Quote:
Originally Posted by NeitherFirstnorLast
InChristAlone, I felt I had to address this statement of yours:
I want to address this quote of yours, with this one from "Got Questions?.org" My own input I have put in umber.
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I will leave a few links about the Orthodox Church teachings since a brother had some questions. And I believe we can stop this discussion here. It needs a new thread (which I don't have time to continue).
Some straight answers about the Orthodox Church:
Question: Why haven't I heard of the Orthodox Church before?
Answer: Beats me! It's been around since the day of Pentecost. You probably haven't heard about it because we are a conservative Church that sounds no trumpets in our social programs but rather attempts to lead individuals, each in his or her own circumstances, into communion with God, the very purpose for which the Church exists. Believe it or not, there are perhaps three million of us in North America, and at least 150 million throughout the world.
Question: Are you like the Catholics or the Protestants?
Answer: Well, the Orthodox Church is "catholic" in the fullest meaning of the word: "whole and not confined." But some 500 years before the reformation split western Europe into Protestant and Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christians protested against the Pope of Rome and his attempts to become supreme over the Church in the 11th century, as well as some doctrinal innovations. The Orthodox Church remains unchanged in doctrine and faith since the early Church of the Apostles (yes, we've been around that long.)
Question: That's a pretty bold claim, isn't it?
Answer: It is a bold statement, but when you consider that Jesus Christ promised that he would found His Church and that it would endure unchanged in faith and practice, the gates of hell not prevailing until he came again, it's altogether refreshing (and confirms one's faith!)
Question: Do you believe in the Bible?
No. We believe in God! We do, however, believe the Bible to be God's inspired word a part of the Tradition of the Church. (II Thessalonians, 2:15) In fact, it was the Church which gave us the Bible as we know it today! (You didn't think it just fell from heaven as we have it, did you?)
Question: I thought you had to be Greek or Russian to be Orthodox?
Answer: Come on, did you really believe that? the Orthodox Church is not a country club! The Kingdom of Heaven is "equal opportunity". You are welcome regardless of where your ancestors came from. You are also welcome to bring with you your national customs and culture. Just keep the Gospel of Jesus Christ first and foremost. The Orthodox Church adopts the culture and language of the country she finds herself in.
Question: All right, now on to your worship. I was told that the Orthodox worship pictures. Isn't that against the Commandments?
Answer: Sorry, you were told wrong! The Holy Icons ("pictures") are honored as reminders of the Glory and Presence of God, and venerated as such. ONLY God, the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are due worship. (How can the Church practice that is so contrary to God's Law?) That is one reason you will find no statues in Orthodox temples - their inclusion in our tradition never developed as that too closely resembled the pagan piety of the early days of our Church, during the time of the Apostles. But icons, rather than attempting to depict reality, point to the Kingdom of God. They are often referred to as "picture windows to Heaven". In other words, you will not only hear the Gospel in an Orthodox Church, you will see it! The icons act as "tools" in our spiritual worship and witness to the sanctification of all creation and matter that occurred when Christ Jesus, the Son of God, took on human flesh. The Divine/Human Person of Jesus became the living icon of God (John 10:30; 14:6-11) in the flesh.
Other questions and answers:
http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/reading/questions.html
http://orthodoxdelmarva.org/faq.html
http://www.holytrinityorthodox.org/a...iest/index.htm
http://www.stkatherineorthodoxchurch...d-answers.html
http://stgeorgepa.net/about/what-is-...s-and-answers/
Teachings of the Orthodox Church
http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7062
Church History
http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/history
Why does Orthodox Christianity honor and bless the Virgin Mary?
When turning to the Holy Scriptures to hear what God says about Mary, the key passage is from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. (1:26-49) The archangel Gabriel calls the Virgin Mary “highly favored” with God and the most “blessed” of all women (1:28). The Church can never do less. In Luke 1:42-43, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, also calls Mary “blessed,” and “the mother of my Lord.” Should we not make the same confession? For centuries the Church with one voice has called Mary the mother of God. If God was not in her womb, then we are dead in our sins. By calling her the “mother of God” we do not mean, of course, that she is mother of the Holy Trinity. She is mother of the eternal Son of God in his humanity. Thus we call her “Theotokos” or God-bearer.
Furthermore, not only does Elizabeth call her blessed, by Mary herself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says, “All generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). This biblical prophecy explains the Orthodox hymn, “It is truly right to bless you, O Theotokos, the Mother of our God.” (called the megalynarion) One cannot believe one part of Scripture and reject other parts. One cannot believe the Bible and ignore Mary.
Orthodox Christians bless her in obedience to God, fulfilling these holy words. We do not worship Mary. Worship is reserved for the Trinity alone. We honor and venerate her, as the Scriptures teach.
It is important to secure Mary’s identity as Theotokos in order to protect the identity of her Son, “the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:32), God in the flesh. Jesus assumed his human flesh from her! Mary’s role is essential in understanding that Jesus is both fully God and fully man.
Do Orthodox icons border on idolatry?
In Orthodox Christianity, icons are never worshipped, but they are honored and venerated. Worship is reserved for God alone. The second Commandment says, “you shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness or anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Ex. 20:4-5). The warnings here are, first, that we are not to depict images of things which are limited to heaven and therefore unseen, and second, we never bow down to or worship created, earthly things. Does this condemn all imagery in worship? The Scriptures tell us emphatically no!
Just five chapters after the giving of the Ten Commandments, God, as recorded in Exodus 25, gives his divine blueprint, if you will, for the tabernacle. Specifically in verses 19 and 20 he commands images of cherubim to be placed above the mercy seat. Also, God promises to meet and speak with us through this imagery! (Ex.25:22)
In Exodus 26:1, Israel was commanded in no uncertain terms to weave “artistic designs of cherubim” into the tabernacle curtains. Are these images? Absolutely! In fact they could well be called Old Testament icons. And they are images which God commanded to be made.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, Orthodox iconography never creates images of God the Father. If no one has seen God, then how can he be portrayed? To do so would border on idolatry. For, “no one has ever see God…” (Jn.1:18; cf Ex.33:20). Similarly, the Holy Spirit is never represented except as a dove, which we receive in the Baptismal accounts from Scripture.
The question, however, remains of what to do with the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God. Can he be depicted in holy icons? Realizing that because no one has seen God the Father and does not know what he “looks like,” he cannot be portrayed. However, the Son of God became a human being and can therefore be depicted in holy images since we know what humanity looks like. To deny the embodiment of Christ in image is tantamount to the refutation of the Incarnation (the Son of God becoming human). Simply put, because God became man, we are able to portray images of him for veneration. One will notice that no icon of Christ is a portrait trying to capture the subtleties of what the Lord looked like, but rather a symbolic representation of the Lord to teach us that in truth, God did “empty himself and take on the form of a servant for our salvation” (Phil.2:7).
Analogous to this is the representation in sacred icons of the saints. These men and women were faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ until their last breath and remain for us as examples of the Christian ideal. Their images offer us encouragement and renewed hope that to walk in the newness of life is possible! Again, no icons –or the saints themselves, for that matter—are ever worshipped. God alone is worthy to be praised. But we venerate their images and ask for their intercessory prayers that God might have mercy on our souls!
http://stgeorgepa.net/about/what-is-...s-and-answers/
Thank you brothers for bearing with me. Blessings, InChristAlone