Reason #1: the ever-changing church – Why I have converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church

[Abel Gkiouzelis]

Reason #1: the ever-changing church

Why I have converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church​

This series of articles are from the “Becoming Orthodox” blog.

This is the first in a series of posts highlighting reasons why I have converted to the Orthodox Church. They are listed in no particular order. Some are big, important reasons; others may be small, wonderful but non-essential reasons. I hope they offer food for thought.

A few months ago I read an article in Christianity Today that... Read more

 

[Tolworth John]

It is your choice, one I cannot understand, as you've gone from being in a relationship with Jesus to having a priest to act as an gobetween for you, from salvation by faith to salvation by faith plus works, from worshipping God to venerating icons and relics.

As I said it's your choice.

 

[ArmyMatt]

It is your choice, one I cannot understand, as you've gone from being in a relationship with Jesus to having a priest to act as an gobetween for you, from salvation by faith to salvation by faith plus works, from worshipping God to venerating icons and relics.

As I said it's your choice.

that's actually not how we see the priesthood, so please take your ignorant talking points elsewhere. unless you actually want to provide questions about what we believe and why we do things.

 

[Tolworth John]

that's actually not how we see the priesthood, so please take your ignorant talking points elsewhere. unless you actually want to provide questions about what we believe and why we do things.

Thank you for your welcome.

 

[Tolworth John]

I based my information on several web site, one was wiki which says:-'It is Church doctrine that the priesthood must strive to fulfill the grace given to them with the gift of the "laying on of hands" in the most perfect that they can. But the Church teaches that the reality and effectiveness of the sacraments of the Church, ministered by the presbyters, do not depend upon personal virtue, but upon the presence of Christ who acts in his Church by the Holy Spirit. The same as with bishops, it is Christ, through his chosen ministers, who acts as teacher, good shepherd, forgiver, and healer. It is Christ remitting sins, and curing the physical, mental and spiritual ills of mankind. The priest is an icon of Christ.'
Note the last sentance, " the priest is an icon of Christ.'

To me that means he is standing in the place of Christ, and if he is standing in the place of hrist he is acting as a go between.

 

[Goatee]

I based my information on several web site, one was wiki which says:-'It is Church doctrine that the priesthood must strive to fulfill the grace given to them with the gift of the "laying on of hands" in the most perfect that they can. But the Church teaches that the reality and effectiveness of the sacraments of the Church, ministered by the presbyters, do not depend upon personal virtue, but upon the presence of Christ who acts in his Church by the Holy Spirit. The same as with bishops, it is Christ, through his chosen ministers, who acts as teacher, good shepherd, forgiver, and healer. It is Christ remitting sins, and curing the physical, mental and spiritual ills of mankind. The priest is an icon of Christ.'
Note the last sentance, " the priest is an icon of Christ.'

To me that means he is standing in the place of Christ, and if he is standing in the place of hrist he is acting as a go between.

Jesus instructed his Apostles to go out to the people and do His work. Today's clergy do just that! Jesus works through them.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Thank you for your welcome.

it was in response to your unneeded theological drive by.

I based my information on several web site, one was wiki which says:-'It is Church doctrine that the priesthood must strive to fulfill the grace given to them with the gift of the "laying on of hands" in the most perfect that they can. But the Church teaches that the reality and effectiveness of the sacraments of the Church, ministered by the presbyters, do not depend upon personal virtue, but upon the presence of Christ who acts in his Church by the Holy Spirit. The same as with bishops, it is Christ, through his chosen ministers, who acts as teacher, good shepherd, forgiver, and healer. It is Christ remitting sins, and curing the physical, mental and spiritual ills of mankind. The priest is an icon of Christ.'
Note the last sentance, " the priest is an icon of Christ.'

To me that means he is standing in the place of Christ, and if he is standing in the place of hrist he is acting as a go between.

sure that is what it might mean to you, but since you are not Orthodox you might want to actually ask an Orthodox Christian what he believes about something you don't understand, rather than jumping to a conclusion based off of a wiki site.

 

[Anhelyna]

I wish to remind our Non-Orthodox posters in this thread that they are guests here [ as in fact am I ] and they are asked to post in fellowship and in accordance with the SOP of this board

Statement of Purpose - The Ancient Way - Eastern Orthodox Statement of Purpose

Please read the above linked SOP before posting here again in this thread.


Anhelyna Senior Ambassador Member

 

[FenderTL5]

I based my information on several web site..
Note the last sentance, " the priest is an icon of Christ.'

To me that means he is standing in the place of Christ, and if he is standing in the place of hrist he is acting as a go between.

Just to be clear; are you suggesting we are supposed to believe as doctrine your interpretation of Wikipedia page about a topic you apparently just googled for the first time today?

 

[Phronema]

As a person who is looking to convert to Orthodoxy, I can safely say that if you look further into the Orthodox church you'll see that priests are nothing as you've described. I feel that you've been misinformed @Tolworth John.

 

[GregConstantine]

It is your choice, one I cannot understand, as you've gone from being in a relationship with Jesus to having a priest to act as an gobetween for you, from salvation by faith to salvation by faith plus works, from worshipping God to venerating icons and relics.

As I said it's your choice.

Please do research on what we actually believe instead of throwing old, worn out, tired, inaccurate accusations against Roman Catholics.

We are not them, they are not us. So please, read a book. Thank you.

 

[GregConstantine]

"To me that means he is standing in the place of Christ, and if he is standing in the place of Christ he is acting as a go between."

No it does not. Even a cursory reading by someone who is fluent in English would not interpret that quotation as saying the priest is a "go between".

