In recent months, I have been receiving more and more inquiries from friends expressing interest in joining the Orthodox Church. One factor drawing them is increased exposure to the way Orthodox theology represents God as more compassionate and restorative than they had previously understood. So too, they find the Orthodox account of the Cross to be very healing, especially seeing how the God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself through self-giving love. Further, they've grown interested in the openness of some of the early church fathers to alternative interpretations of divine judgment such that eternal conscious torment is not a required dogma. Some find the combination of mysterious and tactile worship aesthetically alluring. The cool beards also contribute. And of course, when a credible witness seems to be flourishing in that context, post-evangelicals think of Orthodoxy as a potential option. Hence the interest among those who've watched my journey. I'm glad for this.
Before you join
So if you're thinking of joining the Orthodox Church, here are some suggestions that others gave me which may help you avoid wasted time, frustration or disappointment. These are gleaned from hierarchs, priests, teachers and lay people who've guided others along. There's a healthy order that benefited me greatly.
1. Don't join the Orthodox Church until you 'can't not'
That's right. We're not in a rush to sign up members (especially from other churches) or join the church growth movement. There is no rush. There is no pressure. If you're meant to become part of the Orthodox Church, God will draw you along. It's better to let God ripen you for the move until you feel you'll 'go to seed' if you wait any longer. But many stages precede that decision.
2. Get to know a priest and ask a million questions
If you've visited an Orthodox service, that's excellent. But it's more important initially to befriend an Orthodox priest who is willing to walk you through the endless 'what about this?' questions that you certainly should have. This relationship will be vital because by the time you're chrismated, you'll want to love and trust this person as your spiritual father and shepherd. If your priest is hospitable to you, patient with you and can provide answers to your questions that satisfy, then you're on your way. From his point of view, this may be the beginning of your catechism ... not in some stiff kind of discipleship course, but over coffee chats and prayer retreats and through whatever reading he recommends.
3. Struggle
This period of investigation is not the time to set aside your struggles with elements of Orthodoxy you resist.
4. Be who you are
You don't have to pretend to be someone other than who you are. Even once you are chrismated, I'm told it takes another decade for most people to make the transition. In my case, that was ten years leading up to my chrismation, and now another ten after that. During that whole process, I have been told that I am who I am as of today. If, like a few of my other friends, I remain and perhaps always shall remain 'Menno-Dox,' then I must allow myself to BE that, even while submitting to whatever transformation God is working in me.
5. From theology ...
Many will find Orthodox theology very rich -- indeed, by Orthodox theology I mean the teachings of the early church. The apostolic teaching was passed down through wonderful teachers like Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa and his brother Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria and Maximus the Confessor ... to name just a few. Many of their works are available free online. Sometimes the translations are outdated, but these teachers are often more concise and accessible than secondary works written about them. Why not start by slowly reading Athanasius, 'On the Incarnation', available HERE with a nice introduction by CS Lewis. He was the foremost Christian theologian in articulating the full divinity of Jesus Christ when the entire church was tempted to go the way of the JW's! Definitely worth reading! He'll explain why Jesus came, why he died and how he overcame the curse of sin (death) and the power of the evil one. It's quite inspiring.
I believe any believer -- and every pastor or Christian teacher -- can and should become Orthodox in their theology. I just think the church fathers got it right ... they faithfully stewarded 'the faith once delivered to the saints' by Jesus through the apostles. They can disagree on some points, come from differing perspectives, but the Creeds they develop (especially the Nicene Creed and the Chalcedonian Definition) stand to this day in uniting believers -- Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. I embraced and taught Orthodox theology at my congregation (Fresh Wind) for ten years prior to joining the Orthodox Church ... and people were healthier for it. One can become theologically Orthodox in any trinitarian tradition. However ...
