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I am an Orthodox Christian, a convert from the Episcopal Church. I was born and raised a Lutheran. I got interested in Orthodoxy after reading Fydor Dostoevsky's great novel, Crime and Punishment. Which lead me to read everything that Dostoevsky wrote.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel, the Holy Orthodox Church is the Church of the Apostles and Her Tradition is unbroken. We have various Christians telling us it is wrong to ask the Saints for Prayers, that the Most Holy Theotokos was not Ever-Virgin, ignoring 2000 years of Christian Tradition. Luther and the Reformers believed she was Ever-Virgin. In Orthodoxy we have a witness to Prayer that is unmatched in any other Christian manifestation, as it should be. Rome took off in 1054, and all of the Protestants came out of Rome in one form or another, with each break a little more of the Holy Tradition disappears.
The best English Bible out there today is by far the New English Translation, the textual notes are superb! Out side of the NET, I would recommend The New Oxford Annotated Version of the RSV with the Apocrypha. And if you can still find a copy of it, the best English Bible is the New English Bible.
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| If we live as people of God, there will be room for all nations in the Balkans and in the world. If we liken ourselves to Cain who killed his brother Abel, then the entire earth will be too small even for two people. The Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to be always children of God and love one another. We should remember the words of St. Paul: "If it be possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men." |
| Patriarch Pavle of the Serbian Orthodox Church |
| Below is the confession all Orthodox Christians believe. |
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I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He arose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spoke by the prophets. In one Holy , Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. AMEN. |
We have seen the true light, we have received the
heavenly Spirit,
we have found the true faith, as we worship the
undivided Trinity,
for the Trinity has saved
us