Religion & Beliefs

Victor Aliyev08.10.2025

Fifteen years of pastoral ministry have taught me a simple truth: being a Lutheran in Russia means constantly answering the question of what Russian Lutheranism is. There is no answer—there are six different answers, six paths that seem to lead to the same goal. The history of this diversity goes back centuries. The first Lutheran […]

Prot. Victor Harakas26.09.2025

How to explain the following passage from the New Testament as it appears in the Jerusalem Bible: “If it is hard for a good man to be saved, what will happen to the wicked man and to sinners?” (1 Peter 4:18)? The passage which you mention is interesting on a number of different levels. First, […]

Yuri Chekalin17.09.2025

Shinto is often referred to as polytheistic, because there are many Kami that are classified in three ways: amatsukami (heavenly Kami), kunitsukami (earthly Kami) and yaoyorozu no kami (myriad other Kami). Kami are therefore not necessarily deities in the sense that is usually understood, but possess a wide variety of spiritual powers and attributes. Shinto […]

David Tilman24.08.2025

Christianity appeared during the early Roman Empire, spread throughout the Mediterranean area and beyond it, and within four centuries had become the dominant religion and system of thought in the Near East, North Africa, and Europe. The influence of Christian attitudes toward the natural environment was widespread, particularly in the last few centuries of ancient […]

Prot. Victor Harakas22.08.2025

What is the purpose of the Divine Liturgy? There are several important purposes to the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is one of a number of different liturgical forms of the Holy Eucharist. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the most common way of celebrating the Eucharist, is the Divine Liturgy of […]

Kirill Benediktov11.05.2025

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, is the first American to hold the See of St. Peter. He is an American born in Chicago, but not Anglo-Saxon: his father, a Navy sailor and World War II veteran, is half French and half Italian, and his mother, a librarian, is Spanish by birth. The new […]

Prot. Victor Harakas23.03.2025

This figure is prominent in the writings of St. John in the New Testament (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). The name comes from the Greek word “antichristos.” It means something or someone opposed to Christ. Generally speaking, any force, person, practice, or behavior which is antagonistic to, and contrary to, Christ may […]

Yuri Chekalin18.03.2025

Einstein once said in an interview in J.S. Viereck’s book “Glimpses of the Great”, in response to a question about whether he believed in God: “Your question [about God] is the most difficult in the world. It is not a question to which I can answer simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’. I am not an atheist. […]

Andrey Vedyaev04.03.2025

Half a century ago, on November 8, 1974, Wolf Messing passed away, a unique Soviet psychic and seer who made a significant contribution to the Victory of the Soviet people over the fascism of Europe. When I am asked what this contribution consists of, I suggest that we first think about the contribution to the […]

Tatiana Kasatkina20.02.2025

“…two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus within himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of […]

6 Lutheran Churches in Russia

An Important Lesson

Characteristics of Shinto

Christianity and the Natural Environment

Divine Liturgy

In the Vatican, the American Pope

Antichrist

Great Scientists Who Believed in God

Wolf Messing’s Magic is Immortal

About the Publican and the Pharisee

The Michael Jackson Biopic is Missing its Most Controversial Story

Madama Butterfly and the Japan of the Western Imagination

The Spanish Civil War at 90: the Republic’s Response

Terminator Is about 80 Years Old