Orthodox vs. Protestant belief differences?

[GillDouglas]

Maybe service should be prioritized over conversion after all?

In my understanding, it is truly a matter of the heart. We can beg, plead, teach and preach until we're blue in the face but until the heart is made ready to accept the truth, according to the will of God, we must continue to walk upright in all that we do. The best way to bring someone to the Lord, it seems to me anyway, is not just condemning them or pressuring with the Words but by living out those Words. That is not to say we shouldn't share the Gospel, and work at bringing people to faith. It is just that realm of the spiritual is not an area that we have been enabled any authority, it is God that governs it, and it is He who draws them in. Lord willing, our efforts will not be in vain.

"What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor." (1 Corinthians 3:5-8)

 

[GillDouglas]

The thing is, there are plenty of simple heresies, and first century Christians did not tolerate them

We may differ on the fallibility of the first century Christians, they were human after all.

 

[Constantine the Sinner]

And so they corrected them with murder, which would be a heresy against the 6th commandment, no?

No, they were Orthodox, not Papists. But they absolutely would not have communion with them.

 

[Constantine the Sinner]

We may differ on the fallibility of the first century Christians, they were human after all.

Good thing we have you to show us the REAL way to do Christianity that they didn't know about.

 

[Constantine the Sinner]

In my understanding, it is truly a matter of the heart. We can beg, plead, teach and preach until we're blue in the face but until the heart is made ready to accept the truth, according to the will of God, we must continue to walk upright in all that we do. The best way to bring someone to the Lord, it seems to me anyway, is not just condemning them or pressuring with the Words but by living out those Words. That is not to say we shouldn't share the Gospel, and work at bringing people to faith. It is just that realm of the spiritual is not an area that we have been enabled any authority, it is God that governs it, and it is He who draws them in. Lord willing, our efforts will not be in vain.

"What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor." (1 Corinthians 3:5-8)

Apollos and Paul were both bishops of the original Church. Neither of them taught that doctrinal plurality is okay.

 

[Constantine the Sinner]

Ignatius of Antioch, the disciple of John, and the sucessor of Peter as bishop of Antioch, and a martyr under Nero, taught the crucial importance of bishops in Apostolic succession. He's not infallible, but I consider him a thoroughly trustworthy witness to how the early Church was run.

 

[TestifyToTruth]

Just new to this thread and apologies if this has already been recommended, but the book by the late Orthodox Archbishop of the UK, Timothy Ware (aka Kallistos Ware), called "The Orthodox Way" is excellent reading for any Christian.

Clear and fascinating explanations of Orthodox theology and doctrines. Personally I'm not Orthodox but I found this book enormously helpful in clarifying my Christian beliefs.

See: By Kallistos Ware - The Orthodox Way (New edition) (5/28/02): Kallistos Ware: Amazon.com: Books

It comes in kindle too.

 

[TestifyToTruth]

Actually the older edition on Amazon has 118 reviews which are interesting reading: The Orthodox Way: Kallistos Ware: 9780913836583: Amazon.com: Books

 

[chevyontheriver]

Then I suppose Orthodoxy doesn't suit me.

And yet have you heard from a single Orthodox person about your initial question, or only people who are not Orthodox talking about what they think the Orthodox are all about? Just asking.

Note added after getting to the end of all of the posts. Now that you have actually seen some Orthodox participation, have you reassessed?

 

[fide]

Trying to figure out which one I align more with, Orthodox or Protestant.

If anyone of sufficient knowledge can point out the salient differences.

Much obliged!

God bless~

The better question is, which Church is TRUE - which is the One Church instituted by Christ at the beginning? Then, those who seek to be His disciples ought to align with that Church. (His Church has no obligation to align with us - the obligation is upon us, to align with Him, as He remains with His One Church, as He promised, until the close of the age.)

 

[Vicomte13]

What he says is not inspired but it is a fact and everything that comes after is an adulteration of that thing that came first. If you cannot see that then I am afraid argumentation is futile. What came later was interpretation and commentary and later still came flat-out lies of which the Catholic Church is king.

I do not see that, no. Simple Abrahamic worship came first. Judaism was not an adulteration of it. Judaism came before Christianity, it was the old wine in the old bottles of which Jesus spoke. Christianity was the new wine - new, fresh, different. But it was not an adulteration of Judaism.

The Didache, first century, spells out the basics of the Church. Paul explains to Timothy how new Christian clergy are made. Those things are still done in some of the Churches you reject as corrupt and evil. The anabaptists do not do them. So if we're going by age - which is yours and Tertullian's argument, not mine - there are real gaps in practice between your theory and what you and your church actually DO.

By the way, do you allow remarriage after divorce?
Is masturbation a sin?

 

[FenderTL5]

Out of curiosity, do you mean the scripture of Orthodox actually promotes ethnicity or its merely certain "denominations" within Orthodox?

