Are you looking for a big booming parish with beautiful facilities and dynamic outreach programs? Or, for a church that “meets my needs” or one that is “compatible with my lifestyle”? Do you think that God wants us to be happy because we are his children? That He wants us to have that nice car, the best house in the neighborhood, and a high paying job? Do you think that if someone is not living a life of materialistic wealth, then there is probably something wrong with them or their faith? If so, then, perhaps, Orthodoxy is not for you. Orthodoxy means “right belief” and her claims to be the true Church is the simple fact that She has faithfully confessed for 2000 years the true God and worships Him in spirit and in truth. The Orthodox Church does not imitate the Church of the New Testament, it is the Church of the New Testament. It is the original Christian community.
God doesn’t promise that Christians will receive “overabundance to our finances” and similarly, He never promises He will heal them when they are sick. Christians have not been persecuted for thousands of years because they told people, “God just wants you to be happy.” The Christian message has always been counter-cultural and opposed to the ways of this world, which is not to say that God wants a bunch of unhappy children, but it is to say Christianity teaches us that the way to God is the road of suffering.
If you want to know what following the will of God looks like in practice, look at Jesus, who was brutally tortured and murdered on the cross for our sins. Look at all the apostles and martyrs who died on account of proclaiming the Gospel.
These people didn’t receive back what they lost in earthly prizes or see their bank accounts increase. They sacrificed their lives for the sake of God’s true word in order to receive the gift of heaven. The popular idea of “Prosperity theology” (ofen referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, or seed faith), is based on the lie that you can get everything you want from the world by following God.
Most of the time, when people talk about being “saved,” they only have in mind whether they will go to Heaven when they die. But salvation in Christ is much more. Because of Who Jesus Christ is, both God and man, He made possible the way for us to become like He is (Eph. 4:13; 1 Jn. 3:2). We can become by His grace what He Himself is by nature. That is, we can become human beings filled up with the divine presence. We who are made in God’s image can also take on His likeness, showing the presence of God to the whole world in our own presence.
This process requires participation in the life of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:18), repenting of sins (turning around and changing one’s life), being baptized into His death and resurrection (Col. 2:12), followed by being anointed with the gift of the Holy Spirit (chrismation/confirmation, Acts 2:38), and then partaking of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist (Jn. 6:53-56). This lifelong, sacramental, mystical experience of God Himself gradually changes flawed human beings into grace-filled, divinized sons and daughters of God.
Salvation involves a lifetime of struggle against our sinful tendencies, a serious dedication to put away the “old man” and to put on the “new” (2 Cor. 5:17). In doing so, sinners gradually transform into saints, the high calling of every man, woman and child on Earth.
When Jesus came to Earth, He founded a living community to be His Body of which He is the Head. This community, called the Church, began on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem with the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The Apostles traveled extensively throughout the empire, establishing communities in major cities and regions, with the first community appearing in Jerusalem, followed by communities in Antioch, Ethiopia and others. Early growth also occurred in the two political centers of Rome and Greece, as well as in Constantinople. Orthodoxy believes in the apostolic succession that they believe was established by the Apostles in the New Testament; this played a key role in the communities' view of itself as the preserver of the original Christian tradition. Historically the word "church" did not mean a building or housing structure (for which Greek-speakers might have used the word "basilica") but meant a community or gathering of like peoples. The earliest Ecclesiology would posit that the Eucharistic assembly, under the authority and permission of a Bishop, is what constitutes a Church. As St. Ignatius of Antioch said, "Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast."
The original church or communities before the Great Schism were:
There were also strict qualifications of those who were to be ordained as ministers of the church. They had to be temperate, have only one wife, be sensible, dignified in their behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not heavy drinkers, gentle, not greedy, not quarrelsome, able to run his own household well and well thought of by outsiders. He was not to be quick tempered, self-controlled, seen as God’s steward and have a firm hold on God’s word. They were instructed to watch over the flock as good shepherds acting as caretakers of souls being impartial to teach them and show all the way of sound doctrine.
The Church was seen as a local community. A community of believers who had to work together and learn to love one another. They were close knit groups who regularly came together to participate in the eucharist. Their purpose was worship and to support each other in living in the example of Christ. It was a local church, yet it was always the fulness of the Church. Each gathering was a gathering of the whole Church.
The Church is universal with one Episcopate. There are many churches, but only one Church. It is never divided. There May be many bishops, but again there is only one episcopate. In the Orthodox Church today there are bishops, presbyters, deacons and the lay persons of the congregation. The organization is the same as it was established by the Apostles.
Orthodoxy is the mystical "Body of Christ," the Head of which is Christ Himself (see Eph. 1:22-23 and Col. 1:18, 24 et seq.), and its composition includes not only priests but all who truly believe in Christ, who have entered into the Church He founded, those living upon the earth and those who have died in the Faith and in piety."
