I would note my friend that all Eastern Orthodox church denominations believe the same things, and that you can also find English or at least English speaking Orthodox churches in Australia. As a convert from the roman church myself I can say that the true unchanged Christianity is the truth that the Lord has allowed me to see by his grace. God bless you.
As a zealous new convert I must say: do NOT convert on the basis of aesthetic preference or anything earthly. Concern yourself with the Truth alone and you will find your way home.
1. Orthodoxy is Orthodoxy. The deeper you get into it, you realize how little the ethnic delineations matter. There are some smaller "Orthodox" churches that aren't in communion with the "Eastern Orthodox" ones due to varying reasons, but all the mainline ones are compatible with one another. Some parishes do treat their parish as an ethnic enclave, but that is uncommon and not Orthodox. I am also an inquirer despite having zero ethnic ties to Orthodoxy. All of my heritage is western & northern European. It did take me a while to get over this, but what's important is the truth and what brings you closer to it. This is a complex topic, but just know God came to all of the nations, and that truth is preserved in ancient Christianity. 2. I'm a former atheist and lapsed protestant. I gave up my faith at a very young age. In my 30's I realized that there is a spiritual component to this reality, and it is very serious, and Christ was telling the truth. Orthodoxy treats it with the seriousness it deserves - the mystical element of spirituality is very much preserved in Orthodoxy. It is in Catholicism as well, but you have to look harder to find it, and by the time you're a traditional catholic you're one step from Orthodoxy anyways. You can probably find the truth in Protestantism, but good luck. 3. Yes, aesthetics are important in spirituality. The human heart yearns for perfection, so the more refined the aesthetics and practices are, the more satisfying it is to us. That is why ancient Christianity puts such an emphasis on art and architecture, it's not to hoodwink people as the cynic would say, it's to honor God and humble your ego before Him. For some people, including myself, humbling myself before infinity takes more than lime green carpet and a couple crosses on the walls. 4. To be frank, this is not a light spiritual practice. it is culturally different from what we're used to in the west, but still somewhat familiar. Orthodoxy is big on asceticism, but it's also big on not forcing you to do things you don't want to. Spiritual growth is at your own pace. Some people become baptized in a matter of months, others take years. I'm probably in the latter. 5. You mentioned you don't believe in God, but I have the sense from your other videos that you recognize there is more to reality than meets the eye. Your Buddhist video is interesting. I have looked into Buddhism quite a bit. In my experience, there's a lot of interplay between Buddhism and serious ascetic Christianity. Thomas Merton is an example of this. Where eastern religion/philosophy fail for me is they don't bring the universe together into a cohesive story. Everything is relative, and time is circular. Why not kill yourself tomorrow to avoid suffering, then, if the only point is to avoid suffering? The heat death of the universe is inevitable anyways, so eventually the people you make sad by ending it won't be around either. It's ultimately a pointless worldview, despite being very spiritually, emotionally and intellectually stimulating at times. The same can be said of the darker stuff like occultism/satanism. Buddhism is much more innocent than those, at least in practice. Everyone who has a positive ego death experience mentions an overwhelming sense of love, but I can't think of a more personal and relational thing than love: how can love just be if there's no source? Love, in the purest unconditional sense, is fully experienced through relationships with others. As a mother loves her son, as her son loves his pet kitten. This realization, among others, led me to God. 6. It sounds like you're grappling with the metaphysics of belief. These are hard things that no one can answer for you but yourself. Dip your toe in and check out a divine liturgy, chat with a priest. You may not be ready, but it wouldn't hurt. At the very least, it's an interesting cultural experience. Doing it for people/community will not be enough though, fair warning. People always disappoint. You need to be doing it for truth, first and foremost. 7. Catholicism is fine, but obviously as an Orthodox inquirer, I have my criticisms. Too much theological and historical baggage for me to commit myself to the Catholic church. The decentralized nature of Orthodoxy allows me to experience serious ancient mystical Christianity without having to deal with the baggage in Catholicism. For some, Catholicism is the right thing though, so I'd recommend checking it out, especially if you feel an ethnic/cultural pull. I'd wager most Orthodox would rather have someone become a devout and honest Catholic than trying to force themselves to be Orthodox for the wrong reasons. 8. Please be careful with new age stuff like wicca/satanism, even Hinduism. All this stuff is very real and spiritually perilous, many don't realize what they're doing when they get into it. Pragmatically, in my research, there is only one spiritual entity that truly wants the best for you and loves you unconditionally (and even demonstrated it by becoming flesh). If you have any questions, just reach out, you're at a good point in your life to start asking these questions.
Thank you for this comment, there is a lot here and I also appreciate you seeing some of my other videos. I think a lot of it is about metaphysics for me, maybe majoring in philosophy at university is part of this.
