As Philip said to Nathaniel, Come and see [John 1:46]. 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. No doubt, I felt at home when first attending the Divine Liturgy, but this was after months of study and discussion with other Orthodox people. Another danger is converting to Orthodoxy simply because it is beautiful. This doesnt mean we shun catechesis, but just that its not always done in the same way everywhereand where it exists, its likely different from what a catechumen might expect or even hope. (To be fair, we should note that a large number of Orthodox have become evangelical Protestants as well.). The church. Thus, when an Orthodox believer once asked why his church did not do more doctrinal teaching, his priest responded, "Icons teach us all that we need to know." An evangelical explores the ancient and alien world of the Eastern church. It took awhile because I grasped it through hearing the hymns of the church year, week in and week out. And while they are just beginning to recover, he says, Protestants invade, with all their Western resources, and attempt to draw away the very people the Russian Orthodox Church is attempting to nurture in the faith. According to The Saga of Erik the Red, there were Christians among the people whom Erik the Red brought to Greenland to settle it in the late tenth century. What was the foreign policy of Yaroslav the Wise? In the end, they concocted a list of reasons for not converting. In time, you will be welcomed sacramentally into the Church and continue your ongoing path to the Kingdom of God. Intellectuals, like one of my students at Moscow University, often disdain Orthodoxy as a "medieval mentality." Experience Church Services. This should trouble evangelicals (as well as other Protestants), especially when it is combined with the Orthodox idea of who constitutes the church and how one enters the church. In 1993, I was chrismated and joined the Eastern Orthodox Church. I assumed this would somehow convince me not to continue on my discovery of the Orthodox Church, but it has more solidified it! So why should someone desire to join the Orthodox Church? "Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." Turning to Jesus brings you to God, and you begin to understand His plan of salvation. As we move constantly between Unity and Trinity in God, so we must move between the parts and the whole in the Church, the whole being infinitely more than the sum of the parts. We have challenges here in Africa to find such information for, So glorious+++ Most Holy Theotokos save us, Pectoral Cross Orthodoxy provides a full-bodied, full-souled spiritual life that assumes that everything you do as a Christian makes you either more like God or less like Him, and because becoming like God is what salvation consists of, that means that everything you do is critical. John A. Peck, The Apostolic Mission of Journey To Orthodoxy, On the Path of Love: From Islam to Christianity, Madagascar: Church Opens Huge Complex with Church, Schools, Orphanage, Old Folks Home, Australia: Orthodoxy Fastest Growing Church amidst General Christian Decline. All Rights ReservedDesigned by Fr. This simple change of dress symbolized a radical shift that has characterized the Protestant West ever since: that the knowledge of God is mediated primarily through the written Word. After his marriage Vladimir I officially changed the state religion to Orthodox Christianity and destroyed pagan temples and icons. Because everyone has their own presuppositions in which they interpret reality and thus no surprise you'll find people based on these presuppositions won't accept Christianity. For example, I know someone that spent over a year studying almost every aspect of Orthodoxy, including many fathers of the Church and practically every nuance of both doctrine and history. We cannot describe it to you: only this we know, that God dwells there among men, and that their service surpasses the worship of all other places. One is attracted to Orthodoxy in the same way one falls in love. The East allowed some priests to marry, while the West required celibacy. Evangelicals focused on social ethics may also find little comradeship in Orthodoxy, as there is nothing in Orthodoxy comparable to the body of Catholic social teaching, for instance. There is an organic quality here, and the thing itself is inexpressibly alive. This may be to some extent true but it is much more than that. I responded by writing back: "Because I am committed to key distinctives of the Protestant evangelical tradition.". While discovering the truth of Orthodoxy is exciting, we need to learn a gracious balance when dealing with our friends, family, workmates and others with whom we have contact. She stands firm on her dogmatic and moral teachings. Vladimir fled to his kinsman Haakon Sigurdsson, who ruled Norway at the time. . 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 The thesis that Eastern Orthodoxy is the true religion was turning out to bear the practical corollary that, to share fully and fruitfully in the life of the Body of Christ, one would almost have. Before you start the process of converting, you will want to speak with a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church. Around 2-3 months ago I decided that I wanted to convert to Christianity. Your email address will not be published. It depends on where you put the emphasis. 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. 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." I had been to the east and discovered something wondrous that I assumed all Christians crave. I can't be the only one who's observed a friend converting to Orthodox Christianity and noticed them instantly, literally overnight, losing their sense of . It was like seeing a face emerge from a random pattern of dots, and then wink at you. It doesnt matter how long they have served, or how extensive their education. Most Protestants would experience an Orthodox liturgy as something strange, even exotic. Sizable groups of the Russian population are disenchanted with Orthodoxy for a number of reasons. The basic framework of services like the Divine Liturgy or Vespers doesnt change much, but every day of the liturgical year provides prayers for saints and feasts that can be added to that framework. Yeah, I think Ive gotten it out of my system. The genius of this principle is that it allows us to disagree with other believers, even vehemently so, yet in an edifying fashion with a degree of theological modesty and a perspective that seeks a deeper consensus within the bounds of true faith. It is why I think a number of people have a list of groups they have been in here. In Russia, the largest figure usually cited for the Orthodox Church is 85 million people (some estimates are as low as 50 million), which means 100 million Russiansmore than half the countryare not affiliated with Orthodoxy. When the media seized on John Paul II's statement, they not only missed his main point, they missed a wider story. But why is our kind so characteristically obnoxious? Further, the Orthodox reject the idea of inherited guilt; we are guilty only for our own sins rather than for the inborn consequences of Adam's fall. The Eucharist is a true, propitiatory sacrifice. Albania, 160,000. One finds that the Orthodox Church is indeed the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim. See something we missed? Similarly, a person can read a dozen books on Orthodox Christianity, but that which he or she has read will not come alive until he or she actually encounters the Church as the worshipping People of God. This is not just an explanation but an apology, and even an appreciation for the perseverance of friendship in the face of truly annoying behaviour. John 17:14.16). It is precisely this exclusivistic assertion that some Protestant converts, in search of the "true, New Testament Church" have found so beguiling. To the extent, however, one could intellectualize the reasons for converting, he or she would probably summarize them along these lines: In our ever-changing world, in the constant re-design of services and re-evaluation of beliefs, Orthodoxy stands as a mountain of granite, unshakable by fads and movements and political correctness. The theological objections evangelicals have traditionally had with Rome on these two points rightly apply to Orthodoxy. Moreover, evangelicals have some important lessons to learn from Orthodoxy. We must be willing to embrace mystery, to submit to other authorities, and to ultimately submit to the Church Herself. She is conscious of being the true Church founded by Christ. The Mission of The Orthodox Church in America, the local autocephalous Orthodox Christian Church, is to be faithful in fulfilling the commandment of Christ to Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Orthodoxy is true to the Lord, to herself and to her past. For church membership? On the Path of Love: From Islam to Christianity, Madagascar: Church Opens Huge Complex with Church, Schools, Orphanage, Old Folks Home, Australia: Orthodoxy Fastest Growing Church amidst General Christian Decline. Then C" The strengths of a group draws them but after a while the weaknesses bubble up. Here is an overview of the steps you can take to convert to Orthodox Christianity: The Biblical Basis for Holy Tradition., On the Path of Love: From Islam to Christianity, Madagascar: Church Opens Huge Complex with Church, Schools, Orphanage, Old Folks Home, Australia: Orthodoxy Fastest Growing Church amidst General Christian Decline. St. Theophan The Recluse On Spiritual Practice. Another issue is becoming Orthodox because one thinks the Church will reward them in some way for doing so.
