Why I’m NOT Orthodox Christian. (Yet…) ☦️

A Pentecostal dudes thoughts on what’s keeping him from joining Orthodoxy

[P.Whitestrake]

I'm a convert to Orthodoxy. I spent 2 years to learn about Orthodox Christianity. I went through lots of personal struggles & doubts on the way, but I ended up telling myself, "This is what I've been looking for." Then I asked the priest who catechised me to baptise me. We had some more discussions about Orthodoxy & finally he agreed to baptise me.
I hope you well & keep on learning. I pray for you 🙏☦️

[mickallen]

What a breath of fresh air. Honesty and humility are a true searcher for Christ. You will not be disappointed.

[pelagonianlion]

I'm a cradle Orthodox Christian, grew up in a western protestent framework, and when coming back to my roots, coming back to the ancient faith, i had the same hesitations as you, because of my in built protestant presupositions.

Over time these presupositions of mine were just knocked down. They faded away.

You are definatley on a journey my brother.

As to Jesus being the one mediator between God and man; Yes, he mediated the new covenment by reconciling God and man. He was both fully God and fully man.

As for prayers, thats a different subject. You see for example in revelation the angels offering up the bowl of incense to God which "are the prayers of the saints". If Angels are offering up prayers for us, how much more the saints in heaven who after the incarnation have become as St Peter the apostle put it "partakers of the divine nature". Through Gods divine energies we participate in the very life of God after the incarnation.

God bless you brother. 😊

[seasonalliving]

I think this young man has the makings of being a great leader for his future wife and children. I am thankful there are young men like this in this upcoming generation .

[yeah-okim]

I've really been enjoying your videos, man. As an Orthodox Christian myself, I'll be praying for you! God bless.

[mathyre]

Hey Adam I always appreciate how forthright you are in your videos. You can find answers to all your reservations about the Orthodox Church elsewhere online, so I won’t waste space here.
All I would say is that the most central doctrine of the Orthodox Church is that God is a loving Father who yearns for the salvation of all people. Whenever a doctrine of the Orthodox Church seems to contradict this fundamental basic, just recognize that you must be misinterpreting the doctrine (which I don’t blame you for, there’s so much to learn). Love you bro.

[robertvogel]

Ive been a Christian for 33 years, I believe there is one way and one way only. There shouldn't be a bunch of religions. Jesus Christ is my lord and savior, I am simply a kid of God. God bless you Adam.

[FaithfulComforter]

Keep studying brother and always take it to prayer too. God bless 🙏☦️

[nathanforti]

I am a Protestant Christian who was raised in private Christian school from preschool to 12th grade. I am 19 years old. Over the past few months I have been seriously considering converting to Eastern Orthodoxy as well and have been having a lot of the same issues you have.

I hope these things I have been learning about are helpful to you:

As you sort of mentioned, everyone in any church is going to disagree on a lot of small things. All human beings are corrupt and so all churches will have some corruption to some extent. I am not saying that any of the teachings of the Orthodox Church are corrupt, but just keep in mind everyone is going to disagree on something.
Even if you have a lot of issues with the Orthodox Church, if this church is the most beneficial to your relationship with Christ, then consider converting.
Patristic Nectar explained this to me as keeping your relationship with God the most important thing despite your obstacles and doubts about the churches.

Praying to Mary and to saints has been explained to me like this: Jesus Christ is indeed the one mediator between God and men, and because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, Death no longer separates us from the saints in heaven. Believers on earth can interact with the saints in heaven because Christ defeated Death and we are now one community. We interact with saints as we would with any other Christian here on earth (asking them to pray for us, receiving insights into our relationship with Christ from studying their lives), although we need to give the saints more reverence than people here on earth because they are already in heaven with Christ. When praying to a saint, I am not giving them more reverence than Christ or replacing them with Christ as the mediator, but talking with someone who has reached a high place in Christ’s community who can help me in my relationship with Christ.

