Five Reasons I Am Not Eastern Orthodox

Here is the summary. Christianity is not transmitted through logic and information but through communion and revelation. Luther tried to reform an already fallen church. Rome was the first Protestant and Luther was the second. Just look at the man, the head of their church, the fount of their doctrine. They are not Christians; they are LUTHERANS meaning they follow a man.

Anyone that says I reject Orthodoxy because I am Lutheran says about all you need to know.

You follow a drunk monk that broke his vows to God, started a civil war, wrote anti Semitic screeds against the Jews, married a nun also causing her to break her vows , and tried to remove Hebrews, James and a few other books of the Bible because he didn’t like them and they contradicted his doctrines. They have completely given their altar to the skittle mafia as well. I believe they are also ordaining women. You know a tree by its fruit.

Regarding the issue of images in orthodoxy: you can kiss an icon with your eyes. You can venerate an icon with your eyes.

After being an atheist for 28 years and being in the Anglican and then briefly the Roman church, I am grateful to the Lord that He finally brought me to a God honouring, bible-believing Baptist church.

God bless you all who worship Jesus rightly as your only Saviour.

I was a Protestant Reformed Evangelical of 24 years. In 2023 after prayer and research I converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. I could not continue in the inconsistency, errors and heresy of Protestantism.

You forgot to mention that Eastern Orthodoxy doesn't seek to convert new people,we are closed to the outsiders!

I grew up Protestant, and fell away from the faith as a teen. After an over a decade of being a drug addict I found Jesus Christ of Nazareth at age 30. I spent serious time alone rebuilding my life with just my Bible. After serious prayer to find the right church; I found myself at the Greek Orthodox Church, and I am so glad I found it! I find its worship and liturgy to be beautiful in ways that I have never experienced. To be honest many Protestant churches now just give a motivational speech in between rock concerts, and as a professional musician it did not work for me. I believe many will find Christ through different ways, but as I grew in Christ I found Orthodoxy to be for me.

Why do I only see that Orthodox disagree with the video but don't specify the points? Like, they don't know what is wrong and just disagree?

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Eastern Orthodoxy is where it’s at, nuff said

I’m orthodox and not true what you are saying:(

I greatly appreciate the seriousness, thoughtfulness and care used in creating this video.

Relgious iconography predates Jesus - it is not true to say that there aren't image in the worship of the early church. People only began writing about images when some started calling the use and veneration of icons into question.

Justification - forensic language is not an essential aspect, but an analogy - we don't satisfy any debt through death, but rather it is the consequence of our doing what would cause, as God warned, us to die die. Justification is essentially about being put in proper order, both intrinsically and in relation to others, especially God. In like manner, paying off financial debts also has the effect being put in proper order in self and in relation to others (just ask anyone who has become debt-free).

Orthodoxy allows one to question and resolve thoughts on how to worship . You need to stop looking for the church to answer your questions and look to your self.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!" nothing can be done by sinful intelligence, but only more sin.

He's full of CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 reason why I'm not Lutheran ANYMORE.
1. Your Church is full of fake believers mostly even sinners and not traditional.
2. You allow female priests.
3. Your Church is limited, no icons etc.
4. You don't keep Virgin Mary close to you yourself.
5. You don't have Apocalypses, which are important books in bible.

I am a semi-retired, Ordained Protestant Minister about to become a "catechumin" into Orthodoxy. What I find fascinating is that Protestants will except Catholics, even though thier is the history of persecution and murder from the Popes against them, but, they will attack anyone who attempts to become Orthodox. Why do you think that is?

The Orthodox Church and the Church of Rome only pay lip service to the Bible. It is not their final authority. When I was at Princeton Seminary I asked an Eastern Orthodox student about what she believed about Justification. She said, "Why do you use those Protestant words?" I thought that spoke volumes. The best summary of Biblical Christianity is the Heidelberg Catechism."

you're probably right on the issue of images

Oh Lord, give me strength... to believe that the Orthodox Church subscribes exclusively, or even predominantly, to apophatic theology in its teachings let alone daily practice, you must have never been a real Orthodox church or Orthodox person. Do you really think that Orthodox prayer is "wordless" just because of Pseudo Dyonisius? I have the "Molitvoslov" next to me right now with 300 pages of prayers.... each of them made out of words.

"The apophatic explanation of my non-Orthodoxy, which begins with a discussion about my discomfort with apophatic theology".

Im sorry but becsuse you are lutheran your opinion is instantly irrelevant

I understand that you are a theologian, but it seems like you talk about Orthodoxy as if it were just a school of thought. You can't appreciate orthodoxy fully without living it, I don't think.

