The Authority of the Church
It is customary amongst Protestant religions -when someone disagrees with certain of their dogmas- to break away and form another, independent team of their own. These teams quite often evolve into self-dependent, separate religions, which baptize, distribute bread and wine, ordain “elders” and pursue many other activities. There are also teams, even individual persons, who congregate and study the Bible without the presence of “elders”, or any other kind of infrastructure. The latter usually believe it is wrong for someone to belong to a religion and they maintain that a Christian should remain free of any commitments in any religious area.
The Gift, the Gifts, and Glossolalia (audio)
How does Orthodoxy view the gifts of the Holy Spirit and in particular the phenomenon of speaking in tongues? Fr. Thomas Hopko explores the New Testament teaching on the charismatic gifts.
Tradition and traditions by Archimandrite Barnabas Lambropoulos
First of all, let’s take a look at the affiliation between the Holy Bible and the Church. Before we commence, it would be worth listening to an opinion expressed by saint John the Chrysostom regarding written tradition, which will be also of special interest to Protestants – for different reasons, naturally.
The Eucharistic Liturgy in Ancient House Churches
Many evangelical groups today are proposing that we abandon “traditional” models of “being the Church,” and instead replace that stodginess with what is presumably a more “New Testament” model: that of the “house church” or “cell church.” Essentially, they are promoting that the local Church be a de-centralized assembly, meeting in the homes of various […]
The Eucharist as a “Continuous” Sacrifice in the New Testament
The King James Version of Hebrews 10:12 and 10:14 reads as follows: “But He, when He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.” “For by one offering He had perfected forever them that are sanctified.” The Greek word here translated in the KJV as well as other […]
The Lord’s Supper as Sacrifice in the New Testament
Bible-loving Protestants often bring up the idea that nowhere in the New Testament does it speak of the Lord’s Supper being a sacrifice. Orthodox Christians not only point to the long Patristic tradition that the Lord’s Supper is indeed a sacrifice, but also point out a few biblical passages that clearly connect the Lord’s Supper […]
Why Evangelicals Need Mary
In recent years growing numbers of Evangelicals have become interested in Orthodoxy. Many want to convert to Orthodoxy but have difficulty with certain Orthodox teachings. Without question, one of the most difficult obstacles for any Protestant Evangelical interested in Orthodoxy is Mary. A large part of the problem lies in a communications gap between Evangelicals […]
Metropolitan Ambrose of Korea speaking to Protestants on Missions and Liturgy
On Monday 5 September 2011, following an invitation from a Protestant theological school (postgraduate level) located outside Seoul, His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrose of Korea, gave two lectures to 35 postgraduate students, all pastors. The lessons, within which the lectures were given, were on missions and the Liturgy. We have recorded the discussions for the most […]
An Overview of Orthodoxy
Dear Dr. Clendenin, Although your article in Christianity Today, Why I am not Orthodox is by now three years old, I have only recently discovered it on the Internet. (It was the tone of the title that caught my eye.) It was most refreshing to read an article by a Westerner as well informed as […]