@@thepetevonde It's very difficult to intellectualize your way to God. Gnosis only gets you so far. I tried that, among other methods, and eventually it broke me, and only in that contrite state when I earnestly asked him for mercy and guidance did Christ step in. Sounds crazy I know, but only then did scripture start to sing, especially the new testament and Genesis. If truth is the most important thing to you, and you pursue it relentlessly, you will either end up in God's arms, or be swallowed by relativism. Know that your free will is respected and you are loved. Be careful what choice you make. Atheism is a dead end.
Short answer: yes Long answer: Go to a church, speak to the priest, READ READ READ, PRAY PRAY PRAY for guidance! It is a very serious matter. Take time to let everything sink in, and if you wish, enter the catechumenate to learn more about the faith and to prepare yourself for it.
A lot of modern western christian denominations made great effort in the past few centuries to distance themselves from tradtion. However this has lead to a altering of worship and a very subjective Christianity. The apostolic churches are attractive they have not altered or altered far less than the modern ones and have reasons for their beliefs that dive far deeper than ones modernist understanding which is also attractive. I converted to Orthodoxy myself and in my opinion western christianity is self defeating and will likely see a even larger wave of apostasy than what has already occured. Take care.
Hello mate, I was raised Catholic, now Orthodox. The culture difference is not that big, I was looking into taoism at one point and that was definitely a big culture difference, but since you mentioned you're Australian, you'll generally run into 3 ethnic Orthodox groups- Greeks, Russians, and Serbians. Visit them and see which one you like. I'm from America, it's good that we have variety to choose. Personally I don't mind the culture difference so I attend a Greek convent 2 hours away from me despite having 2 local Orthodox churches that serve in English. What matters is that you connect to the parish your attending, if you get stuck at a bad parish there's a risk of becoming disillusioned towards the religion as a whole.
Hey brother, I'm a convert to Catholicism. Will pray for you as you discern this question. Also, the quality of your video is great - I've subscribed! Ave Maria
All Orthodox church services are (mostly) the same, it doesn't matter about the ethnicity... It mostly relates to the language (and church calendar) used in the services when we say Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, etc., and where the Patriarch is based /to which jurisdiction the parish belongs administratively.
As someone who grew up in fundamentalist Protestantism and who later joined the Mormon religion, I left after 27 years as a convert. What I have discovered is the key to walking with Jesus and in fulfilling all that is written about you in your books in heaven (Haha no one ever taught me this. Look it up Psalm 139:16) is you must cultivate a personal relationship with Jesus. My biggest mistake was thinking I’m just a Christian knob, and I need all these learned Bible scholars to explain to me what the Bible means because I would read it and not understand it. No! The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will teach you ALL things [pertaining to your salvation and God’s will for your life]. I couldn’t understand the Bible because I was not born again. As soon as I was born again, I started reading the Bible and the Holy Spirit was pulling back layers of meaning and showing me deeper things. Things I had always had questions about suddenly became clear. Jesus said if you are lukewarm he will vomit you from his mouth. One is lukewarm if one is expecting other men to explain the most basic teachings of the Bible, IMHO. It’s also a form of idolatry. So if you want to join any church, that is fine but leave it the minute they insist that you believe their man-made doctrine like praying to saints instead of praying directly to Jesus. You don’t need middle men. Satan became a middle man and that’s where the corruption started. Adam walked with God. Please turn yourself over to God and walk with him, and don’t let any man, theologian or not, teach you strange doctrines. Your membership in a church does not guarantee your salvation. I hope this helps you. Shalom.
Let God enter your heart, but let him, seek truth, nothing else. Knock and it shall be opened! There is no Christianity without Christ (God). God bless you my brother, we will be praying for you. ☦☦🙏🙏
There is a very simple answer to this situation. If you truly believe in the God of Christians and understand the distinction between your will and His Will and the fundamental implication of this distinction, in order to be as close as possible to His Will, you should consider that it cannot be a simple accident that you were baptized Catholic.
@@thepetevonde If you read Genesis from the perspective of adolescence, which is not exactly wrong because there is, implicit in the description, a degree of immaturity of Adam and Eve, for a child, the parents are one person ( And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created him.), they are the God of the child and the moment you described, about how you viewed the Orthodox Church indicates a pattern of moving away from God - but if I were to taste that fruit "considering that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes and desirable, because it gives knowledge, and took of it and ate", then it means that that moment you described is the beginning of your moving away from communion with God.
Take your time, brother! I'd recommend getting familiar with the Roman Catholic Church first, and then you can explore other Christian denominations, including Orthodox Christianity. This will help you build a strong foundation and appreciate the unique aspects of each tradition. Going step-by-step will allow you to: Understand shared roots and similarities Gain foundational knowledge of Christian theology and scripture Make informed comparisons and decisions Remember, your spiritual journey is personal and precious. We all will be there to help you
If you're going in with the idea that you'll easily be able to snag a woman, you're sorely mistaken. Join if you want to know God. If you seriously don't care, then just go Mormon.
