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Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Appear on 60 Minutes Segment on Orthodox Christianity NEW YORK – His All Holiness Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians who constitute the second largest Christian denomination in the world, will be featured on the CBS News program 60 Minutes reported by Bob Simon, scheduled to air on Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 7 p.m. EST. The segment will focus on the Orthodox Church, the most ancient Christian church, and its development from its earliest years to modern times in what is now the Republic of Turkey. His All Holiness was named 11th...

Fr Daniil Sysoyev, rector of the parish of the Holy Apostle Thomas in Kantemirovskaya, Candidate of Theology (a Kandidat (Candidate) degree is equivalent to a PhD, somewhat more rigorous: editor’s note) I think that one of the most important problems facing the Orthodox Church in Russia, and even beyond its borders, is the ideological rigor mortis of the Church. The Church is considered as a kind of dead body, it is thought to be frozen. According to some, nothing should be changed in it. It is understandable that we should not change dogmatics and Church Tradition, no one argues with...

TAMPA - A U.S. Marine reservist attacked a visiting Greek Orthodox priest he believed to be a terrorist, Tampa police say. When the priest tried seeking directions from Jasen D. Bruce, 28, of Tampa, on Monday, Bruce struck the priest with a tire iron and chased him. Police say he attacked the Rev. Alexios Marakis, 29, of Crete, Greece, who was visiting St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tarpon Springs and wound up lost in Tampa. Marakis had performed a blessing of another retired Greek priest in the West Shore area and then accidentally exited Interstate 275 north into downtown...

Posted on Nov 9, 2009 | by Staff MOSCOW (BP)--New legislation being considered by Russian lawmakers could drastically restrict missions activity if made into law. Restrictions could include requiring missionaries and Russian Christians to obtain permission to engage in missionary activity and limiting its locations and participants, such as tourists and minors. While the proposals are currently in the draft stages, language introduced by the Russian Ministry of Justice Oct. 12 indicates that if these laws are enacted they will greatly restrict religious freedom. Russian Baptist officials say they believe the new language primarily targets Roman Catholics and Protestants and...

The search for an identity that began after the collapse of Communism remains a critical question for Russians. The Orthodox Church is the only institution that unites Russians with their “near abroad� and has survived throughout the country’s long history. Today, the state needs the church much more than vice-versa. When foreigners convert to Orthodoxy, more often than not it is because they are impressed by the splendour and majesty of Russian liturgy. Related Articles No longer city of dreams They appreciate that strict Orthodox priests do not connive at human weaknesses or play up to the individual, accustomed to...

More Protestants Find a Home in the Orthodox Antioch Church By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN Published: October 2, 2009 LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, Md. — Cal Oren was threading his way through the Santa Cruz Mountains of California early one evening in 1993, driving his wife, brother and three tired children back from a day of hiking amid the redwoods. As their car neared the town of Ben Lomond, Mr. Oren said, his brother pointed to a church on the roadside and said: “I’ve been inside this. It’s really neat.” So Mr. Oren pulled to a stop, and as the children stayed in...

UFO’s: The Shattering AssaultOct 18th, 2007 By Father Alexey Young LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU BY ANY MEANS… II THESS. 2:3It is no coincidence that the ancient pagan mystery religions as well as numerous mystical fraternities (such as the Theosophists and Rosicrucians) speak of an "elite" — sometimes called "the Great White Brotherhood" the "Ascended Masters," or the "Mahatmas" of Madame Blavatsky — a group of beings seeking to guide and control the destiny of mortal man. Sometimes this "elite" is seen as non-human, at other times as "highly evolved" or perfected humans. The ancestor of this "elite" is the...

San Isidoro y San Leandro Spanish Orthodox Church (CLICK LINK TO SEE VIDEO) By: NYCulturalPhysician November 05, 2007 On fourth street in Manhattan, just west of Avenue D, there is a small church: La Iglesia de San Isidoro y San Leandro. It is a Western Orthodox Church, using the Hispanic Mozarabic rite. I, personally, had never previously heard of Western Orthodox, much less Spanish Orthodox, Christians. Like many others ignorant on the subject, my initial assumptions were: aren't all Orthodox Christians Eastern? Aren't all Spanish churches Roman Catholic? This tiny Church employs a liturgy which predates the sad schism between...

MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti, Ivan Korzun) - The Russian Orthodox Church is marking on Sunday the day of the Prophet Elijah, with church services around the country commemorating one of the greatest Old Testament saints. Elijah is the patron saint of Russia's Airborne Troops, who celebrate their professional holiday on August 2. Elijah, also known as Elias, was born in the ninth century before Christ in Tishba of Gilead (present-day Ajloon, Jordan) into the tribe of the Levites. He was a zealous proponent of true faith and fought the worship of pagan idols by Israelites. Through his prayer, the...

...There is so much good news which we need to proclaim about the Catholic Church. We need to raise our voices to be heard over the cacophany of dissent. We have the privilege of living in the age of the late Servant of God John Paul II and now receiving the extraordinary tutelage of Benedict the Builder. The “ecclesial movements” are flourishing, a sign of a new missionary age and a seed of springtime. New religious communities are being birthed and old ones are recovering their charisms and missionary impulse. New Catholic Colleges are being founded and older ones are...

Recently the Barna Research Group released a study on the religious practices of liberals and Christians. According to the report: "The research...discovered that liberals are more likely than conservatives to develop their own set of religious beliefs rather than adopt those proposed by a church or other entity. A greater percentage of liberals also indicated they are very open to accepting different moral views than those they presently possess." [1] Liberal "Christians" abhor "fundamentalist" Christianity so they cast it aside and adopt their own set of religious beliefs and values. Times have changed, after all, so they feel it's incumbent...

Last Sunday was the 4th of 13 in my sabbatical time. Each of them is precious to me. Each week I am choosing a place and a way to worship. I’m not a church tourist, hoping to see new things. I’m seeking spiritual experiences. I want to worship. Saturday night Jeanene and I still hadn’t decided where to go. I experienced something common to our culture but new to me. The “Where do you want to go to church - I don’t know where do YOU want to go to church” conversation. I found the Saint Anthony the Great website....

ODINTSOVO, May 30 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia Kirill on Saturday took part in a foundation stone laying ceremony of a church complex in a settlement in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region. Taking part in the ceremony were also the parishioners and local residents. Putin came to the place of the church complex driving his Volga GAZ-21 car. After the ceremony the prime minister and patriarch rode in the car to the Moscow region residence of the RF head of government in Novo-Ogarevo.

In less then one year, all the cracks of Greek society and economy, all the family secrets that the Leftist, Panhellenic Socialist Movement and their centralist New Democracy allies have tried to suppress, have come sharply into the light of day. Since the fall of the Regime of the Colonels, Greek politics have been dominated by the Left and their centralist allies. The present president, Karolos Papoulias, of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, was reelected to his second five year term on 12 March 05. His prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis, of the New Democracy (a center right, modern, "progressive" party, aka...

Misericordia University, as a Catholic institution, has a responsibility for helping the community achieve these goals. However, precisely because it is a Catholic institution, it also has a responsibility to transmit Catholic teaching to its students in ways that are not ambiguous or confusing. SCRANTON, PA (Catholic Online) - Once again, Bishop Joseph Martino has acted in a manner which not only displays fidelity to his teaching office as a Catholic Bishop but great courage - in an age too often characterized by its opposite, cowardice. He has released further reflections on the issue of properly teaching authentic diversity and...

Aleksy II, Patriarch of Moscow and head of the Russian Orthodox Church, died of heart failure on December 5, 2008, at the age of 79. Born in Estonia in 1929 into a pious family of Russian émigrés of German extraction, Aleksei Mikhailovich Ridiger was ordained a priest in 1950, completed his theological studies in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) three years later, and was tonsured in 1961. His subsequent rise through the ranks of the Russian Orthodox Church—allegedly facilitated by a KGB connection, which he always denied—culminated in his election as Patriarch in 1990. Aleksy II came to the throne just...

