Mount Athos, a Male-Only Holy Retreat, Is Ruffled by Tourists and Russia - The New York Times

Mount Athos, a Male-Only Holy Retreat, Is Ruffled by Tourists and Russia - The New York Times:

For almost as long as there have been monks here, women have been barred — considered a distraction and undue competition for the Virgin Mary, the patron saint. There are no hotels, no bars, no stores, no television and no swimming, plus a daily quota limits visitors.

Travelers arrive on boats providing the only public access to the peninsula. Collectively, the monasteries play host to an average of 1,200 people nightly, all without charge.

The difficult access and the high monastery walls once built against marauding pirates seemed to keep time at bay, too, but now the modern world penetrates on cellphone signals and internet connections.

VICTORIA_CONCORDIA_CRESCIT

VICTORIA_CONCORDIA_CRESCIT: "Review: 'Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical
Introduction' (Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger, 2009).

Here's a good textbook for a basic course in 'Ecclesiology 101' (or what
used to be called 'Church, Ministry and Sacraments' back in my seminary
days). Though written 'densely' in text-book fashion (a few good
stories, lots of Bible texts, with some useful quotes and endnotes) it
would also comprise an excellent study-guide for church leaders."

ORTHODOXY IN THE 21st CENTURY: PERSONALISM: a brief critique

ORTHODOXY IN THE 21st CENTURY: PERSONALISM: a brief critique: "While one cannot consent to the theology expressed in Personalism, it is an admirable philosophy, and since it includes the wonderful Dorothy Day, at least some of its adherents actually put its concepts into real practice. My critique is with regards to the theological precepts, not the philosophical concepts, and certainly not a critique of those self-less people who put those concepts into practice."

Ancient Christian defender: Expiation vs Propitiation

Ancient Christian defender: Expiation vs Propitiation

Quotes the Fathers' interpretations, and deals with substitutionary atonement.

The Ochlophobist: real ecumenicic, augustinomianisms, there's no such thing as the wicked witch of the west, or, we are all the wicked witch of the we

The Ochlophobist: real ecumenicic, augustinomianisms, there's no such thing as the wicked witch of the west, or, we are all the wicked witch of the west, etc., part 2.