  Really, it was very civil overall (as SRLS always is) and gave me food for thought when thinking about the next talk.

Relatedly, I encountered this bit of news, which might be of interest to some of us.  Ancient Faith Radio is going to have a live episode and dedicate discussion to atheism.  I am unsure of how it will be structured or what arguments and perspectives will be offered, but this should prove intriguing:

http://www.aoiusa.org/blog/2012/04/ancient-faith-goes-live-first-program-this-sunday-at-8pm-eastern/

 

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Christ is Risen! An Upcoming Bright Week Lecture

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

Christ is risen!

As noted in the previous post, yesterday was Pascha for us Orthodox Christians, the day on which we celebrate the triumph of Life over death!

This makes this week “Bright Week,” and makes an upcoming paper of mine at NDSU’s Science and Religion Lunch Seminary on Tuesday all the more important.  You may see that listed here:

http://www.tri-college.org/tcu_calendar_of_campus_events/

More information on the SRLS may be found here:

http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cope/SRLS/

The working title of my paper is: “Neither Inherently Guilty Nor Secular: Eastern Christian Anthropology in Dialogue with Christian and Post-Christian West. “  The title itself needs work, I admit.  To clarify, by noting that Orthodoxy is not “secular,” I do not imply that Orthodoxy is against all forms of separation of Church and State.  I do clarify in the paper that I am picking up on the term “secular” and “secular humanism” from its past polemical context, in which it is linked to atheism and materialistic evolution.  The “inherently guilty,” is a reference to the general Western conception of fallen humanity as guilty for Adam’s fall.  Eastern Christian anthropology overlaps with both in some ways while also being distinct in some ways.  This paper is a modest attempt to discuss some of this.  There may be no better time to discuss humanity’s calling from an Orthodox perspective than on Bright Week.  This is a public event and all are welcome to attend.

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Orthodox Easter in Fargo, ND

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Rev. D. O. Herbel

Although most Christians in America celebrated Easter a week ago, for Eastern Orthodox Christians, today is Easter.  In the Orthodox Tradition, Easter is called “Pascha,” Greek for Passover.  This is because for Orthodox, the Cross and the Resurrection go together as one overarching salvific event, something that might not always be so obvious, as I note in a review article of Gibson’s The Passion of Christ, here:

http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Vol8No2/herbelGibson.htm

Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar for Roman Catholics late in the sixteenth century (and Protestants followed suit–an irony?), resulting in two different Easter/Pascha dates for Western and Eastern Christians.  The one notable exception of which I’m aware is the Orthodox Church in Finland which, being a state church, actually celebrates Pascha at the same time Western Christians celebrate Easter.  Otherwise, the dates normally do not align (though every few years they do).  Orthodox continue to follow the dating for Pascha/Easter established at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea in 325, at which Pascha/Easter was determined according to the Jewish lunar calendar and Passover.  It is for this reason that Western Easter may occur prior to the Jewish Passover some years while Orthodoxy’s Pascha does not.

The Paschal service is celebrated with a service beginning at 11:30pm at night, so that at midnight, the first shouts of “Christ is risen!” may be heard.  Following the conclusion of the service in the early morning hours, Orthodox believers in Fargo share in enjoying foods from which they have fasted during Lent.

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