Question for Converts

[DanielRB]

Hi All,

I really enjoyed reading the conversion stories--it took me two days to read them all, but it was worth it.

I have a question for the converts, some of who touched on this very issue in their stories: what other Churches with Apostolic succession did you consider in your quest for the truth (such as Roman Catholic, Anglican, Assyrian, etc)? If so, what made you finally decide on Orthodoxy, rather than another Church?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

In Christ,

Daniel

 

[vanshan]

Welcome to The Ancient Way, Daniel.

Before exploring Orthodoxy, I first looked into those groups which I felt more at home with as a westerner, both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, but after inquiring about Orthodoxy I had a strong conviction that it was the Church which best perserved the gospel without corruption. I studied the schism between the East and West, which occured in 1054 A.D., as well as some of the theological changes that began to occur in the West even before that date, and concluded that the Roman Church was at fault in the schism (4 out of the 5 patriarchates in existance at the time sided with Constantinople in that controversy).

The Protestant Reformation was a reaction against a corrupted Roman Church, and rather than returning to orthodox beliefs, the Protestants moved further away in a different direction. The Anglican Church, like the Protestants, broke from the Catholic Church, which was already corrupted in doctrine at the time, and from an Orthodox point-of-view, not part of an apostolic succession.

I know this is controversial, forgive me. You will have to weigh things for yourself, but even from a non-intellectual perspective, I always felt like something was missing from the Masses I attended in the Catholic Church and Episcopal Church. Before I had information why, I felt like they were re-enacting ancient rites, rather than being a direct continuation of that earlier Church. I don't know why.

This is very brief and inadequate, partly because I'm typing this in while at work. I hope it helps.

Basil

 

[countrymousenc]

I considered the Anglican (Episcopal) Church, the Roman Catholic Church (briefly), and the Lutheran (Missouri Synod) Church. Recent events and a sense of "not quite there yet" eliminated the Anglican Church, history eliminated the Catholic Church, and a few theological biases eliminated the Lutheran Church. (That leaves the impression that my conversion was a process of elimination, but that's only a small part of the picture, and very near the end of the story.)

 

[Orthosdoxa]

Hi Daniel!

I looked at the Roman Catholic church for a while, but it was evident that there have been so many changes since the Apostolic days. I wanted to cling to that which had remained true to the earliest Apostolic teachings.

Overly simplistic answer, but it covers it.

LK

 

[gzt]

For a short time a long time ago I considered the Anglican church because of CS Lewis, but nothing ever came of it. I've never even set foot in an Episcopalian church. I never even considered the other apostolic churches, how could I be anything other than Orthodox? To be sure, I read the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church a couple times and a lot of other Catholic literature, certainly, but there was never any question of it at all. I'm Orthodox because I'm Orthodox, not because I'm not Catholic and not Anglican and not evangelical and all that.

 

[Mary of Bethany]

Hi, Daniel!

I spent 10 years as an Anglican Catholic (after spending my whole previous life as a Baptist), which were wonderful years that allowed me to get my heart and mind around the whole "catholic" understanding of Christianity. Being in the ACC was a catalyst to start learning about early church history, which I had not a clue of before. And I began to feel that in spite of what I was taught as an Anglican, I was not really a part of the original Church; and that if the original Church did still exist, I *needed* to be part of it. So I explored RC - that was the more natural place to start, as I was very ignorant of the Orthodox Church. I seriously considered becoming Catholic, but I just had problems with some of the later dogmas. As I began to learn about the Orthodox Church, the more I read the more I became convinced that here was the original Church, and I also realized that the RC dogmas I had trouble with were not a part of the Orthodox Church. And attending Vespers and Litury just "cinched" it for me. There was such richness, and such holiness, that I had never experienced in the Anglican or Catholic masses, as lovely as they are. It's just a whole 'nother level! And the theology is so seamless, so holistic, and things that I had never understood in "western" theology were now understandable in the "eastern" understanding of them. It's like looking at a puzzle that was turned the wrong way around and you couldn't make sense of it until things were turned the right way!

Sorry to be so long-winded. It's just that I get a little passionate about it.

Mary

 

[Moros]

Apostolic succession was not a deciding factor for me. It's something I found out about afterwards and was a real affirmation of the truth. I never considered Catholicism, but I almost became a Lutheran.