Your memory of the greek orthodox church is very cute, im happy youve been curious about it all dear brother. But if you still dont actually believe in God its kinda difficult to bring the more important topic of differences between catholics and orthodox. There the question lies in the theology, ecclesiology and so on. Of course its easier to stay catholic in your case but thats not the point of it all is it? Every christian is called to bear his cross - the hard path of changing to be like God and to love Him and there we must choose the wise path to struggle successfully. Christianity is about sacrifices for the sake of the love of God not about being easy and getting a spiritiual high every now and again. If you wish, go to a Russian Orthodox Church(no they arent secretly exclusive, they simply bring the russian ethos, the same way greeks would bring the greek ethos, because christianity has been with these people for literal centuries, its simply a culture attached to it all, because russians/greeks and so on are proud to be christian so they embrace a bit of cultural difference, not doctrinal) and ask for the faith. As for the belief in God, only God can let you believe so prayer for belief is all I can say(Mark chapter 9). God bless you brother (and yes that early childhood memory is absolutely a sign :DD). PS: As an orthodox christian, all I can say is that I would have not understood an ounce of orthodoxy if it was only through the internet, though there is a good channel named RootsOfOrthodoxy who recently talked about catholicism. Again God bless you!🫂
Thank you for this, that is a good point too about sacrifices for the love of God and not just an easy high. And good to know that early childhood memory might be a sign. I should check that channel out, thank you!
In my personal opinion, i would check out an orthodox church there a lot more welcoming in my opinions and experiences I'm of Africa heritage and I go to a Slavic style orthodox chruch chruch but I don't feel out of place when I walked in the first time I was an atheist I came from a Roman catholic family but was never brought up or baptized but I would attend the functions but it never clicked when I walked in the orthodox church in my town something clicked my heart said I'm home I have me alot of former Roman catholic people that converted and two former Roman catholic priest becomes orthodox ones a orthodox priest at an antiochian church and the other my bishop arch bishop Daniel of the OCA there actually a video on roots of orthodoxy a Roman catholic because an orthodox hiromonk a priest monk at a parish
Sure there are different patriarchies from different countries but they all teach the same. My recommendation just look what the church fathers wrote and also what was actually written in the nicean creed. They prove that orthodoxy didn’t change until now. And that’s our claim that the church didn’t change, didn’t add anything for about 2000 years. But at the end you must find it in your heart that you want to convert this isn’t a picnic it’s a way of life you can’t just believe in Jesus and go back to sinning you must go as much as you can the same way he did( theosis it’s also misrepresented as becoming god but this isn’t that just the way of living, actions) as I’ve said you must really be into it you can’t just try it out and hope it works you must believe that it is 100% the right path even if coming from another culture or even denomination. I hope this clarifies your belief of orthodoxy. God bless and may you(also everybody) find peace in your heart☦️
The orthodox churxh is the historical Catholic and Apostolic church, Rome broke apart from the rest of the patriarchates because they wanted the pope to have supremacy above other bishiops and even have the power to modify the decisions of ecumenical councils, like they did with the inclusion of the filoque clause to the nicene creed. Then many of the theological and ecclesiological issues that arose centuries later are the consequence of Rome innovating on its own, things like celibate priests, having to come up with the Limbo and Purgatory, making the Theotokos into a completely different creature (inmacculate conception) akin of Christ Himself, the development of nominalism which led to the so-called "enlightment" the reform and all the the mess we have in the west these days. Once you study the theology of the one true church and experience the grace you live in the liturgy, there is no going back, this is Christ's true church for sure.
Never convert if you don't believe in God! There is no point. Its probaply not even a valid conversion if you don't believe. Also you should never go to communion if you don't believe! Also if you meet a believing girl at a church and marry her it won't work out for you if it's all based ob a lie. And you will regret marrying her, because you have to keep pretending to believe. Pray to God to reveal himself to you. Pray that he makes you a believer and it might happen. As for the differences. The catholic church has a more western and more rationalistic-philosophical understanding of the faith (even if there are great mystics eg. read "ascend to mount carnel"). The orthodox church seems to have defined less things and there is more vagueness in the rules (eg. divorce, concept of grave sin, contraception etc.) This also means that the orthodox churches often don't have a singular position on one thing. On the internet you will often hear "just do what your priest says". Then there are political dependencies especially in the russian church, which is a huge problem because the church should defend the truth and not act political. And then there are historical arguments. The question about the apostle Peter whom Jesus gave the keys. And there are old church documents that point toward the papacy. Take your time and never rush anything. Best of luck to you!
Thanks for this information, I didn't know most of this! Most of what I know about Orthodox Christianity came from reading Russian literature - and I am interested in the vagueness of the rules for some reason.
