I hope this new year finds you all healthy and well. As you can see, it has been impossible for me to keep up blogging in my current format. A lot has changed in my own life, and I think I need to open a new blog to reflect these changes.
I am still working on my MA in Biblical Studies and Hebrew, but have also discovered a new love in the field of Historical Theology. This summer I took a course in Patristic Theology and found my own path changing in a profound way. As a result, my husband and I are now seeking to enter the Orthodox Church. We are involved in a parish that has a large Middle-Eastern Heritage, and I've found that Orthodoxy has answered so many of the questions and things that bothered me about Evangelical Protestant theology and their approach to the Bible. If I'm going to blog with any consistency, I need to engage the things I'm thinking about and encountering on a daily basis. I have yet to think of a name for the blog, but I expect it to be up within the next week.
I plan to continue to interact with my interests in Islam and Somali language and culture, but there will also probably be more posts interacting with theology and current issues in the Orthodox Church. In the the meantime, if you don't know much about Orthodoxy, here are some basic articles that our archdiocese has put together.
http://www.antiochian.org/discover
6 comments:
Looking forward to reading it!
You're the second person to tell me recently that they're/you're considering Orthodoxy. The ME comment has me curious, which type is it (I don't know the terms EO uses... for us its Rite or Church)? I know there's a couple that are very similar to ours.
I'm dense... you linked it lol. It is the one I was thinking of :-)
:-) @MK. We are loving it! Our parish was started by mostly Syrian and Lebanese immigrants, but it is much more diverse now. The picture is actually the inside of the church we attend. The iconography is stunning and I find that it does really help to focus me upon worship and the presence of God.
The Antiochian church uses the same liturgy and form as the Greek tradition, but the language will vary based upon the parish itself. Our liturgy is almost entirely in English with small portions in Arabic and occasional festal pieces in Greek. The Eastern Rite Catholics are affiliated with Rome,and would share theological differences in common with Roman Catholicism, but use forms of worship and iconography that are more similar to the Byzantine Orthodox tradition.
Yeah I know... I asked before I saw which one. We're Maronite Catholic (mostly a Lebanese parish, some Syrian and becoming more diverse as well). Our Liturgy is mostly in English (here at our Parish) too, but with some Arabic and Aramaic. I love it :-) There are actually a couple Antiochian Orthodox that go to our Parish too... one family is a mixed marriage and somewhat confused about the other since there is an AO Parish here too from what I understand.
Nice to read something from you! I read a bit about EO last year and found it highly interesting. What problems did you have with Evangelical Protestantism? Maybe you can discuss this at some point. I'm curious what you found in EO that satisfied you.
Glad you seem to be doing well!
@Susanne, I was first exposed to Orthodoxy after taking a summer course in Patristic theology.
I found in general a lot of continuity between what I was reading in the Fathers and what is taught and practiced in Orthodoxy that is lacking in Evangelicalism. I have come to see the importance of structure in worship and prayer, which is generally lacking in Evangelicalism as well. In some churches, they engage more of these historical aspects of our faith, but they generally take the format from either Roman Catholicism or Orthodoxy. After studying, I felt that Orthodoxy really did preserve the fullness of the faith, and my husband and I decided to jump in with both feet. That's just a brief summary, but I'll get to more of the details in the future God-willing.
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