Introduction
The "inquirers" pages have been set up as a missionary effort to provide information to
non-Orthodox Christians who are interested in Holy Orthodoxy. These pages should be considered as supplements to the pages
in the General Information
section of the site.
I also provide some "convert testimonies
" by those who have "made the journey." I have not
written my own "journey story." I
will only say briefly that I converted to Orthodoxy from a varied Protestant background
after being introduced to it during a nine month stay at the Philadelphia
Theological Seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church. Before becoming
Anglican I had been in the evangelical
charismatic tradition for many years. I then discovered Calvinism, joining
the Presbyterian confession for a few years until I was introduced to
liturgy, the "sacramental worldview," and catholic ideas in
general—mainly through the reading of Tom Howard's book Evangelical
Is Not Enough: Worship of God in Liturgy and Sacrament. After thoroughly
studying Orthodox theology and Church history at seminary, as well as
experiencing the worship and prayer life of the Orthodox Church, I became
convinced that it was the fullest and most pure expression of the apostolic
Christian faith I could find. I believe it is the true, ancient Church—the
very criterion of Christianity.
The key question "What is the Church?" is what drove
my own journey. Basically, as my understanding of how the Church has always
viewed Herself since the time of the Apostles grew, I became convinced
that I could no longer remain a Protestant. This is briefly summarized
in my response to Dan Clendenin's article in the January 6, 1997 issue of Christianity Today
entitled "Why I'm Not Orthodox." At the time, the most
important book I read during what I call my "intellectual
pilgrimage" (the journey to Orthodoxy being one of both heart and mind) was Yves Congars'
monumental Tradition and Traditions (a Roman Catholic work, though heavily influenced by
the Eastern Church Fathers). The reason that it was so important
is that it caused a "paradigm-shift" in the way I viewed
Truth, its preservation, and its "handing down" (or in the
Greek, paradosis). However, due
to subsequent reading after becoming Orthodox, I now recommend that an inquirer
first read the books listed in the section on Holy
Tradition.
You may notice that I include many articles on the concept of the
Church. This is because She is the "pillar and ground of the
Truth" (1 Timothy 3:15—a verse which was always sidestepped or misunderstood
in my Protestant experience). For more on why I emphasize the Church see my essay
"The Church Is Visible and One".
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