Thank you for this post! Required fields are marked *. Others charge complicity with the state, both past and present. In fact, much of what is basic to Christianity: the nature, sources, and interpretation of God's revelation to us, the meaning of the church and its sacraments, the doctrines of sin and salvation, and even how one enters the kingdom of God. Then B. Why are so many Christians in Colombia converting to Orthodox Judaism It is a good question, one I will answer in due course. The Orthodox Churches are united in faith and by a common approach to theology, tradition, and worship. One finds that the Orthodox Church is indeed "the pillar and foundation of the truth" ( 1 Tim. Then C" The strengths of a group draws them but after a while the weaknesses bubble up. Calvin objected to the "tyranny of human tradition which is haughtily thrust upon us under the title of the Church." After five years or so in the Orthodox Church, Ive seen a lot of friends and acquaintances come home to the apostolic faith. Orthodox believers see things very differently. Why Converts to Christian Orthodoxy can be Obnoxious Rather, for Orthodoxy the whole people of God is the protector of apostolic tradition. Different Orthodox theories exist as to what, exactly, this means. 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. Religion became a state of the Roman Empire, and Christianity became an enormous and influential religion nationwide. In the East the local parish priest could administer the sacrament of confirmation; in the West only the bishop could. How to Become an Orthodox Christian? Playing as Rurik in 862: Convert to local religion or keep Norse Frederica Matthewes-Green reflects on how new converts to Orthodoxy can sometimes be overzealous. Why should we welcome that? 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 When the media seized on John Paul II's statement, they not only missed his main point, they missed a wider story. There was plenty of ceremony and beauty, but without the mainline churches affection for keeping up-to-date. When I visit prisons where floors are shiny, morale is noticeably higher. But it's just fantasies, and they going to get themselves hopeless frustrated when it become clear that the fantasies can't become reality. 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." Orthodoxy is true to the Lord, to herself and to her past. The Orthodox Church is the only Church, originally founded by Christ and still retaining the apostolic succession and the undistorted teaching of the Lord and . It was like seeing a face emerge from a random pattern of dots, and then wink at you. Not that every churchgoer is following that path, not that the church administration is perfect, but that the path still existedthats what amazed me. Even more obnoxious, though, must be the tendency to reject hospitality. * They have not given up the idea of being clergy. 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. Believe in the Church as the true Body of Christ, and the Churchflawed people and allwill help lead you down the right path. 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 Almost everyone around me was a Baptist. Pray for the Lords mercy, and you can find the strength to endure to the end. Rome accused the "Greek heretics" of trying to "humiliate and crush the holy catholic and apostolic church." 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 . 1:4). Other times it is a youth group or Bible study group inspiring and educating. There is not going to be a restored "Celtic" Orthodoxy or "Anglo-Saxon" Orthodoxy. Sad, very sad. While Protestant evangelicals have never agreed on the precise meaning or mode of the sacraments, they have historically emphasized two related truths that diverge from the Orthodox understanding of the sacraments. The essence of it was to evangelize younger aristocrats, future leaders of the land. Icons are, quite literally, a "theology in color.". Why did you convert to Orthodoxy? | OrthodoxChristianity.net Overall, is the Orthodox church growing in America or is it slowly dying, as the older cradle Orthodox are dying and fewer cradle Orthodox either convert to other churches [primarily Protestant churches] or morph into Deists or worse?. This is particularly notable in the mid-1st century, when the circumcision controversy came to the fore. Growing up in the Bible Belt, I was only ever exposed to Christian theology. For taking Communion together? He made the decision to convert following his second marriage to actress Rita Wilson in. They are the efficacious means by which God transmits his salvific and sanctifying grace to us. By joining Orthodoxy one inherits a theological package that includes central elements that have traditionally troubled many Protestant evangelicals and omits doctrines many evangelicals consider nonnegotiable essentials of vital Christianity. But this really begs another question: "Essential" for what? Orthodox Sep 9, 2019 #1 For those who converted like myself, why did you? Surely there is enough evangelistic work for everyone. 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. A wedding set o, Wedding Icon of Christ the Pantocrator (in Oklad /, A Handmade Bookcover For The Gospel. The Global Methodist Church welcomes Scott Jones, who led Methodists in Texas and had advocated for the extreme center and staying at the table., Emily McFarlan Miller - Religion News Service. If a richer liturgical life is what a believer wants, converting to Orthodoxy is hardly necessary. The Orthodox Church in America, with roots in Moscow and about 85,000 adherents . In fact, what Orthodox converts "vow to accept" diverges significantly from important, basic tenets of evangelical Protestantism. Why did Kievan Rus convert to Orthodox Christianity? Georgia, 3 million Russian Baptists, Adventists, and Pentecostals feel persecuted. As with liturgy, conversion to Orthodoxy is hardly a prerequisite for a renewed engagement with apostolic tradition. Karmiris writes, "Scripture and Tradition are equally valid, possess equal dogmatic authority, and are equal in value as sources of dogmatic truth . Assuming that, after subsequent visits, you grow into the conviction that Orthodox Christianity is the fullness of Truth as revealed by Jesus Christ and discern your desire to embrace faith in Our Lord in its fullness, make your desire known to the parish priest, who will initiate the period of instruction and spiritual formation that eventually would lead to your reception into the Church. . 