why convert to orthodox christianity why convert to orthodox christianity

Now, I dont share all of this in order to dissuade anyone from becoming a catechumen, but rather to encourage those who are on such a journeyor who have strayed away from one that began on the wrong foot. 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. In time, you will be welcomed sacramentally into the Church and continue your ongoing path to the Kingdom of God. These groups mostly came over willingly. Those friends benefit, no doubt, from this opportunity to practice patience and long-suffering. Before you start the process of converting, you will want to speak with a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church. We must be willing to embrace mystery, to submit to other authorities, and to ultimately submit to the Church Herself. Reaching for the Transcendent on the Streets of New York, http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2007/12/icons-will-save-the-world, cool blog entry by Fr Andrew Damick - Christian Forums, http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/liturgics/athenagoras_remarriage.htm, http://www.oodegr.co/english/ekklisia/marriage_divorce.htm, http://www.oodegr.com/english/ekklisia/marriage_divorce.htm, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/justandsinner/the-church-fathers-interpretation-of-the-rock-of-matthew-1618-an-historical-refutation-of-the-claims-of-roman-catholicism-by-william-webster/. Fr. Search, Learn more about the Orthodox Church in America, Orthodoxy and Cults and Non-Christian Groups. But about this pursuit we can make several observations. Becoming Orthodox is not a conversion but more so a transformation of self. Here is an overview of the steps you can take to convert to Orthodox Christianity: Talk With an Orthodox Priest. As with liturgy, conversion to Orthodoxy is hardly a prerequisite for a renewed engagement with apostolic tradition. Kind of like large scale serial monogamous people. many mercenaries would convert to Christianity. Instead, an adolescent has to figure out and establish his adult persona in the face of affection. Click for reprint information. Then B. The numbers are staggering! But every church must have its distinctives, or wed all be in the same church. The Orthodox Church has suffered throughout her history. 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. 1. Our digital archives are a work in progress. In the East the local parish priest could administer the sacrament of confirmation; in the West only the bishop could. There is a myth in Orthodoxy that people only became Eastern Catholics under force by Catholic kings. But the impulse is to exaggerate the differences when you fear being hugged to death. What steps would I take to become an Orthodox Christian? 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. Is Orthodox different from Catholic? However, they rarely spent any time in Orthodox worship services or their local parish, developed no relationship with a priest, and did not engage their spouse or family in their studies and interest in the Church. But if you are still intrigued and drawn to the Orthodox Church, considering all of these disclaimers, then do so with faith, reverence, and a healthy fear of God. 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. Such a question cannot be answered through the use of dogmatic assertions or theoretical musings. 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. While evangelicals might be eager to argue there is no biblical warrant for icons, for the Orthodox it is enough that icons have always been a part of church tradition. Further, rote liturgy can stultify as well as edify, which is one reason why many people prefer more informal or personal worship settings. Constantine had once controlled the entire Mediterranean perimeter, and as a result, Christianity flourished. And such a journey can only be spoken of from experience. It is not a surprise that many Catholics adhering to traditional values are converting to conservative Orthodoxy. 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. The essence of it was to evangelize younger aristocrats, future leaders of the land. Home / Not to be outdone, the Orthodox could respond in kind. She rightly claims the wholeness of the truth. Other times it is a youth group or Bible study group inspiring and educating. 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. 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. But I slowly came to see that I cant communicate it. Along with Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity is one of the world's three major Christian traditions. YouTube | Worse, they considered the interpolation to be theologically untrue and a threat to the doctrine of the Trinity. You haven't "arrived" in this life. Rather, they are a source of revelation. Linguistic factors posed other, very practical problems. Eastern Christians would hear nothing of it. In 1993 I was chrismated and joined the Eastern Orthodox Church, 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. Nicholas reversed the decision, reinstating Ignatius and deposing Photius. Today 23 percent of all Orthodox Christians in the United Statesabout one in fourare converts, as are 30 percent of the clergy and 43 percent of seminarians. 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. It depends on where you put the emphasis. On June 16, 1054, Pope Leo IX's legate, Cardinal Humbert, delivered a Bull of Excommunication to the Orthodox Patriarch Michael Cerularius on the altar of the Church of the Holy Wisdom at Constantinople while the patriarch prepared to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, condemning him and his court. Rather, each of the thirteen Orthodox churches has its own head, variously referred to as the patriarch, archbishop, or metropolitan. 