A Living Text

Year: 2014

  • Hirohito’s Religion

    David Bergamini writes: The dream of the ancestors to rule theocratically and keep Japan sacred for the sun goddess remained unfulfilled. Hirohito had reservations about the dream. It was too insular, too mystical and unscientific. Because of his training in geography and economics, Hirohito could not think of Japan in isolation but only as a…

  • The Intercession of Icons

    In her book The Formation of Christendom, Judith Herrin writes: It was in their role as intercessors between man and God that the icons commanded particular devotion. Numerous legends of women, whose inability to conceive a child (or sometimes, more particularly, a son) was removed by prayers directed to icons, reflect an anxiety common to…

  • Icons and Paganism

    Thomas F. Mathews says that Christian icons “…grew out of a strong tradition of pagan panel paintings of the ancient gods…” (p. 179) Mathews points to some glaring examples of this transfer from paganism to eastern Christianity. …a fresco painted directly on a house wall in Karanis to serve as a permanent icon shows the…

  • Bishop Ruch Describes Tension and Unity at ACNA Conclave

    In a new video to his Diocese, Bishop Stewart Ruch describes his excitement at the bonding experienced last week in the ACNA Conclave: Brothers and Sisters of the Upper Midwest, I want to give you a brief report on what I just experienced at our Provincial Assembly and Convocation over the course of the last…

  • Bishop Ruch Describes Tension and Unity at ACNA Conclave

    In a new video to his Diocese, Bishop Stewart Ruch describes his excitement at the bonding experienced last week in the ACNA Conclave: Brothers and Sisters of the Upper Midwest, I want to give you a brief report on what I just experienced at our Provincial Assembly and Convocation over the course of the last two weeks.…

  • Archbishop Beach and the Charismatic Gifts

    People have wondered where Archbishop Beach stands on charismatic gifts in the Church. The following email indicates that he believes in the continuation of the charismatic gifts, as it seems that he quoted from a “word of knowledge” to his church in 2005. From: Parish Administrator Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 9:49 AMTo: Rev. Dr.…

  • What Does Archbishop Beach’s Election Mean for ACNA?

    What does the election of Bishop Foley Beach mean for ACNA? I have a few guesses and thoughts, all of which may look foolish when his term expires in 2024, but which I am recording nonetheless. 1. The first-generation era of the Realignment is over. Leaders such as Bishop Minns, Chuck Murphy, John Guernsey and…

  • Who is Archbishop-elect Foley Beach?

    I hope to add links to any information I can find. For now: In 2004, Bishop Beach wrote about why he was leaving the Episcopal Church: I am forty-five years old and for thirty-four of those years I have been an active participant in the Episcopal Church. I was baptized, confirmed, married, ordained a deacon,…

  • ACNA: Who Will be the Next Archbishop?

    ACNA is about to choose its next Archbishop (Put more precisely, the ACNA College of Bishops is about to choose him). Since ACNA is tiny compared to the Roman Catholic Church, we do not have a plethora of websites like Whispers in the Loggia or papers like this one speculatng on whom the next Archbishop…

  • Realities of Enforced Reconciliation in Rwanda

    In contrast to a lot of pious-sounding talk about reconciliation in Rwanda, Susan Thomson has just written this article, which should be a must read for someone who really wants to grasp how things work. She says: The government can seek to impose national unity and reconciliation activities on Rwandans because of the deep structures of…