What To Do About certain "Orthodox" FB group

I see things a little differently. I think there are equal and opposite evils that we can fall into: for example, that of confusing people and their sins and either judging the standing of others before God, on the one hand, or of mistaking the condemnation of evil for the judgement of persons on the other hand. Or of either thinking all questions to be dogmatic ones or effectively denying that genuinely dogmatic affairs are binding dogma for all on the other. So some will go around denouncing sin in thunder and judging everyone, and others will say that what you believe or how you act is unimportant. Being either decisively "liberal" or "conservative" is to fall into one of those opposite extremes.

When speaking in the abstract we ought to be very clear about truth, right and wrong. When speaking about concrete people we ought to be charitable and agnostic.

rusmeister said:

When speaking in the abstract we ought to be very clear about truth, right and wrong. When speaking about concrete people we ought to be charitable and agnostic.

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amen to that!

rusmeister said:

People are throwing around the word "progressive"; I'd like to offer one of the greatest observations ever on the idea of what progress IS:
(Every sentence would need to be underlined and bolded)


GKC, "Heretics" (ch 2)

And this, I think, you'll find to be the problem on this FB page by many or most of the people who use the term.

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That is very interesting. Thanks for sharing that, Rus.

With everything else going on in the world, I just cannot tell you how much I do not care about silly facebook groups.

Bunnelby said:

With everything else going on in the world, I just cannot tell you how much I do not care about silly facebook groups.

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Plus, how gossipy is it to talk critically about a group on another message board. That is against the rules in one of the Facebook groups that I admin. The Christian thing to do is to take up issues directly with the person or group, not to talk behind their backs, so to speak. And gossip IS idle talk.

M.

Monica said:

Plus, how gossipy is it to talk critically about a group on another message board. That is against the rules in one of the Facebook groups that I admin. The Christian thing to do is to take up issues directly with the person or group, not to talk behind their backs, so to speak. And gossip IS idle talk.

M.

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It is not just idle. It can be deadly. If you read the accounts in Exodus of how often Moses had to deal with "grumbling" you might think he was just a control freak until you realize how dangerous gossip can be to the survival of a group. Even if there are some small groups or cliques within the larger that arouse suspicion among others, they will not be as deadly as the false accusations caused by gossip. They will tend to wither away if they are just ignored.

You know I was going to ask a genuine question about how one interested in Eastern Orthodoxy might learn a bit more. Than I saw this thread and decided against it. Honestally the rightist fear is thick in this thread.

rusmeister and Katherine made good points however.

Mankin said:

You know I was going to ask a genuine question about how one interested in Eastern Orthodoxy might learn a bit more. Than I saw this thread and decided against it. Honestally the rightist fear is thick in this thread.

rusmeister and Katherine made good points however.

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why? there is more to us than what you read in one thread. please do stick around and ask away

GregConstantine said:

there is a rather large FB group calling itself "Progressive Orthodox Christianity" group.

Should we be concerned?

some of you might want to take a look at who are members...

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is this from actual Orthodox congregations or is it part of that post protestant emergent branch that has neo orthodox conclusions?

Michael Collum said:

is this from actual Orthodox congregations or is it part of that post protestant emergent branch that has neo orthodox conclusions?

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it's started by Orthodox, most of whom look to social justice, protection of the environment, promotion of peace, etc. there are some who are Orthodox that unfortunately use it to promote homosexuality and abortion. even we Orthodox have our crazies.

ArmyMatt said:

it's started by Orthodox, most of whom look to social justice, protection of the environment, promotion of peace, etc. there are some who are Orthodox that unfortunately use it to promote homosexuality and abortion. even we Orthodox have our crazies.

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Thank you for the info . btw, what you're describing sounds a lot like emergent christianity .

Emergent christianity? Is that what this social justice nonsense is called?

I call them liberal wackadoodle loony tune Christians, but if "emergent" works for some, whatever!

buzuxi02 said:

Emergent christianity? Is that what this social justice nonsense is called?

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buzuxi02 said:

Emergent christianity? Is that what this social justice nonsense is called?

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gurneyhalleck1 said:

I call them liberal wackadoodle loony tune Christians, but if "emergent" works for some, whatever!

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your reactions to emergent christianity is very similar to the protestant reaction . bearing in mind the differences between eastern orthodox view and evangelical views . i'm kinda interested in what is so different about it . it will become more evident after the dust settles .

Michael Collum said:

your reactions to emergent christianity is very similar to the protestant reaction . bearing in mind the differences between eastern orthodox view and evangelical views . i'm kinda interested in what is so different about it . it will become more evident after the dust settles .

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well, that emergent stuff I think takes things theologically too far. Orthodoxy is pretty neutral when it comes to politics (look at the variety on this forum and you will see), and we only take issue when it conflicts with what we believe to be true.

ArmyMatt said:

well, that emergent stuff I think takes things theologically too far. Orthodoxy is pretty neutral when it comes to politics (look at the variety on this forum and you will see), and we only take issue when it conflicts with what we believe to be true.

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I suppose the idea "God is love" means everything conflicts with what they believe to be true .. perhaps . it's not a unified movement so there are many reasons . as many as people .

Michael Collum said:

I suppose the idea "God is love" means everything conflicts with what they believe to be true .. perhaps . it's not a unified movement so there are many reasons . as many as people .

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yeah, and I think you hit the nail on the head as to why that kind of thinking is a problem. most folks, and they might not see it, are actually following themselves rather than God. I think modern man in general has no idea of what the Christian definition of love actually is.

ArmyMatt said:

yeah, and I think you hit the nail on the head as to why that kind of thinking is a problem. most folks, and they might not see it, are actually following themselves rather than God. I think modern man in general has no idea of what the Christian definition of love actually is.

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yeah, i did a thread on that not too long ago, it took the passage that said God is love, then pasted the concordance's instances of strong's greek word 26 . of course i noticed this left out all the verses with the similar word greek word 25, but maybe the nuance points to something else .. God is 26 .. but only likened to 25 .. etc .

but yeah . really deep concept "love" easy to miss .

really deep concept "love" easy to miss .

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yep, and a lot of people confuse love with infatuation as well. when folks say they love someone because "she makes me feel good." you should love them, whether they make you feel good or not. love is deeper than those warm fuzzies (not saying that those feelings are not important).

ArmyMatt said:

yep, and a lot of people confuse love with infatuation as well. when folks say they love someone because "she makes me feel good." you should love them, whether they make you feel good or not. love is deeper than those warm fuzzies (not saying that those feelings are not important).

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yes . love just is .. just like God just is .