Yesterday I was out with some friends including some christians adhering to the methodist belief
as well as generally mostly protestant christian beliefs. For good or bad a severe arguing emergedbetween me and a friend of mine whose explanation on some questions concerning the christian faith
as well as discussions about the seperation of man and woman in the Orthodox Church.Something I don’t really see as division. A Christian friend of mine who is attending a methodist protestant Churchstarted to give explanations for the reason of the so called separation rathar based on the wrong understanding (from orthodox perspective) of faith issues and from protestant doctrinal point of view.
Even though I do listen to a lot of Protestant Christian Rock/Metal and I like the phenomenon of this
attempt for creating a Godly music surrounded by all this groups who openly do confess satanism and occultims,I’m more and more convinced that the protestant christian understanding on many of the matters of faith areerroneous. I still respect all them highly since they do strive to lead God pleasing life, however theirdelusion on some matters of faith should be marked up.
Here are some of the few major things which I see as a difference between Orthodox believing christians andprotestant christian believers with the hope that this would be helpful for somebody out there looking for realanswers on the true christian faith
The dangers of Protestanism and protestant denominations (A faith mixtured with lies and errors) & The Difference BetweenOrthodox Christian beliefs and Protestanism.——————————————–Date: 26.09.2009Author: hip0 (a.k.a. Georgi Georgiev)1. Protestant and their denominations:- Methodists- Advents- many, many other denominations.* Reject the orthodox Church as the descendant of the One Holy apostolic Christian church, established by theapostles.* Reject the authority of many of the teachings of the Orthodox Church including the teaching of theTradition of the Holy Fathers in the Church and the Teachings of the Holy Church Fathers* Reject the supremacy of the Holy Mother of God (Mother Mary) in the spiritual hierarchy of the God createdbeings! (Something of the most fundamental things believed in the Orthodox Church).* Accept one and only authority of the bible, in which everybody freely could interpret the Holy Scriptures,(there are some general framework in which most of the canonical so to say protestant do hold up). Eventhough the variation of the understanding varies greatly.* Reject our appeals to the Holy Saints and the Holy Theotokos (Mother Mary) for intercession in front ofGod for us the sinners.* Reject the order in the church, teaching that everybody is free to understand and serve to God theway he feels if it has generally some similarities to their build idea on holiness based on their biblereadings.* Reject the crucifixion (Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ crucified) as the most fundamental symbolof Christianity claming that Christ has already raised:(Contradicting what is written by the St. Paul in the Bible.Who openly confesses that he wants to be know and Preach Christ Crucified).* Do understand the Cross as only a symbol to Christianity, Claiming that early Christians haveused a fish as a symbol of Christianity (As a remembrance of our Lord’s miracle with multiplying the fishesand feeding 5000 people).* Many Protestants Reject the power of the Cross symbol in Christians making the sign of the Cross (Again contradicting the Holy Fathers who say that through crossing ourselves with the sign of the Cross,every demon is banished and trembles in fear.* Do claim that the bible is the one and only authority a christian should obey.That as far as I’ve red is called “Sola Scriptura†(Only the Scriptures in Latin).In Orthodoxy we have the tradition of the Holy Fathers which supplements what is writtenin the bible and on many occasions enables us to understand what the bible exactlytalks about.* Have many contradictiory teaching built by different pastors, all interpretationsof The Book Revelation (Apocalypsis) by St. John.* Many of them claim seeing heaven or being in heaven and being back,each’s. Most accounts contradicing each other. Talking about seeing Jesus* Many of them claim seeing heaven or being in heaven and being back,each’s. Most accounts contradicing each other. Talking about seeing Jesuswith golden belt, whole in light.Talking about Heaven filled in with Goldenstreets, etc., etc… And Many, Many more lieful things which every orthodox spiritual christian,as well as any other spiritual christian out their should know are based on imagination and fantasy.My personal experience in faith has shown me that spiritual things doesn’t have nothing to do withphysical seeing, nor have anything to do with anything we do know in this world. This could be alsored in the writtings of the saints as well as in the writtings of st. apostle Paul who talksabout knowing a man who saw heaven in the holy bible. Thereby he explains, How he saught things which cannot be explained in human terms.