The Church and Modern Science
And on Evolution:
I saw this yesterday and was impressed by Tim Ware's perspective. I especially appreciated Ware's call for the church to listen to the thought patterns of our day just as church fathers of previous ages listened to the thought patterns of their day. Listening to me means entering into an equal relationship with someone else to inform as well as be informed. Sadly, I think many Orthodox (especially the converts) are not ready to listen to others who think differently than they. They would rather convert such people by having one-way conversations about the truth of Orthodoxy and to hell with everything else. Many converts see the Orthodox faith as a safe harbor of past ideas rather than an adventure into the unkown with the sturdy boat of Holy Tradition.
This is a very difficult journey involving a combination of faithfulness and capitulation (which isn't always a bad idea). Sometimes it's hard to know when to be faithful to tradition or when to criticize it. I have no easy answers for anybody because I believe such answers are not to be found. All we can do is listen to each other, for in doing this we are listening to the Holy Spirit.