BTW, that quotation also included teachers, ministers, etc. So, according to you, there should be no teachers, no ministers, no pastors, no one in any kind of teaching or leadership authority in any shape or form. Oh wait, there's a protestant denomination that already does that, Quakerism! You should be a Quaker!

 

[Gabriel Anton]

It is your choice, one I cannot understand, as you've gone from being in a relationship with Jesus to having a priest to act as an gobetween for you, from salvation by faith to salvation by faith plus works, from worshipping God to venerating icons and relics.

As I said it's your choice.

Peace be with you.

Protestantism at its finest.

Why do you have to insult the Orthodox faith like this?

You are a broken compass and need healing and repair.

You don't even understand the effect of what you are saying.

You should seek a Priest of the Eastern Orthodox Faith to confess your sin of disrespect and sin of contempt, and sin of vilification and sin of disobedience and repent before you get condemned by Almighty God on Judgment Day.

And then either join the Orthodox Church or Catholic Church so that they can remedy your inadequacies before you meet God on Judgment Day.

God bless you.

 

[Dewi Sant]

Reason #1: the ever-changing church

Why I have converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church​

This series of articles are from the “Becoming Orthodox” blog.

This is the first in a series of posts highlighting reasons why I have converted to the Orthodox Church. They are listed in no particular order. Some are big, important reasons; others may be small, wonderful but non-essential reasons. I hope they offer food for thought.

A few months ago I read an article in Christianity Today that... Read more

Glory to God!

Yes, I too find the unchanging nature of the Orthodox Church to be a great comfort.
Occasionally I find myself looking at the R.C. Church and, were it not for the stability of Orthodoxy, I would join them in communion in a heartbeat. As such I have a huge amount of respect for our Catholic brothers and sisters.

In Orthodoxy one can have faith in stability of doctrine and be assured in the knowledge that the faith of the Church is believed at every altar.

The Orthodox Church is in the World but it is not of the World.

 

[Abel Gkiouzelis]

Glory to God!

Yes, I too find the unchanging nature of the Orthodox Church to be a great comfort.
Occasionally I find myself looking at the R.C. Church and, were it not for the stability of Orthodoxy, I would join them in communion in a heartbeat. As such I have a huge amount of respect for our Catholic brothers and sisters.

In Orthodoxy one can have faith in stability of doctrine and be assured in the knowledge that the faith of the Church is believed at every altar.

The Orthodox Church is in the World but it is not of the World.

Hi my brother!! God bless you!!

 

[Abel Gkiouzelis]

It is your choice, one I cannot understand, as you've gone from being in a relationship with Jesus to having a priest to act as an gobetween for you, from salvation by faith to salvation by faith plus works, from worshipping God to venerating icons and relics.

As I said it's your choice.

Hi John! God bless you!

If you want to learn about the Orthodox Faith look here:

These Truths We Hold – The Holy Orthodox Church: Her Life and Teachings

I wish you all the best!

 

[archer75]

As a person who is looking to convert to Orthodoxy, I can safely say that if you look further into the Orthodox church you'll see that priests are nothing as you've described. I feel that you've been misinformed @Tolworth John.

Yeah, I want to second this. I read about Orthodox Christianity for quite a while before finally going to a prayer service and then starting to attend regularly.

If you want to know about Orthodoxy, by all means, read online. But there is no substitute for actually going and being there, meeting people, talking to a priest, etc.

 

[mothcorrupteth]

It would have been better to have ignored him. People like that only want one (or both) of two things: attention or a reason to feel proud of themselves. Rebuke him and he's only likely to see himself as being a fly in the ointment. Ignore him and he's more likely to stew in his own self-doubts.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I based my information on several web site, one was wiki which says:-'It is Church doctrine that the priesthood must strive to fulfill the grace given to them with the gift of the "laying on of hands" in the most perfect that they can. But the Church teaches that the reality and effectiveness of the sacraments of the Church, ministered by the presbyters, do not depend upon personal virtue, but upon the presence of Christ who acts in his Church by the Holy Spirit. The same as with bishops, it is Christ, through his chosen ministers, who acts as teacher, good shepherd, forgiver, and healer. It is Christ remitting sins, and curing the physical, mental and spiritual ills of mankind. The priest is an icon of Christ.'

Note the last sentance, " the priest is an icon of Christ.'

To me that means he is standing in the place of Christ, and if he is standing in the place of hrist he is acting as a go between.

Hello John, and welcome to TAW.

I fear you have come with preconceptions through which you view a Wiki article on Orthodoxy to arrive at your conclusions.

In actuality, Orthodoxy teaches that we are ALL icons of Christ, because all mankind was created in His image. It has nothing to do with standing as some sort of wall, blocking access to Christ. That is an outdated misconception relating to objections to Roman Catholicism of the sixteenth century or so. Absolutely nothing to do with Orthodoxy. But when people go looking for a particular preconceived error, they are likely to find it, or at least superimpose it upon whatever they do find.

Feel free to ask if you have questions. But no need to get into a huff because some folks don't respond warmly to an action that would be akin to walking into your church and announcing that you all had traded real Christianity for something else - based on a web article someone read about your church. Better to be honest with oneself about the whole situation. Not to mention, rules at CF are against anyone going into any congregational forum and doing so. It's really not polite.

Peace to you.

 

[ArmyMatt]

It would have been better to have ignored him. People like that only want one (or both) of two things: attention or a reason to feel proud of themselves. Rebuke him and he's only likely to see himself as being a fly in the ointment. Ignore him and he's more likely to stew in his own self-doubts.

just speaking for me, I did not respond as much for his sake, but more for any lurker who might be watching but not posting, if that makes sense.