Why the Orthodox Church?

WHY THE ORTHODOX CHURCH?

Around 11:30 PM on Saturday, April 26th, 2003, each member of the Jacobson family--Jonathan, Lori, Daniel, Sarah, and Rachel--was received into the Orthodox Church by chrismation (confirmation by anointing with oil). This service occurred at St. Mary Orthodox Church (Orthodox Church in America) in Falls Church, VA, shortly before the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ on Pascha (Orthodox Easter), April 27th. Soon we were singing, "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!" and partaking of the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church for the first time.

Here are our answers to some questions you might have regarding our journey to the Orthodox Church:

1. What is the Orthodox Church?

The Orthodox Church is a communion of churches across the world, including the churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russia, Romania, and Greece, and several jurisdictions in North America, such as the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) and Antiochian and Greek Orthodox archdioceses.Orthodoxy means both "right doctrine" and "true glory", and Orthodox churches, wherever they are, share the same Faith in Christ, and the same ways of worshiping the Holy Trinity.

2. Isn't the Orthodox Church sort of like the Roman Catholic Church, only without the Pope?

During the first millennium of Christianity, the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church were in full communion with each other as one Church. The Pope of Rome was honored by his fellow bishops, not as an absolute monarch, but as "first among equals." Disputes over faith and practice were resolved through councils representing the whole Church. One of these councils even condemned a previous Pope as a heretic! In the 11^th Century, acting contrary to the judgment of both church councils and his papal predecessors, the Pope changed the Nicene Creed by inserting the phrase "and the Son" (Latin, filioque) after the confession, "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father. This re-imagining of the Trinity, which went beyond Christ’s words in John 15:26, led to a schism between the Orthodox and Roman churches that has continued until the present day, despite repeated efforts at reconciliation. Since the 11^th Century, the Roman Church has departed further from the faith and practice she once shared with the Orthodox Church. Roman dogmas such as purgatory, indulgences, the "treasury of merits of the saints", inherited guilt, the immaculate conception of Mary, and papal infallibility are foreign to the Orthodox Tradition. Unlike the Roman Church since the schism, the Orthodox Church continued to baptize by triple immersion, confirm and commune baptized infants, serve Eucharist under both kinds, ordain both married men and celibate men as priests, and translate both the Scriptures and the text of the Liturgy into the native languages of the peoples receiving the Gospel.

3. How did you first learn about the Orthodox Church?

Jon's maternal grandmother and great aunt were Ukrainian Orthodox, but our first exposure to an ethnically diverse, English-speaking Orthodox Christian parish was when Jon moved to the Boston area in 1989. For two years prior to marrying Lori, Jon lived with Antiochian Orthodox housemates, including former Protestants. Jon became better acquainted with Orthodox worship, and began to read the early Church Fathers, the canons of the Seven Ecumenical Councils (held between A.D. 325 and A.D. 787), and the testimonies of Evangelicals who had become Orthodox.

4. Why didn't you join the Orthodox Church right away?

While impressed by the historic continuity of the Orthodox Church, the beauty of her worship, and the faithfulness of her martyrs to Christ, we were troubled by certain Orthodox practices and claims that conflicted with our Protestant upbringing. We knew the Orthodox distinguish the worship due God alone (latria) from the honor (dulia) shown the saints. But we were uncomfortable venerating images and saints as the Orthodox do, and we were offended by the Orthodox Church’s claim to be the one true Church of Jesus Christ on earth (cf. Eph. 1:22-23, 1 Tim. 3:15).

5. So what kind of churches have you belonged to over the past decade?

We were raised as Lutherans, but upon moving to the Boston area, we found the ELCA churches there to be dominated by radical feminist theology. Consequently, after getting married in 1991, we belonged to Park Street Church in Boston for 2 years, and then moved to Virginia and joined The Falls Church, an Evangelical Episcopal parish, where our three children were baptized, and where we have had many opportunities to grow spiritually and serve God and our neighbors.

6. What caused you to change your mind about the Orthodox Church?

Between 1993 and 2002, Jon continued to wrestle with the claims of the Orthodox Church, as well as the claims of Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism. He studied the Scriptures, the writings of the Church Fathers and Protestant Reformers, and the history of Christianity. In dialogue with family members and friends, he became convinced that the Orthodox Church's understanding of the Gospel, the sacraments (or “mysteries”, cf. Eph. 5:32), and authority in the Church was in full continuity with the understanding of the 2nd Century Fathers. Several of these leaders--Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, and Irenaeus of Lyons--were either taught directly by the Apostles, or by men appointed by the Apostles. We concluded that we trust the consensus of these men and the other early Church Fathers more than modern re-interpretations of Scripture. Meanwhile, The Falls Church was departing from the historic Tradition of the Church on matters such as sacramental theology and women’s ordination. We decided that we need to belong to a Church that prefers the unchanging, Holy Spirit-led teachings of the Faith (cf. Jude 3) to the spirit of the age, and therefore began to attend St. Mary Orthodox Church soon after Christmas 2002.

7. But aren't you still troubled by all of the icons and prayers to Mary in the Orthodox Church?

We have concluded that, if we refused to venerate Orthodox icons of Christ, we would deny either His full humanity (on account of which He can be depicted), or His full deity (on account of which His image should be honored). We honor icons, not as God, but for God’s sake, just as we honor one another as images of God. We display icons of saints in our home, just as we display images of beloved family members. If we refused to venerate the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God, we would deny that He who was born of her is the Second Person of the Trinity. Mary’s place of honor within the Church is akin to the Ark of the Covenant’s place of honor within Israel (compare Luke 1 with 2 Sam. 6, and click here for an essay on honoring the Mother of our Lord). Mary is NOT a goddess, but she is closer to God than any other creature. As we request the prayers of our friends, so we request the prayers of Mary and the other saints in Heaven who pray for us (Ps. 103:20, 148:2, Heb. 12:1, Rev. 5:8, 8:3-4).

8. Do you still trust in Christ alone for salvation?

By all means. Wrote St. Tikhon of Zadonsk (+ A.D. 1783), "Set your salvation on nothing else but on Christ Jesus alone, the Savior of the world. If you truly believe that He suffered and died for you and is your Savior, then love Him with all your heart, obey Him and please Him as your Savior, and lay and confirm all your hope of salvation on Him alone. We must unfailingly do good works as Christians, but we ask and await salvation from Christ alone."

9. How do you view your Protestant background?

We are thankful for our Protestant parents, teachers, and friends who taught us to believe in the Triune God, trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, study the Bible, and share our faith with unbelievers. In the Orthodox Church we have found a fulfillment of the faith in which we were baptized and raised. We seek to affirm all that is good and true in other faith traditions, even as we pray for the visible unity of all people in “one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism.”

10. How can I learn more about Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the Orthodox Church?

Read and visit. Jon has some links on Orthodox Christianity here.

Back to Jon's Theology Page

Last Updated by Jon Jacobson on 12 May 2003