So in a practical sense, if I leave Rome and head towards Greece, what will I find? But there is only one absolute truth. Yeah. Should I join Orthodox or Catholic? : r/Catholicism - Reddit What steps would I take to become an Orthodox Christian? I have to be able to guide them and shepherd my family and tell them, This is the church that Christ established. So ultimately we might not necessarily have the luxury of waiting 10 years. Cy Kellett: Your relationship with God is the most important thing. I dont know if its going to be this decade, this year. I believe that Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy incorporate works with grace and distort the true gospel as a result. Hello, and welcome to Focus, the Catholic Answers podcast for living, understanding and defending your Catholic faith. Im not saying that but what I am saying is, it is a step away from the perfect community that Christ established for us. The absence of a pope has led to a kind of magisterial paralysis on the part of the Orthodox, and this concerned me very much as I recognized the need for Christs Church to have a functioning teaching authority capable of settling new theological controversies. Now, theres so there is making it closer, but I dont think its going to happen in our lifetime. And, again, I dont say that gleefully. However, both churches have significant differences with each other and even greater differences with evangelical churches. Or scripture? The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and rests on the Son. One washes the dishes, one dries, one puts them away, one sweeps, one does the counter, right? Yeah, theres a major division right now taking place between the Russian Orthodox Church and especially the Patriarch of Constantinople although its now spilled over into issues involving the Alexandrian patriarch hit. Theres plenty of reasons to leave, there always will be, but now they seem particularly a cute doesnt mean its time to leave. Michael Lofton of the Reason and Theology podcast shares his experience of leaving Catholicism for Orthodoxy and eventually returning. When comparing modern Orthodoxy and Catholicism, Orthodoxy has a much better claim to keeping the liturgical tradition of the early Church. Church A is the true Church of Christ despite being a small, ethnically limited, and internally fractured communion that does not possess the admittedly divine institution of the papacy, while church B is a schismatic church despite it being far larger, having evangelized far more cultures, not having internal full communion problems, and having the institution of the papacy. If you think contraception is wrong, then don't use it. Stay away from thinking that one is true and the others are false. Originally, it embraced only one. No, the Ecumenical Councils devloped those things which could be developed (and needed to be because of arising heresies) when judged against the canon of the Faith. I would like to share with you a brief letter that was published some time ago in an Italian Orthodox parish newsletter. Apologist Michael Lofton, thanks for being with us. I think it makes it worse. Where do you go? if the Pope is not the infallible head when speaking ex cathedra concerning doctrine and morals, RC believe crumbles. I couldnt decide on the one, true faith based on which churches are in the local yellow pages. Living in the deep south of the United States, I can see on a practical level, you leave to become Methodist. Church Unity. I encourage it. Catholic Answers played a pretty crucial role in my conversion back in 2012. Christ himself gave the Apostles the power of communicating the gifts necessary for the life of the Church. Archived post. Compared to other religions, cults, and heretical offshoots of ChristianityCatholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants have much more in common than we do not. (2) Resolve each dispute on your own. Within Catholicism, it feels like most of my peers' faith revolves around fear of Hell moreso than anything positive. It kind of reminds me of this, my children, every night, I have them clean the kitchen. What ends up happening is, more often than not, you end up getting converted to whatever they are. Contact | Who do you talk to? The Head of the Church. It doesnt matter if the wordpurgatoryis used to describe a particular post-death reality or if precisely the same image is used to allow us to imagine it. In fact, though, if you go to Orthodoxy, its actually pretty prevalent to find Orthodox clergy and bishops promoting a form of universalism that ultimately everybody is going to be reconciled to Christ. Within the Orthodox church, is there more of an emphasis on worshipping God out of love/reverence, rather than fear? What you do with your life that glorifies Him is what you should focus on. Obviously, I am asking in a biased place but why should I become a catholic and not an orthodox? how so? Twitter | (Some of the following may be misconceptions of mine, please feel free to correct me if I am inaccurate about anything): In the Catholic church, there is a heavy emphasis on being in a "state of grace," and we are told that we are only admitted to heaven if we die in this state. In any event, feel free to introduce yourself to and speak with the priest and his parishioners. I have difficulty accepting this view. Here are some things pushing me away from Catholicism. All Christians need to remember that our loyalty should not be to our religion. I dont think so because were taking a step away from Christ Himself. Questions & Answers / Thanks very, very much. Protestants might be able to argue that case by labeling it the Whore of Babylon and attributing all kinds of evil doctrine to it, but that argument would not work for the Orthodox, who are in near-total agreement with Catholic doctrine. So youre And I assume, the Ruthenian Byzantine, right? Youre not doing that when you just move from the Latin Right to another right of the Catholic Church. The question was whether it did so in the most prudent manner. The Church provides this possibility. And faith is about the truth. Hey Cy. It seemed to me that it was easier to explain matters if one accepted the second possibility: The Catholic Church is the Bride of Christ and the Orthodox are, regrettably, in schism at present. Are Orthodox Christians "Bible believing?". The Catholic Church does not claim that its pastors will use their teaching authority in the most prudent manner but only that they are protected from error when they use its full measure. In Orthodoxy the highest source of authority is the faith itself. Orthodox Christians generally celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which has its origins in the tradition of the Cappadocian Church Fathers in the fourth and fifth centuries. Should I become a Catholic, or Orthodox? With no pope to call or recognize ecumenical councils, the Orthodox havent had one in centuries. I would say thats a wrong attitude, but if you just say, This speaks to me more