Thank God for Kallistos Ware!

[Orthodox Andrew]

Hey guys, I have a thing to do for school where I have to write about a turning point in my life and I think I may want to write about when I first read “The Orthodox Church” by Kallistos Ware. I’m going to write just some stuff down to give myself some idea of what I’m going to write for school, and I figured I may as well share my rough work with you guy for fun.:)



The biggest turning point in my life was when I read a book by the name of “The Orthodox Church” by Timothy Ware. This book held all the answers I was looking for, and changed who I was beyond belief. After reading this book those close to me could tell there was a new Andreas, and some found it quite hard to swallow at first.



For the last few years prior to reading this book, I had truly been looking for God everywhere. I began my journey as a believer in the Protestant idea of God, but that was not able to hold up for me too long. I went to a Catholic Church to experience their wonderful Mass, and read a few things on the Catholic Church, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for there. But I must say that prior to becoming Orthodox, two of the three faiths that I looked deepest into were Catholicism and Protestantism. The third faith that was able to grab my attention was Islam. I had first found interest in the faith due to a strong sense of devotion to their idea of God, the Muslims seemed to display. I went with some of my friends to a few Mosques, and spoke to Imams about Islam. I bought a copy of the Quran and read it. I became so deeply into Islam that I began praying to Allah. However there was one image in my mind all that time that kept me from becoming fully Muslim. It was an Icon of Christ I had on a little book of Christ's saying. No matter how deep into Islam I was, I could never get that image out of my mind. (keep in mind that this was long before I believed in Icons). Then one morning the oddest thing happened to me. Without reason I rejected Islam. For some reason I knew in my mind and in my heart that it was false. But now I was in an odd place. I saw how Protestantism couldn’t hold its own. I felt nothing in Catholicism. So where was I to go? So I moved more into being more of an Agonistic.



One day, when searching the net for books on Orthodoxy I came across “The Orthodox Church” by Kallistos Ware, and for some reason felt the need to read this book. I searched a couple of bookstores, and eventually bought in on Amazon.com. When I first began reading it, I realized right away that Orthodoxy was something I had never seen before. That it had every aspect I loved in all the other faiths, but also it was completely different. I learned that it had been a suffering Church from the days of Rome, The Ottoman Empire, and Communism in Eastern Europe etc… I saw that it gave birth to people that were quite devout to God, and willing to die for him. I saw its Saints were great intellectuals, like St. Basil, St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom etc. The beauty that the Monks saw in God's creations blew me away, and stripped me of the hate that rotted inside of me. The book left me in awe. I don’t know how many times I stopped to say to myself “wow, that’s amazing”. I also saw Kallistos Ware as a person I could relate to. But most importantly, through that book I found Christ. Thus, my turning point in life.


It's just my rough work, guys.:)

[Suzannah]

Wonderful!!!! Are you going to add to this??? If so, post it...can't wait to read it! Perhaps your paper will even have a lasting effect on your teacher...ya never know!
:)

[Orthodox Andrew]

Wonderful!!!! Are you going to add to this??? If so, post it...can't wait to read it! Perhaps your paper will even have a lasting effect on your teacher...ya never know!
:)

Thanks! Since it's suppose to be more limited in length, I'm going to have to work its size down.:)

[MariaRegina]

Try to reword your introduction and thesis to really draw the reader into your second paragraph. Your second paragraph is excellent, but it's too large and can be further divided into 3 paragraphs: the path through Protestantism, the struggle with Catholicism and the difficulties with Islam (you couldn't deny Christ, Who was pursuing you like the Hound of Heaven). Then perhaps mention in your last paragraph your homecoming to Orthodoxy, thus a logical conclusion, inspired by His Grace Bishop Kallistos Ware.

Did you know that you and His Grace Kallistos took the same journey: he was writing a college text book on Orthodoxy. In the middle of writing this text, he felt logically compelled to become Orthodox. It just made sense.

Hope this helps,

Lovingly yours in Christ,

Your linguistic friend,
Elizabeth

[Orthodox Andrew]

Try to reword your introduction and thesis to really draw the reader into your second paragraph. Your second paragraph is excellent, but it's too large and can be further divided into 3 paragraphs: the path through Protestantism, the struggle with Catholicism and the difficulties with Islam (you couldn't deny Christ, Who was pursuing you like the Hound of Heaven). Then perhaps mention in your last paragraph your homecoming to Orthodoxy, thus a logical conclusion, inspired by His Grace Bishop Kallistos Ware.

