The Dilemma of Commanded Love
If God’s beauty is perceived through correspondent, or ordinate love, we face a dilemma. Love is not merely a mental choice between options. One cannot… Read More »The Dilemma of Commanded Love
ordinate affection
More Voices From the Past on Loving God Rightly
Brother Lawrence’s (1614–1691) collected letters, known as The Practice of the Presence of God, describe his attempt to love all things for God’s sake. He… Read More »More Voices From the Past on Loving God Rightly
Voices From the Past on Loving God Rightly
It would be an insurmountable task to gather the collective thought of Christians on the topic of love for God. Suffice it to say, that… Read More »Voices From the Past on Loving God Rightly
Two Exams, and Two Questions
I present my children with two written tests. They open the envelope of the first, and see the heading, “Dad Orthodoxy”. A series of questions… Read More »Two Exams, and Two Questions
Letter to a Concerned Saint
Dear saint, You have been reading about orthopathy and ordinate affection, and perhaps it all sounds rather perplexing and intimidating. The controversy around these matters… Read More »Letter to a Concerned Saint
Irreverent and Culpable
Thus far in this series, we have seen several truths about manners and their relation to worship and worship forms: All cultures have manners. All… Read More »Irreverent and Culpable
Manners and Meaning
What do widely varying manners tell us about ordinate affection? Some reason this way: since some cultures regard eye-contact as respectful, and others regard eye-contact… Read More »Manners and Meaning
The Strange Silence Around the Third Commandment
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” This command is universally understood to mean that God’s name is not… Read More »The Strange Silence Around the Third Commandment
Mind Your Manners: Rude to God
Manners are strange and wonderful things. Every culture has them, and yet they often vary widely between cultures. In Western culture, ‘ladies first’ is a… Read More »Mind Your Manners: Rude to God
A Christian Imagination
Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us… Read More »A Christian Imagination
Distinguishing Between Affections
A Christian understanding of the affections emphasizes the centrality of the affections in the Christian life, and distinguishes it from modern notions of emotion. Beyond that,… Read More »Distinguishing Between Affections