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Why leave a successful Protestant Church in order to become an Orthodox Christian? This is a brief introduction to the Orthodox Church. It provides answers to the typical questions that confront Protestants when they first encounter Orthodoxy.
Having come to Orthodoxy from the Evangelical and Charismatic traditions, the author discovers that the rich heritage of the early, apostolic Church exists today in its original, pristine form in the Orthodox Church. He writes about the journey that brought him to Orthodoxy. His chapters on the true Church, Worship, Mary, the Saints, Spirituality, the Eucharist, Scripture and Tradition, etc., capture insights that provide a powerful response to Evangelical claims.4th printing.
The Orthodox Church is one of the three major branches of Christianity. There are over 300 million adherents throughout the world. The Orthodox Church is a fellowship of independent churches, which split form the Roman Church over the question of papal supremacy in 1054. The Orthodox adherents include people in: Greece, Georgia, Russia, and Serbia. There are an estimated one million members in the United States. This Advanced book explains the basic principles of Orthodox Christianity and describes in detail the holidays observed by the Orthodox Church. In addition, relevant book literature is presented in bibliographic form with easy access provided by title, subject and author indexes.
Although there are over 200 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, 4 million of whom live in the United States, their history, beliefs, and practices are unfamiliar to most Americans. This book outlines the evolution of Orthodox Christian dogma, which emerged for the first time in 33 A.D., before shifting its focus to American Orthodoxy--a tradition that traces its origins back to the first Greek and Russian immigrants in the 1700s. The narrative follows the momentous events and notable individuals in the history of the Orthodox dioceses in the U.S., including Archbishop Iakovos' march for civil rights alongside Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Orthodox missionaries' active opposition to the mistreatment of native Inuit in Alaska, the quest for Orthodox unity in America, the massive influx of converts since the 1960s, and the often strained relationship between American Orthodox groups and the mother churches on the other side of the Atlantic. Erickson explains the huge impact Orthodox Christianity has had on the history of immigration, and how the religion has changed as a result of the American experience. Lively, engaging, and thoroughly researched, the book unveils an insightful portrait of an ancient faith in a new world.
Perceiving a disconnect between their Protestant tradition and ancient Christianity, younger generations are abandoning evangelicalism for traditions that appear more rooted in the early church. Surveying five centuries church history, Ken Stewart argues for the rich Protestant connections to the Reformation and early Christianity.
In this sweeping history, Alexander Kitroeff shows how the Greek Orthodox Church in America has functioned as much more than a religious institution, becoming the focal point in the lives of the country's million-plus Greek immigrants and their descendants. Assuming the responsibility of running Greek-language schools and encouraging local parishes to engage in cultural and social activities, the church became the most important Greek American institution and shaped the identity of Greeks in the United States. Kitroeff digs into these traditional activities, highlighting the American church's dependency on the "mother church," the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the use of Greek language in the Sunday liturgy. Today, as this rich biography of the church shows us, Greek Orthodoxy remains in between the Old World and the New, both Greek and American.
Over the last century unprecedented numbers of Christians from traditionally Orthodox societies migrated around the world. Once seen as an ‘oriental’ or ‘eastern’ phenomenon, Orthodox Christianity is now much more widely dispersed, and in many parts of the modern world one need not go far to find an Orthodox community at worship. This collection offers a compelling overview of the Orthodox world, covering the main regional traditions of Orthodox Christianity and the ways in which they have become global. The contributors are drawn from the Orthodox community worldwide and explore a rich selection of key figures and themes. The book provides an innovative and illuminating approach to the subject, ideal for students and scholars alike.
