Second Reading: Holy Bible (ESV)
On September 4, 2021, I completed another read-through of the Bible, this time in the English Standard Version (ESV). The journey began in September 2017 with a deliberate goal: to read carefully, giving word-by-word attention …
First Reading: Holy Bible (NASB)
When I first started reading Scripture seriously, my world was shaped mostly by the NASB, particularly the 1977 edition. I didn’t sit down with a plan to go from Genesis to Revelation in one sweep …
The Shape of Prayer
Over a series of sessions, I attended a course of lectures on the Prayer Rule from an Orthodox perspective. I didn’t go looking for something new or exotic. I came already convinced that prayer isn’t …
The Apophatic Way
The seeming tension between apophatic theology and the cultivation of phronema (φρόνημα)—the Orthodox mind or spiritual consciousness—resolves when we understand that apophaticism is not an epistemological nihilism nor an avoidance of dogma, but a method …
The Didache
The Didache, or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, is one of the earliest extant documents outside the New Testament canon that offers a structured outline of Christian moral teaching, liturgical practice, and ecclesial order …
On the Incarnation
Today, I completed reading St. Athanasius’s On the Incarnation to understand the meaning of Theosis, or Union with Christ. This writing from St. Athanasius of Alexandria is a masterpiece of early Christian theology, offering a …
The Divine Imperative
Across the major traditions of Christian theology, the doctrine of humanity’s ultimate destiny is described in terms of participation in the divine life—though expressed through different concepts and emphases. Introduction Eastern Orthodoxy speaks of Theosis, …
The Imitation of Christ
Today, I completed a 419-page version of The Imitation of Christ. A book from centuries ago translated from Latin to English by Aloysius Croft and Harold Bolton (published in 2014). It was a period of …
Fount of Heaven
Back in February of this year, 2024, I fully read “Fount of Heaven,” edited by Robert Elmer, a book of assembled prayers from the Early Church. First published in 2022 by Lexham, these prayers originated …
The Mystery of Christ
Having completed John Behr’s book, The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death, I felt driven to write a review posted here because of his perspectives as a Patristics Scholar and his background as an Eastern …
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
Upon completion of the book O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, it has been about four months of liturgy in a structured format, the same as followed with the books O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and …
The Ancient Faith
“The Orthodox Faith, Worship, and Life: an Outline,” authored by Hieromonk Gregorios and translated by Chara Dimakopoulou, is an enlightening reading of the catechism of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The book was published in 2020 by …
Visions of the Devoted
The book Be Thou My Vision is a devotional compilation of materials structured in liturgical form. The book’s substance is ordered so that a believer delves into areas of pertinent interest. The book is 345 …
The Nicene Affirmation
It was entirely revealing to me that the criteria of Christ’s deity and biblical Christology are articulated in the Nicene Creed of 325 A.D. Here we have an extra-biblical document that supports the doctrine of …
The Deity of Christ
The book Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ begins with Part one, entitled “The Devotion Revolution: Jesus Shares the Honors Due to God.” There are five parts of the …
To Know and Love God
The following are chapter notes in the form of questions and answers that cover the subject matter of the book, “To Know and Love God.” The book is a monograph from David Clark and it …
Vatican II & the Aggiornamento
Apparently, the Roman Catholic Church places little comparative weight upon the authority of Scripture as the apostolic, prophetic, and patriarchal witness to worship, the covenant proclamations, and obligations of God’s people. It emphasizes tradition, philosophy, …
Consider the Lilies
Reading “Consider the Lilies” from beginning to end, the reader quickly senses that it is meant to be more than a book about anxiety—it is an invitation to reorient the heart toward Christ. Ardavanis writes …
About James
☩ U.S. military veteran and electrical engineer with an MBA from Pepperdine University and an M.A. in Theological Studies. My background includes wilderness exploration with over 140 mountain ascents and travel throughout Europe and the Americas. My life is in Christ, under the authority of Holy Scripture, with ongoing pursuits in engineering, literature, the sciences, and theology.
