|
WITNESSING ORTHODOXY |
|
If I'm going to witness orthodoxy, I must
know what orthodoxy is and I must experience orthodoxy in my life.
This topic may be segmented into three parts :- |
|
CORRECT TEACHING |
|
Our Coptic Orthodox Church does have correct teachings, and we are not saying this out of pride, but simply because of HISTORY - it is a historical fact that the Orthodox Church has correct teachings. Secondly, all the teachings of our church are derived from the BIBLE. Thirdly, all the teachings of our church are derived from the TRADITIONS, sayings, and interpretations of the fathers. |
|
History |
| when Christianity began in the first century on the day of Pentecost, the apostles began to spread the Good News to everyone everywhere. We were all one church, one body, one teaching, one doctrine. Then in the 5th century, a division occurred. This division was the result of a disagreement about the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Orthodox Church said, 'The Lord is of two natures - divinity and humanity, and these two natures are united into one nature.' But some other people disagreed, and said that the Lord is two separate natures. As a result, we as Orthodox said, 'We must hold on to the traditions of the fathers, and of St. Cyril of Alexandria, which state that the Lord's two natures were united into one nature,' while the Western churches (the Catholic Church), insisted in believing in the two natures of Christ, and this was the cause of the original division. When the Catholic Church started to deviate to the right, day after day, year after year, century after century, they adopted doctrines other than the teachings of the fathers. They began to speak about 'purgatory' - a place where one goes after death to suffer pains for a while in order to be cleansed before going to Paradise. They also started speaking about the primacy of St. Peter, and various other things. They also had some dark days in the Middle Ages where they used to 'sell' indulgences (that is, selling heaven and the forgiveness of sins). In the 16th century, Martin Luther said, 'This is wrong, you cannot sell forgiveness of sins, because forgiveness can only be attained through the Blood of Christ!' So he started a rebellion against the Catholic Church, and thus formed his own church - the Protestant Church. But Luther deviated to the extreme; he dismissed the need for tradition, for priesthood and for sacraments, all because of his annoyance...But the Orthodox church remained the same...Throughout the 5th century, when the Catholic Church deviated to the right, we continued straight ahead...and during the 16th century when the Protestant Church deviated to the left, we continued straight ahead. For this reason we believe that the Orthodox church has correct teachings, and we also believe that it will be the formula for reconciling all denominations. |
|
Bible |
| the Bible is the Book of God, and it is our reference. If we need to know whether a teaching is right or wrong, the Bible is our thermometer. Our Orthodox teachings are ALL derived from the Bible, nothing has been invented. Even if we consider the 'Praises of Kiahk' where we praise St Mary saying, "Blessed are you O' Mary...", we find that these praises are derived from the Bible when St. Mary said by the Holy Spirit, "...for behold henceforth, all generations will called me blessed..." (Luke 1:48) |
|
Fathers |
| we have a very rich heritage which has been passed down to us by our fathers - the heroes that defended Christianity before the pagans and Jews and Greek philosophers. They were very close to Christ and they took their teachings from the apostles and apostolic fathers. Therefore their interpretations are very important, also considering that they were established before the division of the Christian church. From heroes like St. Athanasius, St. Cyril, St. Timothy, St. Diosorus, Clement, and so many others...we derive our teachings and traditions. |
|
CORRECT LIFE |
| means : * Repentance * Nutrition * Consecration. |
|
Repentance |
| Repentance in the Orthodox concept means - * I regret that I committed sins, * I insist on leading a holy life, * I believe in the Blood of my Lord Jesus to cleanse me, * I confess my sins before a priest, because through him I will receive absolution for my sins, and a solution to my problems. |
|
Nutrition |
| After repenting and confessing our sins, we must nourish ourselves spiritually through reading the Bible, reading spiritual books, attending spiritual meetings, serving, receiving the Holy Communion, attending church services, and so on. It is not sufficient to confess sins without being nourished spiritually within, or else one may return to the same sins once again. |
|
Consecration |
| This is the cream of orthodox life. Consecration means that you are now TOTALLY God's - belonging to God, possessed by God, filled with the Holy Spirit. Your senses, your thoughts, your heart, your feelings, your will, your actions, your conduct and your behavior all glorifies the Lord; you are a holy person. |
|
WITNESSING |
| If you have correct
teaching and correct life, you can now witness for Christ inside the
church and outside in society. Inside the church you can serve - you
must not be passive for you are a member of the body of Christ, and no
member or no organ can ever be passive. There are so many ways for us
to serve in the church; serving Sunday School children, cleaning the
church, visiting the sick, helping the needy, serving as a deacon, and
so on. You can also serve the Lord outside in society by being a good
example, so that when others see your good deeds, they will glorify
God. You must also have 'strong flexibility' so that you can socializewithout being lost. We don't want you to be isolated from the society,
we want you to be witnessing for the Lord in society. You have your
friends - Australian, Egyptian, Christian, non-Christian, and you must
express your Christianity to all those people in simplicity and
humility, and you must also share life and pure Christian love with
them. You must care for them, but whenever sin starts and they begin
to do wrong, you must stop and not go along with them. This is strong
flexibility - it is like the difference between a live fish and a dead
crocodile; a live fish can swim with the current when it wants to and
against the current when it wants, but the dead crocodile always goes
with the current. Therefore through these three goals - correct teaching, correct life and correct witnessing, we can prepare ourselves to be servants for the Lord both inside the church and in the society around us. |
| UP |