Thinking of converting

[cassc]

So, I should e-mail that particular priest and just give him the basic run down?

Welcome! Yup, I would recommend emailing the priest, hey may even be able to put you in touch with a "liturgy buddy" to keep you company. If not I recommend introducing yourself to one of the greeters who typically stand near the candles when you come into a parish. Let them know this is your first time at their parish and that you are new to Orthodoxy. Depending on the parish (I don't know the one that you are planning on visiting) they might be friendly or more reserved and if you don't introduce themselves they may leave you to your own devices! If you don't hear back from the priest in a timely manor please consider calling the church office and asking to speak to him. I know it can be intimidating but some priest get really inundated with email but they always want to be able to talk to the people! Keep asking us questions and we'll do the best we can to help!!

 

[Quid]

Ok, So I e-mailed the preist and attended my first liturgy and had a wonderful experience.

 

[Blackknight]

Glory to God! That is just one step on a long journey.

 

[Quid]

Glory to God! That is just one step on a long journey.

I still have some theological issues to deal with, but other than that I think I will end up converting.

 

[MariaRegina]

Ok, So I e-mailed the preist and attended my first liturgy and had a wonderful experience.

Please do share, and welcome to TAW.

 

[Quid]

Please do share, and welcome to TAW.

Well, as stated before I grew up protestant. So the liturgy was quite different (just as I hoped). There was actually a bishop there. Is was very cool.

 

[Knee V]

I still have some theological issues to deal with

That's usually the case, no matter what background one is coming from.

Anything you'd like to share?

 

[Quid]

That's usually the case, no matter what background one is coming from.

Anything you'd like to share?

Well, I am a supporter of evolution (under the clause that god was the initial creator). I have talked Orthodox Christians on both sides of the subject. I heard that the official Orthodox stance is compatible with my stance, but Im not sure.

Also, I heard that the Orthodox view of original sin is different.

Oh, and I heard that the Orthodox view of the bible is that alot of it is taken metaphorically or allegorically. Is this true?

 

[MariaRegina]

Well, I am a supporter of evolution (under the clause that god was the initial creator). I have talked Orthodox Christians on both sides of the subject. I heard that the official Orthodox stance is compatible with my stance, but Im not sure.

Also, I heard that the Orthodox view of original sin is different.

Oh, and I heard that the Orthodox view of the bible is that alot of it is taken metaphorically or allegorically. Is this true?

Well, we are not fundies.

 

[Quid]

Well, we are not fundies.

So I have gathered overall. One of the main reason I found Orthodoxy so appealing.

 

[Knee V]

Well, I am a supporter of evolution (under the clause that god was the initial creator). I have talked Orthodox Christians on both sides of the subject. I heard that the official Orthodox stance is compatible with my stance, but Im not sure.

Also, I heard that the Orthodox view of original sin is different.

Oh, and I heard that the Orthodox view of the bible is that alot of it is taken metaphorically or allegorically. Is this true?

I don't really have much commentary on the first point.

WRT original sin, we do not believe in inherited guilt. In many evangelical circles, the chief problem with sin is that we are guilty and deserve a punishment. By our affiliation with Adam's "camp", we are guilty by association, sort of like when a football team loses a game, and all of the fans "lost" the game as well.

But for us, when our first parents sinned, they died, and that condition of death and corruption became part of the human condition. Many well-written articles can go into much more articulate detail than I ever could here.

WRT the Bible, I don't think it's necessarily proper to say that we view it all as allegorical or metaphorical. There are parts that are allegorical, to be sure. But even being allegorical doesn't preclude a passages historicity (for example, St Paul's example of Sarah and Hagar being the two covenants, although they were two real, historical women). We don't view the Scriptures as a sole source of revealed Truth (rather, they bear witness to Truth), but in other respects we'll agree with other camps about Scripture (as in different genres have different ways to be read and understood).

 

[Quid]

I don't really have much commentary on the first point.

WRT original sin, we do not believe in inherited guilt. In many evangelical circles, the chief problem with sin is that we are guilty and deserve a punishment. By our affiliation with Adam's "camp", we are guilty by association, sort of like when a football team loses a game, and all of the fans "lost" the game as well.

But for us, when our first parents sinned, they died, and that condition of death and corruption became part of the human condition. Many well-written articles can go into much more articulate detail than I ever could here.

WRT the Bible, I don't think it's necessarily proper to say that we view it all as allegorical or metaphorical. There are parts that are allegorical, to be sure. But even being allegorical doesn't preclude a passages historicity (for example, St Paul's example of Sarah and Hagar being the two covenants, although they were two real, historical women). We don't view the Scriptures as a sole source of revealed Truth (rather, they bear witness to Truth), but in other respects we'll agree with other camps about Scripture (as in different genres have different ways to be read and understood).

Ok, that makes more sense. Most of the info I have been getting is from second-hand sources.

 

[Greg the byzantine]

Well, I am a supporter of evolution (under the clause that god was the initial creator). I have talked Orthodox Christians on both sides of the subject. I heard that the official Orthodox stance is compatible with my stance, but Im not sure.

Also, I heard that the Orthodox view of original sin is different.

Oh, and I heard that the Orthodox view of the bible is that alot of it is taken metaphorically or allegorically. Is this true?

Here is a great video response to the question of Science and Evolution by his Grace Bishop Kallistos Ware of Diokleia (click on he link below to see the video:

Bishop Kallistos Ware - Orthodoxy and Evolution - posted by Anastasija Jakovleva (easternorthodoxgirl) - tangle.com

I agree completely with his grace on the issue of science and evolution.

 

[Kristos]

Yo!

Welcome...

My advice, don't worry about the details, just hang out and take it all in.

 

[gzt]

Just go, nobody really cares what you look like. Stand in the back and keep a low profile the first couple times and you won't stand out. If you do stand out, unless you make a ruckus, nobody will really notice because pretty much everybody in the world is as self-absorbed as you are (that's not a judgment on you). You might want to shoot off a note to the priest, or you might want to just talk to him in person, or you could attend a couple weeks to see what things are like first. You may also want to visit a couple churchs in the first couple weeks.

 

[Quid]

Here is a great video response to the question of Science and Evolution by his Grace Bishop Kallistos Ware of Diokleia (click on he link below to see the video:



I agree completely with his grace on the issue of science and evolution.

Ok, I agree completely.

 

[Blackknight]

At some point you have to stop thinking and just do it.

 

[Quid]

At some point you have to stop thinking and just do it.

Right, Im just worried about being alienated like I was when I protestant.

 

[Blackknight]

Right, Im just worried about being alienated like I was when I protestant.

I don't think that's an issue. The church is a community and we cannot cut off part of our own body.

 

[Quid]

I don't think that's an issue. The church is a community and we cannot cut off part of our own body.

Knowing what I know now, I too dont feel it is an issue. The more I learn the more secure I feel.