Same here and I 2nd that.

I felt the same way for some time…

@@joshuamkk, that's awesome! God bless you 🙏

good choice, but be aware, it is not enough to "convert". you have to study and "fight" your whole life. the right path is always the hardest. find a priest as your spiritual teacher to guide you and listen carefully the teachings. There will be always temptations and doubts. Christ is Risen

The larping will get old after a while.

@aquiladavid5681 , I agree 1000% with you, these people have failed to realize that they are in a state of apostasy.

We need to pray for the Eastern Orthodox. Let's solely bow, pray, venerate, glorify, praise, bless, confess, honour and thank God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. May Christ have mercy on us all.

Who are you going to pay to though

He’s sooooo incorrect

@@philipdeklerk325 So, I am willing to bet that you believe you are following the teachings of the New Testament. Right? I would like to ask you to take my Bible quiz, it is an easy yes or no exam. If you have one no, you are not in the true Church that was established by Jesus and delivered by the Apostles. Do you offer incense in the name of the Lord as prophesied in Malachi 1:11? For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. Do you follow Apostolic Teachings as mentioned in Acts 2:42? And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Do you abide in the Traditions of the Church as mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:15? Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Do you “ μακαριοῦσίν῾ Bless honor Mary as mentioned in Luke 1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Do you have an Altar in your Church as mentioned in Matthew 5:23, Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Revelation 11:1? And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. If you say no to just one of my questions means that you are not abiding by the Gospel as it was given by Jesus to his Disciples, in return they gave it to the Church. Via preaching and teaching Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be"ἀνάθεμα" accursed! How can we accept doctrines outside of Apostolic Teachings and Sacred Scriptures?

You're lying when you say it takes no effort. I didn't do anything but submit to God and he did the rest. Took my anger and resentment of others away. I didn't have to submit to any special churches to do it or rely on a pope or priest or ask for a woman that has been dead for thousands of years to pray on my behalf. But you do you I guess. Keep continuing to sin with those demons and pray to Jesus and Mary to take it away only to do it all over again in a loop. How can you know peace when all you do is pick up a sword?

@@KLamki1compared to Eastern Orthodoxy , Evangelism is very easy. It really isn’t close when it comes to what is required of you.☦️

@@shobudski6776 they have no idea...

I love that personal reasoning, 💯

@shobudski6776 repentance is required for all Christians. That is never easy

Orthodoxy is Larpodoxy

@@zladtheimpaler8241 or maybe he feels peace in a different church?? Glad he made that decision. Blessings

Very well stated BryanKirch!

@HardCore_Islamist hahah love you brother :)

We also have references as early as the 4th century in the writings of St. Ephraim the Syrian and other fathers about the use of paintings and icons in churches and homes. The word ‘icon’ and ‘image’ were used in Syriac both interchangeably and also respectively to differentiate the two.

Gavin Ortlund recently wasted a whole bunch of people's time with an hour and fifteen minute's worth of pissing and moaning about the veneration of icons, so Trent Horn and Jimmy Akin decided to form a tag team and layeth the smackdown on him for two hours and forty minutes straight. It was quite glorious, and I'm sure that our brothers from the East will be able to get a good kick out of it.

I can't agree more

no one is in any position to judge anyone else

Praise the Lord!

@@AllforOne_OneforAll1689 all Christians say that ?

@Ettoredipugnar Ding, 🛎️ Ding 🛎️ Ding 🛎️ Ding!!! You win the prize for saying the exact same thing others have said for the 15th time! “You must be a Yeronda to have such insight into my heart. Where can I visit you on pilgrimage for further spiritual guidance?” (Note to others: this is an Orthodox joke).

Only one Gospel: Gospel of Reconciliation. Jesus Christ came into THEIR kingdom to reconcile fallen angels unto Himself. We are the fallen angels (ELOHIM) kept in DNA chains of darkness. If you do not confess being a fallen angel in Lucifer's kingdom, then you are an unbeliever. Unbeliever = those that claim to be made in the image of God (ELOHIM).

Sincere question how do you feel about the constant veneration and imagery of white Jesus? Especially you being a black believer?

​​@@Bunfire123I don't care for it but I'm over it. But I will say that the only places I've seen "darker skinned" icons of our Lord have been in ... you guessed it ... Orthodox Churches. 😊 Also it is important to note that many Middle Eastern peoples are quite fair skinned, even many North African ethnicities.

Very well stated!

@@qwerty-so6ml Can you give me the Bible Chapter and verse for your statement?

The prodigal son first repented, and went back to his father with the mindset of serving as his other servants. He had set his mind to work.

@@alexanderkapsiotis8050 great point!

@@charlesiragui2473 hmm interesting this council had a lot in common with Joseph smith. Just dismiss the Bible's teachings and insert your own. Paganism is really hard to get away from isn't it? It's everywhere and in everything it seems. This makes me very sad. We all need to be praying and asking for Our Heavenly Fathers Holy Spirit to guide us in our daily lives and repenting at our Lord and Savior Jesus The Christs feet.

@@YahwehsKnitWit Do you object to images of Christ? I don’t think you should. I like what you’re saying, though. Idolatry, paganism and pride are everywhere and we should humbly seek forgiveness, and give forgiveness.

@@charlesiragui2473 not so much, I don't idolized such images, I also don't wear any jewelry so that means crosses and the like. Oh except my wedding band, although if I had revelation to not wear it, it to would be tossed. For a female I'm very strange, I don't need or want the material things that most women want. Comment to the other post you wrote, I read a couple years about the Molokans, for the most part I have a lot in common with them in my understanding of scriptures. To be honest you seem to be very intelligent in a worldly way that I'm not going to be able to keep up with. Spiritually I understand the scriptures and my relationship with Jesus The Christ. I have a personal witness of his sacrifice and pain that HE suffered for all of us if we except Him. HE IS EVERYTHING. Should we fast most definitely but not because someone tells us to. We have to have a purpose to fast, if you don't have a purpose then I would say "something is very wrong".

We have freedom of religion here. So we have a bunch of religions. That means choices. And religion here is not about a cultural identity but whether it's actually true or not. Since we're all fallible, people change with time.

@@EremiasRanwolf-q8z So what you're saying is that leaving (or joining) a denomination has no bearing on its truth because people are fallible.

@@StefanoNikolaou-m2d I said that?

because we are in the wilderness and the places of worship have become personality cults and show business; so, if you have no proper foundation to rely solely upon God, you wander in the wilderness, believe me, it's scary

I left evangelicalism to become part of the Orthodox Church. In fact, I left a pastorate to do so, with my family, and it took many years to do so from the heart. But when a person leaves the Protestant tradition, they have a lot of "baggage," which in many cases is not baggage at all that they have to leave behind. And to truly convert to Orthodoxy they cannot just put these things aside, but they have to work through them and come to the point where they truly believe that the Orthodox version of things is correct and true. I can say that I truly converted to Orthodoxy but also that I am glad I did not stay there.

The reasons you gave here are all so shallow and surface level. The Orthodox (and Catholics for that matter) have answers to all these, and they make far far more sense than the evangelical option. I went to an evangelical seminary but my wife and I became orthodox and it was the best decision we ever made. To speak of orthodox as the cherry pickers while being an evangelical is too much. It’s the complete opposite. Evangelical Protestantism really make no sense whatsoever.

@@HarrisonMiller_G it may surprise you to know that I know how you feel. Was in that same position while orthodox. But the sad thing is that it accepted all of the orthodox “answers” because my presuppositions trapped me into an unrealistic either or scenario. I could either accept Orthodoxy and their whitewashed view of church history, or I could be part of a “made up” Protestant church. Those are not the only two options.

I had friend who was Catholic, than he became orthodox, he left and became Muslim, after he came back to orthodoxy, after two years he left and created a pagan cult by worshiping Greek pagan gods. He left the cult he himself created and became Catholic again but after few months he came with tears and repented and came back to orthodoxy. However he left and now is in china. Last picture I saw he is a Buddhist monk.

