In which I Reveal My Bapto-Catholic Hybridity
The last two times I have attended Catholic Mass while on the road, I have encountered youngish priests who, though they did not lead their congregations in the Traditional Latin Mass, brimmed with conservative Catholic fervor. One of these experiences was in the mountains of western North Carolina, with a priest who announced that he […]
The Traditional Latin Mass & Reactionary Politics
I found Christina Wassell’s account of moving from “generic Protestantism” (my term) to the Roman Catholic Church very compelling, and I certainly understand the quest for liturgy. As an Episcopal priest, however, I found the following sentence a tad confusing, explaining her move from the Episcopal Church to Rome: “While we had made an intellectual […]
Following Jesus as a traditional Roman Catholic
There is an ancient maxim, “Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi.” Loosely translated, this means, The law of praying is the law of believing is the law of living. While this captures a universal truth, it has become a motto of significance for traditionally minded Roman Catholics. Our family has been attending the Traditional Latin […]
What I learned from other Christian Traditions
Concluding Response from the Orthodox Tradition Dear Conversation Partners, Glory to Jesus Christ! I’d like to thank each of you again for your very thoughtful, insightful, and appreciative responses to my attempt to provide at least a glimpse into the riches of Orthodox spiritual life in 1500 words! I’m very encouraged and inspired by […]
Orthodoxy: An Immersion in Sacred Belief and Practice
I so appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this e-conversation. More than twenty years of extended interfaith dialogue with scholars and church leaders from Evangelicalism, the Church of the Nazarene, and Community of Christ (formerly Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) have been transformative for me—both mind-expanding and spiritually invigorating. […]
How Do We Ultimately Gain Access to & Knowledge of God?
After reading the thought-provoking and engaging post about “what does it mean to follow Jesus” from the Orthodox tradition, I left with two competing thoughts. On the one hand, I have a greater appreciation for how the “Saints” are venerated, with particular emphasis on the consistency of that veneration. Such a commitment to the ancestors […]
Context Matters: A Response to Orthodoxy
I have the toughest job of all the reviewers, I fretted as I read David Ford’s posting on the Orthodox tradition. True, we all share the daunting task of speaking for the people in our respective Christian traditions – in my case, the world’s estimated 279,000,000 Pentecostals, a notoriously fractious assemblage of people. (If we […]
Mary the Mother of God and Sacred Tradition as Fundamental to East and West
My response to David Ford’s essay on ‘What it Means to Follow Jesus in the Orthodox Tradition” will post on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a high, holy day for Catholics worldwide, and indeed, for the Orthodox Church worldwide the same is true. In that venerable Eastern tradition […]
How Orthodoxy Might Offer Anabaptists Resources for the Spiritual Journey and Anabaptism Might Counter-Offer Social Justice Passions
As I’ll explore more fully in my main post (Nov. 2021) on how Anabaptist-Mennonites view following Jesus, the fragmentation of my tradition(s) makes it a challenge to discern the most fruitful vantage point from which to write. Not only is Anabaptism embodied in multiple traditions but its expressions in Mennonite Church USA, to which I […]
An Outsider’s Appreciation for Orthodoxy
I open, if I may, with some personal references and intersections with Orthodoxy, which have occurred several times in my life. As I was finding my way past the fundamentalism of my childhood during my years in graduate school, I became enamored of Orthodox Christianity—in part because it was (as I believed at the time) […]
A Lutheran Celebration of Orthodox Liturgical and Sacramental Spirituality: Some Inquiries About How Much Freedom the Orthodox Tradition Sanctions
In view of Martin Luther’s appreciation of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox traditions (Luther’s Works, Vol.31, p.81), and the outreach Luther theologians later in the 16th century made to the Ecumenical Patriarch, it should not be surprising that a modern Lutheran theologian would find much to endorse in this thoughtful presentation of the Orthodox heritage. […]
The Living Faith of the Dead vs. the Dead Faith of the Living
As people who like to talk about new birth, new life, and the church and world made new, we Pietists set ourselves up to undervalue what’s old. That’s particularly true of Pietism’s Radical wing, which experimented with a dizzying array of innovations in Christian belief, practice, and community in the 18th century. But even those […]
On a Tradition Brimming with Confidence, Spiritual Rootage, and Personal Moral Striving
As a Baptist, I find that David Ford’s description of the Orthodox path of following Jesus takes me into largely unfamiliar territory. But that unfamiliarity is welcome. I am determined to learn from it, even as I find myself resisting certain aspects of it. I certainly see major potential correctives here for common patterns in […]
Holiness and Sin
The tradition that I represent in this dialogue had its beginning in the Evangelical Revival in England during the 18th century. The stream of Methodism that has survived and flourished since then was guided initially by John and Charles Wesley. As a relatively “new” tradition, it would not appear at first that Wesleyan Methodism would […]
What can God Redeem?
What can God Redeem? It’s fortunate that this ambitious ecumenical conversation begins with David Ford’s contribution from the Orthodox tradition. In my view, the Reformed family has paid the least attention to the Orthodox among the major Christian traditions. But we probably have the most to learn from the Orthodox, as well as from […]
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