So why do you believe the Orthodox church is some kind of True Church?
It is not a question of faith. Faith is in Symbol of Faith. Everything else is just consequences of that. Orthodox Church is True Church just because math. It is a least square estimate from all Christian religions. Closest to the source.
Thanks, Crazy, that's actually a better argument than Winston Smith was giving! As a Protestant I still hope for that extranormative connection to the True Church.
IIRC Protestantism appeared as an attempt to return to the source from what Catolic Church created in Europe. However, later Orthodox Protestantism was heavily influenced, changed and divided into several different parts and unfortunately cease to exist as a single community.
In Orthodox Christianity, Christ is a leader of the church and parishioners connect with Him directly through eucharistia.
IMHO same should be valid for other churches where Christ is a leader of the church and proper eucharistia exist. Closer the church to origins, better connection to Christ through eucharistia, closer the connection to Christ's True Church.
I'm not a theologist, so it is better to talk with a priest about that matters. If you are curious enough - it is perfectly fine to find an Orthodox Church and just talk with a priest about such matters. You don't need to be Orthidox to have a good talk. Do the same with Protestant pastor if this is apropriate for your confession.
So would you agree that Orthodox Christianity is based on circular reasoning then?
There is no any circular reasoning. Everything is based on Symbol of Faith.
How do you know it's closer to the source, or that there even is a source, if you haven't proven the source to begin with?
There is ancient texts. Translations used by Orthodox Churches are closer to the originals than those used by other churches.
Do you believe all the claims in that symbol of faith are true?
Yes.
Do you even care?
Yes.
Sounds like you aren't a part of Orthodox Christianity because you actually believe the tenets it's based on are true, but rather because you don't have an alternative to believe in and Orthodox is the most convenient for you to function in society given you're Russian. Is that accurate for you?
There are no any churches closer to the origins of Christianity than Orthodox Church.
Functioning of society in Russia does not depend on the religion of citizens. We have at least 3 major religions here - Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. So no any pressure or whatever from society. My parents and even grandparents wasn't religious (as in routine visiting church prayers at home and all that stuff). I was baptised at the age of 10 when my mother proposed, mostly from curiosity and just in case (yes, it was in that "scary godless communist USSR" you know nothing about). It was interesting, inspirational and I had a great talk with priest (about Trinity, Universe, free will and even aliens). Then, studing science lead me to the conclusion than not everything in Universe could be explained by science, and using my childhood expirience and some research, I just found Orthodox Christianity a best possible thing to follow, because it give a clue to everything unexplainable in a most straight and consistent way. Also, studying Bible (in ancient Russian), Lives of Saints, I found that this all is real and believable, not some fake sweetened stories (or on the opposite, fear porn) as in other confessions. And no any marketing like all that churches that flood Russia after the fall of USSR. Good things don't need marketing, if you are not aware. Nobody knock into my door or pester me on the streets to lure me into Orthodox Cristianity, unlike all other confessions and sects.
It is not a question of faith. Faith is in Symbol of Faith. Everything else is just consequences of that. Orthodox Church is True Church just because math. It is a least square estimate from all Christian religions. Closest to the source.
Thanks, Crazy, that's actually a better argument than Winston Smith was giving! As a Protestant I still hope for that extranormative connection to the True Church.
Thank you.
IIRC Protestantism appeared as an attempt to return to the source from what Catolic Church created in Europe. However, later Orthodox Protestantism was heavily influenced, changed and divided into several different parts and unfortunately cease to exist as a single community.
In Orthodox Christianity, Christ is a leader of the church and parishioners connect with Him directly through eucharistia.
IMHO same should be valid for other churches where Christ is a leader of the church and proper eucharistia exist. Closer the church to origins, better connection to Christ through eucharistia, closer the connection to Christ's True Church.
I'm not a theologist, so it is better to talk with a priest about that matters. If you are curious enough - it is perfectly fine to find an Orthodox Church and just talk with a priest about such matters. You don't need to be Orthidox to have a good talk. Do the same with Protestant pastor if this is apropriate for your confession.
There is no any circular reasoning. Everything is based on Symbol of Faith.
There is ancient texts. Translations used by Orthodox Churches are closer to the originals than those used by other churches.
Yes.
Yes.
There are no any churches closer to the origins of Christianity than Orthodox Church.
Functioning of society in Russia does not depend on the religion of citizens. We have at least 3 major religions here - Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. So no any pressure or whatever from society. My parents and even grandparents wasn't religious (as in routine visiting church prayers at home and all that stuff). I was baptised at the age of 10 when my mother proposed, mostly from curiosity and just in case (yes, it was in that "scary godless communist USSR" you know nothing about). It was interesting, inspirational and I had a great talk with priest (about Trinity, Universe, free will and even aliens). Then, studing science lead me to the conclusion than not everything in Universe could be explained by science, and using my childhood expirience and some research, I just found Orthodox Christianity a best possible thing to follow, because it give a clue to everything unexplainable in a most straight and consistent way. Also, studying Bible (in ancient Russian), Lives of Saints, I found that this all is real and believable, not some fake sweetened stories (or on the opposite, fear porn) as in other confessions. And no any marketing like all that churches that flood Russia after the fall of USSR. Good things don't need marketing, if you are not aware. Nobody knock into my door or pester me on the streets to lure me into Orthodox Cristianity, unlike all other confessions and sects.