Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.
Would that imply the EO's would like to see those convert to the EO Church and not the RC Church?
I would suppose that there would be some interaction somewhere along the lines. You don't suppose that every group that calls themselves Christian are actually saved, do you?
Okay, then since we can't judge, isn't that all the more reason to evangelize?
I found a thread on itI don't know
The Muslims seem to have an aversion to "reversion"
In that case, it would make sense to evangelize among those Christians who have a theology you are familiar with -- so Calvinists would evangelise other Reformed Churches.
I am well aware of this, b7. I am grateful for the freedom I have in this country and for the "goodness" for the most part. But when one peels away the layers, the U.S. is just another country as other countries in this world (UK, Australia, France, etc.) that have their good and bad sides. No country is perfect. This is the point I think needs to be made because growing up in the country (especially being a military brat and married to military the past 12, almost 13 years) we are taught that the U.S. is the best country on the planet.
I sometimes post on another large Forum and there was an interesting thread on the EO board there.
None. No country is perfect. This is what we Americans need to realize....that the U.S. isn't perfect (many feel this way).
Not really. Why? Because in reformed churches, we would already assume the the correct gospel is being preached. We can't assume that in other churches or nations. Theology matters. It isn't just to create clubs. For the reformed, theology reflects what we believe the true gospel is. So we would want to, necessarily, spread that to whomever we could. I am not above sheep stealing, either.
It would be cool if you would share the sort of information and training you received about Russian culture, and the cultures of South America
This has become a long thread, so I thought it might be acceptable to repeat myself:
Cultures tend to have different mindsets, and different ways of understanding things. They also recollect "different histories", or different aspects of the same history.
One of my concerns is that the OChurch, having been a martyr Church for so many decades, might be assisted by US Chistians as an act of brotherly love. To see the opportunity in Russia as one of helping those who had lost to rebuild and minister to their own people (the Russians).
Another concern, is that many in the US misread EOrthodoxy, and are unfamiliar with its theology and history.
Finally, protestant missionaries in Alaska were involved in actively working to de-convert the Aleut/RussianEOrthodox there (in the 20th c.) -- to make them protestant. Certainly the Orthodox Church in Russia remembers the history of her own Churches in Alaska.
Similar efforts occurred in Ireland/RCatholicism (19th c.), the Philippines/RCatholicism (19th and 20th c.), the Americas/RCatholicism (S America, 20th c), the Ukraine (20th c.) as well as the Alaskan example I mentioned above (which included the forced removal of children from their families).
Given the potential misunderstandings (theological and cultural), the historical record on attempted deconversions, and the reality of the ROrthodox as a martyr Church, perhaps it might be easier to understand the concerns.
God bless, and thank-you !
EDIT: I forgot to mention Central America during the 2oth c. as another example of de-conversion efforts (away from RCatholicism).
