Are you a Baptist?
If the answer is "No", click here.
Otherwise, keep reading...
What is the difference between Baptist and Orthodox
Christianity?
Orthodoxy Is Corporate / Theocentric
The focus of Orthodox worship is not on the personality of the
priest, nor is it focused on meeting the needs of individuals, or on
contrived emotional experiences -- the focus is on God. In many
Baptist churches, the church rises or falls on the personality of
the minister -- but from an Orthodox perspective one need not even
like the priest personally, and he can still worship in that parish,
because we are there to worship God, not to hear a good and stirring
sermon. It is certainly a nice touch to have a priest with a good
personality and who can give a good sermon -- but that is icing on
the cake, not the cake itself.
The Church is not the sum total of individuals who are
Christians, it is a community. Christ came to build His Church, not
to establish a school of thought, or to save individuals apart from
a community. This does not negate individual responsibility -- the
Orthodox Church firmly believes that you can go to hell all by
yourself, if you want to, without any help from anyone else -- but
if you want to be saved, the Scripture is clear... you need the
Church.
Orthodoxy Is Unchanging
Rather than the Baptist's desire to be relevant, and their
valuing of innovation. In the Orthodox Church, we view innovation as
the mark of heresy. St. Jude says that the Faith was once delivered
unto the saints -- we can expect no new revelation until the second
coming.
We are taught that it is our duty to live and pass on the
Orthodox Faith in its purity -- just as we have received it without
changing it either by adding to it, or taking from it. We Orthodox
have no need to be relevant to the Modernist spirit -- because we
have seen heresies come and go. Long after Modernism has been
completely discredited and is a faint memory -- the Orthodox Faith
will still be standing. Rather than trying to hitch our wagon to the
latest fad (such as the "seeker friendly" model) we hold fast to the
Traditions we have received from the Apostles, just as we have
received them.
ORTHODOXY IS HUMBLE
Because Orthodoxy is not individualistic, we are taught to humbly
listen to the teachings of the Fathers of the Church. We are taught
not to think ourselves more holy or clever than the Fathers of the
Church who have clearly shown themselves to be doers of the Word,
and men of holiness -- and so when we read the Bible, we read it in
accordance with the testimony of the Church rather than in the
vanity of our individualistic minds.
This is not a false humility, but is simply a realistic
assessment of things. When there are 30,000 denominations that all
claim to believe the Bible, but which cannot agree on what it is
that the Bible says -- it is humility that is realistic, and
arrogance that is fanciful. Obviously they cannot all be right, and
so humility with regard to one's own interpretations of the
Scriptures is the only reasonable approach to the subject.
This is not to say that all Orthodox Christians are truly humble,
or that all Baptists are arrogant themselves and lack humility.
But the Orthodox approach to theology and spirituality is the true
path of humility and repentance.
Maximalism / Full Worldview
Rather than the minimalism of Baptistism, which asks questions
like "What must I do in order to be saved? and What is the minimum
requirements to be a Christian?" The Orthodox ask what is the most I
can do as a Christian? Orthodox Christianity is not an event but
rather a way of life.
We invite you to learn more about the Original Church. With the
authority of the Bible, and the authenticity of Apostolic succession
behind her, we invite you to COME HOME to the One, Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church.
(click HERE for more information) |