His first message to the faithful - and to the world as millions watched by television and internet - emphasized his commitment to reaching out to the young, his dedication to working with those whom he called the “sister churches” and his strong intention to combat “moral relativism”. Each of these is, of course, being received with great hope and optimism by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. They echo so clearly the missionary mindset and urgent mission of his own Papacy. Finally, they signal to millions of Christian faithful the goodness of God in his response to their prayers. Polls...

MOSCOW, January 25 (RIA Novosti) - The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church announced on Sunday a shortlist of three candidates to elect a new leader following the death of Patriarch Alexy II last year. Patriarch Alexy II, who led the revival of Orthodoxy in the country after the demise of communism, died of heart failure at the age of 79 in December 2008. Kirill, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was chosen by the Holy Synod as interim patriarch. The shortlist includes Metropolitans Kirill, Kliment and Filaret. Senior members of the Russian Orthodox Church met at the Christ...

How should I tell the priest about my sins? Is a feeling of repentance indispensable during confession? After confession, should one expect a feeling of spiritual relief, or lightness of soul? These beginners’ questions often remain troublesome even for very experienced parishioners. Many of us are too fainthearted to “waste a priest’s time” with such “simple and insignificant” questions. In order to fill in this gap about confession, such “simple and insignificant” questions were given by our NS correspondent Dmitry Rebrov to the highly-respected Protopriest Valerian Krechetov, the senior father-confessor[1] in the Moscow Diocese and head priest of the Church...

Moscow, January 13, Interfax – Requiem services for Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, who died forty days ago, will be conducted on January 13, Tuesday, in all churches of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia, the CIS and other foreign countries. Divine Liturgy and requiem service will be conducted at the Yelokhovo Epiphany Cathedral, where the primate is buried. The Locum Tenens of the patriarchal see Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad will head the services. At the same time, Bishop Theofilakt of Bronnitsy will conduct the Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Orthodox youth...

This is the same Diocese which voted to secede from the Episcopal Church on Saturday. Under the leadership of Bishop Jack Iker, the one who approved the delegation of priests to dialogue with Catholic Bishop Vann about full communion, the entire diocese of Fort Worth realigned itself with the “Southern Cone”, an Argentina-based province of Anglican Christians which rejects the departure from orthodoxy and orthopraxy which has characterized some segments of the Anglican communion. The Diocese of Fort Worth has 19,000 members and spans 24 Texas counties. Bishop Iker proclaimed to a group of the faithful gathered at St. Vincent’s...

Obama and the Bishops By Richard John Neuhaus Friday, November 7, 2008, 8:16 AM (As) the American bishops of the Catholic Church hold their annual fall meeting in Baltimore. High on the agenda is how Catholic bishops can better communicate Catholic teaching on social justice both in the Church and in the public square. It is understood that the priority issue of social justice is the protection of innocent human life—from the entrance gates of life to the exit gates, and at every step along life’s way. The most massive and brutal violation of justice is the killing of millions...

24.10.2008, 10.41 CARACAS, October 24 (Itar-Tass) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met with Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill on Thursday evening. The Russian church hierarch was leading an authoritative Russian delegation at Russia’s Days in Venezuela that are already over. The interlocutors discussed a wide range of international problems, further development of Venezuelan-Russian relations, broader spiritual and cultural ties between the peoples of the countries. The meeting highlighted the importance of further shaping of a multi-polar world order, the preservation of spiritual and cultural values of the peoples, a role of religion in international relations, Metropolitan Kirill told Itar-Tass...

The theory of Darwinian evolution is one of the least rigorous scientific theories in modern memory. It cannot address the mathematical probability problems associated with the development of favorable new structures by means of successive mutations. The fossil record looks nothing like it should look if Darwinian evolution were actually the mechanism for the creation of new species. Scientists have never been able to reproduce the development of a new species in a laboratory, even with the simplest life forms. There are no indications, in the laboratory or the fossil record, of anything other than micro-evolution (change within a...

