Five weeks ago tomorrow, on January 22, we published our Open Letter to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the United States of America, drawing attention to the looming spectre of white supremacy, neo-Nazism, and hate groups in our Church, our parishes, our seminaries, our monasteries. To date this letter has been signed by three archpriests, four priests, a protodeacon, two deacons, an Anglican canon, an Old Catholic priest, four editors of Orthodox theological publications, theologians, and laymen and laywomen around the world. Signatures continue to trickle in even now. 

As additional information has come to our attention from within and outside the Church, we published sequels—beginning with an alarming letter to the editors—on January 24, January 25, January 27, January 31, February 8, February 9, February 14, February 16, February 19, again on February 19, and February 20. White Supremacy and Racism now has a separate category in the upper portion of our Archives by Author page, before our alphabetical list of authors.  

Our Open Letter and related posts have been viewed over 10,000 times. They have been shared and discussed on thousands of Facebook timelines and in numerous Orthodox Facebook groups—not the least of which, Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s own Facebook group—as well as on Reddit, Christian Forums, and some smaller platforms. They have also been tweeted and retweeted.  

More significant than those who have signed are those who have not because they fear for their lives at the hands of their Orthodox brethren. We know this because they have written to tell us. To be clear: they already personally know the people who make them afraid. This is no imaginary fear of an imaginary bogeyman. Several have asked to sign our Letter pseudonymously because they are afraid. Read More

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No one could describe the Word of the Father; but when He took flesh from you, O Theotokos, He accepted to be described.

(Kontakion for the Sunday of Orthodoxy)

Today the Orthodox throughout the world celebrate the Triumph of Orthodoxy over the last of the great heresies.

A heresy is a deviation from the truth of the faith. Orthodoxy does not have an official compendium of doctrines apart from the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed proclaimed by the first two Ecumenical Councils of 325 and 381. However, this Creed lays the groundwork for a consistent and excellent perspective on who God is and what He does for His creation. God is proclaimed to be perfectly One. He is the Father. Also He eternally begets the Son, who is true God of true God, the divine Person concretely incarnate within space and time as Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Christ.

Jesus is one divine Person in whom the divine and human natures are in perfect union, yet unmixed but distinct. It is this, Orthodoxy joyfully proclaims, which saves us. The Son of God has lovingly accepted to be fully incarnate as human, thereby linking with divinity the humanity we share with Him as a result of this Incarnation, for He always remains true God of true God. It is this which opens the way to Paradise for us. It is this which makes it possible for us to grow towards the potential with which God created us, to become like our Creator, gods by grace as He is God by nature. Read More

Stefan Kleinhenz

In the wake of yet another school shooting, seventeen families are left without their loved ones, a school is left with a broken heart, and an entire nation is left without peace.

The unfortunate reality is that school shootings have become a recurring predicament in this country, and the time has come where we can no longer ignore it. We as a people must search for real solutions; this has to begin with ourselves. We are not only witnessing, but allowing, the fundamental breakdown of our community to occur right before our eyes—and as a nation we can’t allow this matter to become subject to partisan politics, because the right to life comes not from government, but from God. The desire to protect it is something we can all agree upon. We cannot be Republican or Democrat when discussing this matter, because we are not talking about a political issue but a human crisis. We have forgotten that we are all on the same team. To allow our political differences to not only divide us, but to turn us against each other, is to allow darkness to succeed in terrorizing our community. From the foundation of our nation, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, to the core of our faith, Love one another, we must go forward and be strengthened in the fundamental principles we all agree upon.  

Unfortunately, tragedies seem to be the only thing in our modern world that don’t have a political agenda. And like a phoenix rising from the ashes, great beauty can come from the horrific acts of evil. In the horrendous moments of a school shooting, people are not concerned with political differences or disagreements: they are solely determined to survive. They are all united in their human nature, in which their greatest effort is to protect one another and to defend human life. Moments of great calamity breed our necessity for one another in ways that other situations don’t. Read More