Others are already involved in a Jewish community. Is the church made up of those who have been "regenerated" by infant baptism in an Orthodox church institution, or by those who have experienced new birth and been justified by grace through faith? Affectionate attempts to obscure this quest feel suffocating. Conversion involves a change or transformation in vision, direction and heart, one rooted in repentance and the acknowledgement of Our Lord as the One Who is truly the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Who came into the world to save sinners. Photius then branded the entire Western church as heretical for inserting the phrase "and the Son" (filioque) into the Nicene Creed. (2 Pet. Step Two: Repentance There is no salvation without repentance. If someone is approaching the Orthodox Church from a purely rationalistic standpoint, they will almost surely find it wanting. The beauty and majesty of her liturgical services celebrating the majesty and mystery of God continue to be a major attraction to many seekers of a religious experience that transcends the mundane reality and elevates the spirit to the divine realm. It takes awhile to get it, because its gotten by a process of immersion, by soaking in a context of worship. T he Orthodox Church in the United States has problems. In the dystopian film,Children of Mendirected by Alfonso Cuarn, a world is imagined in the future where no more children are born, and, as the decades pass, humanity is plunged into despair. So Christianity would not have been completely alien to the Rus, and even Vladimir's grandmother, Olga, would become enamored with Christianity. In the first place, Christians believed Jesus to be the true God rather than a semi-god. Christimates 1 day ago. A person can read a dozen books on swimming, but that which he or she has read will not come alive until he or she actually gets into a pool. It is precisely this exclusivistic assertion that some Protestant converts, in search of the "true, New Testament Church" have found so beguiling. 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. many mercenaries would convert to Christianity. 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. Second, whatever failings Western missionaries might bring to their work, and whether Orthodoxy likes to admit it, many Russians are responding very positively to a clear, contemporary presentation of the gospel by Protestant missionaries. Romania, 19.8 million Four important areas deserve ongoing dialogue. Why Are Protestants Converting To Orthodox Christianity? Further, rote liturgy can stultify as well as edify, which is one reason why many people prefer more informal or personal worship settings. 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. You can make an appointment to talk to our parish priest Fr Athanasios by contacting him at (03) 9387 7693. its the same every year, year after year), it soon becomes familiar, and perhaps even boring for some. 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. There are two accounts of Constantine's conversion to Christianity. 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. 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. Telegram | Learn About the Religion. 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 in Greek. When you convert, you must verbalize your commitment to live in accordance with all of the Torah 's commandments as they are explained in Torah law. I do not wish to antagonize anyone and if there is a place online where I might go to better have my questions answered, please. The Spirit of God himself, realizing the sacramental presence of Christ in the church, speaks to us in tradition. My ideas havent changed, and Im always glad for a good discussion, but maybe Im past the need to belabor them. 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.). Antioch, 750,000 If only you could get them to form two lines.). Sizable groups of the Russian population are disenchanted with Orthodoxy for a number of reasons. He sailed to Greenland with a priest to convert the people. The reality of the difficulty of living the Orthodox life then bubbles up, and apostasy from exhaustion is a real risk. 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." But Islam's conquest of this same area eventually isolated the Eastern Christians centered in Constantinople from their counterparts in the West centered in Rome. 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. "We are Orthodox because (we) follow the same laws like in other Orthodox communities in the world," explains Meyer Sanchez, assistant to a rabbi in Medelln. The rise of Islam after Muhammad (died 632) was likewise crucial. In 999, Leif, the son of Erik, was converted to Christianity by Olaf Tryggvason. Another danger is converting to Orthodoxy simply because it is beautiful. 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. I assumed this would somehow convince me not to continue on my discovery of the Orthodox Church, but it has more solidified it! With Gossip of the Gospel, the Church Grows in Nepal, After Pushing for UMC Unity, Former Bishop Joins New Denomination, Christian Conservationists Sue to Protect Ghana Forest, Complete access to articles on ChristianityToday.com, Over 120 years of magazine archives plus full access to all of CTs online archives. But unlike the other two large branches of Christianity, which have spread throughout the developing world, Orthodoxy remains largely confined to Europe. 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). Two theological controversies drove the final wedge between Catholic and Orthodox Christians: papal supremacy and the so-called filioque controversy. "It's typically an immigrant faith, so I was really interested in that experience and why it spoke to. ", Icons are not merely sacred art. Your email address will not be published. Spiritual enlightenment changes everything. Vladimir agreed, in exchange for a marital tie; he also agreed to accept Christianity as his religion and bring his people to the new faith. Fr. Despite efforts at reunification, to this day the Catholic and Orthodox churches remain estranged. 