Dr. James Innell Packer, a noted Canadian theologian, author and a Board of Governors Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, as well as an executive editor of Christianity Today, recently addressed the contentious problem of homosexuality and same-sex unions in the Anglican church. The Anglican Church has come to a cross-roads because of the issue of same-sex "marriage," with a massive split in the Global Communion looking increasingly inevitable. Dr. Packer opened his remarks with a statement explaining why this issue is of such great importance in the Anglican Church today. "In brief," he said, "because it involves...

A new book is out which may interest some Freepers: The Patristic Understanding of Creation, An Anthology of Writings from the Church Fathers on Creation and Designby Dembski, Downs, and Frederick. From Erasmus Press: The Patristic Understanding of Creation encapsulates what the Church Fathers had to say, in their own words, on the topic of creation. Going back to Roman and Byzantine times, the writings of the Church Fathers are basic to Christian theology and provide a benchmark for how Christians have traditionally understood creation. This understanding of creation, however, faces tremendous challenges in our day, especially in discussions at...

The Battle for Belmont Abbey College and the Soul of Catholic Higher Education has been engaged.Let us support them in their battle and pray for the continued success of their vital mission.

Friends and all people with kind hearts. My mother Snežana is undergoing tomorrow morning an Dudenum surgery. Four days ago her ulcer perforated and she was hospitalised monday morning. So far, she is allright, not any pains, feeling good. But, being diabetician and fairly weak, it is not such simple surgery as it would be for the rest of us. So, please, pray for my mother Snežana to get trough surgery well and to, in God willing recover fast. My father, my sister and I pray for her evry day. If you would like to know, her name, Snežana means...

During the week of October 22-26, David Horowitz and his Freedom Center held a series of events at 100 campuses for Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, intended to counter standard academic nitwitery about the war on terrorism ("America is evil," "We brought it on ourselves," "9/11 was a Republican conspiracy"). Admirable though this was, attention must be called to an even more imminent threat. By the authority vested in me (by myself), I hereby designate the week of November 5th Left-Fascism Awareness Week -- a time to consider the clear and present danger to free speech emanating from the left, from academic...

The history of Christianity has been replete with examples of various theological disagreements and contrary schools of thought, even within the pale of orthodoxy. Modern times have provided us no relieve from this syndrome, which speaks to the inherent imperfections of human discourse and understanding. There is one concept, more than any other, which can account for the great religious polarization within the Christian community, as well as the blue/red divide so evident in the political realm. As a teenage youth and a fresh convert to Christianity from a nominal belief in God, I never perceived distinctions such as "liberal...

Youtube link to the Orthodox Liturgy in Spanish from the Orthodox Church in Mexico . The music is chanted by the Choir of St. George's Cathedral in Mexico. Part OnePart Two

Russian Orthodox Church has called recent opening of a "church" for sexual minorities a farce and addressed to the gay community to repent and to take the road of correction. "The people who have broken off from Orthodoxy, have separated themselves from the Christ's Church, are disguising in Church's clothes and take the road of justifying the vice. Inspite of all lying their trick has nothing common with the Gospel and with the ethics of New Testament, because intentional resistance to an obvious truth is a sin of abuse on Holy Spirit", said the head of the Moscow Patriarchate's department...

Moscow, August 24, Interfax - 24 Orthodox priests and two monks have been murdered in Russia since 1990. According to the Moscow Patriarchate's website, the murder of Archpriest Alexander Men is the first of the list of those notorious crimes. Fr. Men was died at his home because of blood loss after he was hit with something heavy in the morning September 9, 1990 near the Semkhoz railways station. Tree monks of the Optina Pustyn monastery, Hieromonk Vasily Roslyakov, Monk Trofim Tatarnikov and Monk Ferapont Pushkaryov were murdered on the Easter Day, April 18, 1993. Their murderer Nikolay Averin said...

"Everywhere there rises before our eyes the specter of a society where security, if it is attained at all, will be attained at the expense of freedom, where the security that is attained will be the security of fed beasts in a stable, and where all the high aspirations of humanity will have been crushed by an all-powerful state." One of the most articulate defenders of orthodox Christian theology against the liberalizing and rationalizing trends of the early twentieth century was J. Gresham Machen. Influenced by his Reformed Protestant background, Machen was trained as a pastor at Princeton Seminary (once...

