Temptation coaxes us toward sin, and sin leads to sickness and death, and ultimately confinement in the realm of the evil one. Frederica Mathewes-Green More Quotes by Frederica Mathewes-Green More Quotes From Frederica Mathewes-Green My mother was an unbeliever - and still is. My father was a nominal Catholic. We would go in to church at the last minute before the gospel reading, take Communion, and walk right out again. Frederica Mathewes-Green walkreadingmotherfather I was raised in a nominal Roman Catholic home, but without any really strong faith there. Frederica Mathewes-Green withoutstrongfaithhome After I graduated from college, while traveling around Europe, hitchhiking, doing the tourist thing, I went into a church in Dublin. Frederica Mathewes-Green doingchurchcollegeeurope The Christmas story has such power and such appeal every year. There are other stories we get tired of. You think of your favorite movie; you don't want to watch it 15 times. Frederica Mathewes-Green youtiredchristmaspower Of the seven deadly sins, anger has long been the one with the best box of costumes. When the guy in the next car rages at you, he's dangerous. When you rage at him, you're just. We can usually recognize the results of anger, especially in others, as destructive and evil. Frederica Mathewes-Green bestyoucaranger People don't do theology in a vacuum but in a community with other theological thinkers, where there's jealousy, vanity, hurt pride, all those things. Frederica Mathewes-Green jealousycommunityhurtpeople You can latch onto theological ideas that are, in fact, not accurate, and refuse to let them go. I think we've seen this a few times in church history. Frederica Mathewes-Green youchurchhistoryideas I know by experience that Jesus Christ is a very powerful spirit - I know by experience that he is probably the most powerful spirit in the universe. I know by experience he is not a mere human being. He is something beyond that. Frederica Mathewes-Green knowuniverseexperiencepowerful The Church's teaching isn't an official statement, but the cumulative understanding of all the people who have loved and experienced Jesus through time. Frederica Mathewes-Green lovedchurchtimepeople I think intellectualizing annoys me because it is the enemy of experience; you cannot experience the presence of God and analyze it at the same time. You can't analyze anything and experience it simultaneously. Frederica Mathewes-Green meexperiencegodtime The Orthodox hierarchy doesn't have the kind of power that high-ranking clergy do in other churches. There isn't even a worldwide governing board to hold all the various Orthodox bodies together. Frederica Mathewes-Green evenkindpowertogether Someone who wanted to challenge Orthodoxy would not be able to locate a building to hold a protest march in front of. The faith is too diffused. Frederica Mathewes-Green challengesomeonebuildingfaith Lots of Orthodox go to church every Sunday but don't know much about the faith. Yet they know that there is something that they don't know much about. Frederica Mathewes-Green knowsundaychurchfaith The New Testament Scriptures are full of references to the malice of the devil, but we generally overlook them. I think this is because our idea of salvation is that Christ died on the cross to pay His Father the debt for our sins. Frederica Mathewes-Green newthinkdevilfather The devil's main purpose is not to scare us, in a horror-movie way; when we're scared of him, we're alert to him, and that might undermine his plans. Instead, he wants to quietly, subtly lure us into stepping away from God. Frederica Mathewes-Green devilpurposegodway Women and men just aren't that different. Oh, we're different in some intriguing ways, and it can be fun to band together for all-gal or all-guy projects. But when it comes to the tragic mess Christ came to heal, we're pretty much the same. Frederica Mathewes-Green womentogetherfunmen Women don't need to have our own little corner of the church where we can feel precious or, alternatively, cranky. In every essential thing, as far as life in Christ is concerned, the differences between men and women are irrelevant. Frederica Mathewes-Green feelwomenmenlife