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. I sincerely wish to know everyone's reasons for converting to Orthodoxy. Other religions and faiths occupy themselves with this life, with this world. For the past year or so I have been considering conversion to Orthodox Christianity. Orthodox Christianity offers a third solution, that is faith with an emphasis on symbolism, inner experience, and Church communion. A person (who is searching within) goes through clerical education to explore questions. For any convert, it's a spiritual, intense, and private process,. This period of instruction, discernment and spiritual formation also affords you with the opportunity to develop and strengthen your relationship with the parishs clergy and faithfulthose with whom you will worship in Spirit and truth and with whom you will share in fellowship as a member of the Body of Christ, the Church. I can remember that, after Id been Orthodox a few years, developing an increasing sense of tension or frustration. Jerusalem, 260,000 But that cant be the case with me, so lets press on. 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. Some have argued that evangelicals eager to "contend earnestly for the faith" (Jude 3) will find an ally in Orthodoxy's allegiance to the basic truths of Christianity. Instagram | 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. Becoming an Orthodox Christian is not easy, nor does it promise great happiness or success in this life. Affectionate attempts to obscure this quest feel suffocating. Growing up in the Bible Belt, I was only ever exposed to Christian theology. Contact | Before long, in Reformation churches the sermon had replaced the Eucharist as the defining moment of the liturgy. Her name is right belief. Conversion means belief and acceptance in Jesus Christ, the God-man, as the Savior of the world. Vladimir I, a great prince of Kiev, reigned from 980 till 1015 and succeeded in the mass conversion of the Eastern Slavs.1 Throughout his reign Vladimir's agenda had . As a young convert to Orthodox Christianity myself, I can testify that confession and Communion have filled my life meaning and have directed me when I have felt lost. Pretty good. These are worthy pursuits that can be fulfilled in the Orthodox Church. We are not seeking to reform or to teach the Church how it should do things, but are rather seeking to be formed by the Church and to learn how we should be doing things as faithful Christians. For example, it is understandable that evangelicals feel that the Orthodox doctrine of the church is too "high." Rather, for Orthodoxy the whole people of God is the protector of apostolic tradition. Harakas asked. For example, if a person goes through a great deal of hardship, sacrifice, and turmoil in order to join the Churchas in the case of former clergy in a different communion, or when ones family does not approvethey might feel that the Church owes them for converting. Photius then branded the entire Western church as heretical for inserting the phrase "and the Son" (filioque) into the Nicene Creed. And these prayers are jam-packed. Despite its historical estrangement from Rome, from a Protestant theological perspective Orthodoxy is similar to Catholicism at several points. "It was a calling of the soul," Devorah Guilah Koren, who converted from Catholicism with her husband and two children, told me. This should trouble evangelicals (as well as other Protestants), especially when it is combined with the Orthodox idea of who constitutes the church and how one enters the church. Has Orthodoxy in these lands obscured the gospel, becoming merely a "cultural" religion thoroughly assimilated to ethnic identity? Disclaimers, Amon Sl Tolkien & Orthodox Christianity, 5 Differences: Orthodoxy & Roman Catholicism, 5 Differences: Orthodoxy & Evangelicalism, The Equal of Martyrdom: Fr. A wooden pectoral cros, Pectoral Cross for Clergy Christ is thus "the Offerer and the Offered, the Acceptor and the Distributed," all in such a way that nothing is added to his once-for-all sacrifice on the cross. In the 950s, Olga, the grandmother of Vladimir, was . Applies to RCC too. 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. But they all came together in worship, and were shaped by the same hymns and prayers, the appointed Scripture readings, preaching, and the picture Bible of iconography. When you are the only Norse guy and most of your lands are Slovianskian, it makes more sense to convert yourself than to convert them. Now let's hear from Frederica. Thank you for this! Thats surely a factor, but I think theres something else going on, more specific to Orthodox converts. It took me a few years to sense that there was a whole other something going on. Early on in the life of the Christian church, the Greek-speaking East and the Latin-speaking West began to diverge. I can remember, after Id been Orthodox a few years, developing an increasing sense of tension or frustration. People are attracted by the permanence of Orthodoxy. For such a question presupposes a particular person's journey of faith. And yet, not all of these journeys have worked out. 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. Most people like to be polite and get along, so they highlight what we hold in common. So, you have decided to convert to the Greek Orthodox Christian religion. Buddhists are called to meditate. Handcarved It took awhile because I grasped it through hearing the hymns of the church year, week in and week out. The Spirit of God himself, realizing the sacramental presence of Christ in the church, speaks to us in tradition. A Aristocles Merarches Joined Apr 23, 2003 Messages 10,031 Reaction score 1 Points 0 Location Pittsburgh Aug 5, 2006 #4 Matthew777 said: If a richer liturgical life is what a believer wants, converting to Orthodoxy is hardly necessary. There I was, a Protestant theologian teaching in the former Department of Scientific Atheism in the land where Eastern Orthodoxy had reigned for over 1,000 years. Heres a clue to a third possibility. Everyone associates Orthodox worship with sensory richness, but its also rich in theological content. 