I am still learning as well. I have really been enjoying and receiving insights from your videos.
Thank you!

God bless!

[parsatirabady]

God bless you brother. I’m a catechuman rn in the Orthodox Church and I honestly had the same questions. The saints are very intertwined in our lives. While they prayed for us on earth, they are now with Christ and praying for us in heaven. They are part of our heavenly family, those who have become children of God. They don’t mediate between us and God, but pray to God for our salvation. Just as you love and delight in your friends, and ask them to pray for you, we should love and delight in those God has saved and ask for their prayers, which are very powerful.

Christ said he would establish a church and the gates of hell would not prosper against it. So then if Christs church is not alive today then that creates some problems. Although salvation and the full revelation of God is offered through the Orthodox Church, we as people cannot point and say “that man is going to hell because they are Protestant or Catholic.” It is not in our place to judge, but Christ’s. And God is love and desires salvation of all man, and his mercy is unimaginable. So we can’t say who is saved or not. I think of the parable of the good samaratin. Despite his “theological” position being incorrect he is the one who has honored God in his actions.

Anyways thanks for your videos, the ones on anxiety are super helpful, and u seem very genuine. May God bless you and lead you in life.

[CVilla]

I appreciate your videos, im in much the same situation as you. I see Orthodoxy as this bastion of untouched Christianity and want to know more about it. Im a Baptist living in the Southern US. Like you, I have many of these same questions popping into my head. I did not like the idea of intercession of saints and praying to Mary (now im very much open to it). I did not think the claims of the One True Church were valid (since the Catholic Church another other Orthodox Churchs say the same thing). However, it does not matter what other Churches claim, it is up to you to decide who has the BEST claim to this statement. I believe the Eastern Orthodox have the best claim. You're on the correct path, continue to read about the Church. I recommend reading a book by Timothy Ware called "The Orthodox Church", it gives an amazing summary of the Church from ancient times to present. It's not a perfect book and I recommend supplementing it with other books on Orthodoxy. "Eastern Orthodox Theology" by Louth is also a good place to start.

As you already know, protestant believers have a completely different way of viewing our Faith than an Orthodox believer would view it. We believe in an invisible Church that unities all believers together despite doctrinal differences. However, this idea is a relatively new idea that only pops up around the time of the protestant reformation. I encourage you, read the book I've recommended and continue doing what you're doing. It's only a matter of time before I fully make the switch to Orthodoxy. God bless you, best of luck on your journey. And pray for mine as well, im in the same boat as you.

[damianrobinson]

Hi, Adam. It's a little awkward "conversing" though short comments on your videos, but in any case, I wanted to share a couple of thoughts with you in response to the concerns you expressed in your video on why you're not Orthodox (yet). First of all, you have to be ready--and that is something that has to happen in its own time--so nothing I say is intended to push you faster than you are ready or willing to go. Nevertheless, as you said, you're "here to learn" and hopefully other perspectives will help in that process. Concerning asking the Saints for their prayers, you stated that you believe it's possible to pray directly to God--and that is absolutely true. In fact, the Lord Himself tells us that. "Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you." (Jn 16:23) But He also tells us, that "if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." (Mt 18:19-20) If this is so in the case of two or three praying for the same thing, when they are still in this vale of tears, still struggling with the temptations and pressures of this earthly life, how much more true is it in the case when one of those "two or three" has "finished the race" and has been sanctified and glorified by Christ, as the Saints have done? Yet, I think there is another important point to understand, and that relates to another thing the Lord prayed in His so-called "High-Priestly Prayer" soon before He was betrayed. In that prayer, He repeatedly expresses His will that those whom He has chosen out of the world "may be one" (see John 17:11 and 21, for example). This being one is not limited only to the believers who are still alive on earth (the Church militant), but also includes those who are alive in Christ awaiting the Last Judgment (the Church triumphant). And it is extremely important for us to understand that, while, yes, we can and should pray directly to God, God does not want us to think that we are alone and that our salvation is independent from that of all others. He wants us to be one, because that is an essential quality of salvation--just like God is three Persons in an undivided coessential Trinity, the proper nature of mankind is to be united when we are in communion with God. Yes, God works and communicates directly with each individual soul, but He also works through His creation, including material things (bread and wine become His Precious Body and Blood, for example) and including other people. This is why, for example, on Pascha (Easter), the faithful light their candles from the candle of the priest and then each one passes the flame to another believer--because we are all responsible for one another, we are all contributors to each other's faith and collaborators with God in not only our own salvation, but in the salvation of each other and of the whole world. It's not just about "me and God." It's about all of us together and God: "for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world." (Jn 12:47) For all these reasons, we can rightly ask others to pray for us or with us when we ask for things from God; and those "others" may also rightly include the Saints, who are our fellow human beings who have already grown closer to God than we are at the current moment, and who are our co-inheritors of the kingdom and of the life to come, and with whom God wants us to become one. By the way, these comments were focused primarily on your issue with prayer to the Saints, but they also open a little window into the further discussion of your concern about the identity of the Orthodox Church as the one true Church, since all these things are intimately connected. But I will not attempt to address that subject in this comment, long as it has already become. May Christ our true God, Who is the Light Who came into the world, enlighten and bless you on your journey towards Him Who is the everlasting Truth.

