Reclaiming the Gospel

[Rowan]

What do people think of this article from Orthodoxy Today? It's old, but I just saw it the other day:

http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles6/NassifGospel.php

[SeraphimSarov]

Brad Nassif is a great guy. He's a chanter at my parish. And I think he's dead-on about not emphasizing our identity... the Truth of Orthodoxy stands for itself. It doesn't need to be contrasted constantly with denominational Christianity to be understood.

[flod logic]

I think he makes a lot of good points, but then again, I'm just an inquirer. :P

[HisKid1973]

Hey I,m not Orthodox but I enjoyed the article..lot of good points..

[ClementofRome]

I say (in good evangelical fashion)...AMEN and AMEN!

To quote my former Protestant Pastor, "...anything that clouds, crowds, or competes with the Gospel...is for naught."

[Shubunkin]

That must be "news" to protestants - the Gospel is very important to the Orthodox! :)

[HisKid1973]

The gospel message is also important to prots or we wouldn't be "in Christ" John3;16 was the first verse I hid in my heart... I share that same gospel message to my neighbors who are without Christ...shalom....kim

[Philothei]

Thus, in the words of St. John Chrysostom, whose name our liturgy bears, "The lack of Scriptural knowledge is the source of all evils in the Church." ... that was such a loaded statement for his times.... especially in his times where the gospel was not so widely used....as there were not that very many copies of it.... still he believed that it was as responsibility of all Christians to know the Gospel makes me wonder what he would think of us today..... what is our excuse with so many Bibles around....

Another comment I would like to make is that 'scriptural knowedege" was just knowledge about scriptre or deeper contemplation and study of scripture...I rather opt for the second...since "knowledge" can start from just "reading" to "studying" the scripture....

"We need rather to recover the evangelical dimensions of our total Church life. The liturgy itself exhorts us to that end..."

I more likely understand "living the Gospel" better than interpreting it or just reading it.... as he says we should recover its evangelical dimensions. I agree and we should also live the liturgy... since it does not end in Church but continuous in our everyday life....



God bless,
Philothei

[HisKid1973]

[quote=ClementofRome;
To quote my former Protestant Pastor, "...anything that clouds, crowds, or competes with the Gospel...is for naught."[/quote]

Hey I like that ..thanks bro.

[Philothei]

My hubby knows him too... They corespond through email.....He loves his articles...

God bless,
Philothei

[All4Christ]

Very glad to read the article - thanks for posting it! One of his articles that was in Christianity Today was crucial to me becoming a catechumen.

[xenia]

There's a few podcasts that I don't enjoy much anymore because they are mostly about comparing Orthodoxy with the rest of the Christian world. When I was first converting I had an appetite for this kind of thing because I was wanting to clearly understand the differences between where I was coming from and where I was going, but now I just can't stomach too much of it anymore. I wish these podcasts would just talk more about living the life of an Orthodox Christian without feeling the need to compare/contrast everything with a Protestant counterpart. I feel there's an element of "Thank God I'm not like that publican over there" in some of this.

Sometimes it feels like we are Protestants, continually protesting where we came from.

[Rowan]

I completely understand you, xenia. It's why I don't like to read the average convert books anymore. It was helpful in the beginning to know the differences so I could answer my family's questions, but now I just want to learn more about Christ and His Church.

The podcasts that I used to like now serve no purpose to me anymore: I honestly think if I see one more podcast explaining to Protestants why we fast this time of year (or during any fasting period, really)...I might...scream! :D

Thus, in the words of St. John Chrysostom, whose name our liturgy bears, "The lack of Scriptural knowledge is the source of all evils in the Church." ... that was such a loaded statement for his times.... especially in his times where the gospel was not so widely used....as there were not that very many copies of it.... still he believed that it was as responsibility of all Christians to know the Gospel makes me wonder what he would think of us today..... what is our excuse with so many Bibles around....

Very true, Philothei.

Lord, have mercy.

[SeraphimSarov]

Sometimes it feels like we are Protestants, continually protesting where we came from.

That is the last thing we as Orthodox Christians should be doing. I've had to struggle with this in leaving Roman Catholicism, feeling almost angry that I had to leave to begin with... maybe it's different for an ex-Protestant, but at the same time, there were times when I felt like I was sticking to the Vatican by converting, so yeah... I dunno.

[Rowan]

On a practical level, it's both edifying and humbling to listen to my Non-Orthodox family about their love for God. I think this has helped me to get out of a "protesting Protestantism" phase so I can really focus on working out my salvation with fear and trembling instead of what other people are doing.

The article was really interesting to me because it has given me more insight about glorifying Christ without diminishing what an awesome mystery it (will be ;)) to know Him through the sacraments of the Church, especially the Eucharist.

[Thekla]

Thank-you for posting this Rowan !

I must admit, our family is most blessed to have priests who focus on Christ and "living Him" as exemplified in the Saints lives.

[Philothei]

On a practical level, it's both edifying and humbling to listen to my Non-Orthodox family about their love for God. I think this has helped me to get out of a "protesting Protestantism" phase so I can really focus on working out my salvation with fear and trembling instead of what other people are doing.

The article was really interesting to me because it has given me more insight about glorifying Christ without diminishing what an awesome mystery it (will be ;)) to know Him through the sacraments of the Church, especially the Eucharist.

As we learn from each other thank you for posting that... about minding our own salvation first....I guess I needed to hear it....You must have an awesome SF :D

God bless,
Philothei

[MoNiCa4316]

wow I wish I read that article several years ago... as some of you know I attended an EO church with my parents when I was younger..but I didn't understand the gospel, so Orthodoxy seemed very meaningless to me. If someone had told me then that my understanding of it is wrong, that would have greatly helped. If I had looked deeper into Orthodoxy back then I would have discovered the gospel in the writings of the saints, etc, but all I did was go to church. I first heard the gospel through a Protestant, and converted to Protestantism because I felt it had a stronger focus on Christ, and Orthodoxy was more about the church/saints/holidays/etc. I mean no offence :) that's just how I felt, and now I see the Orthodox Christians obviously love God too. But I didn't then. Even now when I visit my old EO church I miss that focus on the gospel that I get in my non denom church. So as an 'outsider', I'd just like to say that I agree with the author...I hope it doesn't seem like I'm just here to criticize the EO church or something, I just realized how this fits into my experience.
peace

monica