In a dramatic illustration of the unhappiness among conservative Episcopalians in the United States, an Episcopal priest from the North Shore has decided to become a bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya. The Rev. William L. Murdoch, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in West Newbury, will fly to Nairobi next month for his consecration as a Kenyan bishop, then return to Massachusetts to minister to other disaffected conservatives who are leaving the Episcopal Church over its 2003 decision to ordain an openly gay priest as the bishop of New Hampshire. Murdoch's congregation, which averages about 300 worshipers each...

ROME (Reuters) - A decree this month by Pope Benedict allowing wider use of the old Latin mass has spawned a veritable cottage industry in helping Roman Catholic priests learn how to celebrate the centuries-old rite. A Web site, helpline, DVDs and a training course at Oxford are among resources springing up for priests who want to celebrate the old-style mass but aren't sure which vestments to wear or where to get them, when to genuflect, how deep to bow, or how to clasp their hands in prayer. "There will be priests who will say: 'Oh my God, I want...

Moscow, July 11, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church has called "honest" the position of the Vatican published in a document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stating that the Catholic Church is the only Church approved by Christ. "It is an honest statement. It is much better than the so-called 'church diplomacy'." It shows how close or, on the contrary, how divided we are," Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who heads the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, told journalists in Moscow. "For an honest theological dialogue to happen, one should have a clear...

The following draws from the book Is the Mormon My Brother by apologist James White. Earlier this year, Paul Kaiser reprinted a Worldview article titled 10 Mormonism Facts which generated a myriad of responses from visitors who stated that Mormons were being misrepresented and are simply our brothers & sisters in the Body of Christ. Let’s look at what Dr. White presents using LDS resources: The First VisionWithout question the key revelation in Mormon Scripture regarding the nature of God is to be found in what is known as the First Vision of Joseph Smith. The vision itself is fundamental...

27 June 2007, 15:10 Russian Exarchate in Western Europe aims at ‘freezing’ relations with the Moscow Patriarchate, the exarchate’s former secretary says Paris, June 27, Interfax - The leaders of the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe (Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarch) gets increasingly less committed to becoming closer to Moscow, the exarchate’s former secretary Basile de Tiesenhausen opines. ‘Today’s reality is freezing of relations (with the Moscow Patriarchate - IF) and escalating of modernization policy, obviously with Constantinople’s silent consent,’ de Tiesenhausen said in his interview to Russkaya Mysl (La Pensee Russe), a Russian-language periodical printed in...

Episcopal Panel 'Dodges' Response to Moratorium http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070615/27991_Episcopal_Panel_'Dodges'_Response_to_Moratorium.htm http://tinyurl.com/35qes6 By Lillian Kwon Christian Post Reporter Fri, Jun. 15 2007 07:13 AM ET An Episcopal panel of clergy and lay people indicated on Thursday they will not give a response to the moratorium Anglican leaders requested for by September, arguing that only the General Convention has the authority to respond. The next General Convention – The Episcopal Church's primary governing and legislative body – however, meets in the summer of 2009. After a four-day meeting that ended Thursday, the Executive Council said that no governing body other than General Convention can agree...

After US Stratfor analytical agency announced the analysis in which is stated that Milorad Dodik, Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska Prime Minister, has turned his back to the West and will be dismissed because of it, Bosnia-Herzegovinian politicians reacted. ... HDZ 1990: Dodik is not an individual, RS is behind him Martin Raguz, HDZ 1990 (Croatian Democratic Union) vice-president, does not believe that western forces will dismiss Dodik, but will surely increase pressure on him -Dodik is not an individual – the RS government is behind him and all political parties in RS. This is why things are not...

George Weigel  Other Articles by George WeigelPrinter Friendly Version   Mount Athos Objects April 15, 2007 Last December's visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople revived speculation that the millennium-long division between Rome and the Christian East might soon end. That was certainly the dream of Benedict's predecessor, the Servant of God John Paul II, who really did seem to believe that Rome and Constantinople could achieve ecclesial reconciliation by the end of the twentieth century, so that a millennium of division — the formal split having taken place in 1054 -- would be succeeded by...