I mean in Catholicism everything is pretty clear. There are authoritative churchdocuments on many things and a clear hierarchy that can clarify things. Also there is a very complex system of church law which could be seen as a succession of the roman law system. This is also what russian writers like Dostojewski criticize about catholicism.Orthodoxy has some binding documents like the ecumenical councils, but they didnt have any ecumenical councils since along time, because they cannot agree. This is why many things are just left for the local bishop ir priest to decide. Eg. some russian orthodox priests rebaptize converts. Some greek orthodox priests allow contraception some don't. This Leads to uncertainty but it also allows for a less legalistic view on salvation. Western Philosophy starting with Plato and Aristoteles likes to put everything into categories. The leading philosopher of the catholic church is St. Thomas aquinas who really took a lot of things from Aristoteles. And thats why in the catholic church we like to describe many things very detailed. Eg. there is a state of mortal sin in which you loose Gods grace and have to go to confession to regain it. In orthodoxy salvation is seen more like a process of becoming like God (theosis). Orthodox Christians dont divide sins into categories so for them you never know whether you are in a state of grace or not. Its just a process.
I mean in Catholicism everything is pretty clear. There are authoritative churchdocuments on many things and a clear hierarchy that can clarify things. Also there is a very complex system of church law which could be seen as a succession of the roman law system. This is also what russian writers like Dostojewski criticize about catholicism.Orthodoxy has some binding documents like the ecumenical councils, but they didnt have any ecumenical councils since along time, because they cannot agree. This is why many things are just left for the local bishop ir priest to decide. Eg. some russian orthodox priests rebaptize converts. Some greek orthodox priests allow contraception some don't. This Leads to uncertainty but it also allows for a less legalistic view on salvation. Western Philosophy starting with Plato and Aristoteles likes to put everything into categories. The leading philosopher of the catholic church is St. Thomas aquinas who really took a lot of things from Aristoteles. And thats why in the catholic church we like to describe many things very detailed. Eg. there is a state of mortal sin in which you loose Gods grace and have to go to confession to regain it. In orthodoxy salvation is seen more like a process of becoming like God (theosis). Orthodox Christians dont divide sins into categories so for them you never know whether you are in a state of grace or not. Its just a process.
I mean in Catholicism everything is pretty clear. There are authoritative churchdocuments on many things and a clear hierarchy that can clarify things. Also there is a very complex system of church law which could be seen as a succession of the roman law system. This is also what russian writers like Dostojewski criticize about catholicism.Orthodoxy has some binding documents like the ecumenical councils, but they didnt have any ecumenical councils since along time, because they cannot agree. This is why many things are just left for the local bishop ir priest to decide. Eg. some russian orthodox priests rebaptize converts. This Leads to uncertainty but it also allows for a less legalistic view on salvation. Western Philosophy starting with Plato and Aristoteles likes to put everything into categories. The leading philosopher of the catholic church is St. Thomas aquinas who really took a lot of things from Aristoteles. And thats why in the catholic church we like to describe many things very detailed. Eg. there is a state of mortal sin in which you loose Gods grace and have to go to confession to regain it. In orthodoxy salvation is seen more like a process of becoming like God (theosis). Orthodox Christians dont divide sins into categories so for them you never know whether you are in a state of grace or not. Its just a process.
It's important to note that no Christian who prays to the Saints actually considers it necromancy. The Saints in Heaven and more alive than us here on Earth. We are the dead ones, struggling to overcome our sin.
Thanks for the replies. By that logic, we shouldn’t seek the wisdom and guidance of our earthly leaders as they are “dead” as we are. But it’s not the spiritually dead that the necromancies inquire of, and that God prohibits - it is the physically dead. Can you provide any example in scripture where believers contacted the dead (other than Saul - which was clearly a transgression)? Finally, praying to anyone other than the Lord is ascribing His attribute of omnipresence to others. And without that ability, they are not hearing all Catholic/orthodox prayers being offered. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man.
Yes
I would note my friend that all Eastern Orthodox church denominations believe the same things, and that you can also find English or at least English speaking Orthodox churches in Australia. As a convert from the roman church myself I can say that the true unchanged Christianity is the truth that the Lord has allowed me to see by his grace. God bless you.
Very interesting, I wasn't sure about the language thing! And cool that you're a convert yourself!
@@thepetevonde God bless brother I would recommend reading Rock and Sand by Father Josiah Trenham I've heard that's a book that explains lots.
@@dombosel God bless and thank you for the recommendation!
As a zealous new convert I must say: do NOT convert on the basis of aesthetic preference or anything earthly. Concern yourself with the Truth alone and you will find your way home.
