The Eastern & Greek Orthodox Church

[Constantine I]

I know more about the Roman Catholic Church, but what are your opinions on the Greek Orthodox Church? What things do they have right, and have wrong? Is their theology more correct than the Catholic's?

Just curious, I've heard it's quite similar to Catholicism, but it split away from that church in the early middle ages. Beyond this, I don't know too much about them.

[iSong6:3]

I thought this article was kind of interesting - and short. :) It shows how nebulous some of the beliefs are and why, and compares Eastern Orthodoxy to the Western Church - Protestants and Catholics. There are links to more info also -

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/denominations/orthodoxy.htm

A few brief things - They don't seem to have a clear idea or doctrine about salvation - their idea of man's *sinfulness* is different than most of the West's *total depravity*, don't emphasize individual reliance on the Bible, they pray to Mary and the saints, practice infant baptism and chrismation, believe in some mystical way the Lord's Supper is the literal body and blood of Jesus, etc.

On the other hand, they don't believe in the infallibility or office of the Pope.
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I'm interested to see what Buzzardhut says!... :wave

[goldengreek]

I was born a greek orthodox. I was baptized in the church. I left the church and became a Baptist when I was seventeen. The reason I left is not that I felt that they weren't christians, the church I went to was very materialistic. I know they believe that they were the first church and the catholics broke away from them. They do not think the pope is infallible. In fact they don't believe any man is infalliable. They don't worship Mary, say the rosary or believe in purgatory. They do believe in a lot of rituals which I don't think are necessary. They use the king james bible. In fact my dad used to read the bible every night. I think their are christians in the orthodox church, but the church makes it hard for them because of the dependence on rituals. One thing about the Greek orthodox church is that they are very clannish. When I was growing up if you weren't full blooded greek you weren't accepted. They would call people who married non greeks as mixed marriages.

[Berean Girl]

There may be some who have been saved in all denominations in spite of their beliefs and lack of the born-again Gospel, same with this denomination.

They are very similar to catholicism except they follow a different calendar and have similar rituals and similar hierarchy, but they are not evangelical in the sense of being born-again.

It's based on traditions and such, I know this because someone who works with me is Greek Orthodox and he is most definitely not a born-again Christian.

[Zaphnathpaaneah]

They do believe in a lot of rituals which I don't think are necessary. ........ I think their are christians in the orthodox church, but the church makes it hard for them because of the dependence on rituals. .

St. Catherine's in the middle of the Sinai is a monastery run by the Greek Orthodox church. They do a ritual similar to a mass at prescribed times day and night as they've done since about the 6th century or so. I think that adds up to a few million times it's been done without fail over a thousand years.

I know they don't believe Israel has any right to the land.

This isn't what you would call a "born again" congregation.

[iSong6:3]

goldengreek - Are your family Christians who really know Jesus? How did they react to your becoming a Baptist? I know the Greek Orthodox church doesn't take many of the end-times prophecies literally, did you learn about them from your current church? I'm very interested in this.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like. :)

And Welcome to RR!!

[Constantine I]

goldengreek - Are your family Christians who really know Jesus? How did they react to your becoming a Baptist? I know the Greek Orthodox church doesn't take many of the end-times prophecies literally, did you learn about them from your current church? I'm very interested in this.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like. :)

And Welcome to RR!!

Yes I'd like to know those things too. Welcome to Rapture Ready, GoldenGreek! (sorry, I like to capitalize names)

[Tall Timbers]

I don't know anything about the Greek Orthodox church even though I attended a couple of services in a town just south of Athens. Because I didn't speak the language and because the service was so foreign to anything I'd ever experienced, I was clueless. It was a very ornate church and there were little rooms that the presider occasionally entered for a while and then came out of. It was interesting, to say the least. There is an orthodox church about a 1/4 mile from my home, and I live out in the sticks... never been to that one, though.

[Constantine I]

I do have another question, what of the Ethiopian Coptic Church? Are they considered a part of the "Orthodox" branch of churches? The Coptic Church is probably one of the oldest churches I've heard, with Christianity being introduced in Ethipia not too long after the life of Jesus Christ.

Have the Coptics strayed from the original teachings, or do they have it mostly correct?

[Metania1]

I don't know anything about the Greek Orthodox church even though I attended a couple of services in a town just south of Athens. Because I didn't speak the language and because the service was so foreign to anything I'd ever experienced, I was clueless. It was a very ornate church and there were little rooms that the presider occasionally entered for a while and then came out of. It was interesting, to say the least. There is an orthodox church about a 1/4 mile from my home, and I live out in the sticks... never been to that one, though.

I grew up in and attended a Greek Orthodox church for most of my life. One of the biggest turn offs is the fact that the service is, for the most part, done in the native language of the particular nationality that makes up the church. The reason for this is because many emmigrated to the U.S. and really saw no reason to conform and do the services in English. You might find some churches which try to implement English within the service, but that will depend upon the make up of the church. Primarily, if the church is of an older generation crowd, then you are going to have the experience that you did. That might work just fine if you are living in Greece, but it won't fly here in America. It did not happen to be an Easter service was it? :)