Fighting Dragons: Works of Theology and Polemics

In U.S. politics people assume that if you are at all serious about what you believe, you will argue and defend it forcefully. Politics is important; Christianity is much more so, and polemical engagement falls under the heading, not of hate, but of love, or at least it should and often does do so.The works included here address various controversies, not because the author enjoys controversy he doesn't], but because these are questions of substance, connected to other questions of substance, and they matter. The author would gladly enjoy a world where there was no need for polemics, where one could always dig deeper from truth into deeper truth, but since the age of the Bible, caring about the truth has included polemical engagement.The author offers these works in the hope that the engagement may be edifying.Table of ContentsPrefaceCreation and Holy Orthodoxy: Fundamentalism Is Not EnoughNote to Orthodox Evolutionists: Stop Trying to Retroactively Shanghai Recruit the Fathers to Your Camp Our Crown of ThornsDo We Have Rights?How Shall I Tell an Alchemist?The Law of Attraction: A Dialogue with an Eastern Orthodox Christian MysticAn Open Letter to Catholics on Orthodoxy and EcumenismTwelve Quotes on Orthodoxy, Ecumenism, and CatholicismAn Orthodox Looks at a Calvinist Looking at OrthodoxyOrthodoxy, Contraception, and Spin Doctoring: A Look at an Influential but Disturbing Article"Religion and Science" Is Not Just Intelligent Design vs. EvolutionThe Patriarchy We Object ToThe Fulfillment of FeminismUnman's Tales: C.S. Lewis's Perelandra, Fairy Tales, and Feminism"Inclusive" Language and Other Debates: An Orthodox Alumnus Responds to His AdvisorVeni, Vidi, Vomi: A Look at "Do You Want to Date My Avatar?"What the West Doesn't Get About IslamWhat Makes Me Uneasy About Fr. Seraphim (Rose) and His FollowersOops Could the Western Rite Please Try Again?