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?" From the Orthodox perspective, both Catholics and Protestants seek to ground theological authority in an external norm. Second, Christian theology perfectly explained why Jesus, who was also called a prophet, was worthy of worship. Why had a group of conservative American Christians converted to Russian Orthodoxy? Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity. It also must be noted that embracing the faith involves a running to Christ and His Church as the Ark of Salvation, rather than a running away from somethingother than sin. In the Orthodox calendar, the first Sunday of Lent celebrates the Triumph of Orthodoxy, a commemoration of the final triumph of icons in the long and bitter battle with the iconoclasts (literally, "image-smashers") on March 11, 843. In Protestantism there arose the doctrine of sola scriptura. Thumb through Calvin's Institutes or a volume of John Wesley's Works and you will see our Protestant forebears thoroughly engaged with patristic tradition. 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 Frederica Matthewes-Green reflects on how new converts to Orthodoxy can sometimes be overzealous. It is precisely this exclusivistic assertion that some Protestant converts, in search of the "true, New Testament Church" have found so beguiling. 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. No doubt, I felt at home when first attending the Divine Liturgy, but this was after months of study and discussion with other Orthodox people. A radical conversion to Christianity. Also, while evangelicals wholeheartedly embrace the full-orbed New Testament descriptions of the work of Christ (reconciliation, ransom, redemption, forgiveness, adoption, etc. This simple change of dress symbolized a radical shift that has characterized the Protestant West ever since: that the knowledge of God is mediated primarily through the written Word. Icons are absolutely central to Orthodoxy, distinguishing it from both Catholicism and Protestantism. Originally the creed read that the Holy Spirit proceeded "from the Father"; a later Western interpolation (why, where, and by whom are not known), ratified at the Council of Toledo (589), added filioque to indicate that the Spirit proceeded from the Father "and the Son." 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). A second theory is that converts of any sort have a tendency to exuberance that is wearying to outsiders. If someone is approaching the Orthodox Church from a purely rationalistic standpoint, they will almost surely find it wanting. 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. As former Campus Crusade staff member Gillquist put it, why have so many "Bible-believing, blood-bought, Gospel-preaching, Christ-centered, lifelong evangelical Protestants come to embrace this Orthodox faith so enthusiastically?" There are two accounts of Constantine's conversion to Christianity. The collapse of the Roman Empire created a power vacuum that was increasingly filled by the growing power of the Roman papacy. 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). I have read many things on the internet, as well as a number of books about the Churchs faith, worship and history. The reason Orthodoxy is stable is because she is grounded in the truth. 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. Hope this helps, and hope that your journey to Orthodoxy is filled with every blessing. There is an organic quality here, and the thing itself is inexpressibly alive. The Orthodox Churches share with the other Christian Churches the belief that God revealed himself in Jesus Christ, and a belief in the incarnation of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection. Affectionate attempts to obscure this quest feel suffocating. And these prayers are jam-packed. The Orthodox Church has been, for me, the ultimate revelation of what it means to be "in Christ"; my upbringing in Evangelical Protestantism has not only helped me appreciate this now, but was very much preparing me for this all along [1]. 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. It had ramifications for the ecclesiastical status of both cities and further exacerbated the strained relations between the two regions. But whether a non-Orthodox person can even be saved is an open question in Orthodox ecclesiology. Why would a Protestant Christian convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity? One can find Orthodox statements that ascribe a unique authority to Scripture over tradition, but these are few and far between, and they speak of tradition in a narrower than usual sense. At times it can be a healing group especially during the Liturgical services in particular the Eucharist and the Holy Prayer Oil services. Clearly this stability is found in no other church. The Eucharist is a true, propitiatory sacrifice. In contrast, Orthodoxy offers a view of theological authority that is internal and pneumatic rather than external and dogmatic. In his homily, Father Vladimir explained the history and theology of icons, adding that the heresy of iconoclasm was alive and well: "Just look around us at all the Protestants. But dont do it for all the wrong reasons. Why Are There So Many Curses and Cruelties In The Psalms? Orthodox worship can be overwhelmingly beautiful and attractiveon multiple, deeply-felt levelsbut this should not be the only reason why a person converts. However, I do think that there are certain factors that influence and even cause these abandonments and apostasies from the one, true Church. 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. Thank you for this post! Most people like to be polite and get along, so they highlight our commonalities. Icons. 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.