By Thomas Seraphim Hamilton
Some time ago, an organization called “The Gospel Coalition” did two interviews. One of them was with a man born into an Orthodox family who then converted to evangelicalism. The other one was with a man born into an Evangelical family who had gone the other way. We have decided to critique the interviewee who left the Orthodox Church, not because he makes arguments that are particularly new or troubling, but because he serves as an excellent case study of common Evangelical objections to Orthodoxy. By answering his arguments, we cover much of the ground that Evangelicals seek to cover with Orthodox.
CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS
John is a Romanian man in his late fifties who is no stranger to the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was born into a family of Orthodox Christians, in a society where church and state often mix in unhealthy ways.
While we…
View original post 4,676 more words
A Life Attuned 
This is a really good article. I ask that anyone stumbling upon my blog take the time to read it. I don’t really understand Evangelicals at times: it wasn’t the Christian tradition I was raised in, but I am seeking to understand them, as my husband comes from that tradition.
Pingback: Orthodox Collective
I did read most of the article. Deep thinkers who want others to understand how & why they live as they do. We all deeply want to be understood and loved. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4: 7-12 I am sure that in every place that God’s Word is honored and people gather to worship the Lord, there ARE people who will be in Heaven. I am equally sure that in every place…even when God’s Word is honored and people gather with intent to worship the Lord, there are people who will NOT be in Heaven. (Judas deceived the other disciples. Jesus said there would be weeds in the wheat and goats among the sheep.) This is something that God discerns and He will deal with it in His Time. “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” so said Jesus in John 4:23, 24. He also said,” You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14 So, please pray for me, as I do for you & and many others, that worship would come from a totally surrendered and loving heart that has been evidenced by humility and daily activities that enrich the lives of those around me…to the praise of His Glorious Name. May we be able to fellowship with all God’s People. God made people to look, act and think so very different. But, He wants us to be one. This is only possible by His Grace and Mercy. But, it is possible!