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correct religion ?????
Hi guys, Ive been thinkin bout this alot lately and i cant find anyone who i really could ask so if u could help me out that would be great.
How do we no that this religion is the right one there are so many diff type of christianity now and each follows a iff set of rules and traditions i have been to a protastant church once and i didnt c or feel much diffrence. How do u even no there is a god. having to many doubts HELP :'(
How do we no that this religion is the right one there are so many diff type of christianity now and each follows a iff set of rules and traditions i have been to a protastant church once and i didnt c or feel much diffrence. How do u even no there is a god. having to many doubts HELP :'(
Comments
"Blessed are those who believe without seeing."
I could go on and on trying to convince you there is a God and the Christian religion is the correct religion. As for the Protestant religion, they are considered our brothers, but we do not approve of some of their teachings. Like I said, I could go on and on and tell you why Christianity is correct - but it wouldn't make a difference. You should seek a priest to talk to. Any Coptic priest at all - not necessarily your FOC if you feel embarassed to bring this up with him.
On a side note, just step back and take a look at the hundreds of thousands of miracles that have been performed.
To say they were not acts of God, is to say there is no God. So rexamine them for yourself and I strongly advice to please talk to a priest about this matter.
The mouths of the Orthodox: and the seven orders of the angels: take pride in you, O Cross: of our Good Savior.
- Chris
That goes to show that Christianity is truly the correct religion. As for which sect of Christianity; I seldom hear of any miracles that take place unless its in an orthodox church.
That’s just SOME proof as to which religion is the correct one.
if there's no God, then who created the atoms of which this universe exists. There's no such thing as matter that can appear from nothing, so no matter how the universe evolved, there must have been some power that created the smallest parts, of which everything is build up.
As for our church, our church is orthodox, which means that we took the teachings from our fathers the apostles, and they didn't change throughout history, we always kept the basic teachings.
hope that helped a bit, but as banoub said, u should talk to a priest abou this
You need to get out more,or explore the web if you dont hear about miracles outside of Orthodoxy.There actually are far more{ 10,000 times more}miracles done by the LORD God in Pentecostal churches than in Protestant or Orthodox churches combined.Really its not even close.There areso many miracles happening in African,Asian,and South American Pentecostal churches that its simply amazing.There is a recent case in Nigeria where a man was dead for 3 days,but the Lord Jesus raised him from the dead.He was pronounced dead by a local doctor and spent 3 days in the local morgue and was actually partialy embalmed being prepared for burial.His wife prayed,God told her to take her husband to a local Pentecostal church,where the famous Evangelist Rienhard Bonke was preaching{he has preached all over Africa to millions and millions of people,with untold testimonies of people being healed by the power of Jesus,testimonies I might add that have been verified by doctors}.There were many hundreds of people,many who are not even christians that have verified this to be a true fact.Even the secular media{television and newspaper}did there own investigations,and concluded that this was indeed a miracle of the Great God.This happens all the time in Pentecostal churches in the third world.The reason undoubtly is that christians in these poorer countries rely on God for there healings,while here in America or other western countries we put our trust and faith more in human docters than in the living God.
We christians who are not of the Orthodox church,base all of our beliefs on the Apostolic teaching of the first century church as found in the New Testament.We teach the original doctrine of Jesus Christ and His Holy Apostles as found in the Bible.We dont add anything to it or take anything away.If its not found in the Bible we do not teach it.The Word of God is perfect and without error and does not need the traditions of man to make it complete.Even Jesus said that the tradition of man{the Jews}has in some cases made the Word of God of no effect.There tradition kept them from carrying out the pure will of God.Many think that "protestants" have added or changed the clear teachings of the Bible,but it is actually we who have restored the clear ,pure,pristine doctrine of the New Testament Church.We love church tradition as long as it can be proved as true from the Word of God,and if not ,then we must reject it.That is the basic concept of Sola Scriptura-Gods Word is perfect but mans word and teaching may not be.
on this site u can find:
Didascalia
"Instructions, that is, Catholic doctrine, of the Twelve Disciples of our Savior."
The work is usually classified among writings dealing with church offices and orders, and it purports to be a compilation of instructions made by the apostles immediately after the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15. Following a brief opening addressed to all Christians to give heed to the teaching of the document5, the treatise turns to the duties of bishops, including bishops' courts for lawsuits between believers, and the conduct of worship services. There follow instructions on how to deal with widows, how to assign deacons and deaconesses in their responsibilities, and what to do with orphans. Other subjects included in the Didascalia are martyrdom, fasting and Easter season, heresies and judgments against heretics, and the relationship of the Old Testament rituals to the New Testament church. Practical advice is given in relation to morality, decency in language, dietary freedom, and how to treat visitors.
http://copticchurch.net/topics/dictionary/index.php?a=term&d=1&t=697
-matt-
I didn’t mean to upset you Franklin. Of course miracles take place in other churches; it’s just that I rarely hear of them. Thank you of bringing this amazing miracle to our attention. Please don’t be disappointed with me.
