Church and identity

[Volnutt]

When you're Calvinist, Volnutt, you don't even get to say God loves you and will direct your path.  You get to say "God hates me and has a terrible plan for my life" 'plan' of course meaning hardwired path you are required to follow.

Only if you aren't in the elect. But anyway, I was kidding. I'm not Calvinist.

[JamesRottnek]

I know, I just love that joke, but almost never have an opportunity to say it

[Volnutt]

I know, I just love that joke, but almost never have an opportunity to say it

lol

[minasoliman]

At the risk of sounding like you should be lax, which is not what I'm saying, but I think you are too hard on yourself.  Continue in path you're in.  Some of the things you say, (like the flood and evolution) I also struggled with as well and found myself not in agreement with my own confession father (and that's coming from a cradle Orthodox).

Pray and take your time:

I am certain that you can correct me on certain points, but I would prefer to learn slowly so that I will better absorb material.

And if there's any questions, many here are willing to help, but your spiritual adviser is your most important source.

God bless.

PS Now in Twitter limit or less, describe how "I can't believe it's not butter" not butter.

[deusveritasest]

Confession: I'm shallow and have not felt dogmatic about anything other than the very basics of Christianity in at least 4 years.

What are "the very basics of Christianity"?

[deusveritasest]

The local Coptic priest described the Council of Chalcedon dispute as primarily a matter of translation.

 

[deusveritasest]

Picking a church based on who best speaks to your ethnicity and culture is shallow. You have to determine whose dogmatic tradition you agree with.

Confession: I'm shallow and have not felt dogmatic about anything other than the very basics of Christianity in at least 4 years. I wish I felt more like that. I could spend a lifetime trying to find every doctrine out, but I would rather move on with the basics of living and value historical bases of tradition.

Let me ask you this.  What are the very basics of Christianity for you?

Genesis, Matthew, that sort of thing.

That's a very vague answer. What about Matthew?

[deusveritasest]

Robb, just a quick comment.  I don't know whether or not you meant this, but it sounded like you were saying that he really should adopt the Coptic/Armenian/whatever culture if he joins their church.  If you were not saying this I apologize, but if you were, I think that might be going a bit too far.  Of course he should not expect them to adopt his culture, but neither should they expect him to give up being Swedish (I believe from other posts he's Swedish) just to be part of the Coptic Church or Armenian Church, etc.

No, I didn't say that he should adopt these OO cultures if he goes OO.  I meant that he should show respect for the culture of the parish that eh finds himself in and not expect that they jettison their ethnic heritage just because he converted.  There should be an atmosphere of mutual respect which is, of course a two way street.

Except that you have opposed in the past ethnic churches making any effort to create an atmosphere that at all reflects the culture of the convert.

No, I support ethnic parishes maintaining their own identity and culture and not trying to overtly dilute it in order to appear more American, Canadian, etc... I have no

 thing against providing materials and doing liturgies in the native language of the area in order to help those who are either not of that culture or have become assimilated into the host society.  

That's inconsistent with post #23 in this thread:

http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php/topic,28440.0.html

[deusveritasest]

all modern Evangleical songs as "Jesus is my boyfriend" songs.

 

[Anastasia1]

The local Coptic priest described the Council of Chalcedon dispute as primarily a matter of translation.

 

That is nice that you can roll your eyes at something I was told by a priest who was studying/active in Christianity more than twice as long as you have been alive, but given your two other posts toward me, I would suggest that you read my very long post that was in reply to that very thing that you asked.

[Anastasia1]

At the risk of sounding like you should be lax, which is not what I'm saying, but I think you are too hard on yourself.  Continue in path you're in.  Some of the things you say, (like the flood and evolution) I also struggled with as well and found myself not in agreement with my own confession father (and that's coming from a cradle Orthodox).

Pray and take your time:

I am certain that you can correct me on certain points, but I would prefer to learn slowly so that I will better absorb material.

And if there's any questions, many here are willing to help, but your spiritual adviser is your most important source.

God bless.

PS Now in Twitter limit or less, describe how "I can't believe it's not butter" not butter.

Thank you. I am not good at the moderately hard on myself stuff. Moderation is not always my strength. I also need to talk to the new deacon since the old one left a while ago.

Hmmm: "God's gooey goodness in a tub."

[Volnutt]

I'd say, "Satan's molten paste of darkness," but too each their own...

[Anastasia1]

I'd say, "Satan's molten paste of darkness," but too each their own...

How should I know? Why should I care? Isn't that from a song...

[Volnutt]

Yeah, but it's too late to say you're sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5IRI4oHKNU

[minasoliman]

lol!

"A self-contradictory product that becomes believable when reading the ingredients."

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