 

[walking.away.123]

I considered the Catholic Church for a long time, even before I knew what Apostolic Sucession was. They were the only 'ancient' church I thought I knew about at the time. After learning more about what happened in the History of Catholicism and Orthodoxy and why I saw where the Catholics had fallen into error. I did consider the Anglicans for a while, mostly because they didn't seem so different, they had a fully Western culture and were in English. But the ethic and moral foundation of the church was, well, squishy. When I read something about the Old Catholics I looked into that, but I didn't see how such a small group could be the only true church (now I don't understand why they didn't/don't join the Orthodox). When I thought about the Oriental Orthodox churches it didn't seem like a real option because of their monophysite doctrine.
And so I'm here.
S.

 

[Theophorus]

I considered Catholicism and the Anglican church first. The Anglican church was just too liberal for any real consideration. And along the same lines, I had problems with Vatican 2. These are the things that sealed it for me in orthodoxy (after my wife and I prayed and drew lots ). Keep in mind I came from a restoration movement church, CoC.

The organization of the church (all bishops are equal)
Baptism by immersion
Baptized Children partake of the Eucharist (even the little wee ones)
Both the bread and the wine are offered.
The integrity of the liturgy.
The teachings and view of the Theotokos
The theology concerning theosis
The teachings on hell

 

[MariaRegina]

Welcome to The Ancient Way, Daniel.

Before exploring Orthodoxy, I first looked into those groups which I felt more at home with as a westerner, both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, but after inquiring about Orthodoxy I had a strong conviction that it was the Church which best perserved the gospel without corruption. I studied the schism between the East and West, which occured in 1054 A.D., as well as some of the theological changes that began to occur in the West even before that date, and concluded that the Roman Church was at fault in the schism (4 out of the 5 patriarchates in existance at the time sided with Constantinople in that controversy).

The Protestant Reformation was a reaction against a corrupted Roman Church, and rather than returning to orthodox beliefs, the Protestants moved further away in a different direction. The Anglican Church, like the Protestants, broke from the Catholic Church, which was already corrupted in doctrine at the time, and from an Orthodox point-of-view, not part of an apostolic succession.
...

Basil

In all fairness to the Vatican Catholics who view this thread, I must mention that King Henry VIII was not an exemplary king and his desire to rationalize having one wife after another was a major factor leading to the Anglican split from Catholicism. Besides one of my ancestors, the righteous St. Thomas More, was beheaded by King Henry VIII.

 

[ufonium2]

I think most American converts probably considered all the Western options first. I know I did. I didn't want to become Orthodox because I didn't think it was right to expect someone to become Greek in order to become Christian (I still don't think that's right, and will fight that prejudice whenever I encounter it.) Fortunately, a friend convinced me that not all Orthodox communities were that ethnocentric, and I found a parish (and later a jurisdiction) that embraced both its Eastern roots and its American identity.

A lot of people accuse us of getting caught up in "smells and bells" or being enamored with exotic forms of worship, but for me it was the opposite. I became Orthodox in spite of the exoticism of it, rather than because of it. Had I found that the true Church required its members to wear nothing but purple on Thursdays, I would have gone along with it because I was looking for truth rather than comfort. Orthodox worship made me uncomfortable for a long time, but I knew it was true and right. It would have been much easier as an American to join a Protestant or Catholic church, but the path of least resistance isn't always the best way.

 

[elizabethevangeline]

A lot of people accuse us of getting caught up in "smells and bells" or being enamored with exotic forms of worship, but for me it was the opposite. I became Orthodox in spite of the exoticism of it, rather than because of it. Had I found that the true Church required its members to wear nothing but purple on Thursdays, I would have gone along with it because I was looking for truth rather than comfort. Orthodox worship made me uncomfortable for a long time, but I knew it was true and right. It would have been much easier as an American to join a Protestant or Catholic church, but the path of least resistance isn't always the best way.

Ditto for me! I'm not a convert yet, but I do attend an Orthodox church. Background in Evangelical Free & Baptist.

I have not checked into any other western churces. I was 1st caught by the Orthodox teaching about the Eucharist...and if that is true then Apostolic Succession becomes very important. All others are just schisms off of a schism.

 

[Jason of Wyoming]

Keep in mind I came from a restoration movement church, CoC.

Interesting. I was LDS.

I left Mormonism and was a self proclaimed Atheist for just over a year, when God decided he'd had enough of that. So I decided to be historical and legalistic about my search, and started researching as far back as I could. I began researching the early church, and it's doctrines. As I was unfamiliar with Orthodoxy (thinking it was just some bizarre form of Catholicism in Greek) I looked at Roman Catholicism. I had just entered the RCIA, when I thought it would be fun to attend an Orthodox Church just once.

Well.....I kept on going back.

