@@Milorad_Parlic another one bites the dust 😔 Hope u come back home And we are not like that we reach our fullness in Christ You know what fullness means? That theirs no more place for nothing else in this case ur nonsense you can reject the faith that’s one but poisoning others with this kinds of nonsense is another level of arrogance
Happy you finally went to an Orthodox Church! You mentioned you wanted to understand the "politics" behind each church (serbian, russian, greek, coptic, etc.) and it's pretty straightforward. To get started, there are actually two main branches of Orthodoxy - Oriental and Eastern (both mean eastern, I know, it's just their names). The Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches split during the Council of Chalcedon for a disagreement about Christ's God and Human properties. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are: - Coptic - Ethiopian - Eritrean - Syrian - Malankaran (Indian) - Armenian The biggest Eastern Orthodox Churches are: - Greek - Russian - Serbian - Ukrainian (kinda, it's a whole mess) - Antiochian - Romanian There are 17 independent Orthodox Churches, but I won't name them all here. Each of these Eastern Orthodox Churches all fall under the same denomination of Orthodoxy, but each church is called an autocephalous church, meaning it's independently run and has what is called a Patriarch. The church doesn't report to any higher authority in that case. There are many other churches such as the OCA and the ROCOR and (disputably) Estonia and Ukraine which do report to a higher authority but are referred to on as their own independent churches. However, while each of these churches do have an independent Patriarch, it doesn't mean they are divided any more than that. Each Church has the same theology, and you will find Greek, Russian, and Serbian books alike in many of their bookstores. The unity comes in with meetings called Synods, where Bishops from each church come together to discuss current theological or ecclesiastical issues. The Holy Synod is for the Patriarchs where they discuss it. However, the cultures in each church are quite different because they are tailored to that specific country and place. Entire nations were baptized at one point (Baptism of Kievan Rus') and so national identities and cultures were formed around the church, giving us the distinct styles we see today. However, these differences are only aesthetically and with language. Each hold the same service in their native language (Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) and teach the same dogmas. Hope this helps!
@@dirkjensen969 Whether or not Christs human nature was subsumed into his divine nature(Oriental pov) or not(Chalcedonian Christianity) It is generally understood by all but the most polemic of orthodox people that this split was not over anything real, it was largely political and linguistic differences.
One extremely nerdy caveat on the liturgy: sometimes it is the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, and in Western Rite Orthodox churches the ordinary liturgy is the Divine Liturgy St. Gregory... And there's a bit more, but that's just one additional layer of the onion.
They should be respectful. I was an atheist until a few years ago. A bunch of CIA docs got released from freedom of information act. Classified stuff from the 90s. I don't know if there is an astral plane or afterlife.. but I know the CIA thinks it's real, and believe they have seen it and I also know now the CIA believes in psychic abilities in some ppl. At this time they were teaching atheism in public schools while the while time CIA beleived there's something more. Based on this it's no longer possible for me to be atheist and it's shady as hell they would teach atheism all the while military didn't agree
Just because you are atheistic/agnostic doesnt mean you hate or even dislike religion. Sometimes you are genuinely confused and just honestly can't rationalize the belief for yourself.
As someone interested in Orthodoxy, the Orthodox are very welcoming and in a genuine way. Several strangers have talked to me, offered me their seat, brought me food after the divine liturgy, said they're glad to see me again after not going to church for a few weeks, and much more
@@redaquila2891 You aren’t wrong. But what Church/denomination has the fullness of Faith comes down to the Spirit calling and/or the validity of the logical and historical arguments for whichever church.
@@blockhead1899 say something nice about Atheists or Atheism that is superior in some way to Christianity, explicitly. If not, it's clear, you don't have respect for them, or dignify their position. Even the Bible takes every opportunity to lob childish insults at Atheists.
Former atheist here. Also former Protestant. I am currently a catechumen in the Eastern Orthodox church. I typically go to a Greek parish but have recently attended services at a Serbian parish. In fact, I just came back from a 6:00am Matins service - on a Monday! If there is a Serbian parish in your area, I cannot recommend enough checking one out to diversify your experience. Heads up though, they probably won't have pews. EDIT: I also had a chance to spend a few days at a Serbian monastery. I did not want to leave!
You really need to visit Hilandar in Greece that is like one of the most important places for Orthodox Christians. I went when I was younger and it was truly amazing.