Yes,it is called the Didache and it is very helpful.I have many works by the early church fathers and have read many Orthodox writers and have found in many of them wonderful, spiritual treasures.In a way, its a little ironic that I have studied the early church fathers more than some Orthodox Christians.These writings are powerful and should be studied by every christian ,no matter what they are called.Many christians outside of Orthodoxy love the early church fathers and get tremendous spiritual blessings from their writings.But where you and I disagree is how much authority should be placed on such writings.While though they are indeed great,they are not perfect, like the Bible;so even though we can recieve spiritual blessing from them,we do not consider them binding or authoritative in regards to doctrine.Even the early church did not condider the didache to be on the same level as the Word of God and thus did not include it in the biblical canon.
Thank you,by the way, for that link which gives me more information in regards to your church
No,you did not upset me.I enjoy hearing fom all of you and learning more of your beliefs.I hope I have not offended you or anyone here on this forum.I just wanted to let you know a little about how God is working among the non-Orthodox christians.We never hear much about Orthodox christians within our circles and I suspect it is much the same with you.You have all been very cordial and kind and I apreciate your allowing me to participate on this forum.Im sad to say that some of my Protestant brethren would not be so kind.It just shows the love of God is being manifested through you and I do truly admire that and give God praise.
Dear eggshorti,
I think Banoub gave a very good answer, and you should go and talk to a spiritual man of God,a faithful priest,who can give you guidance and pray with you.I am sorry you did not find any help in a protestant church.Many protestant chuches are dry and spiritualy dead,and a person who goes there, might even come out feeling worse and more depressed than when they first entered.Many protestant churches are apostate and will bring a person no spiritual blessing whatsoever.If you ever attend another non-orthodox church you might find the Assemblies Of God more to your liking.Any Pentecostal church is perhaps better than the old ,dry mainline protestant churches,heck even the baptists{most but not all} have more spiritual services.You can usually tell the difference between a pentecostal christian and a mainline protestant just by the love they show to people and by their absolute faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.Theres quite a bit of difference.Also many protestants can be a little bit mean to other groups of christians such as the Orthodox.The one thing I know is that if you truly seek the Lord Jesus Christ and call on His Name,He will reveal Himself to you.The Word of God says:"All who call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved".Another verse says,"Seek and you shall find,knock and the door shall be opened to you...
I will be praying for you and believing God to honor His Word, and that He would reveal Himself to you you in a very special and real way.God bless you!
the ortodox church has no divisions, the word orthodox itself means straight, our faith hasnt change or branch, all the other churches are dirived from the catholic church,
we were the same as the begining as we are at the end,
isaiah ch19 v 25
"blessed is Egypt my people"
the lord god says himself
The word orthodox means "right belief or right worship"{ortho-right or correct;doxa-worship}.You,Orthodox ,came up with your name because you felt you represented the correct doctrine.God Himself did'nt actually give you that name; and during the course of Church history many other groups have also claimed to be "Orthodox" christians.The Arians certainly felt that their beliefs were the right and correct doctrine-hence they were the true orthodox in their own eyes.But God raised up men like Athanasius to combat this heresy,using the Word of God to soundly refute the lies and un-orthodox opinions of these men.There have been many groups that have thought their own,and only their own, doctine was the truth as taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Apostles.They also claimed that they were Orthodox ,and were faithfully following the teaching of the Apostles.Just because one claims to be Orthodox does'nt always make it so in Gods eyes.Men {whether they are Coptic,protestant,catholic,etc.}may say they are orthodox,but what does God say?We have His Holy Word to guide us,to see if we are on the right track.We pentecostal,bible believing christians reject the idea that we came out of the catholic church,but rather are a people whom God has raised up to restore primitive,New Testament chrisianity,what we feel was taught by the Lord Jesus Himself,and the Apostles;an earlier form of christianity than that of the early church fathers or the Councils.A christianity,who's pure form pre-dates that of the early church,a church that began to rely on church tradition and councils instead of relying primarily on the Holy Bible.There are some Protestants{such as the Lutherans}who to be sure had some connection to the Roman Catholic church,who had been former members of that church,but our group of christians{baptists,petecostal,evangelical,etc}has as many differences with protostants as we do the catholic church.We dont condider our selves to be children of the Roman catholic church but rather individuals saved by the grace of God,called to restore the primitive christian church in its simple and pure form.Another point to be made is this:we hold doctrine to be of supreme importance but we believe a living faith,and intimate,real relationship with Jesus Christ is absolutely neccessary,and of far more importance than teachings or doctrines of the church.Even Symeon the New Theologian,a great Orthodox leader,said and taught much the same thing when he stated that the water of baptism does absolutly no good without a living relationship with God,a conversion of the heart.Indeed many of the early church fathers taught this very same thing.
thnx man, u save me form preachin the wrong info... ;)
i found this website by chance that i thought was very interesting and summarizes a lot of the differences between the coptic and protestant church... by posting this website, I mean no offense to anyone. I just thought it goes well in the middle of the discussion. Please read because i wanted to hear your comments.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6310/youth3.html
God bless YOU !!!
