scottbiddle wrote:
...except that it has changed. The "orthodox" church today is not the same church as existed in the first, second, or third century. The fourth century, maybe, but not the first century.
That's a matter of opinion, of course, as I hear other non-Orthodox history scholars state the opposite.
The question for us comes down to, "Do you believe Christ started a church, and do you believe He meant it when he said He would keep it until He comes again?" We believe both these things to be true. Therefore, there is never a time when the church wasn't. For us, we start at the beginning and go through time from the point of Pentecost. And as it's followed through history (by reading what the men of the church wrote, by reading about the lives of those who lived and died for the faith, by looking at the path of Christianity as it spread), we can see it's the Orthodox church. We're not making that up -- historians who are not Christian or not Orthodox will say the same.
Now whether or not you want to believe that, of course, is up to you and we fault or judge no one for not believing it or for not wanting to become Orthodox. I loved the peaceful love for others this priest exuded in this regard. (Did you watch the video?)
Quote:
The big question is whether you have faith in the "priesthood" or whether you trust the Scriptures which teach that all Christians are priests.
We don't have "faith in the priesthood," Scott. But we do come under the leadership God developed through the Holy Spirit in the early church, and that He later speaks of in the Scriptures, with the bishops and priests as godly (and scriptural) shepherds. There's not a conflict there. The priesthood of all believers is a different thing (it's a different word). We use the word "priest" as a shortened form of "presbyter." Presbyter is not the word used when the Scriptures speak of the "priesthood of all believers." It's apples and oranges.