No, actually it's neither.
First let me say that I'm American born with a Scotch-Irish ancestry. I grew up on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. I'm about as red-neck, hillbilly, southern as one can be. My family is protestant (fundamental Baptist). I have been welcomed in Russian, Serbian as well as Greek Orthodox parishes. All of these churches teach the same doctrine and use the same liturgy.

That said, many of the Orthodox churches in the United States are a result of immigration. As people from those other parts of the world found each other, they established churches as community. So the Serbian Church in my town speaks mostly Serbian, their cultural customs are maintained and the Liturgy is done in their language. For someone who is not Serbian, it can be difficult at first. That does not by any stretch of the imagination mean that they are unwelcoming (nothing could be further from the truth) nor is there something ethnically charged in the teaching(s).

Our parish is Greek Orthodox, we have a mixed community but still majority with Greek backgrounds.
It is not uncommon to hear the Our Father (Lord's Prayer) in three or four languages during a Sunday Liturgy. During Pascha, the greeting can be exchanged in 10 or more languages.
During the Paschal Vespers the Gospel was read in seven languages.

 

[GillDouglas]

No, actually it's neither.
First let me say that I'm American born with a Scotch-Irish ancestry.

My family (Gill, originally Gylle) is also Scotch-Irish, from the Ulster Plantation of Northern Ireland. We settled in west Pennsylvania, and some eventually moved into Ohio.

 

[Tangible]

Ok. But how do you know what the hat correct reading is?

Because scripture is consistent in context. If one passage is unclear, another on the same subject will be more clear. Also the hermeneutic principle of the proper distinction between law and gospel really helps. Without approaching Scripture looking for both Law and Gospel, and rightly distinguishing between the two, the Word of God remains a closed book

 

[Monk Brendan]

I don't believe such Orthodox exist.

Forgive me, but I have run in to them. At the Greek Orthodox Church here in town, during a Greek Fest, I tried walking in the door to see the church. I was told that unless I was serious about wanting to be a member of THEIR church, I was not allowed in. I could buy all the baklava I wanted, but the person at the door was unwilling to let me pass.

 

[Monk Brendan]

Out of curiosity, do you mean the scripture of Orthodox actually promotes ethnicity or its merely certain "denominations" within Orthodox?

It isn't the Scriptures that promote ethnicity, nor is it the denomination. However, if you are not their ethnic group, your response can be cool to "get out!" depending upon which ethnicity it is. For instance, a man named Aboud (Arab Christian) won't get the same reception as a man named Nikopolis when coming to a Greek Orthodox Church.

The same happens in the Russian Orthodox, the Serbians, Bulgarians, all of them.

Now, I will say that it mostly depends on the priest. I know of an Ukrainian Catholic Church that the people did not want me there, simply because I was not Ukrainian. But the priest overrode them all and welcomed me in. I found that the Melkite priest and his bishop were much more welcoming, and the people welcomed me in with open arms.

 

[Vicomte13]

No, they were Orthodox, not Papists. But they absolutely would not have communion with them.

Are you a cradle Orthodox, or a convert to Orthodoxy from Protestantism?

 

[Vicomte13]

Because scripture is consistent in context. If one passage is unclear, another on the same subject will be more clear.

Are Christians permitted to divorce and remarry?
Are Christians permitted to use artificial contraception?
Is abortion ever permissible?
Is the death penalty as a punishment for crime ever warranted?
May Christians participate in offensive war?
May Christians ever participate in a violent revolution?
May Christians ever participate in a tax revolt?
Are Christians required to keep any of the food laws or Sabbath laws or feast laws of the Torah?
Is baptism in water required to pass final judgement?
Are people judged by God on their beliefs or their deeds?

 

[prodromos]

The same happens in the Russian Orthodox, the Serbians, Bulgarians, all of them.

It can happen in some parishes, and it shouldn't ever happen, but it used to be a common response in Catholic parishes as well. In another generation the situation will be completely different.
Personally, I was warmly welcomed into the Greek parish my family attends, and I'm an Anglo-Scottish/Swedish Australian mutt.

 

[Monk Brendan]

[Staff edit]. I am just as Orthodox as the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. However, I grew up Catholic, and I know the stability of the Catholic Church. I got turned on to Orthodoxy more than 20 years ago, but I found that the ethnic barrier here in Phoenix was too high a wall.

When I was growing up, I didn't even know about Eastern Catholicism. However, I found things about the Eastern Catholics that intrigued me, especially when I found out that in Lebanon, people don't worry if the Pope is memorialized or not. Eastern CHRISTIANS go to whatever church is nearest, they all go to the same Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals etc. And ALL of them that wish to partake are able to receive the Eucharist.

After I learned about that, I started looking around at Eastern Catholic Churches. There is a BC parish, a Ukrainian parish, and a Melkite parish. I finally settled in the Melkite Church, and the whole church loves me. The bishop knows me, a lot of the clergy in the eparchy know me. The Liturgy is the same, the Creed is exactly the same, and the Paschal greeting is done in three languages.