6. ... to worship
What Orthodox priests and teachers will tell you is that Orthodoxy is not primarily a matter of theology. Orthodoxy derives from and revolves around the life of worship. The 'Divine Liturgy,' which is the Sunday morning service, is the life-blood of the Church, where the prayers of the Church, the readings from the Holy Scriptures and the medicine of immortality (the Eucharist) nourish us in our pilgrimage into union with God. Orthodox teachers will say that if don't get that, you don't get Orthodoxy. If you don't want that 'worship style,' then don't become Orthodox. As for me, I took that advice. I didn't even attend a single Orthodox worship service in the first five years that I met with Archbishop Lazar ... then I waited another two years for my second and third taste. Then finally, after ten years, I moved from theology to worship ... because I 'couldn't not.' Far better to taste and test over time than to begrudgingly join something we aren't 'into' ... it's not time yet.
7. Finally, be gracious ... they're still people (imperfect and wonderful)
There's no sense imagining that a move to Orthodoxy will automatically solve the relational issues you might have had in previous church experiences. Spiritual abuse can happen anywhere, people can fall out with each other, congregations can split, culture wars can rage. The Orthodox Church, comprised as it is of people, is no exception. Orthodox Christians, like any group, can be condescending and provincial, vulnerable to nationalism, prone to pride, and as divisive as Protestants. Our church culture may include dubious practices and silly debates. I entered with my eyes wide open with no illusions ... but I still entered.
And in entering, I've found a precious, international family of 250 million more brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. I've found a beautiful variety of friends, including wise men and women like Archbishop Lazar, David Goa, Bishop Varlaam and Fr. Moses, Andrew Klager, Fr. Michael Gillies, Jim Forest, Frank Schaeffer, Mary Cunningham, Kallistos Ware, Andrew Louth, Bishop Irenee of Montreal, Mark Basil, Fr. Cassian, Fr. Matthew Francis and the list goes on.
I also have many fine spiritual parents and comrades outside the Orthodox Church, as I hope you do as well. Don't leave them behind. Some Orthodox, even priests, may give you the impression that you need to virtually divorce the loved ones of your spiritual past. Don't. Any claim to Orthodoxy that demands you leave love behind is not very Orthodox. As my godfather, David Goa taught me before I was chrismated, if Orthodoxy is about anything, it is about love. A healthy Orthodoxy draws you in love towards others. Don't settle for less.
Thanks for the excellent question, Anastasia,
Some obvious examples of the fathers teaching forms of the idea of apokatastasis (the restoration of all things, when God shall be all in all) or 'universal reconciliation' would include Clement of Alexandria (150-215), Origen (185-254, though his version was condemned at the 5th council, 300 years after the fact, bc he taught pre-existence of souls), Macrina the Younger (324-279), Gregory of Nyssa (335-390's), Gregory of Nazianzus (330-389, though debated), Maximos the Confessor (580-662), Isaac of Nineveh (7th century).
Note that I call it an idea rather than a doctrine, but as an idea, some of these esteemed teachers held it as a firm conviction (esp. Gregory of Nyssa, who was, after all, the final editor of the Nicene Creed). As for 'dogma,' what is required is laid out in the creed. "We believe that Christ shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead ... and look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come." Beyond that, the fathers speculated, held convictions, and taught particular eschatologies, but not as dogma.
Recommended reading: Andrew Klager's chapter in 'Compassionate Eschatology,' which is available here: http://www.clarion-journal.com/files/new-klager-compassionate-eschatology-with-biblioklager-1.pdf
And Kallistos Ware, "Dare We Hope for the Salvation of All?" available here: http://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2015/02/dare-we-hope-for-the-salvation-of-all-kallistos-ware.html
Posted by: Brad Jersak | March 29, 2015 at 02:34 PM
Which early church fathers & in what period, offered alternative interpretations of divine judgement, in particular that eternal conscience torment is not a required dogma please?
Posted by: Anastasia Dare | March 27, 2015 at 06:03 PM
Thank you! This is probably the best advice everr writen to someone who contemplates joining any church tradition. Very helpful and truly Spirit-inspired!
Posted by: Florian Berndt | October 15, 2014 at 01:19 AM