Did you know that you and His Grace Kallistos took the same journey: he was writing a college text book on Orthodoxy. In the middle of writing this text, he felt logically compelled to become Orthodox. It just made sense.

Hope this helps,

Lovingly yours in Christ,

Your linguistic friend,
Elizabeth
It did help. Thanks, chanter.:)

God bless you.

[MariaRegina]

Forgot to mention this:

The textbook that Timothy Ware was writing was: The Orthodox Church. He later on studied to be monk and was given the name Archimandrite Kalllistos, then he was consecrated a Bishop under the Patriarch of Constantinople.

[Orthodox Andrew]

Forgot to mention this:

The textbook that Timothy Ware was writing was: The Orthodox Church. He later on studied to be monk and was given the name Archimandrite Kalllistos, then he was consecrated a Bishop under the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Very interesting, thanks.:)

[MariaRegina]

You're welcome, Andreas.

When you have finished with your essay, could you please share it with us? You might even send it to Conciliar Press as they like to publish stories like that, especially from young people.

[Orthodox Andrew]

You're welcome, Andreas.

When you have finished with your essay, could you please share it with us? You might even send it to Conciliar Press as they like to publish stories like that, especially from young people.
When it's all done I'll post it here for sure.:)

You really think Concilar Press may be interested?:eek: What kind of essays do they publish? Do you have any links for them?

[MariaRegina]

goto www.antiochian.org

look up departments and click Again Magazine or Conciliar Press

[Orthodox Andrew]

goto www.antiochian.org (http://www.antiochian.org/)

look up departments and click Again Magazine or Conciliar Press
Thanks. I see what you mean now. Again is a magazine for Evangelizing. However, I doubt they would ever take interest in anything I wrote, but thanks for the kind words, chanter.:)

[MariaRegina]

Thanks. I see what you mean now. Again is a magazine for Evangelizing. However, I doubt they would ever take interest in anything I wrote, but thanks for the kind words, chanter.:)

Think again.

We are losing a lot of cradle Orthodox Youth within the Antiochian Church -- the pastors are desperately looking for youth like you who are willing to tell of their conversion experiences. You are Light to them. Your story may convert thousands. Please do write them. They do publish letters to the editors. A small essay is publishable.

Yours in Christ,
Elizabeth

P.S. My son is a camp counselor -- many youth do not want to go to the Holy Services. It's sad. You could be asked to speak before these troubled youths who are falling away from the Holy Orthodox Church due to the effect of our very secular and pagan society.

[Orthodox Andrew]

Think again.

We are loosing a lot of cradle Orthodox within the Antiochian Church -- the pastors are desperately looking for youth like you who are willing to tell of their conversion experiences. You are Light to them. Your story may convert thousands. Please do write them. They do publish letters to the editors. A small essay is publishable.

Yours in Christ,
ElizabethIf you really think it may serve a purpose, then I'll do it. I'll write something and post it here, and you can tell me what you think of it? If you think it's good, I'll send it. I'll try to get it done before March.

God bless you.:)

[Orthodox Andrew]

P.S. My son is a camp counselor -- many youth do not want to go to the Holy Services. It's sad. You could be asked to speak before these troubled youths who are falling away from the Holy Orthodox Church due to the effect of our very secular and pagan society.

I guess anything can happen in life.;)

[MariaRegina]

Be assured of my prayers for you, Andreas.

Lovingly in Christ our God,
Elizabeth

[Orthodox Andrew]

Be assured of my prayers for you, Andreas.

Lovingly in Christ our God,
Elizabeth
That means a lot, thanks.:)

Know you're in mine as well.

[Orthodox Andrew]

OPPS

[Orthodox Andrew]

Do you think this is better?:confused:

The greatest impact on my journey to find God came when I began to read the well-known Orthodox book, “The Orthodox Church” by Kallistos Ware. The changes that took place in my life were strong and very apparent to those around me. For the first time in my life I felt a deep desire to change my life for God, and not the other way around. This short essay is on my journey from floating in the sea of not knowing, to finding true peace in Orthodoxy.

