Fr. Brendan Pelphrey returns for the second instalment of Orthodox Apologetics for the 2017-2018 school year. In this episode, Fr. Brendan gives an overview of the history of the Protestant churches. He also answers some questions that Protestants may ask Orthodox college students. If you have any questions for Fr. Brendan, please email Tasya at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)/**/.

Fr. Brendan and Caroline Mellekas discuss Pentecostalism and speaking in tongues.

Fr. Brendan Pelphrey and Kassiani discuss Ecumenism and what it means to Orthodox Christians.

So what is the monastic life all about? Legalism? Works based salvation? Matthew explores this topic in today's episode.

Matthew talks about what all Christians can learn from monastics, and encourages us to develop a relationship with a monastery.

In part one of this four-part series, Matthew outlines the problem that exists with pluralism in Christianity.

In part two of this four-part lecture, Matthew examines the "We all worhip the same Jesus" theory and shows why it is a fallacy.

In part three of four, Matthew shows the contradictions between various interpretations of Christ, thereby tearing down the notion of pluralism.

In the final part of this series, Matthew shows how unity is not only possible, but already exists.

As we begin the Advent Fast, Fr. John Oliver reflects on the chasm that divides us from the Divine and the uniqueness of Christianity in bridging that gap.

As Orthodox Christians in a non-Orthodox culture, we have questions: Who are we? What is "the Church"? What is our relationship to friends and family of other faiths? What is ecumenism? Who will be saved? In this special edition of Hearts and Minds, Fr John Oliver offers a few reflections.

What do you get when you mix the language and culture of the South with the long and rich heritage of the "Old Country?" Get ready to smile in this encore presentation!

Fr. Joseph looks back on 2009 episodes of the Orthodixie podcast (and can't believe he didn't get fired) and looks forward to more jabs at American Orthodoxy in 2010.

Ever thought of a sermon while chasing a cigarette-smoking dog named S-s-s-tan out behind a mosque on a Sunday morning? (Well, Fr Joseph is not sure he has either.)

The words: soteriology, hesychasm, and vlachos were spoken recently in Beaumont, Texas—not to mention so-dzo, so-dzentai, huneycutt, and so-dzenestitai. (Most holy Theotokos, save us!)

What do you get when you mix the language and culture of the South with the long and rich heritage of the "Old Country?" Get ready to smile!

The Great Commission just doesn't apply to us, right?

In this episode Fr. Anthony interviews Bill Marianes, a gifted evangelist and lawyer (don't hold that against him; or at least pray for him because of it). Bill argues that the best way to bring energy and growth to our parishes is to reorganize ourselves around ministries and transform members into disciples, apostles, and ministry leaders. Bill has shared this vision with several dioceses and is currently working with the UOC-USA to implement it through their strategic planning process. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Anthony and Fr. Harry Linsinbigler (UOC-USA priest and Canonist) discuss the difference between run-of-the-mill pride and full-blown narcissism, how both respond (or don't respond) to Orthopraxis, and the way narcissism poisons the soul and the community. They also call for the Church to be more intentional in keeping narcissists out of seminary and the priesthood, and discuss how we can and should protect ourselves and one another from giving in to the temptation of both pride and narcissism.

Fr. Anthony ones again shares the idea of the pattern of the Logos as the mechanism of evangelism. This is the first part of a talk he gave at the 2018 Lenten Retreat in Bethlehem PA hosted by the Ukrainian Orthodox League (UOC-USA) and The American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Anthony interviews Fr. John Peck (http://frjohnpeck.com) about the joys and challenges of North American missionary work and ways that those called to it can get themselves and their families ready for it and the many challenges it - and life - can bring. We talk about the need to get out of debt and how important it is to have an awesome, loving, and mutually supportive relationship with your wife. Enjoy the show!

In this interview, Fr. Anthony and Dn. Michael Abrahamson talk about the relationship between a healthy parish culture, worship done well (to the glory of God), and evangelism. Along the way, they talk about funerals, the organic development of local worship melodies, and the simple joy of shared service. Enjoy the show!

Despite our intention and our ability to justify our words, our witness has been damaged by our response to this crisis. We run the very real risk of strengthening the misperception that Orthodoxy is at odds with science. This episode grew out of the result of several long discussions Fr. Anthony had with believers who had been hurt and driven away by claims that are, in the language they know, illogical and dangerous. Fr. Anthony makes the case that we need to learn the language our audience speaks so that we can teach them the Gospel in way they will understand. You can find the article this episode is based on at orthoanalytika.org. Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony next to his back porch in Hartwell GA as he talks with Professor Carrie Frost, PhD about clericalism, ritual, and the risks and benefits of lay hesychasm. There were some audio problems with the YouTube livestream; our editor (Doug) made the best of it for the podcast version. Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony in Hartwell, GA as he talks with Professor Adam DeVille (University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, IN) about proper and improper ways of framing self-care, why it is so easy to get it wrong, and why it is important to get it right. They also spend quite a bit of time talking about reconciliation and polarization. Dr. DeVille is the author of Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses of Sex and Power. He blogs (prolifically and well) at “Eastern Christian Books.” There’s a bit of ironically timed electronic mischief in the middle, but the worst of it has been edited out. This is the audio from Fr. Anthony’s YouTube livestream (12/21/2020). Professor DeVille’s article on this topic is available here.

