why does it seem many former protestants convert to eastern orthodox rather than catholicism if both orthodoxy and catholicism are technically part of the same church from Jesus?

Red-Curious · 2020-09-24T07:18:32+00:00

You had it up for a while, but I'm removing this because the question really has very little to do with our sub. It's more for r/askRPC.

NoFaithInThisSub · 2020-09-23T14:02:29+00:00

Many former protestants? Could it be the effeminization of the church and men having no mission?

NoFaithInThisSub · 2020-09-23T05:30:11+00:00

[deleted]

ZARZTER · 2020-09-23T06:35:48+00:00

Being Eastern Orthodox is nowhere near an "indirect way" to be a Catholic. Sure, they share some beliefs and practices, but they are different.

I think UpTanks is right about the cultural lure for some, but I don't know why protestants are converting to eastern orthodoxy as I haven't personally seen it myself. There are two main Eastern Orthodox Archdioceses, the Greek Orthodox (which is mostly Greeks) and the Antiochian Orthodox (Which is mostly Middle Eastern and what I am a part of). And the Russians, and some other minor groups.

I have always been an Eastern Orthodox, and my church is probably less than 5% converts. But we also don't have many protestants nearby, so that might be the reason.

I would have to disagree with the comment claiming converts are "Larping" as "mysterious Russian Wizards." There are plenty of Orthodox Churches in the states, and while they are definitely a minority, I'm sure you can find one near you and ask them about any questions you have as they are more qualified to answer the nitty-gritty questions. There is also the r/OrthodoxChristianity subreddit if you want to get some better answers.

Antiochian: http://ww1.antiochian.org/parishes (More open to outsiders)

Greek:https://www.goarch.org/parishes (Less open to outsiders)

If you think you are going to be able to grow out your beard and be a Russian wizard just by joining an Eastern Orthodox Church, I'm afraid you are mistaken. Only the priests get to do that ;)

Deep_Strength · 2020-09-23T16:16:01+00:00

There's cultural rot in every denomination: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. It tends to vary on where you're from too.

For instance, the US makes up something like 5% of the world's Catholics if I remember correctly, but they've gotten 50% of the world's annulments to break marriages. The decline in Protestant denominations correlate with how much they cater to the feminists/SJWs.

In general, as long as you've repented from your sins and striving to obey Jesus and be about His mission I don't care what you are as we're on the same mission. People get so caught up in the minutia of doctrine that they forget about our mission and purpose above all. Paul continually exhorts Christians to avoid the petty quarreling.

escapethesolarsystem · 2020-09-23T11:18:17+00:00

Ignore the clearly very "offended" American crybabies who have taken to desperately insulting anyone who converts to Eastern Orthodoxy instead of answering the question. "THEY ARE LARPING WAAAHHHH!!!! WAHHHH!!!!" "THEY WANT TO BE WIZARDS!!!! WAAAHHH!!! WAAHHHH!!!" Yes, such a great answer, ROFL.

Americans need to get grip on the fact that their lazy stereotypes for the rest of the world have no bearing on reality. It's embarrassing, and one of the reasons why Americans often fail so badly when they try to interfere in other country's affairs, because they are so clueless about the cultures and mentality. (For example, the last 25 years of disastrous middle east meddling.)

The reason protestants convert to Eastern Orthodoxy is for two main reasons:

the doctrine is more similar
the Eastern Orthodox church as not invited in the kind of sick degeneracy that the Catholic church has (LGBTQIA+ 'activism' / indoctrination, for example), and is widely seen as an actual church, not a far-left political activist group masquerading as a church. Not to say that the Eastern Orthodox church has no problems with mixing politics and church, but it's far less pronounced than in the Catholic Church

FYI, I am not Eastern Orthodox and have no intention to convert to it, but I am a protestant living in an Eastern Orthodox country and I have lot of exposure to the Othrodox Church.

SpoutingThomas · 2020-09-23T21:58:22+00:00

I have a friend who recently converted to Orthodoxy from being Baptist. His basic argument: over time, he came to agree with most of the Catholic arguments against Protestantism, but he also still agreed with most of the Protestant arguments against Catholicism. This put him in quite a quandary until he discovered Orthodoxy and found that it seemed to answer most of his complaints.

I've been drawn to Orthodoxy at times and have attended a few services, but it does have big practical problems. Start with the fact that the closest Orthodox church of any size is about 2 hours away from me. And as an American, there's a certain weirdness about it. Almost no one I talk to knows what Orthodoxy is. And America is this sort of disputed, colonized territory, with Greeks, Syrians, Russians, etc. jockeying for authority.

There's a disconnect here, where clearly part of the appeal of Orthodoxy is having an autocephalous church that doesn't have to answer to Rome (also what Protestants wanted), but American Orthodox are expected to answer to -- for example -- Antioch, Syria, of all places. It just feels like Orthodoxy has a structural problem where it can't respond to the events of 1492.

ENTPunisher · 2020-09-23T05:24:38+00:00

Protestants who live in the United States and convert to Eastern Orthodoxy are LARPing. That church has no meaningful presence in the states. They just want to feel special and unique, growing out their beards and role playing as mysterious Russian wizards. Catholicism doesn't have the same appeal because it's associated with abuse scandals and the current Pope.

Datanami · 2020-09-23T11:46:20+00:00

Catholicism is paganism? Lmao it's the one True Church of Jesus Christ period.

Read the Church Fathers

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