Posted by George on November 20, 2000 at 20:03:02:
In Reply to: Difference between Greek Orth. and Christianity??? posted by Jennifer on November 16, 2000 at 16:36:46:
Jennifer,
I would like to help you with your question while making a few clarifications to others arguments. Yes, Orthodoxy is different from the Baptist religion. Christianity used to be one religion until 1054 AD, when the Great Schism between EAst and West occured. Orthodox has stayed the same throughout time striving for survival under the Ottoman Empire after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The West had the Reformation, which began with Martin Luther, from which all further Protestant religions, including Baptist sprang forth. There are over 28,000 Christian religions today, so I am not going to get into any details. So, what are some of the differences. On the surface, when you enter an Orthodox church, you will see a lot of iconography, candles, and most parishioners dressed up, not wearing corporate casual attire. Our icons are often depictions of saints, who were devout Christians in their lifetime. Many Greek orthodox are named after a particualr saint. The iconography also portrays the glorification of God, an attempt in our churches to create a "heaven on earth". THus the dressing up in church too, for being respectful. As a Baptist, along with other Protestants, there is often nothing resembling iconography in the church, keeping it to a simple bare four walls.
Many orthodox churches have a foreign language spoken in them, be it Greek, Russian, Serbian or whatever. This is largely due to the fact that Orthodoxy is relatively new to the United States and the people who brought it here are from a foreign country and the language is still practiced at home. THis often makes it difficult to understand some of the liturgy, which goes along with Mihalis point. But, Orthodoxy is not necessarily about understanding the service per say, but the Gospel readings and the bible lessons learned on Sunday. This of course changes week to week, but is repeated throughout each year. THere are many other differences, but I want to keep this already lengthy response short. Just two more points: One, is in response to Gary about baptism. Yes, we baptize our infants early on to bring them in to Christs life. A child who is not baptised, is NOT considered Christian, and needs baptism for remission of original sin. THus the importance of baptising early on. Second, there is an old Greek Saying, which I will translate into English: Help me Virgin May, Help ME! Do something, so that I may help you. WHat I mean by this, is if you are interested in learning about your religion, the message will not come to you, but you have to go out and seek it, and you will be enlightened.
Hope this helps.