liturgically, practically, I dont see anything wrong with that. Thats metaphysical impossible. Fed-up Catholics Shouldn't Turn to Orthodoxy Michael Lofton 3/2/2022 Download Audio only: Michael Lofton of the Reason and Theology podcast shares his experience of leaving Catholicism for Orthodoxy and eventually returning. You know, personally, I wish I could have just taken 10 years to continue to discern through these issues, but practically I cant do that. Well, St. Maximus the confessor was a Saint in the early church, and hes actually a really important one for East and West unity because he spoke about issues involved with matters related to the East and the West and especially the Phil. All right, fair enough. We have a lot of interviews, a lot of round tables, a lot of debates, and a lot of discussions on all kinds of matters related to theology. And the more I studied, the more I became convinced of the necessity of being in communion with the Bishop of Rome. Another consideration presented itself: If God set up the institution of the papacy, which group was he more likely to guide into a correct understanding of it: the group that possessed it or the group that was in separation from it? (Pagan roots and Christian origins). It would be much harder to maintain that the Catholic Church is a false super-church that dwarfs the true Church. A little bit about me: I'm a 25 year old of french canadian/Spanish backround. Well, I know for a fact that youre a better person than I am, because I could never get my kids to do the dishes. the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption. Saints, Feasts, and Readings for 06/21/2023, Julian the Martyr of Tarsus; Terentios, Bishop of Iconium; Nikitas the New Martyr of Nisyros. So that goes the other way as well however. Give me reasons why Catholicism is where my salvation is. Home / Even if they dont formally transfer their right, theres nothing wrong with going and attending weekly. Nudist explains what you should definitely not do at a nude beach Answer Catholic(?) with questions about the Orthodox Faith : r - Reddit Do you believe that there's a Holy Trinity that is made up of the God, his son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit? In Rome, each person tells me One Thing About SSPX, Vatican II, Charismatism And NO Missae as well. Hes now the proprietor of reason and theology and the St. Maximus the Confessor Institute. So how does one make the decision then about the particular Orthodox Church? The Orthodox Church retains the early Church model of synodal governance. 28:1920), and it is worth noting that the Catholic Church has fulfilled this mandate more effectively than the Orthodox church has. But we do have the guilt of our own actual sin. At a certain point in my life it became clear that I could not remain a typical American Evangelical. Do you think that when people leave Catholicism Or Im thinking about is someone like Hank Hanegraaff, who I could have just asked this himself, who leaves Protestantism to join Orthodoxy, is there a general place that people go or youre more likely if theres a local Orthodox Church just to go there? But we are headed for union with one another. First, regardless of which side was right, this approach would require laity on one of the two sides to embrace schism or heresy. The Creed is inviolable and cannot be changed. And why would we ever want to walk away from that? The other most-cited reason for separation between Catholics and Orthodox is the papacy. So thats what St. Maximus the Confessor Institute is. Have you not-, Yeah, but they do it very well so theres some things we could learn there. EDIT: Just googled it. Now, in some cases, maybe youre Russian Orthodox and you can go to a local Greek church or vice versa, youre a Greek Orthodoxy you can go to a local Russian church and receive communion, but in some cases thats not the case. Were going to call on you more and more to do live shows on Catholic Answers live and do these focus episodes with us. Orthodox does seem a little bit of nationalistic, almost like a cultural club -- I am not Russian, I am not Greek, or Arabic. 2:14). Im Cy Kellett your host. Your answers are proving extremely helpful, I just want a bit more detail. This still left me to consider whether the Holy Spiritdoesproceed from the Fatherandthe Son. It might seem like a small matter, but it pertains to the inner life of God, and that makes it important. Should I Convert To Catholicism? Find Out With This Quiz L ists like this are usually so much clickbait, I know, but I thought it was nevertheless worthwhile to compile a list of most of the reasons why I became and/or remain an Orthodox Christian.Some of these things were not really on my radar when I became Orthodox in 1998, but they are part of the reason why I genuinely do love belonging to the Orthodox Church (which is why "and/or Remain . is very difficult. And I spent about three years in Eastern Orthodoxy but the entire time I continued to study the issue was involving Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Naturally, it is crucial to know what the Church teaches and acquire an Orthodox mindset on the intellectual level, so to speak, but it is equally crucial to grow in identifying with the People of God, the worshipping community, through fellowship. Would you please, because Id like to know? And I had had to suffer some things at the hands of bad clergy, my family and I, and a lot of that really just frankly, again, scandalized me. But again, the problem right now is the Russian patriarch does not recognize the patriarch of Constantinople, which the Greek Orthodox Church is under thats their patriarch. Theyre all fully in communion with the Roman pontiff and so theres nothing wrong with being a Latin Right christian who ends up going to an Eastern Catholic Church. When examining Catholicism, we see that the Catholic church has created dogmas such as papal infallibility and the immediate and universal authority of the Pope in the First Vatican Council as late as 1870. So of course, Christ does not will for any of the controversies in the Catholic Church, but He may allow for it. He found attractive the Roman church's claim to be the one true church. Catholic Vs Orthodox Beliefs: (14 Major Differences To Know) 3 Reasons Evangelicals Shouldn't Become Roman Catholic Highly recommend this book! The idea that it doesn't matter is a recent ecumenist invention, drawn from the school of thought that says things along the lines of "meh, all Christianity is the same". Its kind of like, what is it called? I really appreciate you taking the time with us. My experiences attending Catholic Mass with friends versus going to Divine Liturgy at Orthodox parishes has led me to believe that there is something special about the mindset of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which focuses on the holistic healing of the human person, as opposed to Western Catholic Christianity, which often has scholastic tendencies and focuses on theological minutiae.