There Was No Inn in the Room
Every good story needs a villain—even a Sunday-School Christmas pageant. Of course, the original Christmas story from Matthew and Luke had a super-villain: King Herod. But for a Sunday School production, it doesn't really work to have grade-school kids acting out the Slaughter of the Innocents, so there isn't room for a Herod. In his place, therefore, a new villain must be found.
Soul and Spirit
The spiritual principle in man which is opposed to the body is designated in Sacred Scripture by two terms which are almost equal in significance: “spirit” and “soul.” The use of the word “spirit” in place of “soul,” or both terms used in exactly the same meaning, is encountered especially in the Apostle Paul. This is made evident, for example, by placing the following texts side by side: Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s (I Cor. 6:20); Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (II Cor. 7:1); and, We are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul (Heb. 10:39).
Some Common Misperceptions About The Date of Pascha/Easter
A common misperception among Orthodox Christians is that Orthodox Easter (i.e. Pascha) often occurs so much later than Western Christian Easter because the Orthodox Church abides by the rules for calculating the date of Pascha issued by the 1st Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in AD 325.
Great Lent - A Week by Week Meaning
This 40-day period of Lent is a period of "abstinence" from foods, but primarily from personal iniquities. Abstinence from foods (fasting) alone is a means of attaining virtue; it is not an end in itself.