* Rejection of the eucharist (taking the sacraments), as a real blood and flesh of our Saviour and LordJesus Christ.Herein they again try to imply that eucharist or taking the sacraments (blood and wine) as most ofthe protestant churches does is only symbolism and is ordered just as a remembrance of our Lord’slast supper as we read in the Gospel wherein he commanded us to do that for this remembrance.Again ignoring the rest of his words recorded in the other canonical Gospels in which the Lord Jesus Christ openlysays (Whoever does not eat his body and doesn’t eat and drink his blood has no place with him.* Protestants Reject the Holy Liturgy in the Orthodox Church and the Church order(e.g. claiming no priest is needed everybody could freely communicate with God through prayers),herein they mistakenly think that the Orthodox Christian does communicate with God only through thepriest this is absolutely not true. Communicating with God is not done onlh through the priest.Yes it’s true that God’s gifts and forgiveness are granted to the Church members through the priest aswell as the eucharist (the holy communion), itself is received via priest as God has ordained since old times, even in the old testament, however communion with God is achieved also within throughout the Church servicesand in prayer at our homes as well.Moreover,e ven though our Lord Jesus Christ has spokenly openly against priests of his timewhile he was still on earth he never rejected the authority of the priests.For example the miracle our Lord has done healing the 10 lepers.After healing the 10 leprs, our Lord told them, “Go show yourself to the priestsâ€.If the assertion by protestants is true, and no priest is needed how come our Lord Jesus sents the healed onesto the priests? Not to mention that they still have a sort of priest, (The pastor) who basiclyserves a similar role to the Orthodox Priest.* Protestants Reject the burning of Candles by layman, incense burning on the altar before Godand within the Church to sanctify externally everything within the place.That’s bacause they don’t understand two things:1. The meaning of Candles (The least man’s sacrifice (God pleasing offering))2. The incense left from the old times when priests were serving before God with burning God pleasingincense before the face of God. I’m not theologian and doesn’t know the exact explanation so that’s mostly my understanding onwhy incense is burned. I’ve also heard that incense is something dislikeable to the unclean spirits(demons) to be said by random people most of which not regular members of the Church.(This thesis need to be approved furhter on by Orthodox theologian or a priest)3. The Candles’s role is also as a mean to fund the Church in terms of money.The Church’s building and Church’s God servents needs money as well to exist, didn’t they?* Protestants reject the veneration of the Icons.- Here protestant understanding of the icons is as they’re idols.That is completely wrong understanding.Icons represent and remind of us of things already described in the bible,as well depicts the martyrdom of different christian orthodox saints. Reverenting the saintindeed we does honour the Holiness of the Saint achieved by his sanctification by his holy lifethrough our God (The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit), therefore we does venerate not the saintbut God alone who dwelled and dwells forever within the saint.* Protestant are not aware of the existance of miraculous icons (most of which containingrelics of miracle making saints through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ), they have also no cluethat we have some saints with incorruptable bodies, whose earthly holiness was so obvious and theirbody so filled with God’s spirit that the flesh became incorruptable by God’s holy providence.They reject the honouring of the holy relics of saints. Ignoring the story in the old testamenttold where a dead soldier falls in the grave containing the holy relics of Prophet Elisha andarised back to live. Which is an old testament example of how holy and precious are the relicsof a saint.* Most protestants fail to glorify God as a Holy Trinity (Here is what I mean,Whenever Glory to God is expressed, it’s never said: Glory to the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.To manifest the belief in the Holy Trinity as we do in the Orthodox Church on every Holy Liturgy.