We Egyptians love our Greek brothers 🇪🇬☦️🇬🇷 Last Egyptian dinasty was Greek and we use their greek alphabet to write Egyptian language Ⲡⲓⲭ̀ⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ ⲁϥⲧⲱⲛϥ ⲉ̀ⲃⲟⲗ ϧⲉⲛ
Hi, I’m Paul! Actually though, I’m the guy you spoke to that morning. Thank you so much for respecting our community and all of the kind words you said. I’m really glad you were moved by the service. If you ever feel like coming back, or want to grab a coffee, let me know, and I can give you my contact info! It helps to have someone explain some of the Traditions, and there are a lot them… Thanks again for being so respectful and positive!
Hey Paul! (So stoked that I actually remembered someone's name correctly for once.) Thanks so much for showing a stupid atheist the basics of the church service. It was a wonderful introduction and you made me feel right at home. All the best to you and your church family there. I may have to swing by again some day to have a proper discussion with your priest there. Cheers!
Putting yourself in the "True" category of Christianity is very common but when it comes to defining those terms everybody gets real quiet... To me that's precious
Imperial Christianity. Do you think impoverished persecuted Christians in house churches of the 1st century were mincing about in grand robes under massive basilicas? That didn't happen until the 4th century when the state took over and that relationship persists as can be seen with Putin's Patriarch in Moscow who is head of nearly half of all Orthodox. The rest are those cuddly Balkan churches (Dont ask about the 90s) or the Greek Orthodox which is the largest landowner in the country.
@@clivejungle6999 house churches were the houses of wealthy christians. The fact that there could be an upper room in the first place should tip you off to that fact.
@@bigol9223 Not the wealthiest, just more affluent. And they were more modest ones besides. What they didn't have were giant basilicas and vast temple premises.
As a former Protestant who became Catholic and finally Orthodox - you did an amazing job at being unbiased, and you described how Divine Liturgy is at every church, every Sunday. Midnight Pascha is the most powerful thing - I 100% urge you to go next year!
Wow, just found you thanks to the RUclips algorithm. I'm an Orthodox priest. Interesting video! I'm glad your visit was so positive! When it comes to the differences between the different Orthodox national churches, most are simply related to culture and musical style. All Orthodox Churches are in a worldwide communion and are a single denomination. However, the Coptic and Armenian churches are actually part of a similar but distinct communion of churches called the Oriental Orthodox.
Absolutely Father!In all of Easter Orthodox Churches we get the same theology and same liturgy!The only thing that can be different is chants and language that the priest speaks. Im from Serbia and we mostly chant on Church Slavonic but we also use Greek, in short all of autocephalous Churches are in communion and are the same, Armenian and Coptic Churches are Oriental Orthodox and they beleive that Jesus had 1 nature.
@@ericlammerman2777 Sadly no, but whole thing was Constantinople’s fault, they didn’t had right to proclaim autocephality on land that is under jurisdiction of ROC
I go to a Serbian Orthodox Church. From what I learned, the nation just represents the groups who started it. So mine was a Serbian group and our church is a great way for the Serbian culture to live on. I believe it's the same every other church, since the local Coptic Orthodox holds Egyptian festivals and all. Orthodox is the key, being that they held onto the foundation and original style intended from the beginning of the church. It's a beautiful thing. I'm happy I am there as a former protestant.
I'm newly converted Orthodox, along with my wife and our son. I saw your video, seemed interested, I clicked. Thank you for stopping by an Orthodox Church and listening. God bless you and your family! ☦️
I was an Atheist/Agnostic until I was about 23 years old. I'm now 26 years old and I'm a Baptized Orthodox Christian. I have searched for the truth since I was 15 years old. Orthodoxy Christianity is true. I appreciate your perspective as most atheists are insufferable. Please speak to an Orthodox priest at length it will change your life if your heart is open and ready.
Let's test your insufferable ility... You speak of Truth That implies you get some kind of Methodology that let's you test religions on their true/false value!? Share it!
@@michaelturnage3395one thing I will let you know my friend, is in San Antonio we see a lot of “Indian orthodox” churches, sadly those aren’t actually orthodox, they split off from us in the year 300 or so, but they kept the name, so check out either of the two I said and you’ll be set! ❤
Glad you got to enjoy it bro. Pascha is the event that cemented me on Orthodoxy too. Start praying now because there's no turning back. God bless you and stay pointed to the truth.
