Orthodoxy:
Catholicism without Additions
Protestantism without Subtractions
http://hvcbookstore.com/index.php?route ... uct_id=568
I picked up this little booklet at church last Sunday and it is a great short explanation of Orthodox Christianity. It's in question and answer format. My favorite question is #92:
Q. The Bible teaches that one must be "born again". Why aren't Orthodox Christians "born again"?
A. Orthodox Christians do not believe that to be "born again" is an emotional conversion experience.
Orthodoxy book
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Jester
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Fair point. I know plenty of Catholics are born again, despite not using the term much.
The "confirmation" ceremony for pubescent teens seems to be designed to "confirm" that they are indeed "saved". But in any case, there is no emphasis on an emotional experience. yet I know Catholics who are deep Believers, filled with faith, fruits in their lives, bearing hardship well, and whose prayers get answered.
That said, my own "conversion", back in the last century
was indeed emotional, I cried, and felt also kind of a waterfall inside me. But I have heard they are different.
As I have commented before, trying to mimic Forest Gump, "Christian is as Christian does". Or as Jesus said, "by their fruits you will know them."
The "confirmation" ceremony for pubescent teens seems to be designed to "confirm" that they are indeed "saved". But in any case, there is no emphasis on an emotional experience. yet I know Catholics who are deep Believers, filled with faith, fruits in their lives, bearing hardship well, and whose prayers get answered.
That said, my own "conversion", back in the last century
was indeed emotional, I cried, and felt also kind of a waterfall inside me. But I have heard they are different.As I have commented before, trying to mimic Forest Gump, "Christian is as Christian does". Or as Jesus said, "by their fruits you will know them."
"Well actually, she's not REALLY my daughter. But she does like to call me Daddy... at certain moments..."
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fschmidt
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There are a few more questions and answer about this in the book, but I think the basic point is that while conversion may cause emotion, emotion doesn't cause conversion. For the Orthodox, it is baptism that causes conversion.
Yes "by their fruits you will know them". There are many different kinds of Christians with vastly different "fruits". I visited a Baptist Bible study 2 weeks ago and the leader asked the question "if someone asks for charity, when should you give?". And his answer was... "When God tells you to." I wanted to vomit. I genuinely feel sorry for Jesus that modern Protestants say such horrible things in his name.
Note to anyone reading this thread, I am not Christian but I admire the Orthodox Church and I attend their services.
Yes "by their fruits you will know them". There are many different kinds of Christians with vastly different "fruits". I visited a Baptist Bible study 2 weeks ago and the leader asked the question "if someone asks for charity, when should you give?". And his answer was... "When God tells you to." I wanted to vomit. I genuinely feel sorry for Jesus that modern Protestants say such horrible things in his name.
Note to anyone reading this thread, I am not Christian but I admire the Orthodox Church and I attend their services.
I have had dealings with Mennonites in Latin America as well as the USA. In action, I can sayfschmidt wrote:There are a few more questions and answer about this in the book, but I think the basic point is that while conversion may cause emotion, emotion doesn't cause conversion. For the Orthodox, it is baptism that causes conversion.
Yes "by their fruits you will know them". There are many different kinds of Christians with vastly different "fruits". I visited a Baptist Bible study 2 weeks ago and the leader asked the question "if someone asks for charity, when should you give?". And his answer was... "When God tells you to." I wanted to vomit. I genuinely feel sorry for Jesus that modern Protestants say such horrible things in his name.
Note to anyone reading this thread, I am not Christian but I admire the Orthodox Church and I attend their services.
they show compassion and mercy without hesitation or qualification.
To be fed...you only need to be hungry...to receive medical help...you only need to be sick.
They are worth paying attention to...
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fschmidt
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From what I have seen, I agree. Unfortunately they don't have a church near me for me to visit.OutWest wrote:I have had dealings with Mennonites in Latin America as well as the USA. In action, I can say
they show compassion and mercy without hesitation or qualification.
To be fed...you only need to be hungry...to receive medical help...you only need to be sick.
They are worth paying attention to...
The Eastern "Orthodox" Church split from Rome 1000 years ago, and has been in schism ever since.
Eastern "Orthodoxy" denies papal authority. Its theological disputes with Catholicism mostly stem from intellectual pride. It is this obstinate self-pride on which the "Orthodox" church has been based ever since.
The "Orthodox" Church also allows divorce, thus mocking the sacrament of matrimony. Small wonder then that Russian and Ukrainian women are generally unreliable as wives and even mothers. Which is not to say that the men are any better, as many fall into the mortal sin of drunkenness, and are themselves unreliable as providers for their families.
Jesus Christ founded Christianity through St. Peter, who instituted papal authority. Despite the rule of the anti-Popes (since 1958), the papacy is the institution by which the unity of the Church is achieved.
Eastern "Orthodoxy" is not the true church, any more than Protestantism is.
There is only one true church, outside of which no one can be saved. That church is Roman Catholicism.
Eastern "Orthodoxy" denies papal authority. Its theological disputes with Catholicism mostly stem from intellectual pride. It is this obstinate self-pride on which the "Orthodox" church has been based ever since.
The "Orthodox" Church also allows divorce, thus mocking the sacrament of matrimony. Small wonder then that Russian and Ukrainian women are generally unreliable as wives and even mothers. Which is not to say that the men are any better, as many fall into the mortal sin of drunkenness, and are themselves unreliable as providers for their families.
Jesus Christ founded Christianity through St. Peter, who instituted papal authority. Despite the rule of the anti-Popes (since 1958), the papacy is the institution by which the unity of the Church is achieved.
Eastern "Orthodoxy" is not the true church, any more than Protestantism is.
There is only one true church, outside of which no one can be saved. That church is Roman Catholicism.
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