During my project I gained. Antioch, 750,000 My ideas havent changed, and Im always glad for a good discussion, but maybe Im past the need to belabour them. 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. Orthodox Christians believe you must be converted every day- every day - and everyone must start with this step if they desire to make spiritual progress and be saved. There are other problems as well: overlapping jurisdictions, lack of communication across jurisdictional lines, and a tendency to isolate ourselves from communities in which we live. He has no good option for dealing with that affection, so hes either sullen or angry. Submitted by Fr. But I slowly came to see that I cant communicate it. However, I do think that there are certain factors that influence and even cause these abandonments and apostasies from the one, true Church. Christians in the West variously trace their roots to Rome (Catholics), Wittenberg (Lutherans), Geneva (Calvinists), Canterbury (Anglicans), or Oxford (Wesleyans). People are attracted by the permanence of Orthodoxy. Q&A: A closer look at Orthodox Christians. Serbia, 8 million Their new group who were so "excited" to have them isn't interested/has no role for them as clergy. When Martin Luther burned the books of Catholic canon law at Wittenberg's Elster Gate on December 10, 1520, he symbolized an important Protestant distinctive. 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. Underneath were written the Greek words en toutoi nika, "In this sign, conquer." Many non-Jews become "Jews by choice" because they're spiritual seekers. 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. It took awhile because I grasped it through hearing the hymns of the church year, week in and week out. These sacraments are not mere signs, symbols, or reminders. When I visit prisons where floors are shiny, morale is noticeably higher. In the 950s, Olga, the grandmother of Vladimir, was . Rich worship taught the faith to literate and illiterate, peasant and emperor, and its essentially the same as our worship today. All rights reserved. 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. Other times it is a youth group or Bible study group inspiring and educating. 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. This conception lessens the validity and value of the Holy Scriptures as the primary source of Christian dogma." I kept finding myself in conversations with nice people who wanted to assure me that this very thing I was so excited about in Orthodoxy is something they have in their church as well. Maybe you have to soak in it for years, till the evidence becomes overwhelming. 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. 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. When the media seized on John Paul II's statement, they not only missed his main point, they missed a wider story. This could take some timeperhaps a year or more, depending on a variety of circumstancesand should not be rushed. Just as we pray that Gods will, not our own, be done, so too we pray that we might embrace the faith in Gods time, not our own. Despite its historical estrangement from Rome, from a Protestant theological perspective Orthodoxy is similar to Catholicism at several points. 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. Has Orthodoxy in these lands obscured the gospel, becoming merely a "cultural" religion thoroughly assimilated to ethnic identity? Inherent in this claim, of course, is the charge that both Catholics and Protestants have lapsed from the true faith into error, if not outright heresy. Surely there is enough evangelistic work for everyone. A second theory is that converts of any sort have a tendency to exuberance that is wearying to outsiders. It is not about rules and regulations but rather guide posts to make choices to transition to what we were designed to become. Much like a divorce where numerous and complex problems fester for years and then coalesce around a single event, the defining moment for a distinctly Orthodox identity came with the Great Schism of 1054. If only they would realise that they are rotting corpses trapped in worshipping themselves. You can also subscribe without commenting. Why Are There So Many Curses and Cruelties In The Psalms? July 26, 2019 By Fr. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Calvin objected to the "tyranny of human tradition which is haughtily thrust upon us under the title of the Church." Andrey brings us the news about Orthodox Christianity (the form of Christianity practiced by Russians). Once inside, a Western Christian experiences sensory overload: the near absence of chairs or pews, dim lighting, head coverings for most women, icons and frescoes covering almost every inch of space on the walls and ceiling, a massive and ornate iconostasis separating the priest and the worshipers, the smoky smell of incense and hundreds of candles burning in memory of the dead, the priest resplendent in his ornate vestments and enormous beard, and worshipers repeatedly prostrating themselves, kissing the icons, and making the sign of the cross. Each of them had his idiosyncrasies, and they regularly disagree. What do they find so attractive? The so-called Eastern Orthodox Church is actually not one but thirteen "autocephalous" or independent, self-governing churches. In 978, Vladimir returned to . The theological objections evangelicals have traditionally had with Rome on these two points rightly apply to Orthodoxy. In the security of the Orthodox Church one finds peace, reassurance. And these prayers are jam-packed. On the other hand, there are cases where a person rejects the Church for what I would consider to be erroneous reasons. Toggle signature Greece, 9 million These thirteen churches are united in their understanding of the sacraments, discipline, doctrine, faith, government, and worship, but they administer their internal affairs separately. A person (who is searching within) goes through clerical education to explore questions. Why do people convert to Orthodoxy? In addition, sizable Orthodox "diasporate" groups exist in Europe, North and South America, and Australia, typically under the jurisdiction of one of the thirteen patriarchates mentioned above. He senses that its something much more profound than that, as he is turning into a different person, the adult he is destined to be. Cyprus, 450,000 The Orthodox Church has suffered throughout her history. Rather, for Orthodoxy the whole people of God is the protector of apostolic tradition. Clearly this stability is found in no other church. Yeah, I think Ive gotten it out of my system. (Of course, for every person insisting that there were no differences, there was another person asking me to explain the differences. If anyone is unwilling or not ready to submit to the Church in all areas of life, they should stay awayuntil or unless they are ready to do so. If only you could get them to form two lines.). Anxious to avoid the siege of his capital, Basil II turned to the Rus' for assistance, even though they were considered enemies at that time. Thatwould be interesting. In the first place, Christians believed Jesus to be the true God rather than a semi-god. Over coffee one day I asked an Orthodox priest whether I, as a Protestant theologian, might be considered a true Christian. 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. For good and ill, it is a classic "cultural religion," and comprehending Orthodoxy is an indispensable key to understanding those countries, cultures, and people. Pretty good. Romania, 19.8 million Buddhists are called to meditate. Legislation pending in Russia, for example, could, if implemented, curtail Western missionary enterprises. Orthodoxy looked like taking that escalator up one more floor. In 999, Leif, the son of Erik, was converted to Christianity by Olaf Tryggvason. There are many basic beliefs that Orthodoxy and evangelicalism hold in common: the inspiration of Scripture; the two natures of Christ, the finality and uniqueness of Christ's death on the cross, the resurrection, and our future hope of eternal life. Despite efforts at reunification, to this day the Catholic and Orthodox churches remain estranged. Thats surely a factor, but I think theres something else going on, more specific to Orthodox converts. 3:15 ). I can remember, after Id been Orthodox a few years, developing an increasing sense of tension or frustration. 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. Administered to infants who are fully immersed three times, baptism effects the "bath of regeneration" by which a person is born again, wholly cleansed from both original and actual sins, and, consequently, saved from guilt and punishment. To be Eastern Orthodox is, above all, to stake a bold and unapologetic theological claim as the one true church of Christ on earth, which alone has guarded right belief and true worship in absolute identity and unbroken succession with the apostolic church. 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. The secret is out. For any convert, it's a spiritual, intense, and private process,. Why Are Protestants Converting To Orthodox Christianity?

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