I’m Lutheran, but I find it really difficult to read scripture plainly and get to justification by faith alone. I might become Orthodox at some point.

the orthodox chrurch is walking the way Christ and the Apostoles walked. not many things have changed since he 1st , 2nd, 3rd century AD. its the only branch of Christianity that can make this claim. And its the difficult way, just as the Bible says

Why is this comment section so hostile? He’s just stating the reasons why he disagrees with EO . If anyone reading this can’t be charitable about something as well-intentioned as this video, they have a lot bigger problems to deal with in their walk with God than attempting to root out someone else’s supposed heresy. Seriously.

The Orthodox takes catechism way more seriously than Roman Catholicism. Almost every Catholic that I’ve met has been poorly catechized

As an orthodox, u were really respectful and ur focus wasnt on things like opinion and emotions as some prots I have met on the internet but theological. Although I disagree on the points u made, I came to realize that Lutherans are more truth holding than the other protestant denominations bc of their view on babtism and Eucharist.
God bless🤗

My main issue is that Lutheranism was founded by Luther who was quite a terrible person in many a way (loathing peasants and calling for the death of anyone he disagreed with in his age) just as much as many a Pope or Patriarch were. Unlike Jesus and the Apostles themselves.

How about their liturgies are just too bloody long??🤪

I'm a Starwarstheist. I can my see my brotha in the force is a fan by the looks of that book shelf!

made me more orthodox

While I really find Thomism interesting, apophatic theology is inarguably the more philosophically precise method for describing God. If your priority isn't perfect precision, then I can understand why you'd gripe about it. It's a bit more difficult to "use".

The thing that I always find lacking in videos of why so-and-so isn't Eastern Orthodox is a sufficient handling of the historical problem that you have if you reject the Eastern Orthodox Church. If you believe the Church is one as it is described in Holy Scripture and that it cannot pass away as promised in Holy Scripture, then you encounter the problem of finding an origin in Christ and the Apostles for whatever you are trying to call the Church outside of the Eastern Orthodox Church. I'm not trying to be unkind, but there is a serious historical problem you have to overcome in order to justify any position other than Holy Orthodoxy. If you cannot find a way to overcome that, then any and all theological arguments against the teachings of Holy Orthodoxy are mute and you are simply accepting a position outside of Christ's Church. I can respect that decision to some extent as I know the experience of dealing with this issue is an extremely humbling and uncomfortable one and I imagine many rationalize it away so they don't have the take the damage to the ego.

Luther married a nun. He was a pig. Virginity equals holiness. Lutherans treat women like draft animals. It's no accident legal prostitution is widespread in Lutheran countries

The ones I knew took divorce lightly. They will look until they find a priest to remarry them.

I am a reader in the orthodox church. I was a convert 10 yesrs ago. I have recently left the church.

While I disagree as an Orthodox Christian I appreciate your respectful tone, and we are all united in our shared belief in Jesus Christ. On that, we pray together.

Thank you for your video. One thing puzzles me : you said that apophatic method begins with pseudo-Dionisios. To my opinion, it begins with John the baptist as descibed in the Prologue of John. The way he "decreased" is apophaticism, and the end of this decreasing is the revelation of the Christ of the Holy Scriptiures, not a Christ made of analogies. Our love is not the measure of God's love.

Praise God that more and more people are being led by Christ to the Orthodox Christian faith. I was baptized on Pentecost last year and came to know our Lord and Savior. Glory to God!

Went into my first orthodoxy church and I felt like I was cheating on God… the whole time I felt so uncomfortable and God kept telling me to stay in my seat and they literally tried to force me up to the altar. We spent so much time reading from different books and doing routines that I felt we only spent 5 minutes in the scripture and it was a half energy 5 minute dissection of scripture and then they did like 3-4 more ritual routines and then we were excused and I asked their leadership some questions and they wouldn’t answer some of them because they either didn’t know or they said they weren’t taught that part of scripture yet and once someone smarter than them teaches it to them they can then understand it and come back to me hahahaha I just laughed and went home and spent 3 hours in my Bible instead and felt an instant connection to Christ and even was moved to tears of joy once in that alone time with Him away from the Orthodox Church.
Jesus saves, not theology

Orthodoxy's 'crucifixion of the intellect' is a challenge to most.

Greetings Dr. Cooper. Have you spoken on the Latin (and possibly Eastern) church’s view that one must be sufficiently ‘pure’ to enter Eternal Life? Thanks!

Sorry. You lost Us. Is there any way to Christ for regular people?

There is no separate priesthood under the new covenant. I was EO for a while. They have little understanding of what it means to be a born again Christian.

This is so good!!

This video is saying to me that you are going to be Orthodox soon. Fighting against something is because it fights you, actually. You say you love West and not East. Man, all of the Apostles and New Testament and the whole Scripture, are Easterns!