Tag Archives: immaculate conception

Immaculate Virgin: Postdestined Before the Ages

Posted on 28 September 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

“Most holy, most pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary.” Panagia, Achrantos, Theotokos, Aeiparthenos—the titles abound, not only in the private prayers of Eastern Orthodox Christians but in the public liturgies and offices. A prayer … Continue reading →

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The Immaculate Conception and the Orthodox Church

Posted on 23 September 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Father Lev Gillet I. It is generally agreed, I think, that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is one of the questions which make a clear and profound division between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Is this really … Continue reading →

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The Immaculate and Predestined Mother of God

Posted on 8 December 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

“Most holy, most pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary.” Panagia, Achrantos, Theotokos, Aeiparthenos—the titles abound, not only in the private prayers of Eastern Orthodox Christians but in the public liturgies and offices. A prayer … Continue reading →

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St Mark Eugenicus and the Immaculate Burning Bush

Posted on 6 December 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

We jump from St Gregory the Theologian in the 4th century to two Byzantine theologians in the 15th century—Joseph Bryennius, a vigorous supporter of hesychastic theology, and St Mark Eugenicus, the resolute voice of Orthodoxy at the Council of Florence. … Continue reading →

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Mary Prokathartheisa: A Patristic Antecedent to the Immaculate Conception

Posted on 4 December 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

In his monograph Immaculate Conception, Fr Christiaan Kappes advances a controversial thesis: invoking prokathartheisa (prepurified) as a title for the Theotokos, “the Greek Fathers—in the line of the Nazianzen until the introduction of Byzantine Thomism in the 14th century—never vacillated … Continue reading →

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St John the Wonderworker and the Heresy of the Immaculate Conception

Posted on 3 December 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, solemnly defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854, is regularly cited by Orthodox theologians and apologists as an insuper­able barrier to the reunion of the Orthodox and Cath­olic Churches. According to St John of … Continue reading →

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The Ecumenical Stain of Original Sin

Posted on 5 June 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Do Orthodoxy and Catholicism significantly disagree on original sin? Both agree that by his sin and disobedience Adam broke fellowship with God and introduced into the world chaos, disharmony, corruption, evil, and death. But Orthodoxy dissents from Catholicism, we are … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Reversible Infallibility: When a Dogma Becomes Irrelevant

Posted on 12 February 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Once a second-order doctrine is recognized by the Church as infallibly constitutive of the Christian faith, must it be considered irreformable under all conditions and circum­stances? Historically, as George Lindbeck notes, this question “is not traditional, and therefore there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 45 Comments