For the last few years prior to reading “The Orthodox Church”, I had truly been looking for God everywhere. I began my journey as a believer in the Protestant idea of God, but that was not able to hold up for me too long. I went to a Catholic Church to experience their Mass, and read a few things on the Catholic Church, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for there. But I must say that prior to becoming Orthodox, two of the three faiths that I looked deepest into were Catholicism and Protestantism. I found good in both these faiths, and saw Christ there. But I felt in my heart that both lacked something I could not quite put my finger on, until I discovered Orthodoxy at a later date.





The third faith that was able to grab my attention was Islam. I had first found interest in the faith due to a strong sense of devotion to their idea of God, the Muslims seemed to display. I went with some of my friends to a few Mosques, and spoke to Imams about Islam. I bought a copy of the Quran and read it. I became so deeply into Islam that I began praying to Allah. However, there was one image in my mind all that time that kept me from becoming fully Muslim. It was an Icon of Christ I had on a little book of Christ's sayings. No matter how deep into Islam I was, I could never get that image out of my mind. (keep in mind that this was long before I believed in Icons). Then one morning the oddest thing happened to me. Without reason I rejected Islam. For some reason I knew in my mind and in my heart that it was false. But now I was in an odd place. I saw how Protestantism couldn’t hold its own. I felt nothing in Catholicism. So where was I to go? So I moved more into being more of an Agonistic. But that certainly was not going to satisfy my thirst for God.


One day, when searching the net for books on Orthodoxy I came across “The Orthodox Church” by Kallistos Ware, and for some reason felt the need to read this book. I searched a couple of bookstores, and eventually bought it online. When I first began reading it, I realized right away that Orthodoxy was something I had never seen before. That it had every aspect I loved in all the other faiths, but also it was completely different. I learned that it had been a suffering Church from the days of Rome, The Ottoman Empire, and Communism in Eastern Europe etc… I saw that it gave birth to people that were quite devout to God, and willing to die for him. I saw its Saints were great intellectuals, like for example St. Basil, St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom. The beauty that the Monks saw in God's creations blew me away, and stripped me of the hate that rotted inside of me. The book left me in awe. I don’t know how many times I stopped to say to myself “wow, that’s amazing”. I also saw Kallistos Ware as a person I could relate to. But most importantly, through that book I found God, who is Christ.. And a few months later I was Baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church.

[MariaRegina]

Do you think this is better?:confused:

The greatest impact on my journey to find God came when I began to read the well-known Orthodox book, “The Orthodox Church” by [Timothy] Kallistos Ware. The changes that took place in my life were strong and very apparent to those around me. For the first time in my life I felt a deep desire to change my life for God, and not the other way around. This short essay is on my journey from floating in the sea of not knowing, to finding true peace in Orthodoxy.

For the last few years prior to reading “The Orthodox Church”, I had truly been looking for God everywhere. I began my journey as a believer in the Protestant idea of God, but that was not able to hold up for me too long. I went to a Catholic Church to experience their Mass, and read a few things on the Catholic Church, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for there. But I must say that prior to becoming Orthodox, two of the three faiths that I looked deepest into were Catholicism and Protestantism. I found good in both these faiths, and saw Christ there. But I felt in my heart that both lacked something I could not quite put my finger on, until I discovered Orthodoxy at a later date.


The third faith that was able to grab my attention was Islam. I had first found interest in the faith due to a strong sense of devotion to their idea of God, the Muslims seemed to display. I went with some of my friends to a few Mosques, and spoke to Imams about Islam. I bought a copy of the Quran and read it. I became so deeply into Islam that I began praying to Allah. However, there was one image in my mind all that time that kept me from becoming fully Muslim. It was an Icon of Christ I had on a little book of Christ's sayings. No matter how deep into Islam I was, I could never get that image out of my mind. (keep in mind that this was long before I believed in Icons). Then one morning the oddest thing happened to me. Without reason I rejected Islam. For some reason I knew in my mind and in my heart that it was false. But now I was in an odd place. I saw how Protestantism couldn’t hold its own. I felt nothing in Catholicism. So where was I to go? So I moved more into being more of an Agonistic. But that certainly was not going to satisfy my thirst for God.


One day, when searching the net for books on Orthodoxy I came across “The Orthodox Church” by Kallistos Ware, and for some reason felt the need to read this book. I searched a couple of bookstores, and eventually bought it online. When I first began reading it, I realized right away that Orthodoxy was something I had never seen before. That it had every aspect I loved in all the other faiths, but also it was completely different. I learned that it had been a suffering Church from the days of Rome, The Ottoman Empire, and Communism in Eastern Europe etc… I saw that it gave birth to people that were quite devout to God, and willing to die for him. I saw its Saints were great intellectuals, like for example St. Basil, St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom. The beauty that the Monks saw in God's creations blew me away, and stripped me of the hate that rotted inside of me. The book left me in awe. I don’t know how many times I stopped to say to myself “wow, that’s amazing”. I also saw Kallistos Ware as a person I could relate to. But most importantly, through that book I found God, who is Christ.. And a few months later I was Baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church.