Of course, I still attended other churches, just to be sure. I've looked at Anglican, Lutherian, Prebyterian, & Nazarine, but something is missing from them.

One poster said that they felt like the RCC was re-enacting the Liturgy, rather than performing it. I believe that's a great description.

To me, the Divine Liturgy is literally worshipping God, instead of talking about worshipping God.

I'll be a Catechumen soon, and then on towards baptism. I've never been happer, or felt more whole in my soul.

 

[Rilian]

I could write a long, long post on this, but I’ll try to keep it short. I grew up non religious and began attending Catholic mass in college with some friends. It immediately felt right to me and I gave serious thought to, and nearly converted to Catholicism. I didn’t look too deeply in to the theology of the church at that point.

After college I kind of pulled back and attended a few different Protestant churches with my wife. None of them felt right to me however, and I continued to seriously consider Catholicism pretty much convinced I would end up there. I looked in to the Episcopal Church and felt at the time that it was the best compromise with the “catholicity” I was looking paired with the ideas of individualism I still clung to. I was baptized in the Episcopal Church.

There were many reasons why I became dissatisfied with that church. There’s of course the whole retinue of bizarre things it has done since the 60’s. However, what to me was the problem was what was at the very heart of the origins of the church coming out of the Elizabethan settlement; and that the modern problems were just the inevitable result of its foundation. I read the writings of John Henry Newman which pretty much convinced me that the “catholic” element of the Anglican Church was just a fantasy. This article I think covers the ground well – the unhappy fate of optional orthodoxy.

I went back to looking at the Catholic Church but had problems with several things. Most prominently with the theological underpinnings of the church, particularly Augustine, Aquinas and Anselm. Both Vatican councils were problematic for me as well. Vatican I for the role it gave the Pope (which was just part of a longer historical process) and Vatican II which opened the floodgates of modernism which I think will have lasting effects.

I would say at this point I was basically exasperated. The questions I was asking were where is the church as it was founded by Christ? How will unity ever be achieved? Who best understands the relationship of man to God? It was in wrestling with these questions and others that I found myself drawn in to Orthodoxy...

Drat, that wasn't even short.

 

[Xpycoctomos]

I'm Orthodox because I'm Orthodox, not because I'm not Catholic and not Anglican and not evangelical and all that.

Well said!

 

[NewToLife]

I seriously considered Catholicism and found a number of positives to it but could not accept some areas of catholic theology as true and was utterly repelled by some elements of that Churches history, i had already ruled out the protestant options by that time although I was Anglican for a brief and somewhat uncomfortable time. If not for Orthodoxy i would most likely have concluded that the church had died out many centuries ago and from that that Jesus was not the Christ.

Thankfully the church was made known to me and I am now Orthodox, the likely alternative would have been atheism in my case.

 

[Marjorie]

I was born a Jew, and became an atheist, and then became a pagan, and wallowed around in pseudo-spirituality for a long time before I simply found Christ calling me. It wasn't that I got sick of other religions or chose the religion best fit for me-- I simply heard a call from Christ. For a long time I filtered it through a pagan context, especially in neo-gnosticism which is basically neo-paganism but with a Christ-figure and so on. Eventually I became "Catholic-esque" (I was considering contacting RCIA) but maintained many of my neo-gnostic beliefs. Something was missing. When I found Orthodoxy I realized that it was the Truth, that in it was the actual worship of God in His Incarnation as Man which I had been searching for all my life. I abandoned many of my old preconceptions and embraced Orthodoxy. Now it is no longer a matter of "what should I believe?" but of crying out "Holy, holy, holy!"... it's not a matter of searching anymore, but instead of following the Truth (who is Christ) to the best of my ability.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

 

[Michael G]

I was Roman Catholic and once I started to convert the only thing I thought of converting to was Orthodoxy. Now, looking back on the process it was less of a conversion to Orthodoxy and more of me embracing Orthodoxy!

 

[lalithaGreen]

I was raised charismatic, and about a year and a half ago I coverted to Anglicanism. I just was tired of some of the charismatic "stuff" even though I respect their zeal for our Lord so much. But I was looking for "something more" I can't really explain it, but I found it in Anglicanism. a peace and a closeness to the Lord that i have never felt before

 

[walking.away.123]

I was raised charismatic, and about a year and a half ago I coverted to Anglicanism. I just was tired of some of the charismatic "stuff" even though I respect their zeal for our Lord so much. But I was looking for "something more" I can't really explain it, but I found it in Anglicanism. a peace and a closeness to the Lord that i have never felt before

I notice you have the Catholic cross. Did you convert again or was that a mistake?
S.