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. One is attracted to Orthodoxy in the same way one falls in love. Here is an overview of the steps you can take to convert to Orthodox Christianity: Talk With an Orthodox Priest. It is not about rules and regulations but rather guide posts to make choices to transition to what we were designed to become. Another danger is converting to Orthodoxy simply because it is beautiful. 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. Orthodoxy looks forward, to the age to come. These Protestant movements, important in their own right, are liturgical light years from Orthodoxy. There are two sides to this coin, as well: Some people become Orthodox for all the wrong reasons, while some dont become Orthodox for all the wrong reasons. I can remember, after Id been Orthodox a few years, developing an increasing sense of tension or frustration. The last reason Orthodox converts are obnoxious resembles the reason adolescents are obnoxious. Whatever honor Protestants bestow upon tradition, they deny that its authority is coequal with Scripture. Vladimir I formed an alliance with Basil II of the Byzantine Empire and married his sister Anna in 988. It was like seeing a face emerge from a random pattern of dots, and then wink at you. Harakas asked. It took me a few years to sense that there was a whole other something going on. For instance, John of Damascus (675-749), Orthodoxy's most famous systematic theologian, epitomized the Orthodox ethos when he wrote in his The Orthodox Faith, "we do not change the everlasting boundaries which our fathers have set, but we keep the traditions just as we have received them." 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. Modern speculation is simply just that, speculation, and . 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. While some did come over by force, the Orthodox also forcibly converted large numbers of Eastern Catholics Orthodoxy. Russia, 50-85 million At the beginning, I thought I knew what I was getting into. The Eucharist, according to the Divine Liturgy of Saint Chrysostom (the normal liturgy for Sundays and weekdays), is "for the purification of the soul, for the remission of sins, for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, [and] for the Kingdom of Heaven.". Orthodox Christianity has a rich tradition of being mindful. At the 1996 meeting of sseoe, Orthodox representative Stanley Harakas said that the Orthodox, who have lived for 70 years in Russia under Communist oppression, are in a state of weakness, unable to rebuild churches and barely able to educate their parishioners. "It was a calling of the soul," Devorah Guilah Koren, who converted from Catholicism with her husband and two children, told me. Buddhism and Conversion to Orthodoxy - Questions & Answers - Orthodox 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. But only lately has it dawned on me that I must have strained friendships over the years due to my vocal enthusiasm for my adopted church. How did Vladimir's conversion to Christianity affect Kiev? What Scripture proclaims by word, the icon proclaims by color. The Reformers did not reject tradition as a help to wisdom, as a reading of Calvin, Luther, or Wesley easily shows. Alister McGrath, an intellectual historian and proponent of paleo-orthodoxy, claims that many of the . Surprised by Christ: My Journey from Judaism to Orthodox Christianity Why did Vladimir convert to Orthodox Christianity? 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). Yeah, I think Ive gotten it out of my system. One of the problems the Orthodox Church currently suffers in this country is a lack of converts. Converts to Orthodoxy usually precede their decision with voluminous reading and research, so their friends must endure agitated lectures on church history, ancient heresies, and what words mean. He mentions one Church, not many. 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. Everyone associates Orthodox worship with sensory richness, but its also rich in theological content. Let us know if corrections need to be made. On another front, under the leadership of founder Bradley Nassif, the Society for the Study of Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism (SSEOE) holds meetings each fall at Wheaton College's Billy Graham Center for the sake of the two traditions learning from one another. What they objected to was the elevation of tradition to the status of Scripture. The Search for Authority and the Fear of Difference, Nostalgia Without Memory: A Case Study of American Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The Eastern Church in the Spiritual Marketplace: American Conversions to Orthodox Christianity, New York Times Article on Calvinist Revival., If Not Sola Scriptura, Then What? The priest censes them and elevates them in processions. The Orthodox Church is the ancient Church that Christ and the Apostles established. In addition, a new convert must undergo a formal process of initiation. Albania, 160,000. If someone is approaching the Orthodox Church from a purely rationalistic standpoint, they will almost surely find it wanting. Step Two: Repentance There is no salvation without repentance. It takes awhile to get it, because its gotten by a process of immersion, by soaking in a context of worship. But I slowly came to see that I cant communicate it. A wooden pectoral cros, Pectoral Cross for Clergy (Of course, for every person insisting that there were no differences, there was another person asking me to explain the differences. Copyright 19962023. Orthodox Priest Explains Why Many People in the West are Converting to Orthodox Christianity. many mercenaries would convert to Christianity. The East allowed some priests to marry, while the West required celibacy. Preeminent among the sacraments are baptism and the Eucharist. 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. 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. Search, Learn more about the Orthodox Church in America, Orthodoxy and Cults and Non-Christian Groups. 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. As I realized what the big difference is, I grew more insistent, Im afraid. Your email address will not be published. Excellent comment Kosmas, I totally concur. Others are already involved in a Jewish community. In the security of the Orthodox Church one finds peace, reassurance. Luther urged that Christianity would stand or fall with this doctrine; Calvin called it "the hinge upon which all true religion turns.". Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. This may be to some extent true but it is much more than that. Q&A: A closer look at Orthodox Christians. In the end, they concocted a list of reasons for not converting. The ex clergy thing I think is very real. Constantine had once controlled the entire Mediterranean perimeter, and as a result, Christianity flourished. 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. Our digital archives are a work in progress. 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. Whether you decided to do so because you are marrying someone who is a member of the church, or you simply decide to convert on your own, you might be overwhelmed as to where to start. Eastern Christians would hear nothing of it. In chrismation, performed immediately after rising from the baptismal waters, the priest anoints the infant with a special ointment, making the sign of the cross on various parts of the body, thus acknowledging the gift and seal of the Holy Spirit. A second theory is that converts of any sort have a tendency to exuberance that is wearying to outsiders. In many of these lands, Orthodoxy exhibits an unveiled distrust and even xenophobia toward the massive influx of Western missionaries into their backyards. 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. Theologically, just what is at stake in the differences between Protestant and Orthodox theology? Rich worship taught the faith to literate and illiterate, peasant and emperor, and its essentially the same as our worship today. Instagram | Converts to Orthodox Christianity in America in the Russian Church Holy Orders are a mystery (sacrament) of the Church, and the Spirit blows where it will. For example, it is understandable that evangelicals feel that the Orthodox doctrine of the church is too "high." Ignatius's followers, however, refused to acknowledge the transition, and eventually both Ignatius and Photius appealed to Pope Nicholas (858-67) in Rome. The sum of all parts wont add to the total. For church membership? The Puritan John Foxe, for example, insisted that "God conducted the Reformation by printing, writing, and reading." Ask An Eastern Orthodox Christian: Conversion Process - SpokaneFVS PDF The Conversion of Vladimir the Great to Orthodox Christianity 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." Conversely, evangelicals argue that this forensic framework for sin and salvation is not merely a historical and unduly negative carryover from Augustine and Anselm, but rather is the clear teaching of Paul in his Letters to the Romans and Galatians. It took awhile because I grasped it through hearing the hymns of the church year, week in and week out. 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. (Some within Orthodoxy say there are 15, but this is a minor, internal debate.) 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. Thus Luther once wrote, "What else do I contend for but to bring everyone to an understanding of the difference between the divine Scripture and human teaching or custom?" Around 2-3 months ago I decided that I wanted to convert to Christianity. She is committed to the same, unchanging, absolute truth. But that cant be the case with me, so lets press on. Spiritual enlightenment changes everything. The reason Orthodoxy is stable is because she is grounded in the truth. However, this is a mistaken viewpoint and can lead to the destruction of a persons faith. Forgetting early on that Orthodox worship is liturgical and cyclical (i.e. Receive updates and announcements from Orthodox Witness. Photius then branded the entire Western church as heretical for inserting the phrase "and the Son" (filioque) into the Nicene Creed. It is not a surprise that many Catholics adhering to traditional values are converting to conservative Orthodoxy. I will always remember my first visit to an Orthodox church in Russia. Orthodoxy insists tenaciously on the role of tradition which is her very life and builds upon its past, without revisions. Differences over clerical beards, the tonsure, and fasting also exacerbated the growing deterioration of East-West unity. we'll be happy to answer it! Why I Converted to Judaism | My Jewish Learning Orthodox Christianity may be the o. Any vestiges of hope for unity after the estrangement of 1054 were dashed with the pillage of 1204. A Christian representation of Vladimir I, who was the first Rus' leader to officially bring Christianity to the region. There is an organic quality here, and the thing itself is inexpressibly alive. At each point in their conversions, from initial religious seeking to settling into life as Orthodox Christians, Orthodox converts in Pittsburgh consistently relate a kind of on-going negotiation between self and other, as they research religious differences and experiment with practices and dogmas. Yet, at times there are questions of conscience and matters of principle. In fact, it promises a Cross and joining with Christ in both suffering and humiliation. From Islam to Indonesian Orthodox Priest In "Clergy" 97% of Moldovans Identify as Orthodox Christians In "Latest Stories" 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. Why Are There So Many Curses and Cruelties In The Psalms? Further, Protestants have long enjoyed rich liturgical traditions of their own (see, for example, Bard Thompson's classic Liturgies of the Western Church). From Protestant to Orthodox - Orthodox Christianity serving Costa Mesa, CA The Orthodox Church has existed since the day of Pentecost and when we truly believe and become truly attached, not merely by baptism or chrismation, not merely by our presence but by our actions and our inner convictions, then and only then do we truly become connected to the Church, to Jesus Christ the Saviour and therefore to the Trinitarian God, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. One can find people who interpret this ecclesiological exclusivity more leniently; in fact, some would argue that the best Orthodox scholarsGeorge Florovsky and John Meyendorff, to name twowould allow for such leniency. Jerusalem, 260,000 But every church must have its distinctiveness, or wed all be in the same church. Like baptism, the Eucharist is administered to infants.