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Orthodox Church Gaining Numbers?
A Protestant was interviewing an Orthodox. The question was why Orthodoxy is attractive to those joining it. There were some interesting comments upon which I would like to add.
1. The Orthodox grew up in “non-denominational churches” which he said are basically, “cultural churches”. According to him they follow cultural trends because there is no “normative authority” (i.e. Church Heirarchy for everyone).
2. Protestants also are weakned by not having any “normative authority”, which Orthodox folks have. This means they have a hierarchy which tells them what is right based upon Church (i.e., governing authority) interpretation of Scripture and “Church Tradition”.
Now for some comments from me:
1. I have almost stopped using the term “non-denominational” because it has lost it’s meaning in many ways. I prefer “pre-denominational” since we strive to go back before there was any denominations, back to the Bible. All churches need to beware of becoming “Cultural Churches”. This is one reason I think even so-called “Churches of Christ” are adopting female preachers and elders. They are unknowingly following culture disguised as Biblical exegisis.
2. “Normative Authority” placed in the hands of a heirarchy has two negative impacts: A) It removes personal responsibility for every belief because it is “handed down”. B) It historically replaces the apostles as the cornerstone (Eph.2:20) with bishops.
The Orthodox Church has other issues too besides an organizational structure not found in the Bible, such as “tri-baptism”. It is a false church. Being of the pre-denominational mindset, I do not need to follow any one, or defend any congregation except the one in which I fellowship. We each have the responsibility to study for ourselves and be held accountable for our own conclusions, not those handed down by an unbiblical church heirarchy.
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