Some questions

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Zoness

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So at the very least I find the study of the history of the Eastern Orthodox church to be fascinating. Being raised Catholic I understand some parts of it already but I have been a protestant for a few years. I would consider going to an Orthodox church but I don't think there is one for miles so really "joining" is out of the question but I do have some questions.

In comparision to Catholics....

What is your stance on Marian theology?

On purgatory?

Do I need anything special to go to an Orthodox church?

What version of the Bible do the Orthodox read?

Thank you for your time.
 

jckstraw72

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What is your stance on Marian theology?

our beliefs about Mary are all directly tied to Christ. Essentially it is Christology. We call her Mother of God to preserve that Christ is God. We also believe she is Ever-Virgin, and that she can intercede on our behalf. We do not believe in the Immaculate Conception and we don't consider her the Mediatrix of all graces or anything like that.

On purgatory?

dont believe in it. between the time of our death and us going to heaven we become purged of all sins, but we dont dogmatize how/where this happens.

Do I need anything special to go to an Orthodox church?

not sure what you mean here, but i cant think of anything you would need.

What version of the Bible do the Orthodox read?

as far as i know there is no official Orthodox version. We do use the Greek Old Testament, but there is no definitive translation of it.

Thank you for your time.

anytime.
 
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Zoness

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Hmm hello again and thanks for the answers to the questions I posted because now I have more.

Well first of all there is no orthodox church near where I live, the closest start 45 minutes away and being a poor high school student with an old truck, it simply isn't fisable to make it to any of those locations.

But I did have another question: what is the differences between all of the churches? Serbian, Antiochan, Greek gah its all splintered like protestant churches :p what are the differences in the churches? Does it really matter?
 
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Machachachi

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Splintered is really not the proper term at all. They are auto-cephalous, but they are all Orthodox, and you can move from one parish to another without really causing anyone to freak out. There is nothing dogmatically different between Greek and Russian Orthodox or any other kind of Orthodox. Excluding Oriental Orthodox, but that's a whole other bag o fish.
 
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Julina

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it's just cultural differences, for example this past summer i attended a Russian Orthodox church with services in Slavonic. Women were required to wear a skirt, and some had their heads covered too (is that what you meant by "anything special?").
 
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Prawnik

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Think of the Orthodox Church and all its members like a family; big, at time fractious, sometimes mysterious to non-members, and with its own histories and squabbles and rituals and pursuing a very organic development according to its own terms and its own internal rules. And like a family, the Orhtodox Church has leaders, but they sometimes don't show up where you might expect them. Also like a family, the Orthodox Church has little in the way of formal organization, compared with, say, an insurance company.

What is amazing not that there are differences within our family, but that it stays together. But it does.
 
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Andrew21091

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What version of the Bible do the Orthodox read?

There is really no official English translation used by us. We use the Septuagint for our Old Testament though which was the Greek translation of the Hebrew texts. We have more books in out Old Testament canon than the Catholics and Protestants.


But I did have another question: what is the differences between all of the churches? Serbian, Antiochan, Greek gah its all splintered like protestant churches :p what are the differences in the churches? Does it really matter?

The only differences are cultural, but we believe the same. I go to an Antiochian church but I do go to the Romanian and Russian churches in town every once and a while and I can take communion there. There are the Oriental Orthodox who are the Coptics, Ethiopians, and Armenians and they are not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox churches but there is a small misunderstanding between us about the Council of Chalcedon.
 
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Zoness

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Ok it is starting to make more sense then. So the only churches in communion with each other are the eastern orthodox then? No communion with oriental orthodox and just out of curiousity what is your communion status with the Catholic church or any other remaining church? I'm sure there probably isn't much outside the eastern orthodox but I could be wrong. Thanks
 
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choirfiend

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The Oriental Orthodox Churches were separated from the Orthodox Church (Or Eastern Orthodox Church, if you like) in the 400sAD. The Roman Catholic Church was separated from the Orthodox Church in 1054AD. And all the other groups in the world are somehow a break-off shoot of one of those, mainly the Roman Catholic Church, and as a result, remain separated from us as well.

This is a list of the Orthodox Churches that exist in America, minus the group called Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. They are named after the country they originated from as immigrants traveled here and have separate "governments," but they all have the same faith, the same beliefs, and one can go from one kind to another without change. It's kind of like having Irish, Polish, or Italian Catholic churches--they're all the same, except perhaps in style.

http://www.scoba.us/jurisdictions.html
 
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choirfiend

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45 minutes is still considered reasonably close by many faithful in the US. Depending upon where one lives, sometimes there is no church for miles. Churches are most common in areas where immigrants settled--the East and West Coast have the most, followed by larger cities throughout the US. Chicago has a ton. Churches are spreading as faithful move and communities are no longer based upon immigrants, but second- or third-generations and conversions from US citizens. I hope one day you are closer to a church, but plenty can be learned while one is yet far away. Learning and communicating with a parish priest can be done long distance if the desire to inquire is there.
 
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Andrew21091

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Maybe I can get an email address of the closest church. It's hard for a high-school student with a bad truck and little money to travel 45 minutes once a week or I would do it.

You should make an effort to go one weekend just to check it out and talk with a priest.
 
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cassc

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Maybe I can get an email address of the closest church. It's hard for a high-school student with a bad truck and little money to travel 45 minutes once a week or I would do it.

That's understandable, It is certainly worth a visit if you can, even if it's not feasible to go weekly. Are you planning on heading off to college? perhaps there will be an Orthodox Christian Fellowship on campus or a Parish nearby... If you feel drawn to Orthodoxy definitly pursue this feeling, even if distance is a problem right now, you will not regret it in the long run. I currently live close enough to walk to church which is such a blessing, in college I was near a church but I had not car and we were no where near public transportation so it seemed insurmountable- in the end I met other Orthodox students and we started to drive together, there were even parishioners at nearby parishes willing to give us rides!
 
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Zoness

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I plan on attending University of Illinois in which I do believe there is a Greek Orthodox church there. Your right in the sense that I should at least make an effort to get in contact with a priest or try to visit a church, my parents are vehemently Catholic and are not totally up for the idea...they are pretty ill-informed.
 
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