1. Orthodoxy is Orthodoxy. The deeper you get into it, you realize how little the ethnic delineations matter. There are some smaller "Orthodox" churches that aren't in communion with the "Eastern Orthodox" ones due to varying reasons, but all the mainline ones are compatible with one another. Some parishes do treat their parish as an ethnic enclave, but that is uncommon and not Orthodox. I am also an inquirer despite having zero ethnic ties to Orthodoxy. All of my heritage is western & northern European. It did take me a while to get over this, but what's important is the truth and what brings you closer to it. This is a complex topic, but just know God came to all of the nations, and that truth is preserved in ancient Christianity.
2. I'm a former atheist and lapsed protestant. I gave up my faith at a very young age. In my 30's I realized that there is a spiritual component to this reality, and it is very serious, and Christ was telling the truth. Orthodoxy treats it with the seriousness it deserves - the mystical element of spirituality is very much preserved in Orthodoxy. It is in Catholicism as well, but you have to look harder to find it, and by the time you're a traditional catholic you're one step from Orthodoxy anyways. You can probably find the truth in Protestantism, but good luck.
3. Yes, aesthetics are important in spirituality. The human heart yearns for perfection, so the more refined the aesthetics and practices are, the more satisfying it is to us. That is why ancient Christianity puts such an emphasis on art and architecture, it's not to hoodwink people as the cynic would say, it's to honor God and humble your ego before Him. For some people, including myself, humbling myself before infinity takes more than lime green carpet and a couple crosses on the walls.
4. To be frank, this is not a light spiritual practice. it is culturally different from what we're used to in the west, but still somewhat familiar. Orthodoxy is big on asceticism, but it's also big on not forcing you to do things you don't want to. Spiritual growth is at your own pace. Some people become baptized in a matter of months, others take years. I'm probably in the latter.
5. You mentioned you don't believe in God, but I have the sense from your other videos that you recognize there is more to reality than meets the eye. Your Buddhist video is interesting. I have looked into Buddhism quite a bit. In my experience, there's a lot of interplay between Buddhism and serious ascetic Christianity. Thomas Merton is an example of this. Where eastern religion/philosophy fail for me is they don't bring the universe together into a cohesive story. Everything is relative, and time is circular. Why not kill yourself tomorrow to avoid suffering, then, if the only point is to avoid suffering? The heat death of the universe is inevitable anyways, so eventually the people you make sad by ending it won't be around either. It's ultimately a pointless worldview, despite being very spiritually, emotionally and intellectually stimulating at times. The same can be said of the darker stuff like occultism/satanism. Buddhism is much more innocent than those, at least in practice. Everyone who has a positive ego death experience mentions an overwhelming sense of love, but I can't think of a more personal and relational thing than love: how can love just be if there's no source? Love, in the purest unconditional sense, is fully experienced through relationships with others. As a mother loves her son, as her son loves his pet kitten. This realization, among others, led me to God.
6. It sounds like you're grappling with the metaphysics of belief. These are hard things that no one can answer for you but yourself. Dip your toe in and check out a divine liturgy, chat with a priest. You may not be ready, but it wouldn't hurt. At the very least, it's an interesting cultural experience. Doing it for people/community will not be enough though, fair warning. People always disappoint. You need to be doing it for truth, first and foremost.
7. Catholicism is fine, but obviously as an Orthodox inquirer, I have my criticisms. Too much theological and historical baggage for me to commit myself to the Catholic church. The decentralized nature of Orthodoxy allows me to experience serious ancient mystical Christianity without having to deal with the baggage in Catholicism. For some, Catholicism is the right thing though, so I'd recommend checking it out, especially if you feel an ethnic/cultural pull. I'd wager most Orthodox would rather have someone become a devout and honest Catholic than trying to force themselves to be Orthodox for the wrong reasons.
8. Please be careful with new age stuff like wicca/satanism, even Hinduism. All this stuff is very real and spiritually perilous, many don't realize what they're doing when they get into it. Pragmatically, in my research, there is only one spiritual entity that truly wants the best for you and loves you unconditionally (and even demonstrated it by becoming flesh). If you have any questions, just reach out, you're at a good point in your life to start asking these questions.
Very true
Thank you for this comment, there is a lot here and I also appreciate you seeing some of my other videos. I think a lot of it is about metaphysics for me, maybe majoring in philosophy at university is part of this.
@@thepetevonde It's very difficult to intellectualize your way to God. Gnosis only gets you so far. I tried that, among other methods, and eventually it broke me, and only in that contrite state when I earnestly asked him for mercy and guidance did Christ step in. Sounds crazy I know, but only then did scripture start to sing, especially the new testament and Genesis. If truth is the most important thing to you, and you pursue it relentlessly, you will either end up in God's arms, or be swallowed by relativism. Know that your free will is respected and you are loved. Be careful what choice you make. Atheism is a dead end.
Short answer: Yes
Long Answer: Welcome to the One True Apostolic Church, and yes.
Orthodox Christianity is Truth, because it is Christ.