Dimyana
i have a question for u shortie, wats making u doubt? maybe that will help us help u. lol ;D
Thx guys for all the help, and to answer ur Q egprincess i was goin thru alot for a while and i tried to look for answers and help from god but it seemed that the more i tried the less i got it got to the point where i didnt believe in him anymore and then figured that it was just a belief that my parents drilled into my head and that was all it was i talked to a priest bu tforgive me for sayin this he's not all that great and everyother one i am just not comfortable with i'm not shy and i don get embaraced but i just don feel right, anyway thx again guys for the help an support
God bless,
CS
Though that was a very interesting website,I have to let the people here on this forum know that nearly every fact explaining what protestants believe was either in correct or extremely misleading.If that really represented what the majority of non-orthodox christians here in America believed, then I ,myself,would not be protestant{even though Im not really a protestant,as I will try to make clear}.
Let me try to explain the current state of affairs within the non-Orthodox circle of churches and give you a little better understanding of what we truly believe.First of all let me make it very clear that not all non-orthodox christians consider themselves protestants.I,as well as millions of other christians do not consider ourselves to be"protestant".Indeed many of us look with distain and contempt upon some main-line protestant churches, those who no longer believe or obey the Bible,mock the Virgin Birth,the Diety of Jesus Christ,the Resurrection,etc.These people are christian in name only and as Saint Peter said"They have denied the Lord who bought them".Baptists,Pentecostals,evangelicals,fundamentalist christians,and many other christian groups are not really protestants nor do they share in every protestant belief.Our group of christians makes up the vast majority of non-Orthodox believers in the USA and the world.So please bear this in mind the next time you speak of churches outside of Orthodoxy.I know its very popular to lump all non-orthodox into one group known as protestants,but really thats just not the truth.Another thing to be considered is the fact that not all the churches who do consider themselves protestants believe and hold the same doctrine.For example,the Lutherans and Anglicans{who are true protestants}do believe in a very real presence of Christs Body and Blood in Holy Communion {co-substantiation},whereas the Calvinist churches do not, believing it to be only symbolic.So when you say that all protestants believe the Holy Communion to be symbolic you see that is just simply not true.Let me give some more examples.Nearly all christians{outside of that small minority of true protestants}believe in total immersion baptism.They simply do not accept sprinkling on the forehead as a valid substitute.Thats where the baptists got there name,they submerge people comepletely in water.The denomination known as the Churches of Christ {and many others}believe exactly as the Coptic Orthodox do in regards to the meaning and purpose of baptism.There are millions in this one group alone who believe as you do.Another example:there are countless millions of christians who dont believe that once your saved your always saved.Many believe just like the Orthodox that a person can lose their salvation.Another example;you say that we do not have sacraments{some actually do},and it is true we dont use the word "sacrament"{because its not in the Bible}but our understanding of what you call sacraments is very similar.For instance,we hold marriage to be very sacred and condsider it a sin to divorce.Baptism,Holy communion are all considered vital and necassary for the spiritual life of a christian.
Well I could list many more examples and go into greater depth trying to explain what the vast majority of non-Orthodox christians believe but its getting quite late and perhaps many of you are not interested in this boring stuff,lol.I just didnt want you to think of us too poorly when you read the article comparing the two belief systems because its not exactly accurate nor does it reflect the beliefs of the vast majority of christians who are non-Orthodox.Anyone here can make there own study, going to the different websites,ascertaining exactly what they believe by looking under the statement of faith.Most of these christian groups list exactly what they believe.Instead of looking up the word protestant,look under pentecostal,evangelical,churches of christ,assemblies of God,etc.This will show you the difference between protestants and other christian groups.
Thats a problem in our churches as well.Sometimes its hard to find godly council ;our spiritual leaders so often are failing to give us the help and encouragement we need.But I have good news for you,I know of a Person who never fails us when we need help.When we are lonely,depressed,seeking answers to the meaning of life.His name is the Lord Jesus Christ!Along with the Father,and the Holy Spirit,He is there to offer us love and encouragement in our time of doubt and need.He says'"Come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest..."If you will just stop,and take a minute,lift your heart up to Him,speak to Him,tell Him your doubts and fears,the troubles of your heart,He will give you peace and rest for your soul.Just ask Him to reveal Himself to you,to take your doubts away,to help you love Him with all your strength, and He will hear your prayer.He gave you the promise that He would answer your prayer when He said,"If you ask anything in my Name I will grant it."God loves you so much!Will He withhold any good thing to those who love Him and call on His Name?If you come to Him with a sincere heart you will find the answers you seek.God bless you!
I hope all of us christians can become closer and that God will guide us to union in true faith