Talking to the Friendly, Religious Folks Who Knock at Your Door

Perry Robinson over at Energetic Procession posted this about a year ago.  I find myself coming back to it often enough that I thought it merited a re-post.

In it, Perry lays out what seems to me to be a very helpful way of discussing our religion with the friendly religious folks who knock at the door. Here’s a brief excerpt

“I see” I said. “But there is something else I think is worth noticing here about the story of Philip. If Philip is right, then I can’t interpret the Bible for myself. I have to rely on God’s Organization to do so.” At this point the two ladies became quite enthusiastic. “Oh surely, people have all kinds of crazy ideas about the Scriptures.” They said. “Oh I know. You wouldn’t believe half the stuff people throw around in books or magazines or now on the Internet about the Bible.” I replied. “But here is what I have been thinking and wondering about. If I can’t interpret the Bible for myself, because then I would go off into God knows what kind of darkness, then I need to be able to find and identify God’s Organization on Earth so I can rightly and authoritatively interpret the Bible.” I said. The two ladies let out “uhmm hmmm, that’s so true!” I was on a roll it seemed.

Energetic Procession

My Interview with Garrett Olson

In this episode I speaks with my good buddy Garrett Olson, the lead singer of the band “The Humdrum Rebellion” based in Orange County California. Garret is the son of a Presbyterian pastor. After being challenged by the theology of the Church Fathers as a college student, he discovered the Orthodox Church and the healing found therein with help from some persistent friends and the Theotokos.

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Fr. Conan (part 2)

Here’s the second half of my interview with Fr. Conan

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My Interview with Fr. Conan Gill (part 1)

I contribute a podcast to the Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) called Journeys to Orthodoxy. In this episode I speak with Fr. Conan, a priest in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, currently serving at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Albuquerque New Mexico.Hear how Fr. Conan journeyed from the Church of Christ in West Texas to the Orthodox Church, and ultimately to his calling to the priesthood.

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Teaching (Math) With a Christian World View

I’m a math teacher at a private Christian school. This past week I was asked to give a short talk on what it means to teach with a Christian world view. The topic was large and the time limit short. Here is a transcript

I’ve been asked to give some “philosophical remarks” with regard to the question of what it means to teach with Christian world view. I was was asked because by the end of our preparatory meeting I, perhaps sophomorically, found myself more puzzled than when we had started. So my job, as I see it, is to share my confusion with you. That is after all, what my philosophy degree best equips me to do.

Summary of points: Contraception and the Saints

Someone asked me via the interwebs whether or not the Orthodox church has “changed its position” with regards to contraception and if those are sufficient grounds for rejecting Orthodoxy.  That person then heard a claim that the Orthodox Church doesn’t “have a defined system of who becomes a Saint. ” This was my response.

Rome, My Old Friend

A friend of mine is searching for the faith of the Apostles.  He is caught, like many of us were, between the claims of the Roman church and the Orthodox Church.  He asked me about some of the reasons I chose Orthodoxy over the Roman church.  This was my response.