@@JasonTerpack I don’t think you do understand, to be honest. I left evangelical Protestantism because it didn’t have the answers I was looking for. I was content for almost 20 years. But, it was as I was studying the scriptures and teaching an in depth bible study at my baptist church, getting into the Hebrew and Greek, that my former theological system began to crumble. So much of what I believed about what the Bible was saying was flat out wrong. And there was so much in the Bible that I just couldn’t wrap my mind around, stuff I’d never noticed before. I began looking for help, trying to find the truth. Spent almost ten years looking at diffident commentaries for help, but the Protestants all contradicted each other…there was no unity, there was no clarity, just each pastor - each individual - being his own supreme source of authority. It was just American individualism all over the place. Sola Scriptura really just meant “sola my opinion” and “if you disagree your gospel is false.” Then, oh boy, I found the church fathers! What a life changing discovery! The church of the earliest Christians looked nothing at all like the modernist evangelical churches. I began looking at different Christian traditions trying to find the authentic church - trying, really, to find the Eucharist, Christ himself. It was Christ who said that unless we eat his flesh and blood there is no life in us; and he said “this IS my body….this IS my blood.” That’s significant. Do Protestants have the Eucharist? How can we be certain where the Eucharist is? As far as Mary goes, evangelicals have almost a disdain for her for some reason that gives the impression of a demonic influence. Luke clearly portrayed Mary as the arc of the covenant, and even the reformers believed that she was sinless - because that is what the Bible teaches us about God’s presence- that is, it requires a pure, unstained dwelling, otherwise His presence could not inhabit that space- seriously consider this, look at the parallel narratives of God’s presence in the Holy of Holies and his presence in Mary’s womb. When the Angel comes to her, She was already, according to the Gospel, “full of grace” the Greek meaning “full to the brim with grace” - she had been chosen by God himself and sanctified for this task. She gave her full and perfect consent to the will of God, reversing Eve’s consent to satan. Thus, she is the new Eve, she is the new ‘woman’, the title which the first created female is primarily called in Genesis 1 through 3 (Jesus intentionally called Mary “woman” several times, a reference to her role as the new Eve, not because he was disrespectful to her, like evangelicals think, which would cause Jesus to have broken the law). This is what Jesus was actually referring to in that passage which protestants like to use, as you did, where the woman said to Jesus “ blessed is the woman that gave birth to you“ and Jesus says “blessed rather is the one who knows the world of God and does it“ - most protestants miss that Jesus is actually talking about Mary still. She was blessed because she heard the voice of God and fully consented to it. That is Jesus whole point - Mary is the model Christian, the first. Christian. We also believe that salvation is by faith alone, so long as you mean the same thing by the word “faith” as the Bible does, which is “faith working through love” or “the obedience of faith” or “faithfulness” That the word ‘Justification’ is used differently by James than Paul is a pure cope, for its a distinction that doesn’t exist in the text. It’s an explanation simply made up whole-cloth just to maintain a faulty understanding of Paul’s understanding of justification. There is no actual textual reason that the word is being used differently, it’s just stated as if that settled the matter. It doesn’t. If you were to sit down a read through Paul, and you DIDN’T divorce his talk of justifying faith from his injunctions on the necessity of obedience, then it becomes as plain as day that Paul’s understanding of faith is not merely mental or emotional consent, but rather, a faith that is not characterized by obedience is not faith at all. You cannot separate obedience from faith as if they are different things. Obedience to Christ is what faith is. Read Philippians 3 carefully, read Galatians 5, Read Hebrews 6 - heck, read the Gospels! Jesus is so clear. Paul clearly teaches that justification is transformation in union with Christ. Paul also teaches that the bread and wine participate in the body and blood of Christ - that is, they really and truly contain his presence, his body snd blood, his life. This was foreshadowed in the Garden with the tree of life, where the humans had to continually eat from the tree to be sustained in immortality by Gods life. And the peace offering that had to be consumed, which also foreshadowed the Eucharist, as did the fact that the blood of the sacrifice cleanses the temple. The Eucharist cleanses us, our body temples, with the blood of Christ. Now, The earliest depiction of what Church looked like in practice and structure 100% aligns with Orthodox ecclesiastical and liturgical structure. Nobody in the early church looked like an evangelical - literally nobody. And I can say this with absolute confidence because I’ve read through the Fathers and theologians of the church over the past 10 years. They did meet in houses early on when they didn’t have the approval of the Empire, but the Didache, the letters of Saint Ignatius (disciple of John the Apostle), St Justin Martyr, Hippolytus, Irenaeus, etc. all give us glimpses of the Apostolic vision of the Church. We can even see this all throughout the NT. The early church inherited and baptized the synagogue structure, which is clear in Acts 15. James was the first regional bishop. Apostolic succession is clearly implied by the face that 1. Judas held an office that needed to be filled, 2) Paul needed to receive the blessing and right hand of fellowship from the Apostles, 3) that Paul and the others needed to travel to other cities to appoint elders (bishops), etc. And if you read Paul’s letters, over and over again he urges them to remember and hold fast to what they had been taught, and we know that Paul taught in different cities for months and months at a time. We don’t have all of his teachings written down, nor from the other apostles, but the protestant position would imply that as soon as the apostles died, the teachings of the apostles that weren’t written down no longer have authority. Yet Paul told them to keep the traditions that he had handed on, both written and spoken. That’s right there in Thessalonians. He also quotes from what are probably liturgical texts throughout his letters-hymns and prayers that were already written, and being used in the churches. I could go on here for a long time, but the bottom line is, I’m sad that you’ve left the church that was established by Christ and the Apostles, and seemingly for very shallow, simplistic, and erroneous interpretations of the text of the Bible. The question i supposed you didn’t answer was, how much of Christ and the Apostles’ teachings and tradition can you reject and not be culpable? And if you say that “we are saved by faith alone, not tradition or the church” I would follow with: so, do you think somebody can reject baptism, prayer, church attendance, bible reading, etc. and still be a Christian if they “feel” nice about Jesus and believe he rose again? If you say yes, then you don’t even believe the Bible. If you say no, then you acknowledge that, though we are not saved by knowing the fullness of truth, but that the more things we know the more responsibility we have to consent to the truth. We either submit to God’s will or we don’t. Of course we fall short, but we repent and move forward continually. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the orthodox and Catholic Churches maintain that if you break unity from Christ’s body, you are on dangerous grounds. You might still be saved, but there is no certainty there - how can you reject the Church of the Apostles and think that’s ok? Christ prayed for unity. Evangelicals are not united. They don’t even believe a majority of what was handed on by the Apostles to the Church. They certainly cannot have the Eucharist or the sacraments.

Honestly I feel like this dude was just in a anti-Orthodox youtube black hole lol

Correction, apostolic succesion is not found in orthodox church alone. You could argue about legitimate apostolic succesion (whatever denomination you are), but both catholic and oriental orthodox churches have apostolic succesion

How do we know they hear us ? Only God in omnipresent

that's not find in the bible to pray to mary

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Please check out Gavin Ortlund's Truth Unites channel, he addresses these questions in depth.

But Mary was not sinless, nor the Queen of Heaven correct?

Also, I wanted to add Anathemas are not a damnation, but are there to warn and bring people to repentance. They are to keep people from error. Repentance is always possible. God is the ultimate Judge and Anathemas are even made with that in mind.

It was a lot longer than 7 years of being involved in both circles. Funny how people on the internet can think that by Googling they can know another person's life story. Your question has been asked and answered in other comments. If you were as thorough as you THOUGHT you were about looking into my background you might have seen that. Or perhaps that was in a reply to one of two people I banned due to their outright antagonism (and no, I didn't ban folks willy-nilly for having sincere objections, as a review of the comments will show)...so let me answer your question again briefly. I received sufficient answers to my objections about certain elements of Orthodoxy and even if not everything was fully answered to my liking, I acquired enough of an Orthodox mindset in my formation, including acceptance of the EO claims of exclusivity and apostolic succession, that I decided to accept the whole Orthodox Tradition and trust "the Church." I venerated the icons not just at the temple but at my home and in my car and believed in their sacramental nature. I prayed to the Mother of Jesus "Most Holy Theotokos" in the temple and in my private prayers. Even prayed to her with a shortened "Panaghia, "Panaghia," "Panaghia." And I accepted theosis as the correct teaching on salvation-especially as explained by Hierotheos (Vlachos) and my first Catechist. These things and many others (don't know what I didn't accept) I embraced so far that I completed a three-year Orthodox Theology program and accepted tonsure as a Reader and Ordination as a Sub-deacon. I went to Confession weekly and received the Eucharist often. With much effort I sought to convert Protestants to become Eastern Orthodox and tried converting my close family members lest they perish. So the idea that I failed to truly accept Orthodoxy and was a false convert doesn't make sense. The biggest thing that helped me in not returning to Eastern Orthodoxy permanently was getting a real picture of early church history from "Early Christian Doctrines" by JND Kelly and other sources.

