The Book of Nature

It was astounding to learn how central the idea of Nature as a Book as been in the Christian tradition, from Basil to Bonaventure to Benedict.

Here's a fantastic article by Fr. Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti that I drew on: https://t.co/XQ4cbZmjLJ

— Peter Mommsen (@PeterMommsen) May 25, 2021

The Source of the Tweet May be Probelmatic

But the thesis on"Western Church history" is interesting. Is St. Augustine the primary Latin source for its "ontology of Holy Orders"? And is Latin "theology of the priesthood" based upon St. Augustine solely, or are there other Latin fathers who are sources for it?

Cassian bought the mystical theology of the Egyptian Desert as described by Evagrius of Pontus to southern France. He adapted this desert mysticism to appeal to Latin Europeans. Reforming old monasteries and building new ones. Thus beginning the Gothic revolution. pic.twitter.com/oURBEgWWGs

— OZAbbey (@9AbbeyOZ) December 19, 2020

Cassian's master was Evagrius of Pontus d399CE. Over 15 years Evagrius had interviewed & documented the greatest of the Egyptian-desert mystics. He was meticulous & thorough. A brilliant psychologist. He cataloged 9 Logosmoi, which became Cassian's 8 passions & Gregory's 7 vices. pic.twitter.com/wIMQ8EHrI3

— OZAbbey (@9AbbeyOZ) December 19, 2020

Related:

John Cassian and Augustine on Peter and on the pope via /r/Christianity https://t.co/bLf6gJXSqX

— reddit_christianity (@rd_christianity) March 13, 2018

Persona (Non)Grata? Orthodox Readings of Augustine Revisited, Fr. Robert Dodaro, OSA

The Procession of the Holy Spirit

Orthodox Council of Blachernae 1285:

3. To the same, who say that the Father is, through the Son, the cause of the Spirit, and who cannot conceive the Father as the cause of the hypostasis of the Spirit — giving it existence and being — except through the Son; thus according to them the Son is united to the Father as joint-cause and contributor to the Spirit's existence. This, they say, is supported by the phrase of Saint John of Damascus, "the Father is the projector through the Son of the manifesting Spirit." John of Damascus, De fide orthodoxa, in Kotter, Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos II, 36 PG 94.849B): "He Himself [the Father], then, is mind, the depth of reason, begetter of the Word, and, through the Word, projector of the manifesting Spirit." This, however, can never mean what they say, inasmuch as it clearly denotes the manifestation — through the intermediary of the Son — of the Spirit, whose existence is from the Father. For the same John of Damascus would not have said — in the exact same chapter — that the only cause in the Trinity is God the Father, thus denying, by the use of the word "only," the causative principle to the remaining two hypostases. John of Damascus, De fide orthodoxa, in Kotter, Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos II, 36 PG 94.849B) Nor would he have, again, said elsewhere, "and we speak, likewise, of the Holy Spirit as the 'Spirit of the Son,' yet we do not speak of the Spirit as from the Son." Ibid., 30 PG 94-832B). For both of these views to be true is impossible. To those who have not accepted the interpretation given to these testimonia by the Fathers, but, on the contrary, perceive them in a manner altogether forbidden by them, we pronounce the above recorded resolution and judgment, we cut them off from the membership of the Orthodox, and we banish them from the flock of the Church of God.

4. To the same, who affirm that the Paraclete, which is from the Frather, has its existence through the Son and from the Son, and who again propose as proof the phrase "the Spirit exists through the Son and from the Son." In certain texts [of the Fathers], the phrase denotes the Spirit's shining forth and manifestation. Indeed, the very Paraclete shines form and is manifest eternally through the Son, in the same way that light shines forth and is manifest through the intermediary of the sun's rays; it further denotes the bestowing, giving, and sending of the Spirit to us. It does not, however, mean that it subsists through the Son and from the Son, and that it receives its being through Him and from Him. For this would mean that the Spirit has the Son as cause and source (exactly as it has the Father), not to say that it has its cause and source more so from the Son than from the Father; for it is said that that from which existence is derived likewise is believed to enrich the source and to be the cause of being. To those who believe and say such things, we pronounce the above resolution and judgment, we cut them off from the membership of the Orthodox, and we banish them from the flock of the Church of God.

Greek and Latin Traditions on the Holy Spirit

General Audience of John Paul II, 29 July 1998 - The Holy Spirit as Source of Communion


Exposition of the Tomus of Faith Against Beccus
From Aristeides Papadakis: Crisis in Byzantium: The Filioque Controversy in the Patriarchate of Gregory II of Cyprus (1283-1289)

If the Holy Spirit gives us life as sons of God and gives life to Christ as man, can it be said that He has the same role with respect to the Son as well? (Is this the thesis of Weinandy?)

Or is the life of the Father and Son together a Divine Hypostasis?

Wipf and Stock

Original Sin

Original and Ancestral Sin: A Church Dividing Issue? BY ERIC LOZANO

What Are Legitimate Responses to Transgressions of the Limits of Authority?

Or if there is no legitimate authority to begin with? This essay does not address those questions.

Church Life: Why Is Christian Citizenship a Paradox? by Émilie Tardivel-Schick

Adam DeVille Reviews Ecumenism of Blood

CWR Dispatch: Ecumenism of Blood skillfully addresses questions about martyrs-saints, Western-Eastern relations by Dr. Adam A. J. DeVille
Hugh Somerville Knapman, OP, takes on complicated ecumenical issues, while also tracing Catholic understandings of martyrdom, canonization, and Christology.

St. Augustine of Hippo on Charity

William Cavanaugh, "What Do I Want? Augustine and Milton Friedman on Freedom of Choice"

A Thought on the Direction of Latin Theology

How many of his theological opinions would have been different if St. Augustine of Hippo had known Greek and had read the scriptures in Greek? (And correspondingly how would have the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas been affected?)

Sin as Self-Sabotage

Lumen Christi Institute: Sin as Self-Sabotage: Saint Augustine on Ravishing One's Own Ruin


The lecture topic is also his new book, to be published by Bloombury.

The Necessity of Baptism for non-Orthodox Christians Converting to the Orthodox Church

An Orthodox makes the case...

Pravoslavie: The Recognition of the Baptism of the Heterodox as the Basis for a New Ecclesiology (In Step with Vatican II)
A paper delivered at the Theological-Academic Conference "The Great and Holy Council: Great Preparation without Expectations," March 23, 2016 in Piraeus, Greece

(via Byz, TX)

Fr. David Meconi - Ravishing Ruin: Self-Loathing in St. Augustine

The One Christ

The One Christ: St. Augustine's Theology of Deification by David Vincent Meconi, SJ
Google Books

From earlier this year: Renowned Thomist Fr. Meconi Delivers Lecture to Christendom
At Steubenville: Being Transformed in Christ








He is currently editing a volume of essays on deification in the Latin tradition.

No Blessed Augustine Here

Post by Orthodox Christian Network.

For the Feast of St. Augustine

The Scriptural Roots of St. Augustine's Spirituality by Stephen N. Filippo