God doesn’t promise that Christians will receive “overabundance to our finances” and similarly, He never promises He will heal them when they are sick. Christians have not been persecuted for thousands of years because they told people, “God just wants you to be happy.” The Christian message has always been counter-cultural and opposed to the ways of this world, which is not to say that God wants a bunch of unhappy children, but it is to say Christianity teaches us that the way to God is the road of suffering.
If you want to know what following the will of God looks like in practice, look at Jesus, who was brutally tortured and murdered on the cross for our sins. Look at all the apostles and martyrs who died on account of proclaiming the Gospel.
These people didn’t receive back what they lost in earthly prizes or see their bank accounts increase. They sacrificed their lives for the sake of God’s true word in order to receive the gift of heaven. The popular idea of “Prosperity theology” (ofen referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, or seed faith), is based on the lie that you can get everything you want from the world by following God.
Most of the time, when people talk about being “saved,” they only have in mind whether they will go to Heaven when they die. But salvation in Christ is much more. Because of Who Jesus Christ is, both God and man, He made possible the way for us to become like He is (Eph. 4:13; 1 Jn. 3:2). We can become by His grace what He Himself is by nature. That is, we can become human beings filled up with the divine presence. We who are made in God’s image can also take on His likeness, showing the presence of God to the whole world in our own presence.
This process requires participation in the life of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:18), repenting of sins (turning around and changing one’s life), being baptized into His death and resurrection (Col. 2:12), followed by being anointed with the gift of the Holy Spirit (chrismation/confirmation, Acts 2:38), and then partaking of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist (Jn. 6:53-56). This lifelong, sacramental, mystical experience of God Himself gradually changes flawed human beings into grace-filled, divinized sons and daughters of God.
Salvation involves a lifetime of struggle against our sinful tendencies, a serious dedication to put away the “old man” and to put on the “new” (2 Cor. 5:17). In doing so, sinners gradually transform into saints, the high calling of every man, woman and child on Earth.
When Jesus came to Earth, He founded a living community to be His Body of which He is the Head. This community, called the Church, began on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem with the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The Apostles traveled extensively throughout the empire, establishing communities in major cities and regions, with the first community appearing in Jerusalem, followed by communities in Antioch, Ethiopia and others. Early growth also occurred in the two political centers of Rome and Greece, as well as in Constantinople. Orthodoxy believes in the apostolic succession that they believe was established by the Apostles in the New Testament; this played a key role in the communities' view of itself as the preserver of the original Christian tradition. Historically the word "church" did not mean a building or housing structure (for which Greek-speakers might have used the word "basilica") but meant a community or gathering of like peoples. The earliest Ecclesiology would posit that the Eucharistic assembly, under the authority and permission of a Bishop, is what constitutes a Church. As St. Ignatius of Antioch said, "Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast."
The original church or communities before the Great Schism were:
- the Greek churches founded by Saint Paul
- the Antiochian and Asia Minor churches founded by Saint Peter
- the Coptic (or Egyptian) churches founded by Saint Mark
- the Syriac churches in Upper Mesopotamia
- the Georgian church founded by Saint Andrew and Saint Nino
- the Armenian church founded by Saint Jude and Saint Bartholomew
- the church of Jerusalem, founded by Saint James, as well as the churches of Samaria and Judea, together comprising "the Holy Land".
- The church of Rome by tradition founded by both Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
There were also strict qualifications of those who were to be ordained as ministers of the church. They had to be temperate, have only one wife, be sensible, dignified in their behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not heavy drinkers, gentle, not greedy, not quarrelsome, able to run his own household well and well thought of by outsiders. He was not to be quick tempered, self-controlled, seen as God’s steward and have a firm hold on God’s word. They were instructed to watch over the flock as good shepherds acting as caretakers of souls being impartial to teach them and show all the way of sound doctrine.
The Church was seen as a local community. A community of believers who had to work together and learn to love one another. They were close knit groups who regularly came together to participate in the eucharist. Their purpose was worship and to support each other in living in the example of Christ. It was a local church, yet it was always the fulness of the Church. Each gathering was a gathering of the whole Church.
The Church is universal with one Episcopate. There are many churches, but only one Church. It is never divided. There May be many bishops, but again there is only one episcopate. In the Orthodox Church today there are bishops, presbyters, deacons and the lay persons of the congregation. The organization is the same as it was established by the Apostles.
Orthodoxy is the mystical "Body of Christ," the Head of which is Christ Himself (see Eph. 1:22-23 and Col. 1:18, 24 et seq.), and its composition includes not only priests but all who truly believe in Christ, who have entered into the Church He founded, those living upon the earth and those who have died in the Faith and in piety."