Posted on 02/19/2002 3:34:03 PM PST by tracer
But probably not all in the same "denomination", despite being theologically the same. Thus Greek Orthodox counted separately from Russian Orthodox, etc.
In any event, I (FWIW) don't view religious growth as a race or contest of any kind. Rather, I posted this article from the point of view of interesting demographic change on the religious landscape of America. This is indeed interesting in light of the struggles the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endured and overcame in its infancy during the most formative years of our nation.
I am aware that the Greek Orthodox Church has grown in recent years, and my mother tells of several converts joining her parish from many walks of life. And I would not be surprised to learn that in fact there are more than 7+ million people who are Orthodox Christians in the U.S. today
Do you agree that the various rites (denominations) would enjoy a tremendous advantage by uniting under a single banner of Orthodox Christianity in the U.S. and world-wide?
Quite apart from the logistical and fiscal benefits to be derived from the economy of scale, I believe that a unified Orthodox Church would benefit from the spiritual solidarity, scope, and span of influence beyond that which is the case at present. And the presence of such a large single Christian denomination would do much to facilitate the growth of Christianity in the face of the seemingly tremendous odds present in the world today.
Finally, I (who was an altar boy so many years ago) send my greeting of "Kristos Anesti!" in advance of the upcoming Easter holiday. All the best....
Firesign Theater, cute.
Seriously now, Leary founded something called the League for Spirtual Discovery, or LSD.
Very definitely not to be confused with LDS.
The Orthodox Church is one entity. ONE CHURCH. THEY ARE OF ONE COUNCIL!!!!1
The Council of the Church is made up of about 13 Patriarchs, I believe. The Ecumenical Patriarch in Turkey is the first AMONG EQUALS among those Patriarchs.
All Orthodox Christians are in communion with each other and with NO OTHER CHURCHES. Their priests can be transferred between jurisdictions and they all can attend the same seminaries and NOT the seminaries of other churches.
A group of Serbians can meet and have Liturgy with the Romanians or the Greeks or any other Orthodox Christians....but not with any other church.
I realize that it is so difficult a concept for divided and varied Protestant sects to understand....but the Orthodox Christian Churches ARE THE SECOND LARGEST CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE WORLD after the Roman Catholics.
An Orthodox Bishop from Dallas, Texas told me that the the ORTHODOX Christians in the world are only divided by language and that is ONLY because the Orthodox Christians believe that the Church should serve in the language of the people.
Rome wanted the Church to serve only in Latin....and that is one of the reasons of the great schism in 1054.
OK. But I'll bet that's not how these bozos count it.
I've had the same nonsense about the Jews.
The Christ who is actually present according to His promise in the Holy Eucharist, or the Christ who established a symbolic memorial?
The Christ who governed His Church by the councilar action of His Holy Apostles as recorded in Acts 15 and through the Holy Ecumenical Councils which followed that pattern, or the Christ who made Peter prince of the Apostles and gave an indivisible charism to him, inherited by the Popes of Rome?
The Christ who saves us from separation from God as a consequence of sin (both our own and ancestral) by uniting the Divine nature to the Human nature in His incarnation and by trampling down Death by death on the Cross, or the Christ who saves us from God's anger at Adam's sin imputed to all his descendants by offering himself as a human sacrifice to appease God's wrath?
No, doctrines divide us, those who hold true doctrine from those who hold false doctrine, and those who hold one false doctrine from those holding a different false doctrine.
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