The Orthodox Church

[aron]

Originally Posted by HERn

... it's hard for me to imagine one of the brothers walking among the meeting swinging the thurible with burning incense...

1. yes but they met in synagogues. So why not incense.
2. we are the people of the book. the orthodox have the writings of the ancients. that is what i respect: the testimony, not the robes.
3. the idea is to receive one another. we don't join, we don't judge. we receive. the orthodox should be received as brothers. they are our peers, our equals, our bretheren, fellow heirs of faith. one organization is not superior or inferior to others.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by aron

1. yes but they met in synagogues. So why not incense.
2. we are the people of the book. the orthodox have the writings of the ancients. that is what i respect: the testimony, not the robes.
3. the idea is to receive one another. we don't join, we don't judge. we receive. the orthodox should be received as brothers. they are our peers, our equals, our bretheren, fellow heirs of faith. one organization is not superior or inferior to others.

Who met in synagogues? The early church? Hardly!

The early church had no time, no money, no interest in robes and formalities.

The EO are all about icons and symbolism. Except for baptism and the Lords Supper, the NT had no interest in these things.

Whatsoever.

[InChristAlone]

Originally Posted by aron

1. yes but they met in synagogues. So why not incense.
2. we are the people of the book. the orthodox have the writings of the ancients. that is what i respect: the testimony, not the robes.
3. the idea is to receive one another. we don't join, we don't judge. we receive. the orthodox should be received as brothers. they are our peers, our equals, our bretheren, fellow heirs of faith. one organization is not superior or inferior to others.

Thank you, Aron.

The early believers in Christ continued in the traditions of their Jewish forefathers, worshiping as they had in both the Temple and the Synagogue . To this worship practice they added the distinctly Christian components which were, in fact, transformed Jewish worship practices. These included Baptism, the Eucharist, the Agape meal, and others. Baptism was also present in Jewish religious practice as a personal repentance for sin. Baptism, like the Lord's Supper, was transformed in both meaning and content by our Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism became not only a repentance for one's sins, but being baptized in the name of the Trinity now also assured forgiveness and incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church. Baptism was the once and for all initiatory rite whereby one received the Holy Spirit and came into the Church.

The early Christians with their transformed understanding of the central elements of Judaism had a practical problem: how to conduct worship? They wanted to carry on their old Jewish worship practices while at the same time incorporating this new meaning and content. They accepted the necessity for continuity with the old, and for the celebration of the new, but could not do both together. The result was doing both in parallel. The Temple hours of prayer and the Synagogue worship were kept, but were not centered in Christ. Each day of the week, those Christian believers in Jerusalem would attend the Temple for prayers during the daily cycle, and on Saturday — the Jewish Sabbath — they would attend either Temple or Synagogue.

http://www.liturgica.com/html/litEChLitWEC.jsp