C 2

C asked me for more information about Orthodox Christianity.

Glory to Christ!
Glory Forever!

Dear C.,

With 2,000 year of history we have a lot of information. I hardly know where to start. I suppose, since you said you want a deeper walk with God, the best thing to do would be to buy a copy of the "Pocket Prayer Book" and begin ding the Morning and Evening prayers. (You might also want to get an Icon of Jesus and face it during the prayers.) This is the elementary practice of all Orthodox Christians. See how it goes.

You can get the "Pocket Prayer Book" and an Icon at: http://www.conciliarpress.com/

They also have lots and lots of books written by and for adult converts. But remember, Ortho-doxy isn't possible apart from Ortho-praxis. I recommend that you do the short morning and evening prayer services.

Let me know how it goes.

In Christ,

Matthew

C 1

Out of the blue I got an email from a man at Christ for the Nations. He found something I wrote about F.F. Bruce being instrumental in my conversion to Orthodoxy and wrote to me to find out more. I won't name him, or even put his questions here, but I will post some of my answers to his questions. I will label these blog entries "C".

Glory to Christ!
Glory Forever!

C., in reading F.F. Bruce's book, "the Canon" I first realized that there was a time when the Church didn't have a New Testament, and centuries went by before there was agreement on what books are canonical, or even if we should have a New Testament at all. In short, without his meaning to, F.F. Bruce convinced me that the Church decides which writing are Scripture, that is the Church is prior to, above, and produces Holy Scripture, not the other way around.

I understand what you mean about seeking more reverent worship. I am the son and grandson of Pentecostal preachers. I visited Christ for the Nations with my parents in 1977, when I was a child.

Everyone in Orthodoxy will rejoice when you become Orthodox (and you probably will. Few begin the journey from Pentecostalism to Orthodoxy without completing it.) but you should be prepared to lose a lot of your Protestant friends. They will think you have become a heretic or a legalist. Some will think you are not even a Christian anymore. Without becoming angry or feeling abandoned you will need to count it as part of the cost of following Jesus.

I don't know anything about you, but if I may make one more recommendation, follow the advice of one of our foremost priests (in fact, he has been given the title "protpresbyter" by the bishops) Thomas Hopko. He recommends that people who want to know about Orthodoxy not attend the Divine Liturgy on Sundays. Rather, go to Vespers or Vigil services on Saturday nights. Attending the Divine Liturgy can be confusing and overwhelming, since it is really the fulfillment of the service on Saturday night. Also, more than half the Divine Liturgy is for people who are already Orthodox. You're not going to get much out of it. Stick to the Saturday night services for a while.

In Christ,

Matthew