[mothmanprophet]

Keep seeking, good sir. It's good that you are examining these things closely. It took me a long time, but I've now been Orthodox for over 8 years. Keep asking these questions, and they will be answered.

[pepejimenez]

I converted to Orthodox Chrisnianity and i will pray for your convertion too 🙏🏻

[Greensanctuary-cw]

I'm from Orthodox Serbia. Orthodoxy is not a fashion thing, a new pair of shoes. It's not about the church even and it's not about donations. It doesn't have a bank like Catholics and it is not fatalistic like islam. It's a relligion of life, light, forgiveness, becoming the best version of yourself. You carry it in your heart, yhat way God is always with you❤

[MaximusAugustusOrthodox]

Great to see you are open minded towards Orthodoxy! Trust in God as he will guide you as he guides us all ❤️☦️

[iamjohnd]

I'm from an Orthodox country - Russia. I was baptized when I was 7 months old in the Orthodox Church, but my family is not particularly churchly, so I have been agnostic all my life. at the age of 15-16, I began to be interested in the Christian faith, and became more of a Protestant than an Orthodox (if I may say so).

I decided that I would leave Protestantism and convert to Orthodoxy after I got into the terrible heresy of Pentecostalism with their "tongues" without knowing anything about it, but I am still confused by exactly the same points as you... I am surprised.. I really like Orthodoxy for its continuity, the Church, which is already 2000 years old, has an answer to literally any question of our life from elders, monks or priests of different centuries and peoples, and of course that the Church has remained unchanged. I really like it.

As for Protestantism, I think that it is thanks to it that many people return to Christianity. I also don't like the aggression and some kind of hatred of some Orthodox Christians towards Protestants. Christian rappers and hip hop artists, 99% of whom are Protestants, once gave me great joy that I could listen to music about Christ, which I like the sound of. I once deleted my entire secular playlist and completely replaced it with Christian music and of course Orthodox Chants. I would say Protestantism (not counting outright cults, yo).- this is a preparation for Orthodoxy.God bless you, Adam!☦

[MatthewBitty]

Praying for you, may the Lord grant you peace and clarity ☦️❤️

[gregoriodesatado]

Saw the first video and then this one. Take your time bro, it's not an easy decision to change one's religion. Of course, I would also suggest that you go to the Liturgy with your friend once, talk with the priest there about your doubts, read and pray some more. Ultimately joining or not is a choice that you will have to take. I'll pray that you go on the right path. Kirie Eleison brother! ☦️

[icxcnika]

Orthodox isn't a branch of Christianity. It is the trunk!