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What they objected to was the elevation of tradition to the status of Scripture. Is it wrong for Western missionaries to seek to convert the Orthodox in lands like Russia, Romania, or Greece? Scripture and tradition. John A. Peck, The Apostolic Mission of Journey To Orthodoxy. Others charge complicity with the state, both past and present. The Orthodox Church has been, for me, the ultimate revelation of what it means to be "in Christ"; my upbringing in Evangelical Protestantism has not only helped me appreciate this now, but was very much preparing me for this all along [1]. Similarly, Protestants like Thomas Oden, Donald Bloesch, and others have shown that one need not join Orthodoxy to immerse oneself in the patristic past with joy, gratitude, and a sense of accountability to that "great cloud of witnesses" of the last two millennia. The essence of it was to evangelize younger aristocrats, future leaders of the land. Liberalism is not a word in the Orthodox vocabulary. 0. Orthodox Christianity has a rich tradition of being mindful. Clickhereto learn more about the deeds we are talking of and to learn how you can become a part of our social ministry and help those in need. Other religions and faiths occupy themselves with this life, with this world. She stands firm on her dogmatic and moral teachings. If our only reason for converting is more somber, reverent, and beautiful worship, the newness of this experience soon wanes. Two theological controversies drove the final wedge between Catholic and Orthodox Christians: papal supremacy and the so-called filioque controversy. Then B. I will always remember my first visit to an Orthodox church in Russia. It takes a while to get it, because its received by a process of immersion, by soaking in a context of worship. While this exclusivism is not unique to Orthodoxy, with this self-understanding it is easy to see why the Orthodox Church in countries such as Russia is extremely unhappy about Western, Protestant missionary incursions. Orthodoxy looks forward, to the age to come. What do they find so attractive? This icon, Wedding Icon of The Mother Of God Instead, Orthodoxy believes that the church stands above the Scriptures, which is why, as noted, Orthodox believers agree to "accept and understand Holy Scripture in accordance with the interpretation that was and is held by the Holy Orthodox Catholic Church of the East, our Mother." The stability that the Orthodox Church provides for the seeker consists in the assurance of the truth she possesses, her other-worldly and mysterious character, the beauty of her liturgical celebrations and her crucified lifethey all attest to what she is for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear: the unique, beloved Bride of Christ. But perhaps our theology of the church is too "low," much lower than our Protestant forebears would have it. The late Orthodox theologian John Meyendorff once remarked that the ultimate conflict between the Orthodox East and the Latin West, both Catholic and Protestant, resided in two different ideas about tradition. we'll be happy to answer it! Is Orthodox different from Catholic? Protestant theologian Adolf von Harnack once described the Orthodox church as "in her entire structure alien to the Gospel and a perversion of the Christian religion, its reduction to the level of pagan antiquity." A radical conversion to Christianity. There are two accounts of Constantine's conversion to Christianity. Further, Protestants have long enjoyed rich liturgical traditions of their own (see, for example, Bard Thompson's classic Liturgies of the Western Church). The Spirit of God himself, realizing the sacramental presence of Christ in the church, speaks to us in tradition. Then C" The strengths of a group draws them but after a while the weaknesses bubble up. There is a distinct set of conservative converts to Eastern Orthodoxy, which depending on your perspective either left, or was left by, Roman Catholicism in the Great Schism of 1054. In many of these lands, Orthodoxy exhibits an unveiled distrust and even xenophobia toward the massive influx of Western missionaries into their backyards. This hardly signifies any sort of congregational or ecclesiological democracy, however, for while all believers possess the truth, it is the special duty of church authorities to teach it. Thus, while the Protestant principle of sola scriptura places Scripture above tradition, for Orthodoxy the two are complementary means of one organic whole through which the Spirit of God speaks. Why Converts to Christian Orthodoxy can be Obnoxious, People who've found their way back to Orthodoxy, Theophan the Recluse on Spiritual Practice. It depends on where you put the emphasis. The first is by Lactantius, a tutor to Constantine's son and a good authority. At the beginning, I thought I knew what I was getting into. The reality of the difficulty of living the Orthodox life then bubbles up, and apostasy from exhaustion is a real risk. After five years or so in the Orthodox Church, Ive seen a lot of friends and acquaintances come home to the apostolic faith. As former Campus Crusade staff member Gillquist put it, why have so many "Bible-believing, blood-bought, Gospel-preaching, Christ-centered, lifelong evangelical Protestants come to embrace this Orthodox faith so enthusiastically?" Are Orthodox Christians "Bible believing?". In this Orthodox view, Scripture stands within rather than above the church, and to distinguish its authority from that of the church is a mistake of method. This gives strength and spiritual joy to her members, true to the Lords words, Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Mt. Even more obnoxious, though, must be the tendency to reject hospitality. In 867, Patriarch Photius of Constantinople told other Christian patriarchs that the Rus' people were converting enthusiastically, but his efforts seem to have entailed no lasting consequences, since the Primary Chronicle and other Slavonic sources describe the tenth-century Rus' as still firmly entrenched in Slavic paganism. She is not the endshe is the way. Although she is in this world, she is not of this world (cf. Not that every churchgoer is following that path, not that the church administration is perfect, but that the path still existed thats what amazed me. As Saint Paul reminds us, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another [Romans 12:5; see also Ephesians 4:25]. Other times it is a youth group or Bible study group inspiring and educating. Why Are Protestants Converting To Orthodox Christianity? Affectionate attempts to obscure this quest feel suffocating. Because of my interest for eastern culture, negative views on catholicism (I live in a mostly catholic country) and protestantism and my fascisnation for the Orthodox Church, i decided to convert to just that. We think the fundamental Christian schism occurred when Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg church, October 31, 1517. So it would be wise to visit a parish near you, perhaps for the celebration of Vespers on a Saturday evening or the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy. Here, according to Ronald Roberson's 1993 book The Eastern Christian Churches, is a list of these churches and their approximate sizes: Constantinople, 3.5 million The Orthodox Churches share with the other Christian Churches the belief that God revealed himself in Jesus Christ, and a belief in the incarnation of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection. The first four enjoy special honor due to their antiquity. Orthodoxy allows divorce in some conditions if I'm not mistaken, and it would have been an easier transition to switch to another powerful church (and become friendly with Russia, etc.). There are no doubt some ways that he is the same person he will always be, and there are ways Orthodoxy and every other church has significant points in common, not least that we love the same Lord. Tom Hanks Legion Media The famous Hollywood actor converted to Orthodox Christianity as an adult. July 2012 edited December 1969 in Coptic Orthodox Church As an Eastern Orthodox Christian, I am interested in finding out why all of you converts out there converted to the Coptic Orthodox Church, and not any one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches readily available in so many parts of the world. Everyone associates Orthodox worship with sensory richness, but its also rich in theological content. Put more starkly, Orthodoxy explicitly rejects the historic Protestant idea of sola scriptura. Pretty good. He mentions one Church, not many. It makes no appeal to a doctrine of transubstantiation and instead simply affirms the mystery. Reaching for the Transcendent on the Streets of New York, http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2007/12/icons-will-save-the-world, cool blog entry by Fr Andrew Damick - Christian Forums, http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/liturgics/athenagoras_remarriage.htm, http://www.oodegr.co/english/ekklisia/marriage_divorce.htm, http://www.oodegr.com/english/ekklisia/marriage_divorce.htm, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/justandsinner/the-church-fathers-interpretation-of-the-rock-of-matthew-1618-an-historical-refutation-of-the-claims-of-roman-catholicism-by-william-webster/. John 17:14.16). The basic theological impetus for the ever-virginity of Mary (besides the fact that it is presumably historically true and would have been passed down from the early days of the church) is the fact that Mary was profoundly sanctified by her role as the living sanctuary in which God dwelled (quite literally) for nine months and from whom he Thumb through Calvin's Institutes or a volume of John Wesley's Works and you will see our Protestant forebears thoroughly engaged with patristic tradition. An Orthodox priest who lectured to standing-room-only crowds at Moscow State once described Orthodox theology to me as "music made in the conservatory," whereas he described Protestant theology as "music made in the honkytonk bars. First, Christianity had no doctrine to support the Islamic hypothesis about Jesus' modification into a semi-god. Pray for the Lords mercy, and you can find the strength to endure to the end. * The final declaration of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicea (787) that ratified the use of icons appealed to the "written and unwritten" tradition of the early church. If someone is approaching the Orthodox Church from a purely rationalistic standpoint, they will almost surely find it wanting. The East allowed some priests to marry, while the West required celibacy. In an encyclical letter of 1848, the Eastern patriarchs stated this most emphatically: "Infallibility resides