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Recent content by GoingByzantine

  1. GoingByzantine

    Being Orthodox in America is Tough, I'm Not Sure What to Do

    Thanks everyone. You are all very kind and very supportive. I think I have placed alot of pressure on myself with this issue, and even though there seems to be a very limited number of options out there, you all have already expanded my horizons. I suppose that I really do need to be open to...
  2. GoingByzantine

    Being Orthodox in America is Tough, I'm Not Sure What to Do

    I know I will probably regret posting this here, but this is about the only place that I can turn to with this. So here it goes. I joined this forum when I was a baby-faced 20-year-old college student, trying to find my way in a very confusing world. Within months of joining this forum, I...
  3. GoingByzantine

    Allegedly, Patriarch Bartholomew says there is no doctrinal difference between Orthodox and Catholic

    According to the Greek National Herald, in a separate and unrelated event earlier this week, Patriarch Bartholomew allegedly told officials at a Georgian University that he appreciated their "good relations with the local Roman Catholic community". He went on to say that, "dialogue with other...
  4. GoingByzantine

    Allegedly, Patriarch Bartholomew says there is no doctrinal difference between Orthodox and Catholic

    Lies take on a life of their own when they fit within a supportive narrative. If someone said that Patriarch Bartholomew sprouted wings and flew away, I would obviously dismiss it as a lie - but even though this story reeks of something suspicious, I can't outright dismiss it in light of recent...
  5. GoingByzantine

    Be Prepared, The Coming Years will be Filled With Strife

    It is important to note that the term "Melkite" has historically been used to describe all Chalcedonian Greek/Arabic Christians in North Africa and the Levant. It's connotation with the Melkite Catholic Church only began in the past few hundred years.
  6. GoingByzantine

    Be Prepared, The Coming Years will be Filled With Strife

    Let's keep praying that none of the things discussed here come to fruition. :crosseo: The reason I bring these things up is that we need to prepare. Talk to your Orthodox friends and family and ask them to pray for the Church. As laity, we have a voice in this ongoing struggle. Let's use it to...
  7. GoingByzantine

    Be Prepared, The Coming Years will be Filled With Strife

    When I read back on the various points in history where the Orthodox Church was threatened with tumult - The Advent of Communism, The Ottoman Invasion of Europe, The Rise of Islam, The Iconoclast Movement etc. I never dreamed that I would live through one of these periods myself. Yet, while I...
  8. GoingByzantine

    Monastics in the USA

    I would say that Abbot Tryphon of All-Merciful Saviour Monastery on Vashon Island, WA is such a person. Through his work on Ancient Faith Radio, he is well known by a multitude of people.
  9. GoingByzantine

    MP-EP updates?

    With respect, this kind of argument needs to be further evaluated. Who set up the church in Bulgaria? The EP. Serbia? The EP. Romania? The EP. So are you saying that the EP can tell all of these other canonical churches, "sorry, but we set up your church so we can take them back now"? That just...
  10. GoingByzantine

    Sad, very sad, but front page news, wow...

    I'm going to say something controversial, which may get me in trouble, but I think it needs to be said. The Greek community in the United States is one of the wealthiest communities in the country, if not the world. These families came to the U.S. with nothing and worked their way up from...
  11. GoingByzantine

    It Finally Happened...

    As an educator in the university setting, I have been confronted by this problem a few times now. I have my personal beliefs, but I want to be respectful of others and their beliefs as well. So, I do use the pronouns that the student wants to be called out of respect for them. To me at least...
  12. GoingByzantine

    Should I worry more about Hell?

    I know that this thread is a little stale, but there is a book on Amazon called "How Satan Deceives People" from the writings of Elder Cleopa. Read it. Its 17 pages, and will put things in perspective.
  13. GoingByzantine

    I need to either find a spouse or learn how to be at peace with being single, how do I do that?

    I hear you, and there is truth in what you are saying. My personal problem is that among the non-Orthodox, there are scant few people who live a chaste lifestyle. That's a huge issue. Dating these people would mean that I would either be forced to engage in lustful activities, or I would have to...
  14. GoingByzantine

    The problem of Orthodox zealotry on CF

    Agreed with @All4Christ. When I was new to this site, and probably too young in my faith to talk about it as much as I did, I commonly employed similiar tactics in GT. Hindsight is 20/20. Orthodox (and other "traditional" Christians) need to be prepared to deeply explain our positions using...
  15. GoingByzantine

    The problem of Orthodox zealotry on CF

    I just wish that the Oriental Orthodox forum on this site had some life to it. Would be nice to have some friendly dialogue with Copts, Ethiopians, Armenians and the like. Though our theology is quite different, I think that the mindsets we share are closely intertwined. @dzheremi is living...