"very surface level facets of Orthodoxy, " Nicaea 2 pronounced an anathema on anyone who did not venerate icons. To call icons and their veneration "surface level" suggests a, well, "surface level" familiarity with history and Orthodoxy.

Good point. Sounds like a poor catechism tbh

@philoalethia Try to consider that they’re not using “surface level” in the same way that you have interpreted it. By “surface level”, it could be meant that it’s a very obvious, “basic” part of Orthodoxy, that is not hidden and cannot be overlooked upon entering or being part of a Church. So the user is asking how he can have a problem with these things when icons are such an evident part of the church and one of the first things people find out about when it comes to what distinguishes Orthodoxy. It’s surface level not in the sense that it’s ahistorical or meaningless, but in the sense that you don’t need to be deep into Orthodoxy at all to know about it.

That simply could not be further from the evidence. And before you say 'the catacombs', the fact that someone would use a crude fish symbol etched into a tomb as 'evidence' of icon veneration, shows there is no valid argument.

​@@user-gv9my3jy4b, I am sorry that you are unable to comprehend archeological facts. By the way, if you ever visit the Sepulcher of Jesus make note that you are on Orthodox Property. We have many many proofs about our faith in the Holy Land, on the other hand, you have no historical evidence in the Holy Land! I would love for you to take a brief quiz, it is a yes or no question. No answer is the wrong answer. Quiz, if you say no to any of the questions, you are not in The True Christian Church! Do you offer incense in the name of the Lord as prophesied in Malachi 1:11? For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. Do you follow Apostolic Teachings as mentioned in Acts 2:42? And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Do you abide in the Traditions of the Church as mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:15? Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Do you “ μακαριοῦσίν῾ Bless honor Mary as mentioned in Luke 1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Do you have an Altar in your Church as mentioned in Matthew 5:23, Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Revelation 11:1? And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. If you say no to just one of my questions means that you are not abiding by the Gospel as it was given by Jesus to his Disciples, in return they gave it to the Church. Via preaching and teaching Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be"ἀνάθεμα" accursed! How can we accept doctrines outside of Apostolic Teachings and Sacred Scriptures?

Thank God for the Message of Salvation through Jesus Christ the Lord.

I wanna come ☦️

Great Point David Y, sadly some of these converts are not grasping the gravity of Apostasy from the true Church!

Meaning he must go through a ritual process of brainwashing.

This has been my exact experience "A furnace of repentance, change and regeneration". Orthodoxy is beautiful beyond belief, In the liturgy the scriptures come alive and have a way of changing my hard heart. Thank you for your GODLY wisdom.

The works presuppose the faith which comes from God and is a gift. Where the faith is, there the works will be. The basis of salvation is not works, but faith which is in a person when they become regenerate. The Church is the worldwide body of believers. The Orthodox Church is very skillful in sidestepping the words of Scripture to make them appeal to a tradition that was developed over time, which also condemns those who are not members of the Orthodox Church. This is highly heretical and those within the institution ought to be ashamed for trampling underfoot the blood of the Son of God. There’s no emphasis on evangelism and making disciples. It is not biblical. St John of Damascus announces anathema of any who do not “venerate” icons. This is found nowhere in Scripture. Shame on those who produce anxiety in God’s elect; to them who insist on asceticism and have an appearance of wisdom. They will pay dearly for their rejection of the Savior and His sacrifice for their sin personally. To reject that is to be damned.

Its a very common saying in many denominations

Just recall some Arians came back, confessed of they're heresy, don't believe me ok just read the "Confessions" of Blessed Augustine

Yeah, the evangelicals do not say Christ is Risen on their new fangled Resurrection Sunday haha

@pavlickrobert, you made great points!

@@Gregori-mi2vy8nc6y Thank you. But it's not like the Orthodox practices of venerating the Holy Theotokos and icons was something hidden in the "fine print". Our friend should have stopped the proceedings if he didn't agree with those concepts instead of vowing to uphold them.

@@pavlickrobert@pavlickrobert, I agree with you 100%; there are no secrets in Orthodoxy. The veneration issue should have been addressed and contemplated before conversion. I have had the pleasure of attending around 20 Baptisms in the last three years. I always listen intently to the prayers while reminding myself what it means to be Orthodox. My heart breaks for Jason; he is a brother in an apostate status, which is truly sad. May the Lord have mercy on us!!

Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" Mark 9: 38-41 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. If salvation lies within the boundaries of the Orthodox Church alone, then is the Gospel useless to those who hear it from Protestant mouths? What of the millions who have been converted & baptized into the faith by Protestant missionaries who risked their lives & many who were martyred to bring them the Gospel. Was it not the Holy Ghost that opened their eyes to the Truth? If so, how could they who believed when they heard the Gospel be dammed?

It sounds as though he began to quesdtion the veracity of what he was told once he began to do deeper research in preparation for priesthood.

Αμήν

Who are you to judge? I’ve been a missionary for 30 years in Africa and Asia, and to this day I’ve not seen an Orthodox missionary. All the missionaries are Evangelical and Charismatic, winning souls and planting churches everywhere. Get off your pious high horse, stop playing in your bedroom with your prayer beads, and ACTUALLY GET OUT THE WORLD AND DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!

@@BlueSky-pn1mr , so you're a charismatic and a missionary to Africa, I'll bet you never heard of the charismatic preacher who made his congregants eat live snakes in his church. U wanna tell me pentecostalism is wonderful now? How about Kenneth Copeland bringing Creflo Dollar on stage, calling him Jesus in the flesh, and bowing down and worshiping him? Yes, Kenneth Copeland bowed before Creflo Dollar and worshiped him. I'd rather play around with Prayer Beads than hang out with these false teachers.

You realize that true protestants were never charismatic right? Stop painting Protestants with a wide brush.

@@Gregory-Palamas1349 😆

@rachelbrubaker6920. How so?

Same here. And history. Currently inquiring.

God bless you, Dear Orthodox Brother!

Protestants cherry pick verses out of context, ignore the entire tradition of the Church fathers who interpret it and arrogantly think they can interpret it themselves. That's why the Enemy of mankind scattered them all in those thousands of denominations. You can't pursue God and salvation while you're debating with your own will and sola scriptura.

Exactly. When I first began studying, I appreciated that Orthodox Christianity is indeed fundamentalist without overly trying to be or making a social-political song and dance about it.

Make sure you actually read Church History and not just simplified summaries of church history with wide brush strokes. EO love to point to “church history,” but you’ll find it is not as simplistic as many make it out to be. This is especially true in the period before Nicea I. @elijah5791

the best answer I have heard yet. Kudos

Amen

amen

amen and amen, so well said, thank you

worship belongs to god alone acts 10,26 The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. in orthodox church they venerate the saints, here we see that peter said not to do it. its a problem. 1 tim 2.5 in regards to mary. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, she is not a mediator as the cathloic believe and orthodox go to her for help. there is one door one way of access. For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance-now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. heb 9.15

We believe that those who have never heard the Word will be given a chance to hear it and God will determine their salvation after seeing whether the Word is in their heart or not. As for "Christians" who denounce Orthodoxy- they have heard the Word and either denounced parts of it, divided it, or intentionally perverted it, and they have no excuse.

Not as historical as you think… kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ld-kjLtlyb7UgqM.htmlfeature=shared

EO do not have statues. We have painted/written icons. Those people who write icons (iconographers), even to this day, are not doing so out of industriousness but a calling from God. Many of our iconographers are monastics who have forsaken all earthly possessions and keep no money made but give it all to their community.

Amen++++ Of course Theotokos is the highest of Saints for even the ANGEL GABRIEL called her blessed - second Eve Adam- first created man God took flesh from Mary (Theotokos) and became Man- second Adam UNCREATED - for this Mary Theotokos is prefigured ma y times in the Old Testament - for She hast given birth to Our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ+++

“…I cannot understand” Proverbs 3:5-6 “To honor Mary…”Matthew 12:48-50 Of course Mary was blessed and used in an unmatched way. She literally gave birth to the Savior. But, while God blessed Mary, she was a sinner (Romans 3:23; 1John1:8-10). God shows no favoritism (Romans 2:11). This would also include Mary (Matthew 12:48-50)

@@OftheDay777 I just spent an hour on r/OrthodoxChristianity. I think, before you talk about inconsistencies in all of Protestantism, you need to clean your own house first. At least Protestants admit that we differ on minor issues. Eastern Orthodox lie about their unity. You all claim to be the authors of the Bible. That means that their should be consistency between “your” Bible and your church fathers. Where, in “your” Bible (chapter and verse, does the Bible command believers to venerate Marry?