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. They saw this as a perception skill, something anyone could (with diligent practice) hone; it has nothing to do with emotion. This is particularly notable in the mid-1st century, when the circumcision controversy came to the fore. Further, Protestants have long enjoyed rich liturgical traditions of their own (see, for example, Bard Thompson's classic Liturgies of the Western Church). I will always remember my first visit to an Orthodox church in Russia. A priest can provide guidance and support to help converts discern whether the religion is right for them. In the 950s, Olga, the grandmother of Vladimir, was . Well, was it so? The first four enjoy special honor due to their antiquity. For good and ill, it is a classic "cultural religion," and comprehending Orthodoxy is an indispensable key to understanding those countries, cultures, and people. I had been to the east and discovered something wondrous that I assumed all Christians crave. It had ramifications for the ecclesiastical status of both cities and further exacerbated the strained relations between the two regions. Orthodoxy, advocates suggest, reveals and corrects evangelical reductionism and superficiality. 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. Orthodox churches are full of them. The East allowed some priests to marry, while the West required celibacy. Those friends benefit, no doubt, from this opportunity to practice patience and long-suffering. Granny and Pops and Uncle Pete love the little guy, and theyre going to be kindly and patient with him because hes going through a phase. 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. 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. A Christian representation of Vladimir I, who was the first Rus' leader to officially bring Christianity to the region. These Protestant movements, important in their own right, are liturgical light years from Orthodoxy. Vladimir I formed an alliance with Basil II of the Byzantine Empire and married his sister Anna in 988. Do we mean essential for salvation? Believe in the Church as the true Body of Christ, and the Churchflawed people and allwill help lead you down the right path. Your email address will not be published. The Orthodox Church has suffered throughout her history. Orthodox believers see things very differently. Your email address will not be published. She is committed to the same, unchanging, absolute truth. 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. 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 From Islam to Indonesian Orthodox Priest In "Clergy" 97% of Moldovans Identify as Orthodox Christians In "Latest Stories" Such a question cannot be answered through the use of dogmatic assertions or theoretical musings. Similarly, a person can read a dozen books on Orthodox Christianity, but that which he or she has read will not come alive until he or she actually encounters the Church as the worshipping People of God. The move was far more than geographic. The reason Orthodoxy is stable is because she is grounded in the truth. While the Church is certainly Divine in one respect, She is also comprised of human beingshuman beings that can, and do, err. The other forms of tradition include the first seven ecumenical councils, which are acknowledged as normative and, by some, even infallible; patristic writings, especially those of the first four centuries; later councils; the Liturgy; canon law; and icons. In time, you will be welcomed sacramentally into the Church and continue your ongoing path to the Kingdom of God. My ideas havent changed, and Im always glad for a good discussion, but maybe Im past the need to belabour them. 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. Orthodoxy looks forward, to the age to come. First, Christianity had no doctrine to support the Islamic hypothesis about Jesus' modification into a semi-god. The percentage of foreign born Orthodox Christians is no larger than the percentage in the population at large. Another danger is converting to Orthodoxy simply because it is beautiful. Ignatius's followers, however, refused to acknowledge the transition, and eventually both Ignatius and Photius appealed to Pope Nicholas (858-67) in Rome. Schisms had already occurred in the Christian church, and others would occur later, but the Great Schism was the first of such major consequence. Orthodoxy affirms the real, physical presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist (as do Catholics, Lutherans, and many Anglicans), yet unlike Catholicism it is content not to explain how this happens. For church membership? From the Orthodox perspective, both Catholics and Protestants seek to ground theological authority in an external norm. Questions & Answers / It was electrifying. I hope so. 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. Orthodox Priest Explains Why Many People in the West are Converting to Orthodox Christianity. Orthodoxy provides a full-bodied, full-souled spiritual life that assumes that everything you do as a Christian makes you either more like God or less like Him, and because becoming like God is what salvation consists of, that means that everything you do is critical. Thus Georges Florovsky once referred to tradition as "the witness of the Spirit.". Nicholas Kim. 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. She rightly claims the wholeness of the truth. Russian Baptists, Adventists, and Pentecostals feel persecuted. The Actual Conversion to Judaism: Conversion to Judaism has a few components, which are undertaken under the supervision of an established beit din: Accepting the yoke of the commandments. After five years or so in the Orthodox Church, Ive seen a lot of friends and acquaintances come home to the apostolic faith. Lol. Growing up in the Bible Belt, I was only ever exposed to Christian theology. One who would claim that he or she wishes to embrace the faith but doesnt want to get involved with other people and their lives falls short in his or her understanding of the Church as the People of God and, as such, has yet to make that internal conversion that must take place before one is received into the Church.

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