The Very Rev. Archpriest John E. Parker III, DMin

On July 5 it was announced that “[t]he Board of Trustees of Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, PA, has named the Very Rev. Archpriest John E. Parker III, D.Min., as the new Dean of the school.” The announcement (available here) mentions that he wrote a ThM thesis at St. Vladimir’s Seminary entitled “The Sanctity of Chastity: An Orthodox Approach to Homosexuality” and that his parish — “well-known for its warm, southern hospitality” — hosts the meetings of Sexaholics Anonymous, “especially devoted to freeing men from slavery to pornography.” Three paragraphs later we read, “He has given talks and retreats… internationally in Finland and Greece.”

This appointment raises a number of concerns and questions which Orthodoxy in Dialogue finds necessary to share with our several tens of thousands of readers around the planet.

The first and perhaps most obvious question is this: Why did St. Tikhon’s not conduct a public search for such an important position as that of dean? The second is related: What qualifications of Father Parker’s make him such an overwhelmingly compelling choice as to make a proper search superfluous? The third question: Why is the outgoing dean said to despair that he doesn’t even recognize the Church anymore?

Of all the worthwhile extra-ecclesial organizations to which a parish church might rent or lend its meeting space, why Sexaholics Anonymous in Father Parker’s case? Have a look at the website: a “sexaholic” is defined as anyone who masturbates or has sex with someone other than his or her spouse. The word itself and its astonishingly broad meaning imply a psychological or psychiatric disorder — rather than a focus of Christian ascesis — for which there appears to be no support from the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, or the Center for Disease Control. The Oxford English Dictionary doesn’t even recognize the word. 

Father Parker took the fast track to ordination following his fast track conversion to Orthodoxy: Read More

On July 14 we published “St. Paul on Marriage” in response to Father Joseph Gleason’s terrifying distortions of Christian marriage. Some ten hours later he posted an apparent rebuttal entitled “Unconditional Respect from Your Wife.” The irony is lost on no one that a website subtitled “Christian Renaissance” should host his ruminations.

We do not use the word terrifying lightly: an Orthodox Christian therapist working on his PhD in clinical psychology—and whose research examines the relationship between psychological attachment, religious fundamentalism, and authoritarianism—has stated to us that Father Gleason’s false “theology” sets the stage for men pathologically insecure in their masculinity to abuse their wives and children on any number of imbricated levels.   

Gleason frames his dangerous views as “notes to Protestants from an Orthodox priest,” and imagines that adding “Rostov the Great, Russia” after his signature lends him some sort of mythic authority as emanating from “Holy Mother Russia.” He concludes his two pieces on marriage with the following:

Are you a Protestant who disagrees with this article? …[I]f you are…willing to listen, then I will gladly have a conversation with you.

“Willing to listen”…he demands the same kind of unquestioning deference from his readers as he does from his wife. To whom does Father Gleason listen? Does he realize how much of an outlier he is among Orthodox who write on marriage?

We urge Orthodox hierarchs, pastors, and lay theologians to join us in protecting women and children by responding on the pages of Orthodoxy in Dialogue or elsewhere. 

Love is supposed to be unconditional. So is respect.

The Bible teaches clearly on this subject. Unfortunately, many Protestant teachers are liberal cucks and uppity battleaxes who chafe at God’s requirements for marriage. These folks claim there is no hierarchy between husbands and wives, and that a wife should only respect her husband if he deserves it. Sitting at Rachel Held Evans’ feet and clipping her feminazi toenails would be more preferable to some people than simple obedience to the Apostle Paul…. 

Thankfully, the ancient Christian faith—Orthodox Christianity—is a breath of fresh air. This ancient breeze blows away the noxious odors of feminist feet, making them a distant memory. For 2000 years, the Orthodox Church has consistently taught that wives owe respect to their husbands. Unconditionally. Read More

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The following brief remarks respond to “Notes to Protestants from an Orthodox Priest – Ditch the ‘Honey Do’ List,” which was published earlier today.

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord…. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church…. Children, obey your parents in the Lord…. Slaves, be obedient to…your earthly masters…as to Christ…. Masters, do the same to [your slaves]…. (Eph 5:21-6:9)

Thus the Holy Apostle Paul lays out a blueprint for harmonious relations in the 1st-century Christian household. What immediately becomes clear is that he exhorts each family member either to behave like Christ or to treat the others as if they themselves were Christ. Each member approaches the others in a self-sacrificial mode of relationship characterized by reciprocal servanthood. When considered carefully, spiritually, prayerfully, this passage—part of which is read during the Orthodox rite of marriage—allows no self-aggrandizement of the husband, no infantilization of the wife. 

This becomes clearer if we retain the structure of the original Greek in the opening verse:

…being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ; wives, to your husbands, as to the Lord….

Paul addresses the exhortation to be subject, or to submit, to the husband and the wife equally, even as he articulates a vision for how this might work in actual practice to reflect and reveal the mutual love of Christ the Bridegroom and His Bride the Church. Read More