@@leightonmoncada4934the Church doesn’t go entirely on scripture.

The Virgin Mary Theotokos is a mother and woman for all occasions. She was told the Gospel in the Annunciation, of God among us, via archangel Gabriel and she accepted that message. That makes her one of the earliest, or even first, Christians who had served God in her own way. There is nothing wrong with showing respect to her which is not worship.

@GladioUmbra if I can help you in any way let me know. I will provide a way for you to contact me. I could actually send you immaterial that would help you in your journey

And many aren't and being emboldened by Protestant evangelicalism by embracing the true Gospel. All the churches are sick. It's sad to see many turn to a man-made solution, apart from the raw Gospel.

I almost become Jehovah Witness, but i realized what kind of cult that is. Now I am on my way learning about orthodoxy. What I can say what I felt on evening prayer, and on divine liturgy I didn't feel in my life. Such a joy and happpines

@@mmr1137 May the Lord bless your journey in Orthodoxy!

Andrew Selby when I read James I never interpreted that he said works are salvation. I always pray for wisdom and discernment before I read scripture. We should take the scripture at face value. I understood that James was saying works are fruits OF the Spirit.

@@ArmyScoutMom To me, when James says faith without works is dead, it sounds like works energize, give life to, faith. Your "plain reading" and "face value" interpretations of scripture are heavily influenced by the tradition you are brought up in. The way I see it, salvation is based on if we love God, and I know through my marriage, that going on dates, spending time with one another, doing acts of service for one another grow my love for my wife. The acts themselves aren't important, but they are necessary for our love. And if we never did anything, our love would die. And I know that I do these things, because I love her, but I also love her, because I do these things. Works and faith are not two separate things, which is what I feel James is trying to get at, you need both, they both build up each other.

EO has a work based gospel which is what has turned me away from it along with a few other things. The implication of solely using James 2 for teaching that works are required for faith is completely contradictory to Romans 4:1-6, Titus 3:3-7, 2 Timothy 1:8-9, and Ephesians 2:8-9 which state not only is a person saved/justified by faith but definitely also NOT BY WORKS!

@@AllforOne_OneforAll1689 I hope you look a little more into what we believe, and know that our revelation came in the form of Jesus Christ, and our beliefs and traditions stem from that revelation, and we didn't construct our beliefs from the scriptures. We were practicing our beliefs even before the scriptures were written down and long before they were canonized. The scriptures are a part of our Tradition. Our beliefs are not contradictory to any of the scriptures, we believe St. Paul when he says we are justified by faith. And works of the law have no life in them, and cannot save, only Jesus has life in Him, and He's the only one that can save. These are the things we believe.

@@andrewselbyphotography The NT scriptures were written by the Apostles and being accepted by the church within the first century. Oral tradition and written tradition from the Apostles were the same thing just delivered differently. Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians (First Century) Chapter 3 "These things, brethren, I write to you concerning righteousness, not because I take anything upon myself, but because you have invited me to do so. For neither I, nor any other such one, can come up to the wisdom 2 Peter 3:15 of the blessed and glorified Paul. He, when among you, accurately and steadfastly taught the word of truth in the presence of those who were then alive. And when absent from you, he wrote you a letter, which, if you carefully study, you will find to be the means of building you up in that faith which has been given you, and which, being followed by hope, and preceded by love towards God, and Christ, and our neighbour, is the mother of us all. Galatians 4:26 For if any one be inwardly possessed of these graces, he has fulfilled the command of righteousness, since he that has love is far from all sin."

nah man, I just need to agree with it in my head really hard

Orthodox church does not have the final authority ,scripture does , the Bible is the ultimate authority, not the orthodox church, Jesus never said to venerate icons or pray to Mary,,Paul ,the deciples never said pray for the dead , show me the scriptures for the orthodox position,

@@johnbostic4063 Neither can we argue our way to salvation, good friend in Christ!

​@@johnbostic4063 When ye are outside of Orthodoxy, ye cannot understand it, and when ye are in it, ye cannot explain it! But, Orthodoxy is a single harmonious whole, a melody of theology!

Jesus is the ultimate truth. Salvation is so simple.

@@moniquewrites9046 Yes, it is so Simple, many thanks for the reminder!

@@cozycastle, he definitely is lost!

Glad im not orthodox. Seems like a cult or sect. Let him work out his faith. Orthodoxy has lots of idolatry and unnecessary traditions. I'll keep you guys in prayer too

amen

@matthewshermoen4437, in your eyes we are in despair, wow, interesting. Trust me we are not in despair, in reality, we are saddened by the false attacks from a group of people who can't trace their history just 50 years ago. We are the true Bible believers you guys ignore large portions of the Bible, your arguments are based on emotions, not facts! I will keep it simple, that works best for you guys,! I will only list three things that you and your fellow heterodox ignore in the Bible, thus proving that you are Bible pickers instead of Bible believers! You guys abide in a false doctrine of ῾Bible Οnly῾ instead of the Bible instructions to abide in "Διδαχῇ Τῶν Άποστόλων" Αpostolic Teachings. Acts 2:42 "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers". You guys because of Biblical Ignorance, do not know the difference between Godly Traditions or Manmade Traditions. You guys look down on Orthodox because of your ignorance and your lack of ability to properly discern the Holy Scriptures. Nope, we are not in despair we are saddened that your heart is hardened. Do you understand the following word without looking it up"Παραδόσεις"? 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle! You have Altar Calls without an Altar, how silly is that, is the pulpit the altar? You guys should go and play with Roman Catholics and leave the true Church of Christ alone. Better yet you should be Working out your salvation instead of throwing false accusations at a group you know nothing about. But, get this if you were to tell me which Protestant Sect you belong to I could put together in minutes the parts of the Bible you ignore out of ignorance and a lack of knowledge, I am up for the trial are you? I have 2,000 years behind me, how many do you have, 10,50?

@matthewshermoen4437 you said "Praying for him because you feel he is fallen away or apostate, you all decide to light him up". If you read the comments, you would notice that multiple Orthodox Christians asked each other to pray for him. I reached out to him as well, in the love of Christ, read the posts before you spew unfactual information.

Apparently you have not read all 2,000 comments on this video @@Gregori-mi2vy8nc6y . I don't expect you too either. But if you're correcting someone without having all the facts yourself, that is a problem.

@Gregori-mi2vy8nc6y I'm sorry if I offended you. I am not interested in arguing about the situation. The fact is that there are many comments that have been rude, mean, and in some instances with curse words. I believe Jason does not deserve this sort of response. In my original comment, I did say, "Instead of just praying for him because you feel he has fallen away or apostate," not "all orthodox brothers and sisters should post comments about how he is apostate and needs our prayers so he sees how wrong he is." Big difference. I am a Bible believing Christian who does not follow the ways of man but of Christ. I have seen too many testimonies of people leaving certain denominations just to be torched by their old brethren. I personally do not think we should be deciding whether some one is saved or not saved. The book of Samuel says "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." It's not up to us. I personally belive Jason made very valid points that I agree with. I was raised catholic and understand some of what he was talking about, but by God's grace I was saved about 8 years ago and have been allowing Him to teach me ever since. The unfortunate part about Christianity is that we are the only army that will shoot our own brothers and sisters in the back and condemn them to hell for not staying in line with our specific beliefs. God bless you all and God bless you Jason.

