Kristofer Carlson's Blog
December 23, 2017
The Broad and Truncated Canons of the Old Testament
The Christian Church accepted the broader canon of the Old Testament (including the Apocrypha) until the time of the Reformation. The Anglican Henry Wace, in his commentary on the King James Version, admits as much when he writes: When the Reformers denied the … Continue reading →
December 20, 2017
The Old Testament and Second Temple Judaism
The idea of the canon as a list of authoritative books would have been strange to Jews of the Second Temple period. For them, the Temple was the center of their religion. Lester L. Grabbe, Emeritus Professor of Hebrew Bible … Continue reading →
November 23, 2017
Forgiveness in the The Lord’s Prayer
Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done unto thee, so shall thy sins also be forgiven when thou prayest (Sirach 28:2). And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (Matt 6:12). This is without a doubt … Continue reading →
September 10, 2017
Monergism, Synergism, and Hermeneutics
One of the key issues in the Protestant Reformation is whether humans cooperate with God in their own salvation. Early Protestants denied, with different emphases, that humanity had any role in their own salvation. This view is known as Monergism, … Continue reading →
September 4, 2017
On Proof for the Existence of God.
“To oppose something is to maintain it. …To be an atheist is to maintain God. His existence or his nonexistence, it amounts to much the same, on the plane of proof.”[1] Ursula K. Le Guin. If God exists, why does … Continue reading →
September 2, 2017
Mystagogy: A Monastic Reading of Dionysius Areopagita.
Mystagogy by Alexander Golitzin My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love this book. It also infuriates me. The biggest problem with the book is the frequent use of foreign words and phrases that are neither transliterated, translated, or defined. … Continue reading →
July 15, 2017
Spiritual Techniques
In the West, we despise tradition, the accumulated wisdom of our predecessors. In some cases this is good, causing us to learn new things. The idea that our predecessors didn’t know everything is a Western phenomenon. The idea that there … Continue reading →
April 21, 2017
The Story of St Seraphim of Sarov and the Bear
THE BEAR One day Matrona, one of the nuns, saw [Father Seraphim] sitting on a tree trunk in the company of a bear. Terrified, she let out a scream. The Staretz turned round and, seeing her, patted the animal and … Continue reading →
The Story of St Searaphim of Sarov and the Bear
THE BEAR One day Matrona, one of the nuns, saw [Father Seraphim] sitting on a tree trunk in the company of a bear. Terrified, she let out a scream. The Staretz turned round and, seeing her, patted the animal and … Continue reading →
