why convert to orthodox christianity

A wooden pectoral cros, Pectoral Cross for Clergy Why have so many Evangelical ministers embraced the Orthodox faith? It is why I think a number of people have a list of groups they have been in here. If a richer liturgical life is what a believer wants, converting to Orthodoxy is hardly necessary. The true details behind her Because their focus for years was on their theological education (which they may still be paying for) often they end up in a low wage job that they don't love. 5:12). 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. What are we to make, for example, of the Orthodox liturgy in Russia today, which is recited in ninth-century Slavonic, a language very few Russians even understand? (Of course, for every person insisting that there were no differences, there was another person asking me to explain the differences. In the history and theology of Orthodoxy it is startling to observe the nearly complete absence of any mention of the doctrine of justification by faith. 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.). Four important areas deserve ongoing dialogue. After five years or so in the Orthodox Church, Ive seen a lot of friends and acquaintances come home to the apostolic faith. He sailed to Greenland with a priest to convert the people. I cant be the only one to have done this. I felt like Marco Polo. Albania, 160,000. The more familiar I became with Orthodoxy by serving in a local parish, on a parish council, and as an altar assistant, the more I saw others approach the Church, test the waters, and walk back out the narthex door. Rather, "theosis" (literally, "deification"), or the progressive transformation of people into full likeness to God, in soul and body, takes center stage. The Puritan John Foxe, for example, insisted that "God conducted the Reformation by printing, writing, and reading." If our only reason for converting is more somber, reverent, and beautiful worship, the newness of this experience soon wanes. Serbia, 8 million But the Church is not dependent upon any one convert or their family, nor will the Church reward people (beyond the mysteries and salvation) for converting. As with liturgy, conversion to Orthodoxy is hardly a prerequisite for a renewed engagement with apostolic tradition. Orthodox Christians and some Eastern Catholics baptize by triple immersion upon invocation of the Trinity; the only time the Orthodox Church permits other forms of baptism is in the case of an emergency. Surely there is enough evangelistic work for everyone. Chrysostom's liturgy says of the Eucharistic sacrifice: "Your own, from your own, we offer you, in all and for all." It had ramifications for the ecclesiastical status of both cities and further exacerbated the strained relations between the two regions. It is not a surprise that many Catholics adhering to traditional values are converting to conservative Orthodoxy. Here is an overview of the steps you can take to convert to Orthodox Christianity: You may wish to call the parish priest in advance to introduce yourself and explain that you will be joining him and the faithful of his parish for the first time, although this is not absolutely essential. And these prayers are jam-packed. Don't pretend you don't know what I mean. First, Christianity had no doctrine to support the Islamic hypothesis about Jesus' modification into a semi-god. Your email address will not be published. It merits our attention for several reasons. Two theological controversies drove the final wedge between Catholic and Orthodox Christians: papal supremacy and the so-called filioque controversy. Baptism is the primary and fundamental basis of the entire Orthodox Christian life. Catholicism and Orthodoxy are not alike in their views on the nature of theological authority; it is nevertheless correct to say that Orthodoxy, like Catholicism, views Protestantism in a similar negative manner. 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. She is conscious of being the true Church founded by Christ. Their new group who were so "excited" to have them isn't interested/has no role for them as clergy. Most people like to be polite and get along, so they highlight our commonalities. As if this were not quite enough, during the Fourth Crusade, Western forces stormed Constantinople in 1204 and ransacked the Church of the Holy Wisdom, an unimaginable act of desecration from the viewpoint of Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy has always affirmed that Peter was the "first among equals" (primus inter pares) ; but unlike Roman Catholics, the Orthodox have always denied that he held any "primacy of power" (primatus potestatis). If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you If they persecuted me, they will persecute you (John 15:18. Other times it is a youth group or Bible study group inspiring and educating. Christimates 1 day ago. The conversion of 2,000 evangelicals in 17 congregations "from Alaska to Atlanta" in 1987, recounted in Peter Gillquist's Becoming Orthodox, is only a small window into a larger phenomenon. 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. 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. As historians mostly suppose, Vladimir's turn to Orthodox Christianity was more about the improvement of Russians' connections with Christian states than about sentiments: for Rus, Byzantium. For employment at a seminary? 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. Are Orthodox Christians "Bible believing?". Hymns like these offer quite a theological education to anyone who comes to services, and if you didnt catch it all, theres a good chance theyre going to sing it two more times. Kind of like large scale serial monogamous people. A Christian representation of Vladimir I, who was the first Rus' leader to officially bring Christianity to the region. its the same every year, year after year), it soon becomes familiar, and perhaps even boring for some. The priest censes them and elevates them in processions. Rome accused the "Greek heretics" of trying to "humiliate and crush the holy catholic and apostolic church." And such a journey can only be spoken of from experience. They saw this as a perception skill, something anyone could (with diligent practice) hone; it has nothing to do with emotion. After that, Orthodoxy is by far the best possible choice of religion for Russia because of Byzantium. Scripture and tradition. For the past year or so I have been considering conversion to Orthodox Christianity. The first, most obvious explanation is that some people simply are obnoxious to start with. But the little guy is not going through a phase. . Applies to RCC too. This is the ultimate reason an ultra-Orthodox Jew would turn to Jesus. Essential for clergy to pray together, to talk, and to encourage one another in Christ? I can remember, after Id been Orthodox a few years, developing an increasing sense of tension or frustration. Thats surely a factor, but I think theres something else going on, more specific to Orthodox converts. Hymns like these offer quite a theological education to anyone who comes to services, and if you didnt catch it all, theres a good chance theyre going to sing it two more times. Needless to say, Rome was indignant; not until the Lateran Council of 1215 did it acknowledge the status of Constantinople. 