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With the exception of some brief dabbling with New Ageism when I was young I was a die hard Atheist for most of my life. But some years ago I started seriously questioning this premise. If everything is just a series of coincidences, then what exactly is the point of dealing with any of the challenges I've had to face in my life? It was a slow process, taking several years. Shortly before that time I discovered the Eastern Orthodox church, before I had no idea it even existed. In doing so I felt increasingly drawn towards it. After coronavirus hit in early 2020 I finally accepted Christianity. But then were was the question of which church do I join? The Catholics were out of the question right from the start because of their Papal Infallability doctrine, which left the 40,000 or so Protestant churches.....or the Eastern Orthodox church. I reached out to a few Protestant churches in my area, had one good conversation and attended online one of their services (all the churches were shut down), and was not impressed. I looked to Orthodoxy and never looked back.
Anyone from any background is free to ask me anything, and I will do my best to answer. I'm not a theological expert so I might not be able to answer everything but I'll my best as well as wrapping answering questions around my job's work schedule during the week.
With the exception of some brief dabbling with New Ageism when I was young I was a die hard Atheist for most of my life. But some years ago I started seriously questioning this premise. If everything is just a series of coincidences, then what exactly is the point of dealing with any of the challenges I've had to face in my life? It was a slow process, taking several years. Shortly before that time I discovered the Eastern Orthodox church, before I had no idea it even existed. In doing so I felt increasingly drawn towards it. After coronavirus hit in early 2020 I finally accepted Christianity. But then were was the question of which church do I join? The Catholics were out of the question right from the start because of their Papal Infallability doctrine, which left the 40,000 or so Protestant churches.....or the Eastern Orthodox church. I reached out to a few Protestant churches in my area, had one good conversation and attended online one of their services (all the churches were shut down), and was not impressed. I looked to Orthodoxy and never looked back.
Anyone from any background is free to ask me anything, and I will do my best to answer. I'm not a theological expert so I might not be able to answer everything but I'll my best as well as wrapping answering questions around my job's work schedule during the week.
If you believe in any or all of the wrathful God, scapegoat appeasement, and the Eternal Hell nonsense in the current religions, you cannot answer any of my questions with any credibility, IMO
If you believe in any or all of the wrathful God, scapegoat appeasement, and the Eternal Hell nonsense in the current religions, you cannot answer any of my questions with any credibility, IMO
Way to set the tone of the conversation. What good does it do to try to silence people who believe in the hell concept? Is it too emotionally painful to let others have a discussion on the topic?
With the exception of some brief dabbling with New Ageism when I was young I was a die hard Atheist for most of my life. But some years ago I started seriously questioning this premise. If everything is just a series of coincidences, then what exactly is the point of dealing with any of the challenges I've had to face in my life?
Then you aren't questioning the premise of atheism, which is not that "everything is just a series of coincidences" but that there is no basis to substantiate assertions about god, and no evidence of his existence.
From this it does not follow that life or one's efforts in life are meaningless for lack of externally-bestowed significance.
That said, if one is weary of one's struggles, it is natural to look for ways to make sense of those struggles, and rationalize them, such that one continues in them with hope and purpose. How has Eastern Orthodoxy, in particular, helped with that?
Way to set the tone of the conversation. What good does it do to try to silence people who believe in the hell concept? Is it too emotionally painful to let others have a discussion on the topic?
I merely expressed my opinion regarding the utility of the discussion TO ME! It has nothing to do with emotional pain or not letting others participate!
Anyone from any background is free to ask me anything, and I will do my best to answer.
Why can't women be priests?
I was raised in the Greek Orthodox church... sort of. We didn't go that frequently. It was more of a community thing. My mom's Greek, but to her credit, one reason she stopped attending that church at that some point, was over the no women priests thing. She's now a very non denominational and non judgmental type Christian.
I was always pretty skeptical in my childhood, then agnostic, then really became consciously an atheist in my early 20's, as soon as I started really learning and thinking about everything. Not sure why or how anyone could be educated in science and a person of reason, and then later become religious. But, hey, you do you.
