why convert to orthodox christianity

Christianity had, in fact, penetrated "Russia" by the early 900s, when at least one church had been built in the ancient city of Kiev. Further, rote liturgy can stultify as well as edify, which is one reason why many people prefer more informal or personal worship settings. 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. Needless to say, Rome was indignant; not until the Lateran Council of 1215 did it acknowledge the status of Constantinople. My ideas havent changed, and Im always glad for a good discussion, but maybe Im past the need to belabour them. At one level, I was close in heart and mind to my Orthodox sisters and brothers in Christ; but on another level, I agreed with many of my atheist friends' criticisms of Russian Orthodoxy. My husband had been an Episcopal priest for 16 years, and we had gradually moved from evangelical-style "low church" to the more liturgically-fancy "high church." We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for surely there is no such splendor or beauty anywhere upon earth. But about this pursuit we can make several observations. 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." When you are the only Norse guy and most of your lands are Slovianskian, it makes more sense to convert yourself than to convert them. So why should someone desire to join the Orthodox Church? Subscribe for our weekly newsletter not to miss the most interesting articles on our blog. Daniel B. Clendenin is a graduate staff member for InterVarsity at Stanford University and author of Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Western Perspective and Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader (both published by Baker). Most people like to be polite and get along, so they highlight what we hold in common. Paganism was a mental mindset of the Eastern Slavs living in a world where a majority of the European countries surrounding them had already converted to a monastic religion. It depends on where you put the emphasis. She stands firm on her dogmatic and moral teachings. Although my parents intentionally raised my brother and me without a focus on . Facebook | Conversion means belief and acceptance in Jesus Christ, the God-man, as the Savior of the world. Theologically, just what is at stake in the differences between Protestant and Orthodox theology? Orthodoxy looks forward, to the age to come. Well, was it so? Questions & Answers / Orthodox Sep 9, 2019 #1 For those who converted like myself, why did you? Put another way, we must invoke the spirit of irenic disagreement in the formula: "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity." Sizable groups of the Russian population are disenchanted with Orthodoxy for a number of reasons. Karmiris writes, "Scripture and Tradition are equally valid, possess equal dogmatic authority, and are equal in value as sources of dogmatic truth . The reason Orthodoxy is stable is because she is grounded in the truth. 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. This conception lessens the validity and value of the Holy Scriptures as the primary source of Christian dogma." Yeah, I think Ive gotten it out of my system. We are looking forward to our journey in the church. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. But one insightful reader asked a penetrating question: "Your book does a fine job comparing the two traditions; why have you not converted to Orthodoxy?" Along with Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity is one of the world's three major Christian traditions. 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. Orthodox worship can be overwhelmingly beautiful and attractiveon multiple, deeply-felt levelsbut this should not be the only reason why a person converts. Without waiting for a response, Humbert exited the church and declared, "Let God look and judge." It is not surprising they become disaffected and leave. 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. Can you explain why some former clergy (from non-orthodox backgrounds) can enter without formal orthodox seminary education, while other former clergy (again, from non-orthodox backgrounds) are kept away even after the bishop (he who has the control and power) makes a statement that none may come to the clergy with our formal orthodox seminary? Pray for the Lords mercy, and you can find the strength to endure to the end. Hello all, forgive me if I am posting to the wrong forum. Unfortunately most "Orthodox Christian" are nominal even despite their active presence they are nominal because they extinguish the Holy Spirit and do not have a relationship with God, they outwardly seem to be praying but like the Pharisee praise themselves for being 'good with God'. I can remember that, after Id been Orthodox a few years, developing an increasing sense of tension or frustration. It doesnt matter how long they have served, or how extensive their education. Linguistic factors posed other, very practical problems. In 1993, I was chrismated and joined the Eastern Orthodox Church. Vladimir I, a great prince of Kiev, reigned from 980 till 1015 and succeeded in the mass conversion of the Eastern Slavs.1 Throughout his reign Vladimir's agenda had . This is not just an explanation but an apology, and even an appreciation for the perseverance of friendship in the face of truly annoying behavior. In the security of the Orthodox Church one finds peace, reassurance. Rich worship taught the faith to literate and illiterate, peasant and emperor, and its essentially the same as our worship today. 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. "It was a calling of the soul," Devorah Guilah Koren, who converted from Catholicism with her husband and two children, told me. 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. Schisms had already occurred in the Christian church, and others would occur later, but the Great Schism was the first of such major consequence. Believe in the Church as the true Body of Christ, and the Churchflawed people and allwill help lead you down the right path. Buddhists fast, pray, and give alms. Submitted by Fr. When we realize that every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle or a matter of conscience, then we are freed to engage fully people with whom we actually have profound differences without compromising our own theological commitments. Bulgaria, 8 million An Orthodox Christian Perspective: Overcoming Difficulties in Life, Church Under Soviet Totalitarianism: Suppression, Resistance and Compliance, St Kassia and Her Creations, Still Heard at Todays Divine Services, The feast of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Inexhaustible Chalice, Why Our Catalogue Is More Than Just an Online Store Selling Church Supplies, The List of Musical Instruments Mentioned in the Bible, The First 40 Days after Death Explained by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, An Old Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign Has Started to Exude Myrrh in the Diocese of Tula, Complete List of Prohibited Marriages in the Orthodox Church. Further, they identify themselves by reference to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), the "new Rome" of Emperor Constantine, and to the first seven ecumenical councils of the church. It took me a few years to sense that there was a whole other something going on. Experience Church Services. He mentions one Church, not many. While the Church is certainly Divine in one respect, She is also comprised of human beingshuman beings that can, and do, err. As independent churches, they are not bound together by any unilateral or monarchical organization, nor do they owe allegiance to a single primacy, as Roman Catholics do to the pope. Four important areas deserve ongoing dialogue. 