Frederica Mathewes-Green
Frederica Mathewes-Green
Frederica Mathewes-Greenis an Eastern Orthodox author and speaker on the subjects of religion and abortion...
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cumulative jesus official people teaching time understanding
The Church's teaching isn't an official statement, but the cumulative understanding of all the people who have loved and experienced Jesus through time.
became believed cast faith people teenager totally
As a teenager and a student, I totally cast away the Christian faith. I just believed it was stupid, and only stupid people could believe it. I actually became an anti-Christian, and very antagonistic.
influences peer people
People just don't realize how much peer pressure, the desire for peer acclamation, influences them.
community hurt jealousy people theology vacuum
People don't do theology in a vacuum but in a community with other theological thinkers, where there's jealousy, vanity, hurt pride, all those things.
winning car people
Disaster movies do us the psychological service of forcing a quick march through the worst that could happen. At the end we see that you win a few, you lose a few, some cars are up in trees, and only the most attractive of the young people have survived.
people want
Everyone wants to transform, but nobody wants to change.
alienation bad damaged fearful god rap sheet
What's wrong with us isn't a rap sheet of bad deeds, but a damaged heart, a soul-sickness, that plunges us into fearful self-protection, alienation from God and others.
board bodies clergy governing hierarchy orthodox power various worldwide
The Orthodox hierarchy doesn't have the kind of power that high-ranking clergy do in other churches. There isn't even a worldwide governing board to hold all the various Orthodox bodies together.
christ cross debt died father full generally malice overlook pay references salvation scriptures testament
The New Testament Scriptures are full of references to the malice of the devil, but we generally overlook them. I think this is because our idea of salvation is that Christ died on the cross to pay His Father the debt for our sins.
alert god lure main might scare scared stepping undermine wants
The devil's main purpose is not to scare us, in a horror-movie way; when we're scared of him, we're alert to him, and that might undermine his plans. Instead, he wants to quietly, subtly lure us into stepping away from God.
appeal christmas favorite power stories watch
The Christmas story has such power and such appeal every year. There are other stories we get tired of. You think of your favorite movie; you don't want to watch it 15 times.
church gospel last minute walk
My mother was an unbeliever - and still is. My father was a nominal Catholic. We would go in to church at the last minute before the gospel reading, take Communion, and walk right out again.
catholic faith home raised roman
I was raised in a nominal Roman Catholic home, but without any really strong faith there.
building faith front hold locate orthodoxy protest
Someone who wanted to challenge Orthodoxy would not be able to locate a building to hold a protest march in front of. The faith is too diffused.