Short answer: yes
Long answer: Go to a church, speak to the priest, READ READ READ, PRAY PRAY PRAY for guidance! It is a very serious matter. Take time to let everything sink in, and if you wish, enter the catechumenate to learn more about the faith and to prepare yourself for it.
Hm yes I should, thank you
A lot of modern western christian denominations made great effort in the past few centuries to distance themselves from tradtion. However this has lead to a altering of worship and a very subjective Christianity. The apostolic churches are attractive they have not altered or altered far less than the modern ones and have reasons for their beliefs that dive far deeper than ones modernist understanding which is also attractive.
I converted to Orthodoxy myself and in my opinion western christianity is self defeating and will likely see a even larger wave of apostasy than what has already occured.
Take care.
Hello mate, I was raised Catholic, now Orthodox. The culture difference is not that big, I was looking into taoism at one point and that was definitely a big culture difference, but since you mentioned you're Australian, you'll generally run into 3 ethnic Orthodox groups- Greeks, Russians, and Serbians. Visit them and see which one you like. I'm from America, it's good that we have variety to choose. Personally I don't mind the culture difference so I attend a Greek convent 2 hours away from me despite having 2 local Orthodox churches that serve in English. What matters is that you connect to the parish your attending, if you get stuck at a bad parish there's a risk of becoming disillusioned towards the religion as a whole.
I did and my life has been transformed!
Hey brother, I'm a convert to Catholicism. Will pray for you as you discern this question. Also, the quality of your video is great - I've subscribed! Ave Maria
Ah thank you so much, very appreciated! Take care fellow Catholic!
All Orthodox church services are (mostly) the same, it doesn't matter about the ethnicity... It mostly relates to the language (and church calendar) used in the services when we say Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, etc., and where the Patriarch is based /to which jurisdiction the parish belongs administratively.
As someone who grew up in fundamentalist Protestantism and who later joined the Mormon religion, I left after 27 years as a convert. What I have discovered is the key to walking with Jesus and in fulfilling all that is written about you in your books in heaven (Haha no one ever taught me this. Look it up Psalm 139:16) is you must cultivate a personal relationship with Jesus. My biggest mistake was thinking I’m just a Christian knob, and I need all these learned Bible scholars to explain to me what the Bible means because I would read it and not understand it. No! The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will teach you ALL things [pertaining to your salvation and God’s will for your life]. I couldn’t understand the Bible because I was not born again. As soon as I was born again, I started reading the Bible and the Holy Spirit was pulling back layers of meaning and showing me deeper things. Things I had always had questions about suddenly became clear. Jesus said if you are lukewarm he will vomit you from his mouth. One is lukewarm if one is expecting other men to explain the most basic teachings of the Bible, IMHO. It’s also a form of idolatry.
So if you want to join any church, that is fine but leave it the minute they insist that you believe their man-made doctrine like praying to saints instead of praying directly to Jesus. You don’t need middle men. Satan became a middle man and that’s where the corruption started. Adam walked with God. Please turn yourself over to God and walk with him, and don’t let any man, theologian or not, teach you strange doctrines. Your membership in a church does not guarantee your salvation. I hope this helps you. Shalom.
That's an interesting idea really, the ideal of 'middle-men' and something I will reflect. on. Thank you.
@@thepetevonde You’re most welcome. God bless you. Thank you for reading my long post. I will pray for you. 🙏🏼♥️
Historically speaking, Orthodoxy is the truth.
Can you elaborate?
Let God enter your heart, but let him, seek truth, nothing else. Knock and it shall be opened! There is no Christianity without Christ (God). God bless you my brother, we will be praying for you. ☦☦🙏🙏
Thank you!
Bro.. the christian religion is not because of the art, the feeling or the vibe…
It's about Christ 🙏🏼
There is a very simple answer to this situation.
If you truly believe in the God of Christians and understand the distinction between your will and His Will and the fundamental implication of this distinction, in order to be as close as possible to His Will, you should consider that it cannot be a simple accident that you were baptized Catholic.
Hm thank you, that is true..
@@thepetevonde If you read Genesis from the perspective of adolescence, which is not exactly wrong because there is, implicit in the description, a degree of immaturity of Adam and Eve, for a child, the parents are one person
( And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created him.), they are the God of the child and the moment you described, about how you viewed the Orthodox Church indicates a pattern of moving away from God - but if I were to taste that fruit "considering that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes and desirable, because it gives knowledge, and took of it and ate", then it means that that moment you described is the beginning of your moving away from communion with God.
Orthodoxy is the fullness of the faith, it formed the bible, is pre denominational, the genuine truth seeker ends up here
Take your time, brother! I'd recommend getting familiar with the Roman Catholic Church first, and then you can explore other Christian denominations, including Orthodox Christianity. This will help you build a strong foundation and appreciate the unique aspects of each tradition.
