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The following essay is from this book. I decided to post it for three reasons. To confess my own captivity to these vices and warn others of the danger; like a traveler stuck in the mud warning passersby. To give an example of what it means “the law is spiritual,” and the whole of the Old...

That must be my cue... but you already stole my line! :-)

In the flesh of ours, which He assumed and dwelt among us (John 1:14), darkened as we are (Matthew 4:16).

The spider of imagination weaves many frightening webs in our dreams, yes! But they are just that... spider's webs, flimsy and easily dissolved. :)

The person who like a spider lives in stillness* and has woven his thoughts with the ethereal words of the spirit as with a web/net (Matthew 13:47), can easily sense the disturbances caused by the spiritual insects caught thereat. Such a one, being well trained in the works/ways of God, as with...

What wows me the most is their humility. They had many reasons to be more... forward, demanding, vengeful even, they were being tortured for their adherence to God's Laws afterall, but they chose to embrace their sufferings as something just on account of their sins and those of the people. The...

In the Septuagint their prayer is also included after verse 23: Song of the Three Children 1 Then Azarias stood up, and prayed on this manner; and opening his mouth in the midst of the fire said, 2 Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our fathers: thy name is worthy to be praised and glorified for...

Cyrene*, Cyprus (I was born not very far from it :)) _____ * Also spelled with K.

To be honest, I’m not sure what the objection is. That quote (post #5) merely attributes to God (James 1:17) everything good we have or accomplish beginning from our biological birth. The only logical explanation I can give – not directly expressed in his reply – is that he ascribes to total...

I don't see the difference. I would call that innate gift (talent?) and ability as God's Grace, His image and likeness, Christ present and working in us.

I'm sure he understood this goodness of our "natural state" as something given to us by God (Genesis 1:31, 1 Corinthians 4:7). Is there anything really that is our own (excluding sin)? Saint John Climacus, another famous ascetic a few centuries later (and many others) had the same...

Thank you for stopping by. :) It was actually your thread, "Neither give place to the devil," where you quoted Ephesians 4:26, that prompted me to post the above since it explains how to be angry in a righteous way.

You mean you haven't linked them, the hair that is of your head or of your beard, with wisdom and righteouness. Those verses merely suggest that there is another meaning behind the literal. Proverbs 16:31 Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life. Wisdom of Solomon 4:9...

And I agree. The letter of the law is useless to us (with some exceptions). The spirit on the other hand is not: Romans 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. Romans 7:6...

The pagans at the time, the Greeks in particular had this custom of leaving their hair and beards grow and then offering them (the trims) to their gods, the demons that is, as sacrifice. You will find this explanation in the writings of Saint Athanasius and Theodoretus. There's also a...

The following is a short essay from a very old collection of essays by Abba Isaiah: I do not want you to forget, brothers, that in the beginning, when Adam was created, God placed him in Paradise with healthy senses that were established according to nature. When Adam listened to the one who...

Christ has a God because He became a man like us. It is the same with saying Christ died. If we are to be consistent, it is wrong to say God died, the divinity that is. Only that part of Him (humanity) that was capable of dying suffered death. We sometimes abuse the term God to refer to one of...

Agreed. :-)

I'm not comfortable with that phrasing. I would rather say, the Word of God, Christ who is also God (the Son), spoke of God the Father as being His God in relation to His (Christ's) human nature. I would say so. The alternative would imply that God has a God, which makes no sense. Fatherhood...

Jesus is both God and man. The verses from the OP prove His human nature, why would anyone dismiss them?