Pope Benedict at 80: Blowing on the coals of faith By John ThavisCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Pope John Paul II turned 80 in 2000, it fueled yet another round of speculation about whether the ailing pontiff might break with tradition and resign. In contrast, Pope Benedict XVI's 80th birthday April 16 finds him with the wind in his sails. The pope's new book on Jesus was being released in several languages, an event that will no doubt launch the Christological themes of his pontificate into wider circulation. In March the pope published a major document on...

Two years into his reign, Pope Benedict XVI is finally poised to make a major mark on American Catholicism with a string of key bishop appointments and important decisions about the future of U.S. seminaries and bishops' involvement in politics. Benedict's election on April 19, 2005, shook liberals and comforted conservatives who expected a doctrinal hard-liner. So far, they have found an easier hand - and someone who has not made the United States much of a priority. When Benedict has gained attention, it has mostly been on the world stage, focusing on the re-Christianization of Europe, Islam and mending...

11 April 2007, 14:58 Patriarch Alexy speaks again about Orthodoxy in China Moscow, April 11, Interfax - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia has recently spoken twice on the hard condition of the Orthodox Church in the People’s Republic of China. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Moscow Patriarchate granting autonomy to the Chinese Orthodox Church, Patriarch noted as he spoke at a reception given by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Tuesday evening. ‘This Church marks her anniversary by having neither a priest nor a bishop, thought there are still many thousands believers who wait for...

Last Updated: Friday, 16 March 2007, 10:57 GMT Rich populist woos Romanians By Oana Lungescu European Affairs correspondent, Bucharest Less than three months after Romania joined the EU, the country is in deep political crisis, with the president and prime minister accusing each other of lying and corruption. Meanwhile, a third man is climbing in the polls. He is Gigi Becali, the multi-millionaire boss of the champion Steaua football club. From humble beginnings as a shepherd, Mr Becali made his fortune in real estate after the fall of communism to become one of Romania's richest men and the second most...

16 February 2007, 16:42 ROCOR criticizes the Constantinople Patriarchate for ‘perpetual interference’ in the Russian Orthodox Church’s affaires Paris, February 16, Interfax - The problems in relationships between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Constantinople arise because of the latter, Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) said. He said he meant Constantinople’s ‘perpetual interference in Russian affaires.’ ‘Their interference has become large-scale since 1917, the year of the Bolshevik revolution, when they started meddling with the Russian matters, and it goes on in Estonia and Ukraine,’ the archbishop told the participants of the...

OXFORD, OH — The Episcopal Church USA’s diocese of Virginia is preparing for an all-out legal battle over the ownership of the property in 11 parishes that broke away from the denomination over its tolerance of homosexual clergy. The case involves two of the oldest, largest and most prominent parishes in Virginia and pits church members against the diocese in a struggle over property valued at about $25 million. In December, members of the 11 parishes, including the historic Truro Church and The Falls Church, where founding U.S. president George Washington once worshipped, voted to leave the Episcopal Church and...

You would think that all Christians have a biblical view of the world around them. After all, we go to church, we’re a part of a small group, we’ve read The Purpose-Driven Life. Are you ready for a reality check? The research says just the opposite. Most Christians do not have a biblical worldview. Author and researcher George Barna made waves by citing statistics that show just 9 percent of all adults in America who claim to be “born again” have a biblical worldview. You didn’t read that incorrectly—it was 9 percent. Protestants as a whole could only manage 7...

Rather early the Christian mind began to ask, "Why did God become man?" The Council of Nicaea declared simply that the Incarnation took place "for us men and for our salvation." That is to say, it is a dogma of the Church that the intent of the Incarnation was soteriological. For the rest, however, the history of theology has witnessed a certain diversity in the ways this soteriological intent of the Incarnation was expressed. More specifically, the answer to the question "Why God became man?" depended in no small measure on the meaning of salvation, and Christians, even from New...