I would like to know what kind of "turmoil" goes on withing Orthodox Christian circles - dissent and all. This is not a thread for detraction. I am researching for my own faith trying to wade through the smoke screen I feel caught in and would like peaceful, non-insulting replies. If someone insults me I'll simply report it because I do believe everyone should be treated with respect. I love the Orthodox Church and would have converted most likely had my wife not thrown a fit about it. After a lifetime of Protestantism discovering, I'll say this to keep the peace, more truth, she felt Catholicism was right and her rational for not wanting to even look at Orthodoxy bothered me, but for the family's sake I chose to stay put and study from there. I'm not convinced either "Roman" Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy are right without the other, but I do believe somewhere in here is truth. Can truth be discerned without actually being part of the hierarchy, I'm not sure.
I do know that in spite all the flack Catholics receive from Orthodox there is a whole lot of difference between Roman Catholicism than there is between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Frankly, I don't trust what most priests and bishops say about the faith now after a lifetime of lies uncovered in recent years. Issues like Bishop of Rome Primacy,
filioque, are not really as troubling as attitudes. I would be fine eliminating the filioque, but don't know if its absolutely known to be right or wrong. I'm being honest. I've heard the arguments and haven't been convinced either way. I believe people are far more uncharitable and self-serving to their cause, not being truth, but their own truth being propogated as better. I see this from both sides not always being Catholic.
The primacy of the bishop of Rome issue I believe/suspect is overplayed from both sides. HOwever, I can see how after a lovers quarrel followed by a divorce could build animosity and then take a more opposositional view, even if it's overplayed. No, i don't trust people after a lifetime of indoctrinated lies. I questions now and some things I see as imprudent more than not true. For example. I see it plausable that there is/was/or should be respect for the "first of many"/"bishop of Rome". But I can say for sure that it should have been imposed or elevated or whatever we believe actually happened. In fact, it makes sense to have a first of many considering the idea conveyed by Christ in Matthew 23, with the Chair of Moses analogy. But, truly, I've never actually seen the "Pope" say or make anyone do anything that other bishops don't believe themselves unless they've entered a sort of dissent posture. Hope I'm making sense.
I would have tried to find a different thread on this, but I believe I have a unique way of putting things and knowledgeable Christians need only apply
. I came out of a fundamentalist faith, but a defaulted, cultural Catholic father, later quite Traditional. I'm inclined towards the TLM and what is viewed as Traditional Catholicism. I do not believe its okay to blindly support the clergy, having been abused while attending the seminary and then my case buried for decades [thus my lack of trust for clergy/elders]. I left the Catholic Church, totally ignorant of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which I assume is the Orthodox Catholic Church? Please correct my misconceptions, I'm sure i have them embedded from all the Catholic and Protestant indoctrination. No offense to my fellow Catholics intended. I'm here to learn and mainly to understand and discern.
Devotions I love: Jesus Prayer, something I've done all my life not realizing it until I learned about it in the context of Eastern Orthodox Church. Many of you know that if you post "the wrong words" on Catholic Answers Forum the moderators snip and clip. I hope this site doesn't act quite that uncharitable. When I first discovered the early Church Fathers, I was floored and began conversations with several priests online. Unfortunately, most of them were not very kind to me and probably didn't realize my ignorance level even in the Catholic faith. We were from the Alexander Campbell and Stone movement, that I later discovered broke further into Christian Church and Church of Christ. We were Church of Christ. WE have a huge family full of preachers, deacons and elders. I was going to be a preacher at one point, but my wife resisted.