Also there are thousands of religions believed on this planet. If you don't believe in any of them, and you want to become religious, do you just pick one at random? Throw a dart or something? "I now choose to believe that this particular set of beliefs is the actual one truth of the objective universe."
It wouldn't even be possible for me to do that. I'm too skeptical by nature.
With the exception of some brief dabbling with New Ageism when I was young I was a die hard Atheist for most of my life. But some years ago I started seriously questioning this premise. If everything is just a series of coincidences, then what exactly is the point of dealing with any of the challenges I've had to face in my life? It was a slow process, taking several years. Shortly before that time I discovered the Eastern Orthodox church, before I had no idea it even existed. In doing so I felt increasingly drawn towards it. After coronavirus hit in early 2020 I finally accepted Christianity. But then were was the question of which church do I join? The Catholics were out of the question right from the start because of their Papal Infallability doctrine, which left the 40,000 or so Protestant churches.....or the Eastern Orthodox church. I reached out to a few Protestant churches in my area, had one good conversation and attended online one of their services (all the churches were shut down), and was not impressed. I looked to Orthodoxy and never looked back.
Anyone from any background is free to ask me anything, and I will do my best to answer. I'm not a theological expert so I might not be able to answer everything but I'll my best as well as wrapping answering questions around my job's work schedule during the week.
Does the Eastern Orthodox church generally regard the Genesis creation and flood stories as mythic in nature or does it regard them as historical fact?
With the exception of some brief dabbling with New Ageism when I was young I was a die hard Atheist for most of my life. But some years ago I started seriously questioning this premise. If everything is just a series of coincidences, then what exactly is the point of dealing with any of the challenges I've had to face in my life? It was a slow process, taking several years. Shortly before that time I discovered the Eastern Orthodox church, before I had no idea it even existed. In doing so I felt increasingly drawn towards it. After coronavirus hit in early 2020 I finally accepted Christianity. But then were was the question of which church do I join? The Catholics were out of the question right from the start because of their Papal Infallability doctrine, which left the 40,000 or so Protestant churches.....or the Eastern Orthodox church. I reached out to a few Protestant churches in my area, had one good conversation and attended online one of their services (all the churches were shut down), and was not impressed. I looked to Orthodoxy and never looked back.
Anyone from any background is free to ask me anything, and I will do my best to answer. I'm not a theological expert so I might not be able to answer everything but I'll my best as well as wrapping answering questions around my job's work schedule during the week.
Our stories are not too dissimilar. I was baptized methodist as an infant, and that was more or less the extent of my church participation, until I converted to Roman Catholicism about 30 yrs ago. Could have attended a number of denominations, but the
Local Catholic Church was very inviting, and those that I worked with in my conversion we're fascinating.
I didn't let some of the doctrines prevent me from joining. I can find fault with ALL denominations.
For me, the purpose was attaching myself to an interesting, vibrant, and welcoming community.
And I don't regret it.
I have distanced myself from the RCC lately for multiple personal reasons, and currently attend a different denomination my wife enjoys. And many of the features I was looking for are there as well.
If there had been an Orthodox Church close by, I could very well be calling myself Orthodox.
If you believe in any or all of the wrathful God, scapegoat appeasement, and the Eternal Hell nonsense in the current religions, you cannot answer any of my questions with any credibility, IMO
We don't believe in a "wrathful" God the way the more fundamentalist Protestants do. By "scapegoat appeasement", are you referring to penal atonement theory? No, we don't believe that an angry God took out His wrathful vengence on His Son, what an awful distortion it is! Eternal hell is real, but there's a very good reason for that: God isn't a dictator. If hell wasn't eternal, you wouldn't have a choice as to whether or not you love God.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mordant
Then you aren't questioning the premise of atheism, which is not that "everything is just a series of coincidences" but that there is no basis to substantiate assertions about god, and no evidence of his existence.
From this it does not follow that life or one's efforts in life are meaningless for lack of externally-bestowed significance.