From the time you were in your childhood, did you begin to wonder what the meaning is of your Orthodox Christian beliefs? Especially, what the significance is of the prayers, hymns, the Epistle and Gospel readings, and communion during the Divine Liturgy? As you get older you may read books about the Orthodox Christian Church, attend religious education workshops and seminars, and look at video tapes; and start to compile the answers to the questions you had. This book helps you to better understand the doctrines, beliefs, the Holy Traditions, the faith, sacraments, and worship of the church. Also in this book, you comprehend a very important aspect as to how the Christian religion got started, and the connection of the Orthodox Christian Church to our Lord Jesus Christ, His apostles, the early church fathers, and the Seven Ecumenical Councils. This puts you on a path where you regularly attend, participate in, and better understand the Divine Liturgy. You learn that the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Christian Church has remained the same for more than 1500 years. You begin to understand that the Orthodox Christian Church is the true path to Jesus. When you begin to read the Holy Bible daily, you learn about the ministry of Christ and how to better live our lives. We should regularly say our daily morning prayers and nightly prayers, and our special prayers when needed. The fruit of prayer is inner peace, healing power, the Holy Spirit, union with God, and love. If we still have doubts in our minds about the existence of a mighty power, our God, then all we have to do is to look all around us. Everything is arranged in an orderly manner, and there is a grand purpose in every aspect of the human, animal, and plant kigndoms - and the planet earth within an infinite universe. The evidence that is presented in this book truly confirms that God is with us and all around us.
Orthodox Christianity at the Crossroad: A Great Council of the Church When and Why The purpose of publishing the papers presented at the Twentieth Annual Meeting of Orthodox Christian Laity is to improve lay and clergy literacy on the conference topic of The Need for a Great and Holy Council. The papers are presented with the hope that the information will motivate the faithful to participate in the conciliar decision-making process that moves the Church forward on the issue of developing the council or another appropriate meeting. The forces, factors, and history that inhibit calling a council are presented in these papers. The hope of what can be accomplished when brothers work in synergy with each other and the Holy Spirit is also evident. The renewal of Orthodox Christianity and the renewal of its witness in the contemporary world of global religious pluralism depend on such a meeting. The calling of a council free of worldly, political, power, turf, ego and ethnic considerations will renew the Living Tradition of Orthodoxy, which is its Apostolic calling. The world is looking for this Living Tradition, which cannot be well-expressed by a fragmented Orthodox Church. A council is a step toward renewing the Church and making it whole in order to teach this Living Tradition. It is interesting to noteas this collection of papers points outthat the children of Orthodox Christians living in America have come together as Americans, in order to remain Orthodox, through campus ministry programs that they are developing. The young adults are leading the way to Orthodox unity. Is it not time for the Church elders, the hierarchs, the clergy, and the faithful to look at the example of unity that the youth are providing and move ahead to do what is necessary to renew the Church through this conciliar council? ABOUT THE EDITOR George E. Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity since 2000, recently published A Church in Captivity, The Greek Orthodox Church of America. He co-authored and edited Project for Orthodox Renewal and continues to publish articles in various journals, newspapers and local history publications. He is an active member of his church and community. Mission of OCL Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) is a national, voluntary movement dedicated to syndiaconia (co-ministry) of clergy and laity who are concerned with the spiritual renewal, accountability, and transparency in Church governance. OCL encourages the laity to exercise its legitimate responsibilities as part of the conciliar governance process. OCL advocates the establishment of an administratively and canonically UNIFIED SELF - GOVERNING Orthodox Church in North America, which is in keeping with the theology and tradition in fulfilling its Apostolic mission.
Based on the acclaimed two-volume Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Wiley Blackwell, 2011), and now available for students, faculty, and clergy in a concise single-volume format An outstanding reference work providing an accessible English language account of the key historical, liturgical, doctrinal features of Eastern Orthodoxy, including the Non-Chalcedonian churches Explores the major traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy in detail, including the Armenian, Byzantine, Coptic, Ethiopic, Slavic, Romanian, Syriac churches Uniquely comprehensive, it is edited by one of the leading scholars in the field and provides authoritative articles by a team of leading international academics and Orthodox figures Spans the period from Late Antiquity to the present, encompassing subjects including history, theology, liturgy, monasticism, sacramentology, canon law, philosophy, folk culture, architecture, archaeology, martyrology, and hagiography Structured alphabetically and is topically cross-indexed, with entries ranging from 100 to 6,000 words