​@@JasonTerpack Let's be honest my friend the good and the bad are on both sides. I am a product of amazing universities, I don't have to throw fiery emotional arrows at those who believe differently from me. But, I will speak on behalf of my faith as I expect you guys to do! As in any confrontation tempers sometimes flair. I have no problem with that, I understand human behavior. I try to express my thoughts and beliefs respectfully, forgive me if I have failed at this attempt. Jason if you and I are honest we know that we cannot. change anyone's mind. on what belief system they want to uphold. But we can offer an opposing view, I don't know if you read my note, from a. a few days ago, but I thank you for allowing the opposing voice to be heard for those who do not have a dog in the fight, Such a person should be able to analyze both sides of the argument to ascertain what path they want to travel. This is why I often insert language from the original text for those who are empirically minded and can research citations. I attempt to always be factual in my comments, for example, I often point out the fact that Protestants ignored the majority of the Bible, this is an easy verifiable comment. I also point out the issue of people throwing stones when they don't follow two important passages in the Bible in the original text. Passage I Eἰς ὃ ἐκάλεσεν ὑμᾶς διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἡμῶν εἰς περιποίησιν δόξης τoῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησoῦ Χριτοῦ ἄρα οὖν ἀδελφοί, στήκετε, καὶ κρατεῖτε τὰς παραδόσεις ἃς ἐδιδάχθητε εἴτε διὰ λόγου εἴτε δι’ ἐπιστολῆς ἡμῶν Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησoῦς Χριστὸς καὶ θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν ὁ ἀγαπήσας ἡμᾶς καὶ δοὺς παράκλησιν αἰωνίαν καὶ ἐλπίδα ἀγαθὴν ἐν χάριτι Passage II oἱ μὲν oὖν ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθησαν καὶ προσετέθησαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ψυχαὶ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιαι ἦσαν δὲ προσκαρτεροῦντες τῇ διδαχῇ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ τῇ κoινωνίᾳ τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτoυ καὶ ταῖς πρoσευχαῖς Ἐγίνετo δὲ πάσῃ ψυχῇ φoβος, πολλά τε τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα διὰ τῶν ἀπoστόλων ἐγίνετo I firmly believe that much is lost in translation, thus, the end result is bad theology. Despite the many Protestant experts who. have expressed their freedom of speech to attack. us, I find it said that these experts are unable to take a full in-context passage in Greek to use for an academic argument. , I can take it, but where are the experts in the Ancient language. Instead of addressing what the original ancient languages reveal, emotional darts are thrown, with no academic discourse just emotional party talking points. I am cool with that as well, I am confident that my responses and comments can withstand the scrutiny of anyone who is seeking the truth. Hint for you guys, stop trying to debate Scriptures when you are using a translation of a translation. I want you all to know, that I am not offended nor angered by comments, keep them coming, I wish just one of you defend your theology in Greek. As we know Greek is a precise descriptive language, without a working knowledge bad theology is the end result. I pray we all get our journey right, despite my disagreement, I love you guys. I am willing to bet that I can sit down and have a great lunch with many of you. May the Lord Bless you!

Always some “church father”, go with the Bible, stop with the images.

@@notyourtypicalcomment2399 yup, the church fathers that God used to but the biblical canon together.

@@ChristianWario and in the Bible, many men were instrumental in God’s work, doesn’t mean we should look to them so much they weren’t infallible. We should follow the word of God my friend. Orthodox quote the church father far more than bible.

@@notyourtypicalcomment2399 Where in the Bible does Jesus give sole authority to the Bible? Where is Sola Scriptura referenced in scripture?

Amen. Us converts tend to have a "knee-jerk" reaction to our past Protestantism, which can actually be quite dangerous. Unfortunately the internet isn't the best source for meeting and understanding Orthodox people due to that reason. At my parish we call them "Internet Orthodox" and emphasize "ask your priest" online.

Religions are earthly. Mainly fought amongst by men thinking they’re going to heaven. Faith is a different journey all together.

You realize protestantism is the worst that thing that happened to the church?

Sounds like a cult, as someone who left a Protestant one. I was told by my priest that such discussions about theology are for the bishops. But the Bible has plenty of verses pointing to Jesus is teaching about his own mother, namely the woman who said “blessed are the paps”, which I feel admonish anyone who overly venerates the blessed virgin mother. Who is only blessed because she did the work of the Lord through her faith, not because she was any different than the least of us.

@@Antreus Even you admit she is His mother. It doesn't take theologians to realize that gives her a special place in the Kingdom.

I was Orthodox Christian and currently attending a Lutheran church. I agree with everything you said here. As I have said elsewhere, what I liked about Orth Christianity is that it is effectively very much fundamentalist without the self-love and stridency of false preachers such as MacArthur, White, Cloud, etc. While it is true that some Orth Christians are uber-defensive and quick to react rather than respond, the same could be said for many Catholics, Calvinists and Evangelicals. Meanwhile, when some of those Protestants who attack the OC with false accusations, it should only be expected that Orthodox Christians will turn their challenge back on those same assailants.

It’s wrong to ask dead people to pray for you. That’s very different from asking a living friend to pray for you.😂

What makes those guys false teachers?

@@BlueSky-pn1mr if you say "dead people" it means that you have nothing understand about Christianity.

@@BlueSky-pn1mrChristians are alive in Christ, our God is a God of the living not the dead

Amen

What type of Orthodox are you?

He did, it didn't convenience him.

@@razoredge6130 Orthodoxy isnt about convenience

@@mariorizkallah5383 I'm saying he already studied orthodoxy.

Sounds altra charismatic I must say.

“Need to drop intellect and head knowledge”. This has always been a problem for me when it comes to orthodoxy. That being: the rejection of intellectualism and rationalism. While I can understand to an extent, it seems to be a serious problem when it comes to answering theological questions. While prayer is useful and effective, how can rejection and ignoring any form of logical and intellectual thought get you anywhere in terms of answering others and explaining your own faith. I’m not arguing or condemning, I’m seriously asking as I spent some time within Russian orthodoxy, and am now Roman Catholic However I can agree to an extant as rationalism and intellectualism has eventually gone off the rails into what Pius X condemned as modernism and is the reason for the state of the Catholic Church today

“and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy MIND, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” JESUS in Mark 12:30 😊

I so often hear from Orthodox apologists exactly what I hear from other cults: "My mind is made up and I'll not be confused by the facts!" I wish I had a dollar for every Orthodox who claimed that you should just believe and don't pay attention to actual history, reason, truth, etc. "May God have mercy on those who deny Christ and His Church." Pointing out the errors in Orthodoxy is neither a denial of Christ nor of the Church. It is merely a recognition of truth -- something that seemed to be kind of important to our Lord Jesus.

She needed a saviour just anybody else.

Amen Brother..

Thanks for your “expert” opinion.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Food for thought indeed. Orthodoxy has great depth in Theology and tradition. But there are steep hurdles for Western people to overcome when engaging in Orthodox praxis, especially if you have never been exposed to the "High Church" traditions.@@crossvilleengineering1238

Please be good Berean - - search the Scriptures to know what is true. God tells us in His Word that our hearts are deceitful above all things.

There's no veneration of icons in the Orthodox Church. If you look at a picture of your wife, is it the picture you're in love with, or the wife?

@@johnnyblue4799 I do not understand your statement. Veneration of icons is a key Orthodox precept, anyone who does not venerate and kiss and bow to Icons is anathema according to the Seventh Council.

@@ancientpathstv fake news. The Bible is not God's Word. It even says so, by pointing to God's Word (John 1:1). Never in Scripture are 66 books (the Protestant Canon) referred to by the name "God's Word." In modern vernacular, referring to the Bible as God's Word is an idiom, not literal and not true. The Bible is words about God. And it points to God's Word. Try not to substitute the real thing for Bibliolatry. John 5:39

So we are saved by our works? You said faith and work are involved in salvation.

@razoredge6130 Jesus said both that we must do what he commands (Mt. 7 among other places) and that the work God requires is faith (Jn. 6 among other places). Paul also wrote both. I don't think they're in tension, because obedience is faith. Hebrews 11 is a list of ____? Not opinions held, but actions taken in faithful obedience.

“Based on what we did”….It means: Did we chose to believe (obey) the gospel of Christ and receive the free gift of eternal life? Or, did we reject Christ’s shed blood and God’s testimony of His Son? Our decision is “what we did”. Believing that one (who is born of God through faith in Christ) can still go to hell based on their own behavior, performance, deeds, is a rejection of Christ and what HE ALONE accomplished on the cross. It’s denying the gospel of Christ. Please learn the proper context and meaning of the verses you think are saying that we’re saved by what we do in addition to believing on Christ. 💕 Romans 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

@krissyyoung9264 How did you come to know what Jesus “truly” meant in that passage with such certainty?? Is choosing to sin in word, deed, or thought obeying Jesus? Is failing to repent/turn away from sin obeying? Is allowing others to suffer when you could do something to help obeying? You will be judged by Christ for all your deeds or lack thereof. We all will, believers and nonbelievers alike. All people will be resurrected and stand before Christ in his righteousness judgement.

@PastorScottIngram Have you ever wondered why there are no Ancient Protestant Churches in the Holy Land?

@Michael_83 I didn’t just look into Eastern Orthodoxy. Yes, when I was Orthodox, and even as a catechumen, and later as a Reader and Subdeacon, I venerated the icons.

@@JasonTerpack Lord have mercy! From being ordained to apostasy, very sad to hear brother. I pray you realize this severe spiritual death you have committed.

