www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall The Turning of Frank Schaeffer

Dear John,

There are those who used to say that John Wesley read much from the Eastern Fathers etc.

And, in fact, that is simply a myth. It has been shown by scholars that even the little that John Wesley noted in his bibliographies from the Fathers was from the Western Fathers and whenever he came across something truly "Eastern" as in the Macarian homilies, he deleted it . . .

Which is not to say that he wasn't a holy man . . .

Alex

thanks! I meant Touchstone magazine. there is, or was, a Cornerstone Christian bookstore in Greenwich Village.
Much Love,
Jonn

Thank you Alex.

This gets oft repeated in different circles where people promote the idea that perhaps in some fashion Wesley's exposure to Patristics can help us to see influences of Orthodoxy and eastern praxis in modern Methodism...

In the stateside variety, God bless and keep them, they are good people and do well with what they have... But an Eastern influence in a concrete specific sort of way, I just don't see.

Simple

Let us pray for Frank Schaeffer.

A priest once wrote that new converts should wait at least three years before they ask a blessing to write about their conversion, maybe it should be 10 years.

I have thought about it at length. I owe the Lutherans absolutely nothing. I came to believe in christian doctrines several years after I stopped believing any thing I heard in the Lutheran Church. I do admit that I need to pray for the grace to forgive and forget the ordeal.

The priest explained this way:

When we convert to the Lord, we should not look over our shoulders like Lot's wife did. We should keep our eyes on the Lord if we wish to reach theosis and help others along the way.


Pray for me a sinner.

Dear Elizabeth Maria,

I think your advice here is very sound. We should pray for Frank Schaeffer, and there is a lot of sense in being cautious and allowing ourselves to grow in Orthodoxy before rushing into print about it.

Brigid

Thanks, Andrew, for the article from Touchstone! Marvellous...

Here is one of the passages that stood out to me:


The reference here is to Frank's interview with Thomas Howard in his now defunct periodical, "The Christian Activist". I remember reading that a number of years ago, and was struck by how Frank pressed and challenged his friend Howard to become Orthodox. It was a friendly enough exchange, but I have yet to see such an interview take place where a Catholic acted in kind to an Orthodox Christian.

Part of the problem is that so much of Evangelical and Fundamentalist Protestantism defines its existence polemically - "sed contra" Catholicism (and Orthodoxy, to some extent). It is one faith in "protest" (hence the name "Protestant") against another.

Some converts to Catholicism and Orthodoxy continue with the same polemical posturing, albeit often against a new target. But I do not see how it can really sustain an authentic spiritual life...

In ICXC,

Gordo