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I've found decisive answers to most of these and I've only been reading the bible for a few months now...
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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?
Good. And what ARE those answers? Because the answers to those questions, more than any other thing, will determine which denomination you will find most compatible.I've found decisive answers to most of these and I've only been reading the bible for a few months now...
It doesn't say anything about being barred by the parish from coming in, it just mentions a confused parishioner .Alas, I've seen it with my own eyes. See my anecdote about my Father.
Christ is risen.
You would be correct. Communion would pointless if Christ were simply a penal substitute.Wait, really? I thought penal substitution was pretty much incompatible.
Can you expand on that a bit?You would be correct. Communion would pointless if Christ were simply a penal substitute.
Perfect!Yes, many of these questions are answerable and answered in the Holy Scriptures when the scriptures are read in context of the entire witness of scripture, with the proper distinction of law and gospel applied.
Other questions are not answered, and with these God expects us to listen to our consciences, informed by the scriptures, to employ our freedom in Christ responsibly.
I demand an answer to this ^
I mean there is no point in participating in Christ's death if it is an event that saves us externally.Can you expand on that a bit?
And what if penal substitution were one facet of many in attempting to grapple with the whole concept of justification?
Thanks for this post. Great insight. I came across this topic of "THEOSIS" A few months ago, and as a Convinced Protestant, I disagree with Eastern Orthodoxy. There is no Complete Fall of all mankind in the first Adam. That which can LIVE a PERFECT godly LIFE now. That the person pursuing this Perfect godly glory join God in substance to where they become one, in a way. How a person gets to this place is not clear. Because as I researched this topic for months. I got different answer within their own circle. This "THEOSIS" topic they teach & preach strongly suggests "LEGALISM". They deny this conclusion.
I asked then the next obvious question. Then HOW is one saved? Or better yet WHY do they need to be saved IF they are not sinners under the Fall? And a very crucial piece I discovered from this "THEOSIS", there is no Christ. No mediator to intercede for us. So what they fail to see, is the great gap between us and God. And fill it with this "THEOSIS" to reach God. Now if this is not "LEGALISM", I don't know what is. They also teach about "ICONS". These ICONS are figurines that are placed one a table and in a sense worshipped. I am still doing my homework to be fair here. Because my intent is to not caricature what they believe & teach.
No mention of the Gospel for the ungodly. Only demands of Perfect Obedience! And this bondage of the Law for sinners if the curse of it. The ungodly cannot fulfill these demands. A Perfect Mediator is required here to fulfill these demands for us.
Protestant theology also teaches "THEOSIS", but I think its called Sanctification; being more Christ like. But the major difference is that in Protestant teaching, Sanctification is also included in the Gospel to the ungodly. Christ fulfilled His Father's Will completely. Christ has propitiated the wrath of God by His Perfect Obedience as He stood in our place so we can stand in His. (Double Imputation-Our sin to Christ; Christ's righteousness to us). So in Christ we stand completely blameless because of His blood. Christ's last words on earth is, "IT IS FINISH".
Yes as believers we must walk in good deeds by taking every opportunity to do good. Because we are FREED from the curse of the Law that condemns all sinners. Being HIDDEN in Christ we can go and do good works (Col. 3)
So for me this is a very crucial point of difference. Because without Christ they MUST take the full weight of the Law on your back and strive to live the Perfect godly life on their OWN. Which is absolutely impossible for man. There is no peace of conscience here. There is assurance of the soul here, only misery & despair. That is not the good news.
Even Catholics vs. Catholics, Anglicans vs. Anglicans, and Lutherans vs. Lutherans. (... the Orthodox are an enigma to me.)Catholics, the Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, Mormons, UCCs, Jehovah's Witnesses and Quakers all have different sets of answers. All read the same Bible (more or less) and all pray to the same God, but they don't agree on what the Bible means, or what God intends.
I've noticed in my 45 years of being Orthodox that people have weird ideas about us.Wait, really? I thought penal substitution was pretty much incompatible.
Even Catholics vs. Catholics, Anglicans vs. Anglicans, and Lutherans vs. Lutherans. (... the Orthodox are an enigma to me.)
Yet there is only one correct answer to questions that are actually answered in the scriptures.
Some err in binding consciences to answers not found in scripture. Others err in not binding consciences to answers that are indeed found in scripture.
These errors are all justified by their subscribers, of course, and yet with each question there is either a scriptural answer to which consciences should be bound or no answer given in which we have freedom to responsibly and compassionately decide for ourselves.
Some are easy. Abortion is murder. QED. Arguments to the contrary are attempts at self justification.
Buying an expensive sports car? Use your freedom responsibly.
Use of the word 'idol' to refer to Christian art is problematic. You might consider rephrasing.also I believe the worship of idols was an issue....
as I have visited some russian orthodox churches and they post pictures but no idols....
It's really a question of whether or not something physical can be holy, which is a very important affirmation in our Christology.Use of the word 'idol' to refer to Christian art is problematic. You might consider rephrasing.
Of course it's a sin. Indeed, it's THE sin by which most of us become aware of what sin is, without being taught by any other human being. As individuals we discover it - nobody teaches it. As individuals we immediately know, without being taught by anybody, that we have to HIDE it. As individuals we very quickly discover that we cannot resist it even if we want to.
It is at this very point in life, the discovery of masturbation, where half of humanity starts to walk swiftly away from God, to HIDE from God.
Of course it's a sin. And the fact that we all KNOW IT from the instant we discover it, having never been taught a thing about it, is probably the most important "teachable moment" in every person's life.
You would be correct. Communion would pointless if Christ were simply a penal substitute.
I've noticed in my 45 years of being Orthodox that people have weird ideas about us.
There is more to the worship of Orthodoxy than Sunday Morning Divine Liturgy, though many parishes don't do much more.
Anyway, please read the texts I pointed out.
Christ is risen!
Use of the word 'idol' to refer to Christian art is problematic. You might consider rephrasing.
I stated the historical problem that east and west split over the interpretation of idols...
and how they interpreted idols and imagery.........
I probably have a different view of idols than some, but that was not my intent to give my interpretation...however this idolatry issue was at the center of the church splits ...
.and I saw no carved images in the churches I visited in Russia and Armenia......but they do exist throughout europe......
After researching this ...the reason is because of the 2 differnet stances on idolatry in the early centuries of the church and the resulting split......
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