I'm surprised he's not selling a book or something, just making hostage videos

sadly, he did not understand the part about committing apostasy! The Orthodox Church is the true Church. Read my words closely and ask the question, is he now in the true Church or is He an Apostate, the reason the majority of you guys do not see this is because you are not a part of the True Church of Christ. This is easily proven. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions “Παραδόσεις/Paradóseis ῎ which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. There is only one Church that has maintained the Paradóseis translated as Tradition. Most Western Churches hate Church Traditions, they actually have an aversion to the word Traditions, yet they claim to be Bible believers. It is simple, what institution has maintained the Word of God and Apostolic Teachings for 2, 000 years. It can’t be Roman Catholics, they became Schismatics in 1054 when they decided to disregard the words of Jesus by innovating Doctrines, ignoring the following warning. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. The Church can’t be Protestant, a group who totally threw out all Church traditions for a Bible Only Theology. 2 Thes 2:15 reveals that there is more to the Church besides the Bible. We have Apostolic Teachings that the majority of Christians are clueless about. Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Only one faith Group has kept the faith as it was handed to them by The Apostles who received the teachings from Jesus. I can find “Διδαχῇ τῶν Άποστόλων” Apostle's Teachings in the Bible, But, I can find Church Traditions in the Bible, see 2 Thess 2:15, but for some reason after 34 Years of studying the Bible, I can’t find the Doctrine of Bible only! If the Bible tells us to maintain Church Traditions as well as keep the Apostle's Teachings and a group comes along and says, nope, we hate Traditions, we don’t need the Apostle's Teachings, we have the Bible that is all we need, is that not preaching a different Gospel? “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” Gal 1:8. This is why I am saddened for the guy who made this video, he left the Church of the New Testament for a different doctrine and Church traditions, he is literally in an Αpostate State because he left the truth for a lie. The word accursed in Greek is Aanathema a state of being cut off from the Church of Christ, I pray he repents and returns unto the Orthodox fold!

He's just reacting to some things, we do not know exactly what these hidden things are.

@georgemacintyre2858, Dear Brother, I agree with the majority of your statement. I am concerned about your suggestion that Protestants should consider the "Western Catholic Tradition". If they become Roman Catholic they remain in the same boat with different colors and structures. There is only one "Εἰς Μίαν, Άγίαν, Καθολικὴν Καὶ Άποστολικὴν Ἐκκλησίαν· One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church"! God bless you Dear Brother, Good Lent, and God bless!

@@Leelsabeth I guess your prayers to mary don't work. This man loves God and is on the right path! May God continue yo guide him in this new beautiful path!!!! Praise God!! PS bible never gives mary tiles of omnipotent omnipresence omniscient. Sorry!!!

You have interpreted, leaning on your own understanding, that the OC is the only true church.

@@georgechristiansen6785 do you profess the nicean creed?

@@johnndamascene That's irrelevant to this discussion.

@@georgechristiansen6785 Actually, quite the contrary.

@@georgechristiansen6785i trust the church and the Bible and not my western reasoning and feelings. That’s not leaning on my own understanding, that’s submitting to tradition of those who lived the faith

Sure - preserved the scriptures and ignored them to create an Old covenant type of religion to suit their senses. We are to worship in Spirit and Truth, not sensually and man made tradition. were the apostles robed in black swinging censers in a holy of holies surrounded by images and gold. I'm ex-orthodox - it's a charade

"every practice objected to is still well over a thousand years older than anything "Evangelical" ... over a thousand years before anything remotely "reformed" or "Protestant" reared it's heretical head" Well, that is just not true. Evangelical Christianity holds to the deity of Christ, the Trinity, the truth of the Scriptures, and countless other things that were clearly held to be the case in the early Church. Even if your false claim were true, it remains the case that the mandated veneration of icons (let alone their veneration at all) is clearly not an element in the historical records of the early, Apostolic-age Church. Retorting that "ya, well, you are ALSO wrong about something" doesn't make you (i.e., Orthodoxy) correct. There are many good things about Orthodoxy. There is no need to lie about others (or it) in order to promote it.

You see incorrectly - I value the OT holy scriptures as God's writings to learn from but no longer comply with regarding ritual worship. I find it more arrogant that God does away with worship in temples staffed by priesthoods with inner and outer courts and special holy days etc etc (he even has a martyr to make the point and spells it out in the glorious Hebrews epistle) but men say 'NO! this is how we insist on worshipping!' and God, as it were, is supposed to like it. Writing as I am from Cambodia where there is a Russian Orthodox Church complete with all the usual trappings the incongruity is stunning. To obey is better than sacrifice. @sirmahakaal6389

Baptists don't hold or feel bound by lines of succession. If it doesn't spell it out in an A-B-C like form or direct order they're not likely to practice it. Orthodox Christians believe the Church came first. Not everything is in the Bible. (*evangelical gasp!) It's coloring book Christianity. It's basically a town hall meeting with some song. Many of their arguments predate their own existence. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, because I work nearly 60-70 hrs. a week, but there is fantastic Orthodox resources and video presentations available on these matters of theology and practice.

it's pretty silly, really

Protestants over-intellectualizing? I don't know that I've ever seen one intellectualize. 😂

And yet our works are but dirty rags to God, and He will depart from us as if He never knew us if we claim we did good by Him on earth. The easiest way to see a "defense for good works" is that it's all for God and not for our own salvation, and we should not expect to go to heaven because we did good. Good works are a consequence of faith.

@@rubenthekid yes you are right but our good works are important.so why the apostols in there lifes where selling there belongings and gave it to the poor or helping everyone that needs it then?

@@observer8477 those actions didn't save them, their faith in Christ did, they chose to do that because they believed it would make following Christ easier, not to mention it also acts a figurative way to tell us modern Christians to let go of our sinful desires to follow Christ.

@@rubenthekid i believe so yes but good deeds shows also that you are on a good path but not for to pride god,you care about others than yourself and that was on the teachings of Christ too,by faith yes but faith without good deeds is selfish dont you think in this world we live...?and i dont mean the same as the muslims.muslims dont have a god they only have blind faith and only good deeds doesnt work with god...but good deeds are important to make this world a better place but this alone dont save you i agree...

@@observer8477 yeah that's not an issue, good works, as I've already said, won't save you. They're just a demonstration of your faith.

@adechalus Thank you. God bless.

Once you realize the canon of scripture is itself the tradition of men, you will be faced with some tough decisions.

@@culpepper7665 The canon itself was preserved by God. It doesn’t matter how. He could use whatever vessel . He can use men or a rock. We have Gods inspired words not to the glory of men but to the glory of God! He promised it . Matthew 5:18; Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:24-25; Romans 15:4; Luke 21:33; psalms 12:6-7

@@adechalus So which canon do you use, the one used for 2000 years or the one used for 500?

@@culpepper7665 The one I can find in the top drawer of any hotel.

While the premise is true in regard to Theosis, the conclusion is false. Theosis is only achieved by a synergistic relationship with God, to have faith *and* to maintain that faith with good works, which results in a good relationship with God. We believe we have a hand in our salvation. It is a works-based system. Of course, Faith alone in Jesus' selfless sacrifice on the Cross is sufficient for our salvation as sinners *and* good works flow from this belief. However, in the EOC, good works + Faith is required for salvation.

@@panormitistaksiarxis2554 0:59 ​​⁠good works that flow out of love for God, cand so it is demonstrated loyalty. I don’t think this conflicts with a Protestant view.

@@godmakesnew This 100% conflicts with the Protestant view of justification + salvation. Protestants believe we are justified by faith in Christ *alone* whereas the Orthodox believe we are justified by Christ, *but* must do good works to maintain our salvation.

