I'll approach you a bit differently than others here perhaps. First of all, the LCMS are good folks. I'm Orthodox as are my wife and kids, but my children all attend an LCMS Lutheran private school. Wonderful teachers, awesome principal, good folks.
Your Biblical knowledge IS AN ASSET! While I'm not a fan of sola scriptura (or any of the "solas" for that matter), I'm a Bible junkie. I come from a Catholic background where the average person you're standing next to at Mass is utterly clueless. I am self-taught in Scripture. I got so deep into it that it was of great comfort and aid in my journey to Orthodoxy. I am sad to say that many in Orthodoxy are biblically illiterate. That bugs me. Here we are in the TRUE Church that the Lord built, and yet we are not where we should be in Biblical knowledge. Your knowledge would only be accentuated, broadened, and given extreme insight by the Orthodox Church. If you combine your biblical awareness with the commentaries of the Fathers and the homilies of the Church along with the oral tradition histories of Orthodoxy, it will truly open your eyes. Orthodoxy has really given me the full spectrum of holistic biblical Christianity!
Martin Luther was a product of his time. I think you'll find that there isn't the hostility toward Luther in Orthodoxy that there is in Catholicism. Terms like "Martin Loser" won't be used. While we disagree with Luther's extreme reaction to Catholicism, we agree that he was right to be appalled at the abuses he witnessed as well as the awful theology of his day. He was a courageous man in many ways, and had a keen intellect and ability to analyze the Bible. He just came to some conclusions we disagree with. It's too bad he didn't go East in his rebellion and find the fullness of the Faith in Orthodoxy!
You'll see in Orthodoxy that we have a different take on the expulsion from paradise, sin, Original Sin, grace, the Atonement, etc. But I will say our "take" is the ORIGINAL TAKE that the Fathers and the Apostles left behind. Any one of the good people in TAW would be qualified to explain those things to you whether it be Father Matt or Prodromos, Rob, Anastasia, Anhelyna, etc. Good people with keen minds for the faith.
Orthodoxy is holistic. It is not Bible-alone or anything-alone. It is comprehensive and broad, taking in 2,000 years of biblical scholarship, asceticism, inspiration, prayer, councils, reactions to heresies, and other things. The Church has been through a lot, but she remains in tact and as inspirational and powerful spiritually as ever.
I would say that Orthodoxy is different than ALL the other 'denominations' that sprang from Catholicism because we are not just theological outside of Church then worshipful inside of Church. Orthodoxy is BOTH theologically didactic and worshipful inside the Church on Sunday at our liturgy. You can actually follow our Divine Liturgy like a roadmap to learn what the True Faith is all about. It is a combination, a snowball, of rich teaching and theology all within the confines of worship. And as you look at our icons on the ceiling, in front of you, to your sides, behind you, you will be taught and inspired. When you pray with us, same thing. So Orthodoxy is experiential. Give it a visit, a try. You'll be mind-blown.
One thing I can say we Orthodox have in common with you Lutherans is that we see the relationship with the Lord as A RELATIONSHIP. But I would suggest our relationship is even deeper because we shed the shackles, the handcuffs, the chains of LEGALISM that the West has. And Lutheranism focuses on ideas of Luther like total human depravity and the idea that the Original Sin is so utterly profoundin us that there is nothing good whatsoever about us......which necessitates a courtroom drama of sorts in which Christ takes the punishment we deserve. Grace in Lutheranism is a covering OVER of our sins. Luther called it a pile of manure clothed in a wedding dress. That is definitely not Orthodoxy. When you contrast the type of grace you see in Lutheranism and Catholicism vs. Orthodoxy, it is different. We don't see grace as a created commodity. It is an extension of God Himself! His Uncreated Light (which we see in the Transfiguration today at Liturgy!) is an extension of who He is, not some created commodity to help us out. He shares Himself. In Lutheranism you see IMPUTATION! God doesn't change you or take away your sins. Your sins are so profound that they're in you like a bullet that is stuck. So God covers over the sin with His Son's Atonement and grace in that way so God the Father doesn't see your filth, only His Son. Nowhere in the Ancient Church does anyone speak in such a manner. Instead, that imputation of grace is replaced by the ancients with actual SANCTIFYING Grace! God actually DOES take away your sins, and so a real legitimate change is made in you! Grace, God Himself, transforms you as a person. It is a journey, not a onetime event or declaration.
Anyway, just my two cents (or fifty).
So glad you're here in TAW. Hope you'll stay and may God bless you! We'd LOVE to see you take the journey to our faith. You have a lot to bring to us! God bless!
Hello all. Thr Lord be with you all, to introduce myself, I came from a Pentecostal/charasmatic background. I was batized at 14 and stayed in the church body until I was 18, and I left it until the age of 26 where I reconverted back into the Christian faith.
While researching and studying on the origins of each church body I could find and comparing it to scripture and finally... I came across the book of concord. I held that this confession of faith was historical, biblically accurate, and that Lutheranism was catholic.
I still hold this to be true... Though I did stumble across Orthodoxy and RCC I held that Lutheranism was truth completed.
As stated I still hold the LCMS to be biblically sound and consider myself confessional.
But I am struggling, unity is embarrasing among Lutherans... I feel like the western church is in shambles... And that even the LCMS is fighting inhouse between being too Confessional among the Liberal in our church body.
So I look back on Orthodoxy and it looks appealing... But then as I said I subscribe to the BoC. I dont know... Ill see where this conversatio leads us.