* Protestants say they believe in The Triunite God still they bend God The Holy Trinity to the point they callGod, “The Trinityâ€. Which sounds like they place themselves on the same height as God alone (againerroneous).* Protestant does not make distinction between the the three apostates (natures) of God The Holy Trinity.In other words when talking about God they think talking about God the Son (our Lord Jesus Christ) isabsolutely equal to talking about God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. Which again is not true,This three God’s apostates are not one and the same thing, they’re one holy and inseperatable Godwhich in all terms is different to what is taught in protestanism.* Protestants does understand fasting as a way to restrain of food completely for days.This approach even if practiced literally by the the Holy Prophets, The Holy Apostles, The Church Fathers andThe Holy Saints is not applicable to the normal layman. Such experiments with the body could bring youa health issues if practiced in the long term. One of the dangers if somebody goes that way is toget gastritis or other stomach sicknesses, not to mention that this could not even benefit youin a spiritual sense quite often.The orthodox fasting is abstention mainly firstly of the sinful thoughts and desires and thenabstention from animal derivative food and products (with some small exceptions). In no meansthat we could abstain completely from food.During lent or some of the other 4 fasting periods in the Orhtodox Church on Church Feasts,Eating of Fish is allowed. Still in the Orthodox Church completele abstention of food ispracticed in some monasteries and by some people whose dedication to God is many levels aboveours (the laymans).Some protestants accuse orthodoxy that it doesn’t practice the true fasting (completelewithhold of food), this is not true since in orthodox christianity there are differentlevels of fasting. The highest level is a complete abstention from food and is practiced by saintsand monks.* Protestant reject the Orthodox Prayer Book as a mean of a guide in prayer.(This still needs to be researched further? Never heard of a protestant Christian that uses an OrthodoxPrayer book)In Orthodox Prayer books, we pray with the prayers of the saints which assures are that the wordswe spoke do hold up to the main orthodox christian doctrine and the orthodox Creed of faith andthe teaching within the church.Whilst in Protestanism, Prayers are mostly based on their each one’s own understanding on prayer.The Prayer tought by our Lord Jesus Christ is the one most practiced (Which at least is something good). The rest are prayers crafted by every man according to his own understanding about faith God and truthand the situation.* Protestants (or at least most of them) reject that Mother Mary is ever virgin (Theotokos aswe orthodox christians call the Holy Mother of God)Most of Christian protestants reject that Mother Mary has been ever virgin until her dormitionand ever after. This is another fundamental miracle of the many and innumerable miracles of God.They tend to ignore what is written in the gospels in the new testament, everybody can read there that all the nations will call Virgin Mary blessed.(Never heard a protestant calling mother mary blessed or reverenting her in a special way asa Mother of God as we do in the orthodox Church)Many of the protestant christian denominations does teach that mother mary has even hadchildren from Joseph her husband by law. (The early church never taught that! This is repulsiveheresy!)* As far as I know some protestant Chirstian teachings reject that Christ is the Logos and thefact that our Lord Jesus Christ is begotten by God the Father before all ages (This is statedin the Orthodox Creed of faith).(Again this still needs further closer investigation).* Many Protestants believe wrongfully that they are saints because the possess the Holy Spiritwithin.Again erroneous from orthodox perspective. Won’t get into details about this issue.* Probably the list goes on and on … As I said earlier I’m not a theologianWell let me close that, with a few closing words.
The Orthodox Church teaches that protestanism is a heresy and
the truth is only kept and taught properly within the realm of the Orthodox Church.
However many of the priests and servents of the Orthodox Church does act nowdays in a way
that stain the orthodox church teachings as well as the orthodox church reputation, that creates
distrust and drives back many people who does judge about orthodoxy based on the actings of people
who do dare to call themselves orthodox but they are spiritually serving in most of the time not
to God but probably to the evil one.