@@panormitistaksiarxis2554there is not a pervasive single Protestant view. Many Protestants believe this yes, but not all. “Faith” is defined as intellectual ascent, trust, public confession and embodied loyalty. This is very close to an Orthodox view and Protestants (broadly) are beginning to realize this. Check out “Salvation by Allegiance Alone” by Matthew Bates.

he's confusing Orthodoxy with Catholicism, perhaps

Words are images too, wouldn’t anything about Christ in words be counted as graven images by this logic

Im a non-denom protestant (sadly) but from what I understand about the law of making graven images that would be in direct reference to the golden calf, to the tree in Jerimiah 10:1-5 that specifically deptics God and also which makes normal objects on earth diety. As we see in the first and second temple there was statues of the Cheribiums and also images of trees, the menorah

@KingdomOfSound NOT CLOSE

sadly, he did not understand the part about committing apostasy! The Orthodox Church is the true Church. Read my words closely and ask the question, is he now in the true Church or is He an Apostate, the reason the majority of you guys do not see this is because you are not a part of the True Church of Christ. This is easily proven. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions “Παραδόσεις/Paradóseis ῎ which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. There is only one Church that has maintained the Paradóseis translated as Tradition. Most Western Churches hate Church Traditions, they actually have an aversion to the word Traditions, yet they claim to be Bible believers. It is simple, what institution has maintained the Word of God and Apostolic Teachings for 2, 000 years. It can’t be Roman Catholics, they became Schismatics in 1054 when they decided to disregard the words of Jesus by innovating Doctrines, ignoring the following warning. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. The Church can’t be Protestant, a group who totally threw out all Church traditions for a Bible Only Theology. 2 Thes 2:15 reveals that there is more to the Church besides the Bible. We have Apostolic Teachings that the majority of Christians are clueless about. Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Only one faith Group has kept the faith as it was handed to them by The Apostles who received the teachings from Jesus. I can find “Διδαχῇ τῶν Άποστόλων” Apostle's Teachings in the Bible, But, I can find Church Traditions in the Bible, see 2 Thess 2:15, but for some reason after 34 Years of studying the Bible, I can’t find the Doctrine of Bible only! If the Bible tells us to maintain Church Traditions as well as keep the Apostle's Teachings and a group comes along and says, nope, we hate Traditions, we don’t need the Apostle's Teachings, we have the Bible that is all we need, is that not preaching a different Gospel? “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” Gal 1:8. This is why I am saddened for the guy who made this video, he left the Church of the New Testament for a different doctrine and Church traditions, he is literally in an Αpostate State because he left the truth for a lie. The word accursed in Greek is Aanathema a state of being cut off from the Church of Christ, I pray he repents and returns unto the Orthodox fold!

@krystallblake6058 Thank you!

@krystallblake6058, I pray your journey is fruitful. If I can offer one bit of advice, it would be, to cry out to the Holy Spirit to lead you to all truths. Often times people preach and state their opinions on what the Bible is saying, in reality, they are clueless. Sadly, many people fall into this category. I put together questions for "Christians", the question states biblical facts and commands that are being ignored by many Bible-believing Christians! Five Things Ignored By Some “Bible Bdlieverrs” Disregarding the Practice of. Using Incense as part of the Worship service. incense in the name of the Lord as prophesied in Malachi 1:11? For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. Do you follow Apostolic Teachings as mentioned in Acts 2:42? And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Do you abide in the Traditions of the Church as mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:15? Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Do you “ μακαριοῦσίν῾ Bless honor Mary as mentioned in Luke 1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Do you have an Altar in your Church as mentioned in Hebrews 13:10: "We have an altar of which we have the right to eat and those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat" Revelation 11:1? And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

how about God's detestation of idols - whether they are 3 dimensional statues or 2 dimensional images. It took the Babylonian captivity to break the grip of idolatry off the Jews - and you think Jesus came to restore it, deviously using different terminology (venerate indeed!)?

@@MrZORROish There is a world of difference between worshipping a demon in an idol and using an Icon to worship God. God Himself commanded, nay not merely commanded, but empowered with the Holy Ghost the creation of Icons in the Old Testament. The Cherubim woven into the curtains in the temple, the Cherubim on the ark of the covenant, the bronze serpent, all of these were from God. And we can extrapolate from that, that whereas before, humans were not a part of the heavenly court, now, in Christ, we are, as Saint Paul writes to the Ephesians, “we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” and therefore iconography of humans is also good. But it’s not just that, the truth of the matter is this; the Church *knows* the difference between an idol of a demon and an Icon of a Holy One, and those who do not know the difference simply show themselves to be unregenerate, lacking the discernment which comes from the Holy Ghost Himself.

God did not create the tabernacle or temple to be an idol - but the Jews made it into an idol and twice God destroyed it. Hebrews tells us God has done away with all that paraphernalia but disobedient man just refuses to take 'No' for an answer - We will have our temples and priests and idols even if we have to give them different names. They are no substitute for or help in a relationship with God in Christ, instead they are a distraction and a hindrance feeding the senses not the spirit.@@ArchangelsBookClub

"If you’re going to reject theological and liturgical development around the icons, why not the Trinity?" There is no support for the veneration of icons in Scripture or in early Church history. There is support for the concept of the Trinity.

@@philoalethia You need to spend *a lot more time* in the Torah.

No. Monks and priests do it.

And the converts straight up fetishize it and grow theirs out and then proceed to congratulate each other on their beards. This is impenetrably true.

well said and amen

Eastern Orthodoxy is not simply wrong, it is HERETICAL and not only according to our ultimate authority, which is the Holy Scripture, but also according to history. Eastern orthodoxy exists only because of forgeries, lies, deceptions, political power. Your fundamental council, held in 787, is FILLED with lies.

Saint Athanasius, my favourite church father and a Saint I love deeply, held to a completely different canon of Scripture and he NEVER accepted the apocryphal books. Without lies, heresy dies

Dude thinks Catholics weren't around for the first 1,000 years 🤣🤣🤣

Why not? The Church Fathers do it all the time. They'll quote a verse, or even part of a verse.

@@Benjamin-bq7tc so now me and you are Church Fathers.? MOST OF THEM ARE.SAINTS. also give examples.

By our judgments, we are known. I feel that in order to justify certain dogma within the orthodox church on the basis of tradition, they interject similarly, while ignoring verses that bring clarity to sound doctrine. Jesus did say this to the woman as an admonishment, to correct. Mary was not justified by her works, but because she obeyed the Word of God, which came to her by grace, through her faith in the living God, but she like the least of us was born a sinner, yet because God loved us, gave birth to our Redeemer. The greatest among us will be our servant. Know those who labour among us and be admonished thereby, as it says in Thessalonians. The humility and solitude of Mary’s life should be enough to not give her such lofty titles, and it is no disrespect, because it is unto the glory of God to grace a handmaiden in such a way because of her great faith and humility. It should be our disposition as well. Mary exalted God, not herself. Mary's attitude was not complicated. She had full faith and confidence in God, but was lowly in her own eyes. That is why she is great according to our Lord Christ’s words he spoke to the woman who said “blessed are the paps of the woman who bore you” Luke 11:28 28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” It is men who have strayed in their traditions, because they’ve ignored the words of Christ. They’ve elevated Mary according to man’s understanding of righteousness, just as the woman who said this to Christ. Lord have mercy upon us all.

You guys are amazing at taking Scriptures out of context! Because you are such an expert in your mind and circles, what is your interpretation of the following Scripture? ΠΡΟΣ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΕΙΣ Β΄ 2:15 , ἄρα οὖν, ἀδελφοί, στήκετε, καὶ κρατεῖτε τὰς παραδόσεις ἃς ἐδιδάχθητε εἴτε διὰ λόγου εἴτε δι’ ἐπιστολῆς ἡμῶν. Oops, I am sorry I forgot you are using a translation of the Bible, not the original language. Here is the translation for you, I will wait for your response. 2 Thessalonians 2:15, Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. I am hoping that you would be the first Orthodox hater to answer my Bible questions, The majority of you guys are clueless and can't defend any of your so-called Bible Scriptures. I am up for a challenge, I want you to tell me what I as an Orthodox Christian am doing that is not biblical. In the meantime, I am going to mention a couple of things you are not doing that is in the Bible. For starters there is no such thing as the Bible only! 2 Thess 2:15 reveals this. What are the Godly Traditions of your Religious Sect? I am going to give you a tip, you are reading a Bible Translation and Version, i.e., King James, NIV. Do you know that there are Christians who read the Bible clearly in the original language, thus they are able to see how awful you guys are taking the Bible out of context and mistranslating? , easy question is the word "Word/Λόγου" and Epistle "ἐπιστολῆς" the same word, or are there two different meanings? Obviously, the meanings are different, if you don't believe me, have a high school kid explain to you that a letter and a conversation are not one and the same. I pray that you understand, that I am not picking on you, but if you are truly desiring the truth of Christ Jesus, you would investigate my words and let the truth reveal itself. If you are a humble person, at this very moment you should have recognized that you are no Bible reader and that you should first, get the junk out of your eyes before you attempt to tell a group of Christians who have been around for 2,000 years and who still use the Language of the New Testament how to practice true Christianity, based on your broken system invented by a former Roman Catholic Priest named Martin Luther. Are you a Luthern, Anabaptist, or Pentecostal or are you a member of the latest Flyby Night Religious Sect? A Sect who believes that they have an Apostolic Church, without Bishops? Is that in the Bible? Έπίσκοπον/Επίσκοπος /Epískopos do you recognize the Greek words? Probably not, quick translations, BISHOP, do you have one in your Religious Sect? I am going to close, trust me I am able to take down every false religious Ideology that you have point by point, but that would take too long! I will be honest with you, I am not the smartest person on the block, but the one ability I have is the ability to find the truth, thankfully, the truth is easy to find when the Church Christ established is still alive and well with the majority of records intact. Without that Church, you would not have the Bible that you are misquoting and abusing. If I am wrong, PROVE IT! If you can't just remain silent, that is the norm for you guys who are making a mockery of the Church of Christ. You talk a big game until someone reveals that your house is built on sand and pebbles!