Going step-by-step will allow you to:
Understand shared roots and similarities
Gain foundational knowledge of Christian theology and scripture
Make informed comparisons and decisions
Remember, your spiritual journey is personal and precious. We all will be there to help you
Thank you! This is good advice.
If you're going in with the idea that you'll easily be able to snag a woman, you're sorely mistaken. Join if you want to know God. If you seriously don't care, then just go Mormon.
Your memory of the greek orthodox church is very cute, im happy youve been curious about it all dear brother. But if you still dont actually believe in God its kinda difficult to bring the more important topic of differences between catholics and orthodox. There the question lies in the theology, ecclesiology and so on. Of course its easier to stay catholic in your case but thats not the point of it all is it? Every christian is called to bear his cross - the hard path of changing to be like God and to love Him and there we must choose the wise path to struggle successfully. Christianity is about sacrifices for the sake of the love of God not about being easy and getting a spiritiual high every now and again. If you wish, go to a Russian Orthodox Church(no they arent secretly exclusive, they simply bring the russian ethos, the same way greeks would bring the greek ethos, because christianity has been with these people for literal centuries, its simply a culture attached to it all, because russians/greeks and so on are proud to be christian so they embrace a bit of cultural difference, not doctrinal) and ask for the faith. As for the belief in God, only God can let you believe so prayer for belief is all I can say(Mark chapter 9). God bless you brother (and yes that early childhood memory is absolutely a sign :DD).
PS: As an orthodox christian, all I can say is that I would have not understood an ounce of orthodoxy if it was only through the internet, though there is a good channel named RootsOfOrthodoxy who recently talked about catholicism. Again God bless you!🫂
Thank you for this, that is a good point too about sacrifices for the love of God and not just an easy high. And good to know that early childhood memory might be a sign. I should check that channel out, thank you!
In my personal opinion, i would check out an orthodox church there a lot more welcoming in my opinions and experiences I'm of Africa heritage and I go to a Slavic style orthodox chruch chruch but I don't feel out of place when I walked in the first time I was an atheist I came from a Roman catholic family but was never brought up or baptized but I would attend the functions but it never clicked when I walked in the orthodox church in my town something clicked my heart said I'm home I have me alot of former Roman catholic people that converted and two former Roman catholic priest becomes orthodox ones a orthodox priest at an antiochian church and the other my bishop arch bishop Daniel of the OCA there actually a video on roots of orthodoxy a Roman catholic because an orthodox hiromonk a priest monk at a parish
Thanks for sharing your story, very interesting!
Sure there are different patriarchies from different countries but they all teach the same.
My recommendation just look what the church fathers wrote and also what was actually written in the nicean creed. They prove that orthodoxy didn’t change until now. And that’s our claim that the church didn’t change, didn’t add anything for about 2000 years.
But at the end you must find it in your heart that you want to convert this isn’t a picnic it’s a way of life you can’t just believe in Jesus and go back to sinning you must go as much as you can the same way he did( theosis it’s also misrepresented as becoming god but this isn’t that just the way of living, actions) as I’ve said you must really be into it you can’t just try it out and hope it works you must believe that it is 100% the right path even if coming from another culture or even denomination. I hope this clarifies your belief of orthodoxy.
God bless and may you(also everybody) find peace in your heart☦️
Well you look like Craig Truglia's brother so.....
Just kidding, you should remain Catholic
😂
I would never have noticed that if you hadn’t said it but you’re totally right 😂
The orthodox churxh is the historical Catholic and Apostolic church, Rome broke apart from the rest of the patriarchates because they wanted the pope to have supremacy above other bishiops and even have the power to modify the decisions of ecumenical councils, like they did with the inclusion of the filoque clause to the nicene creed. Then many of the theological and ecclesiological issues that arose centuries later are the consequence of Rome innovating on its own, things like celibate priests, having to come up with the Limbo and Purgatory, making the Theotokos into a completely different creature (inmacculate conception) akin of Christ Himself, the development of nominalism which led to the so-called "enlightment" the reform and all the the mess we have in the west these days. Once you study the theology of the one true church and experience the grace you live in the liturgy, there is no going back, this is Christ's true church for sure.
Thank you for this, gives me some actual directions to direct my research!
Never convert if you don't believe in God! There is no point. Its probaply not even a valid conversion if you don't believe. Also you should never go to communion if you don't believe! Also if you meet a believing girl at a church and marry her it won't work out for you if it's all based ob a lie. And you will regret marrying her, because you have to keep pretending to believe.
Pray to God to reveal himself to you. Pray that he makes you a believer and it might happen.
As for the differences. The catholic church has a more western and more rationalistic-philosophical understanding of the faith (even if there are great mystics eg. read "ascend to mount carnel"). The orthodox church seems to have defined less things and there is more vagueness in the rules (eg. divorce, concept of grave sin, contraception etc.) This also means that the orthodox churches often don't have a singular position on one thing. On the internet you will often hear "just do what your priest says". Then there are political dependencies especially in the russian church, which is a huge problem because the church should defend the truth and not act political.