That said, if one is weary of one's struggles, it is natural to look for ways to make sense of those struggles, and rationalize them, such that one continues in them with hope and purpose. How has Eastern Orthodoxy, in particular, helped with that?
Ok, if there is no God, no spirits or anything of that sort and nothing but the material world, what are you left with besides "just a series of coincidences"? With no guiding hand, that's logically all you have. If coincidences and probability is all there is, life really doesn't have any meaning except in the Darwinian sense. We've seen that applied to society before with many tragedies.
To your question, and it's a good one, Eastern Orthodoxy gives rest to the weary because it offers something no one else does: The chance to reconcile your soul with God. By coming to spiritually know God, and by aligning your spirit with God you allow the energies and grace of God to work with you to give a sense of inner peace unlike anything else. It's not based on rationalizations or guesses, it's based on experience. I've seen this for myself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by primaltech
Why can't women be priests?
I was raised in the Greek Orthodox church... sort of. We didn't go that frequently. It was more of a community thing. My mom's Greek, but to her credit, one reason she stopped attending that church at that some point, was over the no women priests thing. She's now a very non denominational and non judgmental type Christian.
I was always pretty skeptical in my childhood, then agnostic, then really became consciously an atheist in my early 20's, as soon as I started really learning and thinking about everything. Not sure why or how anyone could be educated in science and a person of reason, and then later become religious. But, hey, you do you.
Also there are thousands of religions believed on this planet. If you don't believe in any of them, and you want to become religious, do you just pick one at random? Throw a dart or something? "I now choose to believe that this particular set of beliefs is the actual one truth of the objective universe."
It wouldn't even be possible for me to do that. I'm too skeptical by nature.
A couple of questions here. For your first question women can't be priests because men and women aren't the same. Everywhere in the created world there is an order to things, the Earth revolving around the Sun for example. God isn't an anarchist, the devil on the other hand very much is. For her to leave, especially for such a reason, is spiritually very dangerous. The church is headed by Jesus Christ Himself, to be a member of it and walk away is literally walking away from Jesus. Given that the church honors Mary as being second only to God, one can hardly call it misogynistic.
To your second question, you know through spiritual experience. Take a few minutes and listen to this, it sounds best with headphones. When you do so, do it while keeping your mind still and free of all thoughts. Then you get a very very small taste of the Truth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Way
Does the Eastern Orthodox church generally regard the Genesis creation and flood stories as mythic in nature or does it regard them as historical fact?
Both, however whether or not you literally believe in those stories being literally true isn't a hill the church dies on. And frankly, if you're basing your faith on whether or not the Earth was created literally in 6 days or not so literally in billions of years, you've missed the point. I personally don't take it literally, but I've come to believe it's important to be humble enough to admit your take on it might be wrong, regardless of what that is. Now whether or not humanity was created in the image and likeness of God is very important to believe, otherwise we're nothing more than just animals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oakback
Our stories are not too dissimilar. I was baptized methodist as an infant, and that was more or less the extent of my church participation, until I converted to Roman Catholicism about 30 yrs ago. Could have attended a number of denominations, but the
Local Catholic Church was very inviting, and those that I worked with in my conversion we're fascinating.
I didn't let some of the doctrines prevent me from joining. I can find fault with ALL denominations.
For me, the purpose was attaching myself to an interesting, vibrant, and welcoming community.
And I don't regret it.
I have distanced myself from the RCC lately for multiple personal reasons, and currently attend a different denomination my wife enjoys. And many of the features I was looking for are there as well.
If there had been an Orthodox Church close by, I could very well be calling myself Orthodox.
There could well be an Orthodox church nearby, 30 years is a long time. Here's a listing of all parishes and monasteries in the US. A question I would have is if you had the opportunity, why wouldn't you go to the one church mentioned in the Bible, and the one church that has retained everything Jesus had taught the Apostles?
Anyone from any background is free to ask me anything, and I will do my best to answer. I'm not a theological expert so I might not be able to answer everything but I'll my best as well as wrapping answering questions around my job's work schedule during the week.
I'd be interested in hearing your take on the contemplative practices and mysticism in Eastern Orthodoxy.
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