Well I said I was gonna post and then I never did! :ohvey: Anyway, here's the text that I mentioned before:
What is Orthodoxy?
"Orthodoxy claims to be universal--not something exotic and oriental, but simple Christianity...The word "Orthodoxy" has the double meaning of "right belief" and "right glory" (or "right worship"). The Orthodox, therefore, make what may seem at first a surprising claim: they regard their Church as the Church which guards and teaches the true belief about God and which glorifies Him with right worship, that is, as nothing less than the Church of Christ on earth." [1] For "The Orthodox Church was founded by our Lord Jesus Christ and is the living manifestation of His presence in the history of the mankind. The most conspicuous characteristics of Orthodoxy are its rich liturgical life and its faithfulness to the apostolic tradition. It is believed by Orthodox Christians that their Church has preserved the tradition and continuity of the ancient Church in its fullness compared to other Christian denominations which have departed from the common tradition of the Church of the first 10 centuries." [2]
"Each local church in the Orthodox Church has...the same doctrine, discipline and spiritual practices. They use the same Bible, follow the same canon laws, confess the authority of the same Church Councils and worship by what is essentially the same liturgy. It is nothing other than this communion in faith and practice which unites all Orthodox Churches together into one world-wide body. In this sense, there is no one dominating authority in the Orthodox Church, no particular bishop or see or document which has authority over the churches." [3]
Orthodoxy is not simply a matter of the mind, that is, it is not only a set of intellectual propositions. In the Eastern Orthodox minset (and the biblical mindset), being Orthodox (right believing) and Orthoprax (right doing) go hand in hand. You are not Orthodox because you believe as the Orthodox do, you are Orthodox because not only do you believe that the Orthodox Church is the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of God, but you submit to it and follow it's teachings in your everyday life.
"Alas! How few people there are in our times, even among the educated, and at times even among contemporary 'theologians' and those in the ranks of the clergy, who understand correctly what Orthodoxy is and wherein its essence lies. They approach this question in an utterly external, formal manner and resolve it too primitively, even naively, overlooking its depths completely and not at all seeing the fullness of its spiritual contents.
The superficial opinion of the majority notwithstanding, Orthodoxy is not merely another of the many 'Christian confessions' now in existence, or as it is expressed here in America 'denominations.' Orthodoxy is the true, undistorted, unperverted by any human sophistry or invention, genuine teaching of Christ in all its purity and fullness--the teaching of faith and piety which is life according to the Faith.
Orthodoxy is not only the sum total of dogmas accepted as true in a purely formal manner. It is not only theory, but practice; it is not only right Faith, but a life which agrees in everything with this Faith. The true Orthodox Christian is not only he who thinks in an Orthodox manner, but who feels according to Orthodoxy and lives Orthodoxy, who strives to embody the true Orthodox teaching of Christ in his life.
'The words that I speak unto you are spirit and life'--thus the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to His disciples of His divine teaching (Jn. 6:63). Consequently, the teaching of Christ is not only abstract theory merely, cut off from life, but spirit and life. Therefore, only he who thinks Orthodoxy, feels Orthodoxy and lives Orthodoxy can be considered Orthodox in actuality." [4]
This is the way the Orthodox see the road unto salvation: not as a simple oral affirmation that "Jesus is Lord", but as a life-long living out of the affirmation that "Jesus is Lord". Those unfamiliar with Orthodoxy usually assume that there isn't very much Bible reading and that the Orthodox just "follow tradition", but this is far from the Truth. As Saint Innokenty reminds us "You must read and reread the Holy Scriptures on a regular basis, especially the books of the New Testament. You must not only learn their contents but also develop an interest in their origin, who wrote them and when, how they were preserved and have been handed down to us, and why they are called Divine and Sacred. You must study the Holy Books with simplicity of heart, without prejudice or excessive inquisitiveness, not trying to discover hidden mysteries but trying to learn that which leads us to self-improvement. Certainly all that is necessary for us to know for our salvation is revealed quite clearly and in detail in the Scriptures." [5]
Certainly the road to salvation is built upon the foundation of Jesus, and that path can most clearly be followed by reading and putting into practice Jesus' own words, and the words of his apostles. In this way the Bible is invaluable, but in the Orthodox mindset the text of the Biblical canon is not the only authority that we should submit to:
"To an Orthodox Christian, Tradition means something more concrete and specific... It means the books of the Bible; it means the Creed; it means the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils and the writings of the Fathers; it means the Canons, the Service Books, the Holy Icons--in fact, the whole system of doctrine, Church government, worship, and art which Orthodoxy has articulated over the ages. The Orthodox Christian of today sees himself as heir and guardian to a great inheritance received from the past, and he believes that it is his duty to transmit this inheritance unimpaired to the future." [6]
Submission really is the key to all of this, we must submit to God, and therefore to God's revelation's to us. The Orthodox do not follow man's traditions, they submit to what God has revealed. "Following Jesus Christ means accepting with faith and submitting to all that Christ taught without question and with simplicity of heart. He who accepts Jesus Christ's words becomes His disciple, but he who fulfills His commandments with complete devotion becomes His true and devoted follower." [7]
It is this submission that brings the Orthodox to where they are. They reject individualism and modernism, and stay true to the Orthodox faith that has lived and prospered for nearly 2000 years. Archbishop Aversky expounds upon this view, saying "We [Orthodox] choose the way of fidelity to the true Faith and not the 'modern way.' We choose faithfulness to the true Church with all Her canons and dogmas which have been received and confirmed by the local and universal Councils. We choose the holy customs and traditions, the spiritual riches of that faith transmitted complete and entire to us from the Holy Apostles, the Holy Fathers of the Church, and the Christian heritage of our venerable ancestors. This alone is the faith of the true Orthodox, distinct from the counterfeit "orthodoxy" invented by the Adversary. We receive only the Apostolic Faith, the Faith of the Fathers, the Orthodox Faith." [8]
"When you become convinced that our Orthodox faith is based on Holy Scriptures and is not invented by people and that the Holy Scriptures contain the true word of God, revealed by the Holy Spirit through prophets and apostles--accept it with all your trusting heart. Believe the Holy Scriptures without doubt or philosophizing, pushing aside all heretical explanations. If you humbly accept Christs truth, then your faith will become strong and will lead you to salvation." [9]
[1] Bishop Kallistos, The Orthodox Church, Part I: History, Introduction; http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets ... ware_1.htm
[2] Orthodoxy, introduction, http://www.decani.yunet.com/orthodoxy.html
[3] Fr. Thomas Hopko , Meeting the Orthodox: Questions and Answers on the Orthodox Faith
[4] Archbishop Aversky of Syracuse and Holy Trinity Monastery, What is Orthodxy?; http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/averk_orth.htm
[5] Saint Innokenty, Bishop of Alaska, The Way into the Kingdom of Heaven, Which Path Leads into the Kingdom of Heaven; http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets ... g_e.htm#n5
[6] Bishop Kallistos, The Orthodox Church, Part II: Holy Tradition, The inner meaning of tradition; http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets ... ware_2.htm
[7] Saint Innokenty, Bishop of Alaska, The Way into the Kingdom of Heaven, Which Path Leads into the Kingdom of Heaven; http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets ... g_e.htm#n5
[8] Archbishop Aversky of Syracuse and Holy Trinity Monastery, Orthodox Christian Witness, (Nov. 1968), pp. 19-22; reprinted at http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/averk_orth.htm
[9] Saint Innokenty, Bishop of Alaska, The Way into the Kingdom of Heaven, Which Path Leads into the Kingdom of Heaven; http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets ... g_e.htm#n5