I think your first introduction on page 1 was better than this one. Reread your first essay. Since I do have homework to do, I cannot analyze your whole essay all at once. I will underline things you need to rethink or delete. I will add in brackets new ideas for you to develop more completely.

I'm sure that others can also give you pointers.

Hope this helps.

[Orthodox Andrew]

I think your first introduction on page 1 was better than this one. Reread your first essay. Since I do have homework to do, I cannot analyze your whole essay all at once. I will underline things you need to rethink or delete. I will add in brackets new ideas for you to develop more completely.

I'm sure that others can also give you pointers.

Hope this helps.
Thanks, I appreciate your feedback. I'm going rethink all the things you underlined.:)

[MariaRegina]

Andreas' Paragraph #1

The greatest impact on my journey to God came when I began to read “The Orthodox Church” by Timothy Ware. For the first time in my life I felt a deep desire to change my life for God, from floating in the sea of not knowing, to finding true peace in Orthodoxy.

[Orthodox Andrew]

The greatest impact on my journey to God came when I began to read “The Orthodox Church” by Timothy Ware. For the first time in my life I felt a deep desire to change my life for God, from floating in the sea of not knowing, to finding true peace in Orthodoxy.
I love that, thanks!:clap:

Should that be my new intro? Nothing needs to be added to that, correct?

[MariaRegina]

Andreas' paragraph 2 - with deletions

For the last few years I had been looking for God everywhere. I began my journey as a believer in the Protestant idea of God, then I went to a Catholic Church to experience their Mass, and read a few things on the Catholic Church. I found good in both these faiths, and saw Christ there, but I felt in my heart that both lacked something I could not quite put my finger on, until I discovered Orthodoxy at a later date.

[MariaRegina]

I love that, thanks!:clap:

Should that be my new intro? Nothing needs to be added to that, correct?

It's an excellent start. You may want to change it later on. Editing can take days and is the hardest part of writing. Be patient. Pray and sleep over this. Sometimes the Lord gives me the precise words to say in my sleep. Be sure to have a flashlight, pen and paper by your bed!

[Orthodox Andrew]

Andreas' paragraph 2

For the last few years prior to reading “The Orthodox Church”, I had truly been looking for God everywhere. I began my journey as a believer in the Protestant idea of God, but that was not able to hold up for me too long. I went to a Catholic Church to experience their Mass, and read a few things on the Catholic Church, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for there. But I must say that prior to becoming Orthodox, two of the three faiths that I looked deepest into were Catholicism and Protestantism. I found good in both these faiths, and saw Christ there. But I felt in my heart that both lacked something I could not quite put my finger on, until I discovered Orthodoxy at a later date.

For the last few years prior to finding Orthodoxy I had been looking for God everywhere. I began my journey as a believer in the Protestant idea of God, but I felt a strong lack of spirituality missing in it. I went to a Catholic Church to experience their Mass, and read a few things on the Catholic Church, but I couldn’t find whatever I was looking for in the Catholic Church, either. I found good in both of these faiths, and saw some of Christ in them. But I felt in my heart that they both lacked something I could not quite put my finger on, until I discovered Orthodoxy at a later datte.

Better?;)

[Orthodox Andrew]

Andreas' paragraph 2 - with deletions

For the last few years I had been looking for God everywhere. I began my journey as a believer in the Protestant idea of God, then I went to a Catholic Church to experience their Mass, and read a few things on the Catholic Church. I found good in both these faiths, and saw Christ there, but I felt in my heart that both lacked something I could not quite put my finger on, until I discovered Orthodoxy at a later date.
Good stuff.:)

[Orthodox Andrew]

It's an excellent start. You may want to change it later on. Editing can take days and is the hardest part of writing. Be patient. Pray and sleep over this. Sometimes the Lord gives me the precise words to say in my sleep. Be sure to have a flashlight, pen and paper by your bed!