One of the challenges of our present spiritual situation is that our society has settled for something less than truth. This affects the quality of our opinions, policies, and judgments and undermines our ability to live and spread the Gospel. An indicator of the seriousness of this is our growing inability to listen to, learn from, and love people who think differently than we do. In this presentation, I frame the situation as a problem of discernment, compare scientific and Orthodox methods of knowing, and describe how polarization keeps us from using either well. I conclude with a discussion of the critical role diversity plays in discerning truth, and how the Gospel can transform the (Babelic) divisions that deafen us to the truth into a (Pentecostal) harmony that proclaims and celebrates it. Emulating the academic forum the paper was written for (the 2020 Institute for Studies in Eastern Theology), Dn. Timothy Kelleher then offers his thoughts on the presentation and subject. Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony as he talks with Dn. Timothy Kelleher about his roles on Independence Day and Star Trek: The Next Generation (he was also on Voyager and Enterprise) and how good storytelling is always evangelical. Enjoy the show!

Rather than picture a perfect, established, normal Sunday school and try to fit yourself into that plan, maybe it's better to start by looking at what you do have and find a flexible, innovative way to make it work.

Fr. Michael begins a two-part series on discussing the comparison between vocations: marriage, monasticism, and singleness.

Fr. Michael shares his reflections from Abbess Thaisia: An Autobiography. Visit his blog.

Fr. Michael reflects on this quote from St. Isaac the Syrian (Homily 36), "A small affliction borne for God’s sake is better before God than a great work performed without tribulation; for affliction willingly borne brings to light the proof of love…."

In an on-going discussion with my inquiring friend today, I respond to two questions. First, why do traditional Christians call priests father; and second, why do we pray to saints (i.e. why don’t we just go to God ourselves)? Orthodoxy assumes that it takes a “village” to raise a Christian. And not just a village of people who live in the same time and place, but a village that includes all of our holy Fathers and Mothers who have gone before us. When we come to God, we come with everyone, never by ourselves.

As we make our way through the ‘Great Arena of the Fast,’ let’s be careful how we suggest or inform one another about the ascetical practices and traditions that are provided for us in the Orthodox Church. The goal is holiness, not conformity. Let’s not forget Jesus’ warning to the Jewish lawyers when He said of them that they load people down with burdens hard to bear but do not lift a finger to help them.

Too often we say that we love the sinner but hate the sin; however in practice, I don’t think the sinners can tell the difference. May God help us to care for the bodily needs and to lovingly honour our neighbours, especially those we disagree with, and let us strive in appropriate measure to be diligent in our life of prayer and in our ascetic disciplines so that even without a word we may influence our neighbour to turn from what is evil to what is beautiful.

If we do not work on that relationship, if we do not nurture longing for God, if we do not take the time to nurture our inner life, then we also grow apart from God. We are still baptized, still joined to Christ, but growing apart we become bored with God, our longing wanders to more exciting possibilities; and if we are not careful, God become a stranger, even an enemy to us. And this, perhaps, is what hell is like: to be joined to God, yet be bored with Him; to go to your own wedding, despising your fiance; to spend eternity knowing that you ignored for a lifetime the God who loves you so much that he allows you even to ignore His love.

Keep nurturing the disciplines and activities that tend to produce the fruit of the Spirit, and work to avoid the activities or relationships or situations that stir up your passions. This is what the Church calls asceticism.

The guys loved Coco, and they both cried (#Pixar). They discuss presentations of the afterlife, the longing for divine justice, and how each of us desperately longs to be remembered by the Lord. They close with their Top 5 Depictions of the Afterlife.

The girls saw the new children’s movie, Smallfoot. They discuss the complex nature of truth, how important it is to ask questions, and how we can use technology to create false images of ourselves. They close with their Top 5 Mythical Creatures.

Fr. Philip LeMasters calls us to a life of humility, that goes beyond a prideful legalism, leading to the healing of our souls.

At Theophany, we celebrate that no dimension of our life or world is intrinsically profane or cut off from sharing in the holiness of God. All things, physical and spiritual, visible and invisible, are called to participate in the divine glory that our Lord has brought to the world, to become even now signs of the coming fullness of God’s Kingdom.

The feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos calls us to live faithfully as those who have put on Christ like a garment in baptism, been filled with the Holy Spirit in chrismation, and become guests at the heavenly banquet in the Eucharist.

Those who have put on Christ in baptism and who receive the Communion of His Body and Blood must become epiphanies of His fulfillment of the human person in God’s image and likeness. As we prepare to celebrate Theophany, let us gain the spiritual clarity to behold the glory of Christ’s baptism by straightening the crooked areas of our lives.

As we celebrate the restoration of icons today, let us become more beautiful living icons of our Lord’s salvation and gain the strength to treat every neighbor accordingly as we live and breathe in this world. Remember: They are His living icons also.

Fr. John discusses cosmology, a concept that was very important to the early Church.

Fr. John discusses the case of Caesaropapism and the symphony when it was actually achieved.

Fr. John looks at traditional Christianity's eucharistic rites in order to see how they served to reorient the world toward the kingdom of heaven.

Fr. John explores what exactly monasticim was in the days of St. Macarius.

Fr. John looks at a couple of consequences of St. Augustine's anthropology in the West.

Fr. John describes the desanctification of the world that began to occur in the time leading up to the Great Schism.

Fr. John discusses the spiritual decline of the Church in the West and the attempt to reform this degradation.