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 But unlike the other two large branches of Christianity, which have spread throughout the developing world, Orthodoxy remains largely confined to Europe. It is a good question, one I will answer in due course. It is often wrongly assumed that Orthodoxy . A second theory is that converts of any sort have a tendency to exuberance that is wearying to outsiders. We should expect nothing less of ourselves than total respect for and even love of the history, theology, and culture of Orthodoxy; still, two things ought to be said about Orthodox complaints about Protestant proselytizing. Despite its historical estrangement from Rome, from a Protestant theological perspective Orthodoxy is similar to Catholicism at several points. Suspicion and recrimination have often characterized relationships between Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Protestantism. Maybe you have to soak in it for years, till the evidence becomes overwhelming. Why Convert to Orthodox Christianity? 3:15). Your email address will not be published. Speaking out against a government that is massively exterminating believers, would only lead to greater persecution. Then bear your cross,, Please, include documents that can be downloaded or printed. So, you have decided to convert to the Greek Orthodox Christian religion. John A. Peck, The Apostolic Mission of Journey To Orthodoxy, Armenian Muslims Living in Turkey are Returning to Christianity, Devotion to Orthodox History leads Malaysian Priest to Mount Carmel. 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. Nicola Yanney, Holy Man of Nebraska, Out of Appalachia: Orthodox Christianity and the Old Regular Baptists, What Do You Believe In? Then the reality sets in. The Orthodox Church is indelibly marked by the One who is its origin and source. It is precisely this exclusivistic assertion that some Protestant converts, in search of the "true, New Testament Church" have found so beguiling. But whether a non-Orthodox person can even be saved is an open question in Orthodox ecclesiology. Surely there is enough evangelistic work for everyone. (2 Pet. It is why I think a number of people have a list of groups they have been in here. T he Orthodox Church in the United States has problems. There is world of difference between going Orthodoxy vs staying pagan. In 999, Leif, the son of Erik, was converted to Christianity by Olaf Tryggvason. All rights reserved. But every church must have its distinctiveness, or wed all be in the same church. Orthodoxy attracts seekers with her other-worldliness, with her holiness, with her worship, with her services and sacraments, with the form and content of her religious expression, with her iconography, with her chanting, with her mysticism, with her monasticism, with her life between heaven and earth. One feels that the Church is not just a worldly organization, but a divine-human organism. Another danger is converting to Orthodoxy simply because it is beautiful. It takes awhile to get it, because its gotten by a process of immersion, by soaking in a context of worship. This is the ultimate reason an ultra-Orthodox Jew would turn to Jesus. If someone is approaching the Orthodox Church from a purely rationalistic standpoint, they will almost surely find it wanting. Evangelicals urge the necessity of personal conversion through the faith and repentance of the individual believer, as opposed to the Orthodox idea of regeneration by the sacraments. Why would a protestant convert to Eastern Orthodoxy? But this really begs another question: "Essential" for what? Failing to remember (or be taught) this, we are scandalized and even lose our faith in the Church, not distinguishing between the divine and human natures, or confusing them. We think the fundamental Christian schism occurred when Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg church, October 31, 1517. People often assume that most Jews by choice convert because they have a partner or spouse who is Jewish. There is not going to be a restored "Celtic" Orthodoxy or "Anglo-Saxon" Orthodoxy. 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. A Christian representation of Vladimir I, who was the first Rus' leader to officially bring Christianity to the region. It makes no appeal to a doctrine of transubstantiation and instead simply affirms the mystery. This perspective presupposes a defective Christologyone that fails to account for the anthropos of the theanthropic (Divine-human) Church. All Rights ReservedDesigned by Fr. People are attracted by the permanence of Orthodoxy. I love the Church, and so I find it difficult to understand how a person could not see the beauty in our faith, leaving it all behind. Its just that Orthodoxy still passes on the early churchs knowledge of how to tune in to the presence of Christ. And to share why I am not Orthodox. The unchangeableness of dogma as well as the purity of rite [are] entrusted to the care not of one hierarchy but of all the people of the church." Originally the creed read that the Holy Spirit proceeded "from the Father"; a later Western interpolation (why, where, and by whom are not known), ratified at the Council of Toledo (589), added filioque to indicate that the Spirit proceeded from the Father "and the Son." Many times, inquirers approach the Orthodox Church as a safe haven from controversy and scandal, believing that the Orthodox Churchas the one, true Churchis immune to such things. 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.". Step Two: Repentance There is no salvation without repentance. And I would try hard, no doubt to the point of rudeness, to convince them this was not so. Contact | It was electrifying. In the Orthodox calendar, the first Sunday of Lent celebrates the Triumph of Orthodoxy, a commemoration of the final triumph of icons in the long and bitter battle with the iconoclasts (literally, "image-smashers") on March 11, 843.

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