A Fatal Attraction

I've noticed a voracious interest by the younger generation in the Eastern Orthodox Church. I am certain that many in the Emnerging/Emergent movement have been influeced by it. The Eastern Orthodox Church--the, Greek Orthodox Church, and Russian Orthodox church, is a body of Christians that claim origins extending directly back to Jesus and his Apostles through an unbroken physical line of Apostolic Succession. Likewise they claim to be the preservers of the original teachings and traditions which established the Church at Pentecost. The EO grew and flourished within the Byzantine Empire and later spread to Russia. Based on numbers of adherents, Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest Christian communion in the world after the Roman Catholic Church, and the third largest grouping overall after Protestantism.

According to a task force on the Orthodox church done a Biola University, the Orthodox church differs from Evangelicalism is several significant ways:

Orthodox teaching implicitly denies justification by faith alone asserting the necessity of sacramental rites (baptism) for justification or salvation. Evangelical Protestantism denies that baptism or any other sacramental right is essential for salvation. If salvation is as the result of baptism, then something has been added to justification by faith alone.

The orthodox church denies justification by faith alone and includes good works for righteousness.

Orthodox theology holds that justification includes also the actual making of a person righteous. It holds that a person is a partaker of the divine nature and thus, entering the path of theosis or deification.

The Eastern Orthodox church denies the principle of Sola Scriptura. The EO regard the seven ecumenical councils as inspired, inerrant, and absolutely authoritative and on par with scripture. While conservative protestants agree with at least most of the conclusions of the councils, we do not agree that they are inspired. Protestants agree with them in as far as they reflect scripture which alone is infallible and inspired.

The EO believes it is the Spirit led church and the only infallible interpreter of scripture. Individuals must therefore conform their interpretations to the infallible teachings of the church.

The Orthodox church teaches that the Church is the continuation of the incarnation of Christ in the world. The church thus conveys the saving grace of Christ through the sacraments

The Orthodox church believes it alone is the true visible church in the world. Although there is the possibility of salvation outside the EO, the full enjoyment of the grace of salvation is only found in the EO.

Like Protestants, the Orthodox church holds that all believers are "saints". But some members are officially recognized through canonization as having obtained a level of sanctification known as glorification. These recognized saints play a significant role in the EO which includes praying to them, and asking them to intercede for us as well as venerating them and their relics.

The Orthodox church teaches that the ultimate fate of an individual is not determined until the last day of judgment. The person still has the opportunity to turn more to or away from God. Thus there is a need to pray for the departed dead in their journey toward the final judgment.

The Orthodox religion has a number of teachings about Mary that the protestant church holds as non biblical. These include her perpetual virginity, her freedom from actual sin, the bodily Assumption of Mary (her body was not subjected to corruption she was instead immediately glorified at her death); She is to be be venerated as the most holy saint; believers are to pray to her and ask her to intercede for them in heaven.

The EO venerates icons. Orthodox are to honor, worship God, and pray before icons. And lastly, the Orthodox church denies original sin. The Protestant view has held that all people have inherited from Adam not only the corruption and mortality of sin, but also the guilt of sin. One of the chief problems of this theology is that it minimizes the problem of sin in general and the death of Christ as a sacrifice to satisfy God's just condemnation of the sinner as one guilty of breaking His law.

With the obvious divergence from Protestantism, why the willingness of so many younger or disenchanted Christians to abandon Evangelicalism for the EO? I don't know for sure but I wonder if it isn't because of the due in part to a failure in Evangelicalism to translates the basic truths of scripture to this culture.

Gallup says 80% of Americans believe the words of God to be inspired yet 30% of those raised in church can not tell you what Easter is about. Dr. Michael Horton said, “Just as Rome’s infallibility rested on the belief that the Bible itself was difficult, obscure, and confusing, so today people want the “net breakdown” from the professionals: what does it mean for me and how will it help me and make me happy?”

The Orthodox church is touted as being the "ancient church" Without a doubt there is a connection to the past and a stability in the EO that is very attractive. Could it be because there is a huge hypocrisy in Evangelicalism. We hold matters like homosexuality, drug use and alcohol abuse to be sinful yet some of its key leaders are practicing such things.

I am dispensational and believe the rapture of the church is the next event on the prophetic scene. I make no apologies for my belief. But I have never given a prophecy update and never will. But since the early 70’s, with news paper in one hand and the bible in the other many pastors have intimated not that it could happen any day, but that it will happen this year. Many of the young are concerned with the here and now and not the future. They want to clean up the environment now and are bothered by injustice, and war. In short, they feel the responsibility to make the world a better place now rather than be infatuated with the future.

Now there is a need for systematic theology Could the departure be because of Evangelicalism obsession with systematic theology that it has reduced God to a system of logic and left no room for the mystery of God? I have to admit, that is what I found attractive about the Orthodox church but the disparity in theology was to big a leap for me to make.

With the mesmerization of the EO and it's appeal But I can’t help but think that the interest is due in part of the failure or perceived failure, or frustration on the part of “the Western church. Is there a lesson to be learned here?