Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
The Orthodox Moment: Education Kept in Safety for All Time

The Orthodox Moment: Education Kept in Safety for All Time

Last updated on: May 8, 2022 at 12:04 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

The Orthodox Moment: Education Kept in Safety for All Time 2022-05-08T12:04:49-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The City of God is kept in safety for all time: full of love, the pursuit of wisdom, and joy.

The beloved community is described this way in song, prophetic words, and history. Those with right beliefs, the “orthodox,” never are dated, because they are never up to date. The Orthodox choose the eternal at the cost of the ephemeral, rejecting the calendar as a measure of truth. This is bold, good, and noble, but can lead to despair. The up to date look to be winning and so if one is not careful, faithfulness can lead to a mistaken despair.

The Orthodox always are seemingly losing, just to somebody new. Our losing is apparent, the result of some regional compromise, but our victory is eternal. We do not give into the world, flesh, or devils. The Orthodox keep celebrating, enduring, and yet dying under some red shirt or brown shirt.

How can we be said to survive? We have learned to endure. We were “conquered” and yet exist in Antioch, Athens, Aksum, and Alexandria.

As a result, in a world where compromise is too common, this is our moment: the Orthodox moment when history turns to the Faithful and looks at what the suffering, martyrdom, and faithfulness have produced in the twentieth century.

Christ’s followers in the West of the World are battered, beaten, and baffled by our times. We have fallen to colonial temptations and imperial dreams. We are falling, failing, flailing. The sensible center is not holding. This collapse is frightening. Even Evangelical colleges are considering a right to vice. The temptation is to oppose and so enter the forces of reaction.

The reactionary loses because he proposes nothing new, only a nostalgia for an imperfect past. We are not going back, but we are going forward: to goodness, truth, and beauty.

The Orthodox are kept in safety for all time because they side with eternity: virtue, wisdom, joy. We are the history of the Church, century after century, so we are not afraid of the democracy of the faithful. We give all the faithful a voice, living and dead. We know that the Holy Spirit within will say “Worthy” correctly if all the faithful have a voice.

The education that ignores the saints will fall into a chronological parochialism: unable to see beyond the prejudices of the times.

Saint Basil urged the faithful to study anyone, even the old reprobate Homer, that could teach us virtue.

We are not afraid of ideas. We reject false ideas. We know men are men and women are women. We do not condone decadence. At the same time, we do not hate: we are commanded to love our enemies. We will never pick the brown shirts to avoid the red shirts.

So when it comes to education, this is the Orthodox moment, the time for the philhellenes and the children of Antioch.

College education is a union card in American culture, but college education has become usurious and unserious.

We need mentoring. We need individual tutoring. We need what Saint Basil advocated and Saint John of San Francisco demonstrated.

If a college drives a family into debt, it is not Christian. If a college will not consider the truth, beauty, or goodness, then it is not Christian. If the world, the flesh, and devils are the agenda, then no Christian would support such a school.

Instead, consider a School not built on reaction, but joy. We are for what we are for and that sometimes means being against evil things. That is a college worth considering. Living in debt, seeking coupons on a Publix Weekly Ad has nothing to do with it.

What will it profit a family to gain the world, but to lose souls?

Look for a community kept in safety for all time by the prayer of the Theotokos.

All is well. This community exists.

Education

On Education

Previous Post

March 29, 2022

The Silent Trumpet Sound

Next Post

April 30, 2022 Gandalf, Magic, and Miracles

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What nation took Israel into captivity in 722 BC?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Assyria Babylon Egypt Persia

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »