The following open letter appeared on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on December 15, 2017. It contains two prominent Orthodox signatures: that of Archbishop Melchisedek (Pleska) of the Orthodox Church in America and of then Archimandrite, now Metropolitan Nathanael (Symeonides) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The letter came to Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s attention only this morning.

As was the case with the infamous Manhattan Declaration of November 2009, once again Orthodox spokesmen have made common cause with Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Muslims, Presbyterians, Southern Baptists, the Church of God in Christ, the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and the Bruderhof to produce a purely ideological statement lacking any of the theological nuance and pastoral spirit of Orthodox Christianity, any engagement with the evolving science of gender identity formation, any consultation with actual transgender or intersex people, or even any familiarity with the proper vocabulary used in the discussion of these questions.

Orthodoxy in Dialogue has an extensive Sexuality and Gender section in our Archives by Author. In particular we draw your attention to “Transgenderism” Isn’t a Thing, Intersex vs. Transgender, Why Sex Is Not Binary, and our own open letter of September 24, 2018, Sexuality & Gender: Open Letter to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. While our open letter elicited the predictable condemnations and guffaws of derision from the predictable blogs and websites, we beg our hierarchs, priests, deacons, monastics, theologians, and laity to read it carefully: human lives are at stake.

Archbishop Melchisedek and Metropolitan Nathanael

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Created Male and Female: An Open Letter from Religious Leaders

December 15, 2017

Dear Friends: 

As leaders of various communities of faith throughout the United States, many of us came together in the past to affirm our commitment to marriage as the union of one man and one woman and as the foundation of society. We reiterate that natural marriage continues to be invaluable to American society.  Read More

This is the sixth article in our On the Incarnation series for the Nativity Fast. It includes a short video at the end.

The slab on which Christ’s body lay.

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The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

These words echoed through my mind, along with the faint chanting that echoed in the tomb’s darkness. I had cast my eyes on a few candles that were growing out of a fat mound of water-suspended wax, and made my way over to the font, mesmerized as I crossed the floor. Reaching them, I gazed with intent and cupped my hands around the flickering light, seemingly suspending that which the darkness had not overcome in midair. Taking a breath, I realized in that moment for the first time where I truly was.

Knowing that the opportunity would not likely come again, I was quick and glad to sign up for a 3-week ecumenical immersion in biblical studies that was taking place in Jerusalem (see video below). On the way over, my new friends from Holy Cross in Brookline were swift to give a Catholic such as myself a crash course in all that I would need to know on Orthodoxy (leading in time to the discovery of Orthodoxy in Dialogue). It was during these conversations that I learned on the way about the possibility of staying overnight in the Holy Sepulchre and simply said, “Okay, we’re doing that,” with no thought to plans or schematics. Somehow, a few of us secured spaces to keep vigil, decided to chance it, and prepared to not sleep in the midst of our endless walks and day trips under a baking Mediterranean sun. Read More

How to Be a Sinner
Peter Bouteneff
Yonkers NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2018

I remember when I first saw the cover of this book I thought, “I must have read the title wrong.” So I did a double take and, lo and behold, it was what I had read: “How to Be a Sinner.” Are they serious? What a crazy name for a book, especially for a book published by an Orthodox Christian press. Besides, who needs a book on how to be a sinner? We’re all pretty good at it already. Right?

Over the past several decades the term “sinner” has fallen on hard times. Sin and sins have recently been replaced with more nuanced words like mistakes, inappropriate behavior, addictions, phobias, etc. Those who commit these errors are not sinners but rather victims of prejudice, narrow-mindedness, racism, sexism, chauvinism, to name a few. The very definition of what is a sin is myriad, and no agreement can be reached. Those who even suggest that there is such a thing as sin are in some circles thought to be psychologically warped.

For all the above reasons, Peter Bouteneff’s book is so important. A professor at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, he deals with several different aspects of the topic, from Scripture, the liturgical services, the writings of the Fathers/Mothers, and everyday practical issues. In the introduction he states that the goal of his writing “revolves around reorienting our understanding of how to ‘successfully’ be a sinner” (p. 18). He enumerates those goals:

• To see a genuine “sinner identity” as realistic and healing rather than neurotic
• To understand that identity as holistic, rather than divisive
• To cultivate a self-love that is healthy, rather than narcissistic
• To find self-acceptance that is realistic and constructive, rather than libertine

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Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s Feeding the Homeless on Christmas campaign on GoFundMe will accept donations no later than this Saturday evening, December 22. We’re just a little over $1400 short of our $5000 goal.

Can you help? We’re pleased to accept any amount with deep gratitude.

You can read our original and follow-up post about this project here and here.

You can go straight to our GoFundMe page here.

Please pray for the success of this project, and for the well-being of all those who will benefit from it.

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