solely in the ecumenicity of the church bound together by mutual love. Their new group who were so "excited" to have them isn't interested/has no role for them as clergy. Young teens go through a few years when they are trying to understand their own unique identity and trying to establish it in the face ofwell, it would be one thing if they had to establish it in the face of hostility, because, even though that would be hard, it would be bracing and clarifying. I cant be the only one to have done this. Later ecumenical councils at Constantinople (381) and Chalcedon (451) acknowledged Constantinople as the "New Rome" and accorded it "equal privileges" and "equal rank in ecclesiastical matters" with Latin Rome. Vladimir I formed an alliance with Basil II of the Byzantine Empire and married his sister Anna in 988. Oden, for example, who delights in referring to his theological method as "paleo-orthodox," is now working on a comprehensive patristic commentary on the whole Bible to be published by InterVarsity Press. Orthodox Christianity offers a third solution, that is faith with an emphasis on symbolism, inner experience, and Church communion. Since the World Council of Churches' Canberra Assembly in 1991, evangelical and Orthodox believers have joined in a series of wcc-sponsored dialogues on matters challenging historic Christian faith. Christians in the West variously trace their roots to Rome (Catholics), Wittenberg (Lutherans), Geneva (Calvinists), Canterbury (Anglicans), or Oxford (Wesleyans). Orthodoxy's size alone warrants our attention, despite its invisibility on the cultural radar screens of most Americans. This book cover is made to order i, Hand-painted Icon of Christ the Pantocrator (acryl. My husband had been an Episcopal priest for 16 years, and we had gradually moved from an evangelical-style low church to the more liturgically-fancy high church. Orthodoxy looked like taking that escalator up one more floor. Now let's hear from Frederica. Everyone associates Orthodox worship with sensory richness, but its also rich in theological content. Most notable are its beliefs about baptism and the Eucharist. There is a certain chemistry involved, which one cannot so easily verbalize. Georgia, 3 million So why should someone desire to join the Orthodox Church? At a minimum, Protestants need to move beyond ignorance of these neighbors. Conversion involves a change or transformation in vision, direction and heart, one rooted in repentance and the acknowledgement of Our Lord as the One Who is truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Who came into the world to save sinners. Wynona is a Catholic planning to marry an Orthodox man, but as she tells us, "my Catholic parish priest is not giving his consent for this marriage, so it will be held in an Orthodox church.". (Of course, for every person insisting that there were no differences, there was another person asking me to explain the differences. Have something to add about this? Subscribe for our weekly newsletter not to miss the most interesting articles on our blog. For such a question presupposes a particular person's journey of faith. Or again, it is one thing to guard the doctrine of sola scriptura, but quite another to ignore or disdain two thousand years of tradition; surely there is a dangerous arrogance in imagining that we do not need to listen to the wealth of biblical wisdom from the patristic writers. Ignatius's followers, however, refused to acknowledge the transition, and eventually both Ignatius and Photius appealed to Pope Nicholas (858-67) in Rome. At the time I was so occupied with comprehending this strange thing called Orthodoxy that I emphasized the differences, and was impatient with kindly big-tent suggestions. "The Orthodox Church of Christ never lost the 'unity of faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit' and does not accept the theory of the restoration of the unity of those "who believe in Christ," because it believes that the unity of those who believe in Christ already exists in the unity of all of Her baptized children, between themselves and Jerusalem, 260,000 For example, their local parish was too ethnic; the priest wasnt nice or outgoing; their spouse wasnt interested; they found logical inconsistencies in the writings of the fathers; and so on. Most people like to be polite and get along, so they highlight our commonalities. They become clergy in their group. Four important areas deserve ongoing dialogue. There is a myth in Orthodoxy that people only became Eastern Catholics under force by Catholic kings. Sdn Tim Grace unveils the surprising message of Christmas. Applies to RCC too. In addition, a new convert must undergo a formal process of initiation. * Also, while evangelicals wholeheartedly embrace the full-orbed New Testament descriptions of the work of Christ (reconciliation, ransom, redemption, forgiveness, adoption, etc. Wynona doesn't indicate why the parish priest has done this, but it would appear from the context that the priest objects to her marrying an . Rather, for Orthodoxy the whole people of God is the protector of apostolic tradition. Any objective historian can discover that the permanence of Orthodoxy is due to the preservation and the passing on of the apostolic faith unadulterated, pure. Its just that Orthodoxy still passes on the early churchs knowledge of how to tune in to the presence of Christ.