Blog: Teaching spots
You are here
How Zwingli’s radicalism shaped Evangelical worship
The radical gap between modern evangelical worship and traditional Christian worship is in large part the result of the influence of the sixteenth century Swiss Reformer, Ulrich Zwingli. Zwingli was a contemporary of Martin Luther, and if Martin Luther wanted reform in the Church, Zwingli wanted to restore the Church from scratch. To illustrate just how radical have been the consequences of Zwingli’s teaching, let’s compare a typical evangelical worship service with a traditional Christian worship service.
How Martin Luther’s protest failed him
It is deeply satisfying to see the peace, love and joy that flows into the hearts of worshipers here at The Good Shepherd. The work and fruit of the Holy Spirit is a deep, abiding, joyful stability which I see growing in many of our parishioners. Through entering into the worship of the Holy Orthodox Church, so many people, of Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox backgrounds alike, find communion with the God Who is the Lover of Mankind.
How Rome gave birth to Protestantism
Five hundred years ago this month, Martin Luther posted an invitation to an academic disputation on the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg. This act sparked a fire of protest that raged across Europe and caused a grievous schism in Catholic Europe that has never been healed. The soil that gave rise to the protest was a uniquely Latin, Roman Catholic one. The questions of dogma, doctrine and state politics were questions that arose from conditions unique to the West.
Why secular ethics is at odds with Orthodox Christianity
I have been receiving a lot of dismayed, uncomprehending and perhaps angry emails in the last week. My correspondents appear bewildered at why Orthodox Christian ethics does not share the conclusions of popular secular ethics. After all, they both appear to share many of the same values. Both ethical systems value “equality,” “freedom of choice,” “human brotherhood,” “fairness” and “justice.” So if they share these values, why doesn’t Orthodox Christianity support the same conclusions?
Why Westerners are attracted to Eastern spirituality
Ever since the Beatles travelled to Rishikesh to learn at the feet of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Westerners have been attracted to Eastern spirituality. Western Christianity has seemed artificial, lifeless and powerless; while Eastern spirituality has a life-changing broadness about it. Below, Monk-Priest Damascene traces the path from Western desire to the East's authentic and life-changing answer.
The dangers of State-sanctioned killing
Euthanasia and capital punishment both involve state-sanctioned killing: why does the thinking on one seem to be heading in the opposite direction to the thinking on the other?
A history of Antiochian Orthodoxy in Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines
The history of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines begins with the immigration of Orthodox Christians from Greece, Russia, Lebanon and Syria in the last years of the 19th Century. The first wave of Lebanese immigration was in the 1880–90s. Immigrants found work hawking and peddling goods in the country areas of eastern Australia and in Dunedin. Along with Greek and Russian Orthodox faithful, they took part in the construction of community churches — Holy Trinity Church in Surry Hills, Sydney; and Holy Annunciation, East Melbourne.
10 Dangerous Euthanasia Myths
In the same week The Age ran an in-depth expose revealing callous indifference and alleged fraud and coercion of the elderly, we attended a lecture by Professor William Toffler, MD, from the State of Oregon, USA.
What the Orthodox Church teaches on Euthanasia
‘Euthanasia’ comes from two Greek words (eu - good, thanatos - death) which means ‘good death.’ The Orthodox Christian perspective is that the only good death is one in which a person approaches the end of his or her life: in the spirit of moral and spiritual purity, in hope and trust in God, and as a member of His Kingdom. Yet today this word has been distorted to mean something entirely different.