.No matter this still what is being mainly told in the church holds up to the Church canons and therefore
the influence of unfaithful and sinful priests or orthodox church servents cannot change the truth
which the church canons contains. Thus luckily the Orthodox Church believers are being taught plainly mostly what was
taught in the church since it’s birth day on Pentecost while the Spirit of God descended unto
the Holy Apostles. The dangers of joining a protestant church are even higher, many
of this churches are money machines nowdays, believers are being taught lieful claims, fragments
of the bible are being taught as a means to stimulate people’s guilt to make them donate more
for the given protestant church or denomination.
In reality many nowdays protestant churches and denominations are smartly built business empires,
which one and only aim is increase money revenues. I’ve even red online many testimonies of
people (pastors) who practice hypnosis, the people who testified against the pseudo Christian pastors
described how this pseudo-pastors used well known hypnotist tricks to force people’s subconsciousness
into a state of hypnosis in which (the hypnotist pastor ideas) and subsequentially control over the
pseudo-church members could be exercised.
Don’t get me wrong I don’t want to be in war with protestanism or Protestant understanding and ways
to serve God. What do I want is just to introduce christians of the many dangers of being
a non-orthodox christian believer. I personally do have many friends who even though not openly
are more closely to the protestant belief system, than orthodox’s. They as people are really nice,
I can say they do strive doing good deeds, read the bible, pray, try not to sin and be
centered on our Lord Jesus Christ. On many hard times in the past for me, while I was still
not belonging to the orthodox christian church. I thought that churches are corrupted and they does
withhold people from salvation which is only attained through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus alone
with the act of accepting the Lord Jesus Christ (as the true and only son of God who died for our sins
on Golgotha and roused again in the third day according to the scriptures).
I have to admit that People with mainly protestant believes or inclinations have sustained me through intercession prayers to God,
in the past, while being friends getting out together, discussing the bible, contemporary christianity etc.
However even though the good sides, everything was far from perfect.
When I’m thinking about the times back then I feel like a bit being like into a sect.
We were always gathering together and talking about the bible and God and suchalike, at many
times just talking non-sense.
Many of the discussions during meetings, were our own interpretations of the bible each one
claiming his own interpretation is the true one. Mostly trying to somehow synchronize our ideas with some
protestant famous authors like Watch Man Nee (whose teaching from my current position could
be classified as lieful heresies).
Said in other words we were looking for true spirituality.
Something I lately found by God’s divine providence within the Orthodox Church and Orthodox Christianity.
So again the real reason for writing all the above is just to try to emphasize the differences
between orthodoxy and protestanism. And many of the downsides of protestanism.
Some other things I have noticed is that people whose positions on faith are protestant tend thing alike:
“The bible says†heavily.
No offense but the Holy Bible is bent down to the low “The Bible†instead of “Holy Bible†as it should.
Not to mention the true respect to Holy apostles is skipped and they are called by names with skipping the “Saint†word.
Which automatically does ranks the holy apostles on the same level as us, which I personally think is not a good
thing to do. Well of course pretestanism as everything else has not only the bad sides.
I still love protestant christian artists like Larry Norman, ApologetiX, Andy Hunter, Tourniquet,
Deliverance, Circle of Dust, Juggernautz, X-Propagation, Rez Band, Glenn Kaiser, the list goes on,
many many more to mention here. I love Christian Rock and Metal since I came from a rock and Metal musical background
and I still listen to rock and metal music every now and then I try to mostly listen to a Christian messaged one.
But still truth must be told, in protestanism Truth is mixtured with heresies.
I cannot hide that a lot of the protestant christian literature I’ve red tried to explain a lot of the
logical problems I was seeing in Christianity and the Holy Bible, however later on I’ve found out
that many of the ideas shared in the protestant christian books were contradicting believes in
the orthodox church and does lack a logical reason out of the book context.
We should be alert while accepting many of the things preached within protestanism through
books, media, music etc. And always look for the true Christianity which has led me
to the Orthodox Christianity. I don’t say that currently things in the Orthodox Church are
perfect what I say are that it’s the Church that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, left us saying:
“I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.â€
END—–