Simple answer: Your "fathers" in the orthodox "church" are wearing head coverings while praying and they let others call them "father". I give you 2 Scriptures to show that you are following a cult and not Jesus. If you ignore these and try finding excuses, I won't answer you anymore based on Titus 3:10 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, ~1. Corinthians 11:3-4 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ~Matthew 23:8-9 If you can't see the severe contradiction your "fathers" in the orthodox "church" are living, then it's impossible to help you, because you've already chosen your path(which is human and not Jesus' way). Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. ~Titus 3:10 God bless you! @@Gregory-Palamas1349

​@@theprogrammer8200 Dear Friend, thank you for your kind response, I will gladly answer each question for you. It is a bit late for me, but I will attempt to answer your questions it may not be at once, because my current time restraints will make it difficult for proper citation. I prefer to provide citations that can be externally verified, for example, if I cite the originally inspired word of God in the original Greek, you may go to any local university Greek Department for a translation. Also, if you feel like the Greek I provide is not the Greek of the New Testament, a trip to the college library should have an original Greek New Testament in book form or digitally. as it was originally recorded, a librarian will be able to assist you in that endeavor. Once I send you my responses, I hope, you can return the favor. I will read your thoughts with attention to detail. Thank you in advance, May the Bless us as we pursue understanding in the faith he established. Thank you once again for your response. We are told to have a reason for why we believe in Christ. 1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

@@theprogrammer8200 Thank you for your question about the head covering. 1 Corinthians 11:4 states the following “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head”. Before I comment on this passage, I want to thank you for your questions. I don’t know what Religious group you belong to you, but I want you to know I respect you despite our religious differences. Anything I say during this discourse is in love, one thing I can say is that you and I both love Jesus. I am hoping that by answering your questions you may come to a better understanding of the oldest Christian Church in the world! I hope to learn about your faith group as well! Pertaining to the head coverings 1 Cor 11:4 is very clear, especially in the Greek language it was inspired and recorded in! Let’s take a closer look, the original New Testament states “πᾶς ἀνὴρ προσευχόμενος ἢ προφητεύων κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἔχων καταισχύνει τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ”· The Greek word Προσευχόμενος/prosefchómenos is translated as prayer in English. Also mentioned in this passage is that men should not “Προφητεύων” prophesy with their heads uncovered. I must ask a rhetorical question, in any given Church service how much time during the service is the congregation praying? Is the Pastor praying for 30 minutes or is there a break for reading the Bible, is reading the Bible prayer? If the pastor is giving his sermon is that prayer or talking to his congregation? I say this to make a point, an Orthodox Liturgy incorporates many facets of Christian worship. Orthodox Priests remove their covering when in prayer! I realized that Liturgical worship is a foreign concept for Western Christians, even though all early Christians participated in liturgical worship, yes, the service can be confusing, and I fully understand that viewpoint. A historical fact, Jesus and all the Apostles participated in liturgical worship, the piano drums and strobe lights seen in some Western Churches would have been perceived as pagan by the early Christians. The Ancient Liturgical worship in our Church was inherited from Jewish Worship. Let’s take one last look at the head covering 1 Cor 11:4, does not ban head coverings! No, it bans ““πᾶς ἀνὴρ/men from covering their heads during praying and prophesying. There is a problem in many “Christian” circles, people add words to the Bible and personal viewpoints totally ignoring warnings against adding to or subtracting from the Sacred Scriptures. "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book": Revelation 22:18.

@@theprogrammer8200 The Father question is very difficult for many people. In Orthodoxy we are taught to look at the Scriptures in its totality, we do not read a section of the Scripture and run with it! When we read Mathew 23 we take into consideration every word of that book in order to get an understanding of what is said. We also have additional instructions that have been handed to us by the Apostles and their descendants, I will speak on the passing of information after I answer your question. When reading Mathew in context from the beginning we see that Jesus was speaking out against the Scribes and Pharisees. They were the Church leaders of the day. Jesus was addressing their lack of holiness despite being religious leaders. He was telling the Disciples that these men were unworthy of honor, I.e., being called a Father, Rabbi, and Teacher. When reading this passage in the original Greek it shows that he was saying that these men were not worthy of honor. Thus, they should not be called Rabbi, Teacher, and Father all titles of honor during that time. I often say that the Words of God do not conflict with each other when read in Koine Greek and Biblical Hebrew. The Hebrew that is being used today is reconstructed not the Hebrew of the Old Testament. But, we will see conflicts from time to time when the Word is translated. I want to give you a few Bible passages that reveal that the Lord was not condemning the word of Father from being used, once again it is a term of honor. 1Timothy 1:2 Unto Timothy, my own “Son τέκνῳ a better translation would be child” in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. In the Orthodox Church just like The Apostle Paul who told Timothy that he was his child in faith, this makes him a Father. There are Ancient Christian writings that referred to the Pastor/Priest as Father. Acts 7:2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charran. Acts 7:14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. Acts 22:1 Men, brethren, and fathers hear ye my defense which I make now unto you. Romans 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac. If Jesus forbade everyone from using the word Father, why are his Apostles using it in the New Testament to refer to Fathers of the Faith? He did not Forbid the Word he was forbidding the Word Father from being used as a title to ungodly religious leaders. Remember the Bible never conflicts with itself. I only cited a few passages where Father is used, there are many many more that I did not reference for time and space reasons. In closing, I mentioned at the beginning of this note that I will explain the additional instructions that the Apostles passed on to us that are not in the Bible. We were given instructions by the Apostles to be a companion to the Holy Bible. Unlike what most people believe everything was not placed in the Bible. There will not be a Book large enough to contain it. John 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 21:25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. 2 Thes 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions “Παραδόσεις a better translation is passed to you” which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. The Apostle Paul mentioned giving Παραδόσεις translated as tradition I.e., instructions to Timothy. He mentioned that he gave him instructions by written letter an epistle and word verbal instructions. The Orthodox Church being the oldest Church kept these teachings without change for 2,000 years. I hope this answers your question. I believe I covered your questions, I will double-check to make sure.

You’re welcome David. Praise God! Feel free to look me up on Facebook if you ever want to chat?

Many things that you *think* doesnt seem biblical because of your preconceived notion of Christianity that is heavily influenced by western protestant/catholic understandings. The Orthodox Church has remained pure and unadulterated for 1700 years. You take your own understanding of what you think Christianity should be, and then you get disappointed because history and the Church disagrees with you. It is very much an il understanding of Eastern Christianity, pride, and a refusal to exit the box of western Chrstianity you have placed yourself. Saying this as an ex-reformed Calvinist

@@evertaj2438Incorrect many things don't seem biblical not because of MY preconceived notion because when anyone looks at the bible there is cleary black and white things the bible mentions that the EO do that is sinful and wrong. Secondly this idea that the EO church was unadulterated for 1700 years just goes to show your total lack and knowledge of church history. That statement is almost laughable its so incorrect. You want to follow a church where your own patriarchs of your church make the most blasphemous comments that a protestant dare not even make like, “The prophet Mohammed is an apostle. He is a man of God, who worked for the Kingdom of God and created Islam, a religion to which belong one billion people....Our God is the Father of all men, even of the Muslims and Buddhists. I believe that God loves the Muslims and the Buddhists...When I speak against Islam or Buddhism, then I am not found in agreement with God....My God is the God of other men also. He is not only God for the Orthodox. This is my position.” If your saying what your beloved patriarch is saying is biblical and correct may God have mercy on your soul. continue to follow the blind.

​@@TheDavidRickeychan"not because MY preconceived notion"... *proceeds to use own preconceived understanding of what you think is right*

@@JasonTerpack You protestants are deluded.

Many thanks! God bless you.

Lots of young men who need to divert their attention to more productive tasks... myself included! lol.