Those who know me know I am not anxious to unnecessarily entangle myself in controversy. I am particularly loath to use this forum as the bully pulpit. However, I feel compelled to address a theological error ripe to stir up descensions in the Anglophone Orthodox world. On August 22, His Grace, Irenei (Steenburg) released a…

The origin of the American fixation with conspiracy theories is hard to trace through history.  Perhaps the very fact that our nation emerged from a revolution against its motherland has something to do with this proclivity.  Some historians point to the role of secret societies like the Freemasons in the plot leading up to American…

Fear of an apocalypse has gripped the imagination of man for as long as we can remember. The fall of ancient civilizations is emblazoned in our psyche and captured in our mythos through stories about places like Atlantis and Dwarka. It is also realized in the historical record with the destruction of cities like Troy…

In his Sophistical Refutations, Aristotle lists thirteen logical fallacies often made when using deductive reasoning. Syllogisms are a necessary part of logical analysis, but a faulty argument is neither honest nor helpful. And when used to criticize individual human persons, it may even be uncharitable or downright criminal (as in the case of slander or…

With the introduction of every new technology, the gain is offset by loss. Tools help man to mold his environment, to adapt to change, and to disseminate means of progress. With every new tool created, a commensurate skill is learned; yet these abilities often replace or alter the use of our innate, divinely-given tools: our…

Although the term “culture war” has been used to describe various phenomena throughout the twentieth century, it gained its current definition from the 1991 book of the same name, written by sociologist James Davison Hunter. The author documented the growing polarization within Western society as he observed two groups, rooted in opposing moral worldviews, emerging…