Tertullian on the Gendered Soul: (Chapter 4.1)

Posted 2021-04-20 12:57:02 by: Сард

In this section we will explore what the Church Fathers, as well as other ancient Christian writers, have to say about sex/gender and the soul. The importance of our distinction between the Church Fathers, who have been canonized as Saints by the Orthodox Church, and the other ancient Christian writers, who have not been canonized, will soon be made ...

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Apelles the Heretic and the Gendered Soul (On Gender and the Soul, Ch. 2)

Posted 2021-04-07 20:52:37 by: Сард

The engendered soul sees its first discernible historical appearance in the writings of a second century disciple of Marcion (c. 85–160 A.D) named Apelles, who was given the epithet “the heretic” by Tertullian in order distinguish him from Apelles the famous Greek ...

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A Brief Survey of Conceptions of the Soul Throughout History (On Gender and the Soul, ch. 1)

Posted 2021-04-02 16:20:49 by: Сард

While certain human beings, such as the Saints, have properly ordered and “spiritually activated” the powers of their soul in a way that causes them to stand out from others, every human being possesses the same powers of the soul, which can be used to progress toward eternal light and life or eternal darkness. That is, all human souls are made up of the same powers or ...

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Is the Soul Gendered? An Orthodox Christian Perspective (Content and Ordering)

Posted 2021-03-31 15:54:42 by: Сард

This work is composed of five main sections and a conclusion. In order to get an idea of what it is we are talking about when we talk about the soul, we will first conduct a brief survey of conceptions of the soul throughout history. We will outline the general thoughts about the soul in Ancient Greek society followed by its development in Classical Antiquity. Next, we will look at the Ancient Jewish conception of the soul in the Old Testament, its development in the New Testament in the writings of Saint Paul, and later in the Church ...

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Why Are There So Many Rules in the Orthodox Church?

Posted 2021-03-30 16:00:00 by: Сард

This is the transcript of the Theoria video which can be seen here. Posted here as an article by ...

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Is the Soul Gendered? An Orthodox Christian Perspective (Introduction)

Posted 2021-03-28 16:15:52 by: Сард

Is the soul “engendered”? Various answers to this question have been answered in Christian media over the past few years. But many have proposed mistaken views. Recently, it has become clear that even Orthodox Christians are confused on this topic. Thus our aim is to conduct an in-depth study on the subject using as our guides the Holy Scripture and the writings of the Church ...

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The Joy of the Annunciation in Every Day Life

Posted 2021-03-25 05:00:00 by: Сард

Today the Virgin conceives God; nine months from now, creation will welcome its king. My brothers and sisters, we know this story well, but what does it have to do with us ...

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Are Icons Idols? Responding to J.I. Packer’s Iconoclasm

Posted 2021-03-16 00:32:06 by: Сард

The entire history of Christian thought proclaims that the Second Commandment categorically forbids any pictorial representation of God – at least, that is what J.I. Packer claims in his popular 1973 book Knowing God. But are icons idols? Or is there something Packer is ...

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Do Animals Have Souls?

Posted 2020-03-17 14:56:00 by: Сард

The word for soul in Greek (ψυχή, psyche) has an interesting history in literature and philosophy. We see it evolve from homeric usage to the early philosophers. From there, to Plato and Aristotle. But the use in the Old and New Testaments is ...

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The Knowability of God

Posted 2019-09-02 07:00:00 by: Сард

Epistemological questions concerning how created beings are able to know the uncreated God have burgeoned for over 1500 years. Historically, the Christological controversies of the fourth century facilitated the rise of two very different theories about the knowledge of God; one held to a kind of radical apophaticism, claiming that God is totally unknowable, the other embraced the exact opposite view, proclaiming that we can know Him in His entirety (that is, by essence). If the essence-energies distinction is not made the question of the fourth century remains: How can we truly know and be united with God without ...

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