2016 Articles

Uncovering Desire: Explorations in Eros, Aggression, and the Question of Theosis in Marriage

Chaudhari, Pia

Over 1500 years ago, in Antioch, St. John Chrysostom gave advice to men seeking to pacify an upset wife. Speak lovingly to her, he instructed; tell her “that you love her more than your own life…and that your only hope is that the two of you pass through this life in such a way that in the world to come you will be united in perfect love.” Say to her “Our time here is brief, and fleeting, but if we are pleasing to God, we can exchange this life for the Kingdom to come. Then we will be perfectly one both with Christ and each other and our pleasure will know no bounds."