And then there are historical arguments. The question about the apostle Peter whom Jesus gave the keys. And there are old church documents that point toward the papacy.
Take your time and never rush anything. Best of luck to you!
Thanks for this information, I didn't know most of this! Most of what I know about Orthodox Christianity came from reading Russian literature - and I am interested in the vagueness of the rules for some reason.
I mean in Catholicism everything is pretty clear. There are authoritative churchdocuments on many things and a clear hierarchy that can clarify things. Also there is a very complex system of church law which could be seen as a succession of the roman law system. This is also what russian writers like Dostojewski criticize about catholicism.Orthodoxy has some binding documents like the ecumenical councils, but they didnt have any ecumenical councils since along time, because they cannot agree. This is why many things are just left for the local bishop ir priest to decide. Eg. some russian orthodox priests rebaptize converts. Some greek orthodox priests allow contraception some don't. This Leads to uncertainty but it also allows for a less legalistic view on salvation.
Western Philosophy starting with Plato and Aristoteles likes to put everything into categories. The leading philosopher of the catholic church is St. Thomas aquinas who really took a lot of things from Aristoteles. And thats why in the catholic church we like to describe many things very detailed. Eg. there is a state of mortal sin in which you loose Gods grace and have to go to confession to regain it. In orthodoxy salvation is seen more like a process of becoming like God (theosis). Orthodox Christians dont divide sins into categories so for them you never know whether you are in a state of grace or not. Its just a process.
I mean in Catholicism everything is pretty clear. There are authoritative churchdocuments on many things and a clear hierarchy that can clarify things. Also there is a very complex system of church law which could be seen as a succession of the roman law system. This is also what russian writers like Dostojewski criticize about catholicism.Orthodoxy has some binding documents like the ecumenical councils, but they didnt have any ecumenical councils since along time, because they cannot agree. This is why many things are just left for the local bishop ir priest to decide. Eg. some russian orthodox priests rebaptize converts. Some greek orthodox priests allow contraception some don't. This Leads to uncertainty but it also allows for a less legalistic view on salvation.
Western Philosophy starting with Plato and Aristoteles likes to put everything into categories. The leading philosopher of the catholic church is St. Thomas aquinas who really took a lot of things from Aristoteles. And thats why in the catholic church we like to describe many things very detailed. Eg. there is a state of mortal sin in which you loose Gods grace and have to go to confession to regain it. In orthodoxy salvation is seen more like a process of becoming like God (theosis). Orthodox Christians dont divide sins into categories so for them you never know whether you are in a state of grace or not. Its just a process.
I mean in Catholicism everything is pretty clear. There are authoritative churchdocuments on many things and a clear hierarchy that can clarify things. Also there is a very complex system of church law which could be seen as a succession of the roman law system. This is also what russian writers like Dostojewski criticize about catholicism.Orthodoxy has some binding documents like the ecumenical councils, but they didnt have any ecumenical councils since along time, because they cannot agree. This is why many things are just left for the local bishop ir priest to decide. Eg. some russian orthodox priests rebaptize converts. This Leads to uncertainty but it also allows for a less legalistic view on salvation.
Western Philosophy starting with Plato and Aristoteles likes to put everything into categories. The leading philosopher of the catholic church is St. Thomas aquinas who really took a lot of things from Aristoteles. And thats why in the catholic church we like to describe many things very detailed. Eg. there is a state of mortal sin in which you loose Gods grace and have to go to confession to regain it. In orthodoxy salvation is seen more like a process of becoming like God (theosis). Orthodox Christians dont divide sins into categories so for them you never know whether you are in a state of grace or not. Its just a process.
As a convert to orthodoxy, your points, here are very superficial and under informed
Elaborate
That's fair
Why go to a church if you do not believe in God?
I guess I'm conflicted by the idea and definition, and how God connects to which church.
No been there , Division and Ethnically Locked. No find a Romanian or Russian Pentecostal Church and Ask for the True Faith!!
I can’t get past the necromancy (praying to the saints).
How is it necromancy if one asks for the prayers of those who are more alive than we are?
It's important to note that no Christian who prays to the Saints actually considers it necromancy. The Saints in Heaven and more alive than us here on Earth. We are the dead ones, struggling to overcome our sin.
Thanks for the replies.
By that logic, we shouldn’t seek the wisdom and guidance of our earthly leaders as they are “dead” as we are. But it’s not the spiritually dead that the necromancies inquire of, and that God prohibits - it is the physically dead.
Can you provide any example in scripture where believers contacted the dead (other than Saul - which was clearly a transgression)?
Finally, praying to anyone other than the Lord is ascribing His attribute of omnipresence to others. And without that ability, they are not hearing all Catholic/orthodox prayers being offered. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man.
Yes