Essays on Synod

The ritual of marriage is a very important milestone in the life of an individual and, more so, in the life of an individual who is also a devout Christian. The Scripture often mentions the sanctity of marriage as well as the permanency of it in one’s life. Such descriptions have resulted in a dilemma for particular individuals who, for some unfortunate reason, have had to divorce and remarry. At present, Catholicism does not permit divorced individuals to remarry unless and until they have had their marriage annulled by the Church. While the Orthodox Catholic views on remarriage ...

The second synod of Orange is famous due to its deep consideration of some typical problems for the medieval man‘s perception of the world. First of all it relates to the basic contradiction between the independent human mind and the Almighty God’s predestination. In other words, writing basic points of the synod theologians tried to find some simple and obvious conception of the human free will, its abilities, limits and its importance for the main goal of everyone – Salvation of the eternal soul. The deciding opinion of most disputants, as Mozley notes, took into account the doctrine ...

In “Advent is New Beginnings,” the topic revolves around Pope Francis, who exclaimed his famous remark with regard to homosexuality: Who am I to judge? Whereas said statement by Pope Francis has earned him critical acclaim from circles who perceive his progressiveness in finally changing the traditionally conservative direction of the Catholic Church on homosexuality, it is nevertheless an ambiguous one. Said statement did not include an express statement by Pope Francis stating a definite stand on homosexuality and at the same time, he did not place his leadership on an affirmative stance towards urging the entire Catholic Church to ...

The Great Church in Captivity

Diverse scholarly monographs dedicated to the Orthodox Church history during the reign of King Ottoman have recently been published. One such scholarly work is that of The Great Church in Captivity: A Study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the Eve of the Turkish Conquest to the Greek War of Independence by Steven Runciman. Sir Steven has successfully penned down the patriarchate history by chronicling the events during the Ottoman rule. It is indeed a detailed and a lucid piece of work which displays the research conducted on language relevant to this theme. However, the book gives a detailed account of ...

In 1725 after raise in the level of population literacy, after enlightenment of the Russian society after victories in several great wars - the Seven Years War, Polish, Russian-Turkish, and Russian-Swedish - and after the grand reforms of Peter, Russia partly returned to the Time of Troubles, by the time when the country had no legitimate ruler. Peter I died before he could appoint a successor. As a result, many palace coups have begun. Many people changed power: Catherine I, Peter II, Anna Ioannovna, Ivan VI Antonovich, Elizaveta Petrovna, and Peter III. When Catherine II came to power, she stayed there ...