www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Byzantine Catholic Church or Orthodox Church?

I could make you a quick list of ten things much worse than that. However, if we're going to make a decision on whether or not to join a church (any church), based on whether or not the people in it are highly flawed - all I can say is I hope you would be happy with doing reader's services/typika at home allllll alone.

Thank you !!! (-:

In Christ:
Seraphim

I could start throwing dirt at the Catholic Church as you did to the Orthodox for what I see as huge problems but I won't out of charity for my brothers and sisters on this forum. None of us are sinless, Orthodox or Catholic.

In the end we are ALL trying to work out our salvation in our respective churches. In addition, at least in my parish I have not experienced any of the negative or prideful ways that you claim Orthodox Christians hold too. And yes I do believe that the Orthodox Church is the one true Church as I hope you believe yours is.

In Christ:
Seraphim

What a bunch of Pharisaical hooey. Point not to the mote in thy neighbor's eye.

Just becasue this or that may seem pharisaical doesn't mean it isn't a valid consideration needing to be addressed rather than just dismissed. Remember: even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

And it's funny how them specks in the eyes of other people can sometimes be contagious and wind up in the beholder's eye.

Honestly I dont agree with your statement: I've always find in the ECC a large and humble attitude, and never a closure to the others.

Look for example to post #2 in this thread by a Melkite: it does not state at all that the only way to get salvation is to convert to ECC!

And I'm not speaking of lack of charity by singles Orthodox brothers/sisters. I know Orthodox who said me with taste and love that all in the Uniate Church is crap (well they used an other pejorative term). The problem did not come from them, which are marvelous souls, but from the propaganda from their Church.

An official propaganda typical of the entities, as Lefebrians Catholics, JWs, some fundamentalists ect, which promote themselves by means of denigrating and slurring the others. That's something I cannot accept.

And I never seen the ECC denigrating and slurring the Orthodox (perhaps they did lots of years ago, but not during my life). That is the reason why I feel more comfortable in the ECC rather than the EOC.

I have a question and I ask this with all sincerity.
Why should I become a Byzantine Catholic instead of
becoming Orthodox?

I was on the brink of becoming Orthodox. I can tell you why, thanks to God, I didnt made such pass: I realized that in the Orthodox world there too much the claim to be the best, the only ones with the truth in their pocket, with the only liturgy never touched by St. James forward (historical falsity)..and so on.
On the other side I discovered that the East tradition can be lived as well in the ECCs, which for sure are less high-sounding that the Orthodox brothers. 
And because my aim is to look for Christ only, and not to prove to be "the more authentic", I appreciate the ECCs, which give me the access to the beloved Eastern way to Him.


I could start throwing dirt at the Catholic Church as you did to the Orthodox for what I see as huge problems but I won't out of charity for my brothers and sisters on this forum. None of us are sinless, Orthodox or Catholic. 

In the end we are ALL trying to work out our salvation in our respective churches. In addition, at least in my parish I have not experienced any of the negative or prideful ways that you claim Orthodox Christians hold too. And yes I do believe that the Orthodox Church is the one true Church as I hope you believe yours is. 

In Christ:
Seraphim


Honestly I dont agree with your statement: I've always find in the ECC a large and humble attitude, and never a closure to the others.

Look for example to post #2 in this thread by a Melkite: it does not state at all that the only way to get salvation is to convert to ECC!

And I'm not speaking of lack of charity by singles Orthodox brothers/sisters. I know Orthodox who said me with taste and love that all in the Uniate Church is crap (well they used an other pejorative term). The problem did not come from them, which are marvelous souls, but from the propaganda from their Church. 

An official propaganda typical of the entities, as Lefebrians Catholics, JWs, some fundamentalists ect, which promote themselves by means of denigrating and slurring the others. That's something I cannot accept.

And I never seen the ECC denigrating and slurring the Orthodox (perhaps they did lots of years ago, but not during my life). That is the reason why I feel more comfortable in the ECC rather than the EOC.



Edited by antv (Today at 03:06 AM) 
Top


Well I think we will have to agree to disagree. The idea that the Orthodox Church has a propaganda machine to denigrate Catholics is just nuts and comparing us to the groups you mentioned above is out of line and a lie, You have a lot of nerve when you post this kind of rubbish. I apoligize if I have caused any offense but you must realize when you attack another's faith you will reap what you sow.

In Christ:
Seraphim

Seems to me some hostility incompatible with Bright Week has crept into this discussion. I deeply regret anything I have ever said on this forum that might promote hostility.

Look, you can get to DFW airport from Frankfurt, Germany every day. You can take Lufthansa flight # 438 OR you can take American Airlines flight #71. People choose one over the other for various reasons. NB they both arrive close to each other. The experience on both airlines will be different in some respects but the destination is the same; the length of the flight is the same.

At the risk of over-simplification, maybe it's valid to think of choosing to belong either to one of the Greek Catholic Churches or one of the Orthodox Churches like one might think of choosing Lufthansa or American Airlines to get to DFW.

Christ is Risen!!

Actually, the hostility that has crept in here is incompatible with every week and every day if we call ourselves Christians. In addition, it is incompatible with the tone we try to maintain here on this particular forum. If you want to cut each other to shreds, there are lots of fora out there on the net where you can find people who are hostile to people other than those exactly like themselves.

The problem I see, as one outside the house looking in through the window, is that the movements of history have developed a lot of bitterness and hostility among people who share the same patrimony. And that bitterness and hostility seems to be part and parcel of the passing on of the Faith, though it is as far from what Our Lord taught His disciples as Heaven is from the Eternity of Bitterness and Hatred.

Questions like this are bound to cause hackles to go up. One does not choose a Church by comparisons, or by taking a poll, or by listing the faults and strengths of each one. And that seems to be what is going on here. It's far more serious than any of those avenues.

So I think that this topic has exhausted its usefulness and I will lock it.

Bob
Moderator