Silmarien
Existentialist
- Feb 24, 2017
- 4,337
- 5,254
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- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Anglican
- Marital Status
- Single
- Politics
- US-Democrat
Ah! I think I see what you mean. Yes ......... as a matter of fact I was intrigued by what Orthodoxy seemed to know, and like any good Protestant my REAL intent was to kind of swoop in and take what I found beneficial .... but I couldn't see myself actually becoming Orthodox, not at first. I mean, they FAST at times I'd really rather not!
Haha, well, actually I could see myself becoming Orthodox, but if I did it now, it'd be for the wrong reasons. I'm a cultural Protestant, but rejected everything a long time ago, so opening that door again is something I'm still getting used to. My relationship with Western Christianity as a tradition is... kind of terrible, though, and that's probably something I ought to deal with first.
You were some flavor of Evangelical Protestant, right? (I'm really intrigued about whether Protestant converts to Orthodoxy are primarily Evangelical or Mainline. I hear a lot about the decline of Mainline Protestantism and wonder how many of them have actually ended up here!)
But yes, it's kind of choosing between the blue pill and the red (Matrix) ... once you learn certain truths, it becomes pretty hard to pretend you don't know it anymore ...
Hahaha, that's not the first time I've seen that reference with regards to Orthodoxy!
The perspective on that? Well, it depends. If the family won't accept, it may be better for some not to actually convert. If you can't accept as true certain things the Church teaches, it's more honest not to convert, but the reasons why you can't accept it must be honestly examined.
Yesss. This part goes way deeper for me than just Orthodox teachings, since if you've once rejected the entire religion, it's hard to stop rejecting things. I'm one of those reluctant ex-atheist converts who finally ran out of reasons to say "Definitely not," but it's a long, long, long walk back. A very interesting one, though.
But most any service you might attend, there will generally be lots of hymns and prayers and reading from the Scriptures, along with any other things particular to that service.
Hmm, would it be worth it to go to the Divine Liturgy regularly if it's closed communion anyway? With Great Vespers on Saturday, I could at some point just start juggling two churches to get a feel for it too. Though I haven't actually gotten around to having a real conversation with my own priest in the four months I've been back, so I'm apparently not in a hurry.
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