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. 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. Now, the question stands: If one is convinced that Orthodox Christianity possess the fullness of truth and is God . Those friends benefit, no doubt, from this opportunity to practice patience and long-suffering. They insisted that the Bible interprets itself, and through the Holy Spirit, God instructs its readers in a direct and individual manner rather than binding their consciences to the supposedly reliable teaching of the church. Your email address will not be published. Do we mean essential for salvation? Although my parents intentionally raised my brother and me without a focus on . 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. Converting to Orthodoxy. My ideas havent changed, and Im always glad for a good discussion, but maybe Im past the need to belabour them. Made using e, Book Cover for the Epistle Perhaps this unanticipated experience of encountering something unknown and marvelously organic accounts for the distinctive lapel-grabbing impulse among converts to Orthodoxy. From the Orthodox perspective, both Catholics and Protestants seek to ground theological authority in an external norm. They push it down the road that they will be able to transition to that in their new group eventually. Telegram | Two points that have been hallmarks of evangelical identity deserve special scrutiny: the relationship between Scripture and tradition, and the relationship between Scripture and the church. For we cannot forget that beauty (Envoys of the Russian Prince Vladimir, after experiencing the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Wisdom in Constantinople in the year 987). In other words, one cannot embrace Orthodox Christianity without embracing Orthodox Christians. So they begin the process of "converting.". She is the Church of martyrs. Differences over clerical beards, the tonsure, and fasting also exacerbated the growing deterioration of East-West unity. I responded by writing back: "Because I am committed to key distinctives of the Protestant evangelical tradition.". I cant be the only one to have done this. The East allowed some priests to marry, while the West required celibacy. In 858 Photius was appointed as Orthodoxy's new patriarch at Constantinople, replacing Ignatius, who had been exiled and later resigned his duties. 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.". Handcarved But perhaps our theology of the church is too "low," much lower than our Protestant forebears would have it. Thatwould be interesting. In the opening pages of Book IV of Calvin's Institutes, for example, Calvin refers twice to the famous words of Cyprian (d. 258)so Catholic-sounding to our earsthat "you cannot have God as your Father without the Church as your Mother" (IV.1.1, 4). For example, on the Feast of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, the chanter launches into this: Of the Father before the morning star You were begotten from the womb without mother before all ages, even though Arius did believe You to be created, not God, classing You in ignorance and impudence with creatures Thats just a fraction of a thorough march through what happened at the first Council of Nicaea, and why it was important (including Arius unpleasant death from digestive indisposition: his bowels were torn by a divine hookin a repulsive manner his soul came out). 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?" "I was A. Our digital archives are a work in progress. Maybe you have to soak in it for years, till the evidence becomes overwhelming. More than 70 percent of the roughly 75,000 Antiochian Orthodox Christians in the United States are converts. Not a few evangelicals in the last decade have forsaken Protestantism to join an Eastern Orthodox church. 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. All rights reserved. It is not surprising they become disaffected and leave. But dont do it for all the wrong reasons. Worse, they considered the interpolation to be theologically untrue and a threat to the doctrine of the Trinity. Liturgically, the Orthodox ethos of a formal worship setting will attract some Christians, but to many other vibrant movements within evangelicalism it will have little if any appeal. 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. 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). Praise for Surprised by Christ "Surprised by Christ is an autobiography, an intellectual history, and a conversion story, and more than these, conveys a spiritual and theological vision in a message that touches people from many different backgrounds. Thats just a fraction of a thorough march through what happened at the first Council of Nicaea, and why it was important (including Arius unpleasant death from digestive indisposition: his bowels were torn by a divine hookin a repulsive manner his soul came out). Harakas asked. While some did come over by force, the Orthodox also forcibly converted large numbers of Eastern Catholics Orthodoxy. Jerusalem, 260,000 A Aristocles Merarches Joined Apr 23, 2003 Messages 10,031 Reaction score 1 Points 0 Location Pittsburgh Aug 5, 2006 #4 Matthew777 said: Missiological concerns surface here, too. Those friends benefit, no doubt, from this opportunity to practice patience and long-suffering. And to share why I am not Orthodox. Perhaps this unanticipated experience of encountering something unknown and marvellously organic accounts for the distinctive lapel-grabbing impulse among converts to Orthodoxy.

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