Thanks. I will take a few days to finalize it.:)

[MariaRegina]

Did I give you a good start? Compare what you wrote with the corrections I have made in the first two paragraphs. Just look for places where you have been redundant and delete one of those parts.

BTW: You write very well. We all tend to have redundancies in our first attempts at writing an essay. Usually the second repetition is better because more thought has gone into it.

[Orthodox Andrew]

Did I give you a good start? Compare what you wrote with the corrections I have made in the first two paragraphs. Just look for places where you have been redundant and delete one of those parts.

BTW: You write very well. We all tend to have redundancies in our first attempts at writing an essay. Usually the second repetition is better because more thought has gone into it.

Yeah, you're right.

BTW... Your help is not only going to help this one essay, but it's also going to help my writing style in the future.:clap:

[Orthodox Andrew]

You gave me a great start!:hug:

[MariaRegina]

English 101 woohoo!

[Orthodox Andrew]

English 101 woohoo!:D

[MariaRegina]

What do you plan on taking in college? Have you taken the SAT yet?

[Orthodox Andrew]

What do you plan on taking in college? Have you taken the SAT yet?
I'm not sure if Canada uses SAT's?:scratch:

Actually, I'm not sure what I'm going to take. But I'm looking at something to do with maybe Orthodox theology, and Byzantine history.

[Niko]

Great Essay! Worth plagerizing (just kidding ^_^ )

-Nick

[Orthodox Andrew]

Great Essay! Worth plagerizing (just kidding ^_^ )

-Nick

:D Thanks

[xenia]

Andreas, it's great! One little note: Augustine is not considered an Orthodox saint with a capital "S". We call him Blessed Augustine, but not St. Augustine.

I hope I'm not being too nit-picky.

-Xenia

[Orthodox Andrew]

Andreas, it's great! One little note: Augustine is not considered an Orthodox saint with a capital "S". We call him Blessed Augustine, but not St. Augustine.

I hope I'm not being too nit-picky.

-Xenia
Thanks, Xenia.:)

Are you sure he's not a Saint? Most of what I have seen says he is?:scratch:

[prodromos]

To the best of my knowledge, Augustine is considered a saint in the Orthodox church. It was not Augustine who ran with his errors but those who came after him. Augustine himself recanted many of his errors but such was the volume of work he had produced that it was an impossible task to correct everything.

We have a number of words synonymous with "Saint". "Blessed", "Holy" and "Venerable" are three that come to mind. In Greek we have "Agios" and "Osios".

John.

[Orthodox Andrew]

To the best of my knowledge, Augustine is considered a saint in the Orthodox church. It was not Augustine who ran with his errors but those who came after him. Augustine himself recanted many of his errors but such was the volume of work he had produced that it was an impossible task to correct everything.

We have a number of words synonymous with "Saint". "Blessed", "Holy" and "Venerable" are three that come to mind. In Greek we have "Agios" and "Osios".

John.All around great post.:)

God bless you

[xenia]

Hmmm.... maybe I spoke too soon. I have heard that the East does not consider Bl. Augustine to be a full-blown "Saint" with a capital "S," but I can't find anything on the web to back this up. Fr. Seraphim Rose has written a book called The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church, which I have not read. I have found discussion on the web about how the Orthodox Church has not been very influenced by Augustine; that he had much more influence on the Western Church. But, that's not what this thread is about and Bl. Augustine was a great man of God by all accounts so please forgive me for muddying the waters.

-Xenia

[Matrona]

The Orthodox Church does not 'canonize' or 'beatify'--you're either in heaven or you're not, and so you are either 'glorified' (officially called a saint) or you are not (of course, not being called a saint is no indication of damnation!). Blessed Augustine is most certainly a 'full-blown saint' in the Orthodox Church. http://www.oca.org/pages/orth_chri/Q-and-A_OLD/St-Augustine-and-Original-Sin-2.html

[MariaRegina]

Andreas,

How is your essay coming along? I also helped another Orthodox student write her testimony: How St. Sophia Orthodox Summer Camp changed her life. She may submit it to Conciliar Press also.

Yours in Christ-God,
Elizabeth

[Orthodox Andrew]

Andreas,

How is your essay coming along? I also helped another Orthodox student write her testimony: How St. Sophia Orthodox Summer Camp changed her life. She may submit it to Conciliar Press also.

Yours in Christ-God,
Elizabeth
I have been so busy with school work, I have had no time to work on it.:( I hope to work on it again this weekend.:)