Lol, you were at my church today, All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church, I found out later that you were there. You introduced me for a second, I was the crazy chic at the end. Lol. I wasn't an atheist but I used to be a pagan and a witch and now I'm Orthodox. Go figure. Hope we see you again!
We visited an Orthodox church in Israel. Built in 400 AD or so. In the back was an old well. Jacobs well. The priest drew some water and we got to drink some of the water out of paper cups. Pretty cool.
I'm a protestant. Had the opportunity to celebrate a midnight Easter service with a Greek Orthodox church this year and was overwhelmed by the chanting and the beautiful liturgy. Would absolutely go back.
Orthodoxy transcends nations, the faith is more important than the nation. Many conflate national pride and identity with their church, but I can (and have) walk into a Russian Orthodox Church and it’s the same faith. Orthodoxy is a lifestyle as much as it is a belief. There is no one “I felt really strongly so now I’m saved for ever and ever” moment. To truly follow Christ, it involves a change in how you live your life. Glad you had a good experience! It’s a very long history, if you have continued interest.
@@jaggedplanet At this point in time, I don't believe so. Doesn't change much on the ground. I had the pleasure of visiting the monastery of St. Tikhon in Pennsylvania, earlier this year.
Yo I know your comments are already flooded with Orthodox folks saying thank you for your respectfulness, but I just wanted to ditto that. I spent my whole life being "spiritual" but never found any church/religion that stood out to me. I had read through the Quran, ancient Indian texts (Upanishads), Judaic texts (Mishkan Tiflah, Talmud), The Bible, and a plethora of esoteric texts some in which delved into strange occult practices, etc. Every church I had ever stepped into, I was disgusted with. It never failed to lack the spiritual depth that I was seeking, and so I never stepped into the same church or temple twice. About 3 1/2 years ago, I was properly introduced to the Orthodox Church. Some acquaintances invited me to go with them to the Divine Liturgy. For the first time in my life, I stepped foot into a church that I felt I could return to. This Church actually felt alive. And it wasn't just the aesthetics/hymns that made it feel that way. It was the people themselves. I could sense life in them. The only problem was that this church was 2+ hours away from where I lived, so I unfortunately did not return. Finally I ended up moving to a city big enough to have it's own Orthodox Church and slowly started going to the different services, fasting, confessing, going to the fellowship hours. That was about a year and a half ago when I started attending regularly. It's taking me a while to get accustomed to the Orthodox Christian way of life, especially since I do not have a background in protestantism like most of the converts my age. That said, in about a month I will be received by Baptism into the Greek Orthodox Church. Never would have imagined in 1000 years that I would be doing something like this, yet here I am. I consider the decision to enter the church to be the most important decision I've ever made in my life to this date. Where else can you find people taking their spirituality this seriously while also refraining from entering "zealot" territory? Anyways, not sure why I felt the need to share this, but I hope this finds you well, and I also hope that you will visit an Orthodox Church again in time. Pascha is indeed beautiful, but there are so many beautiful feast days/special days throughout the year that I would also recommend experiencing (Saturday of Souls, Holy Pentecost, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Dormition of the Theotokos, the Nativity of Jesus Christ, Transfiguration, etc.)
Welcome to Orthodoxy! Some years ago, a young, atheist professor walked into an Orthodox Church in San Francisco. Afterwards, he quit his professorship, took a job and began researching Orthodoxy. Eventually, he was ordained priest and founded a monastery in Northern California. Many consider him a saint. Fr Seraphim Rose is his name. This could happen to you!
All I knew of father seraphim rose is he was taught by Alan Watts! I didn't know Father Seraphim rose was an atheist professor ! Now I got the full story. Thanks I feel hope filled for specifically atheists now hahaha uh oh I rightfully hold hope from atheists because they're very horrible people often, and condescending very difficult humans with attitude worthy of condemning negative people , emotionally toxic, And so this man is up there as a not as horrible as Atheists of the popular types in Popular media where they are literally atheists lame hereosz and Pagan worshippers, Atheist Priests they are being worshipped, it's funny to see the collapse of atheism, God bless amen
“Not of This World: The Life and Teachings of Father Seraphim Rose” by Hieromonk Damascene Christensen is good. (It’s out of print and very expensive, but there are PDFs online).
Many of his sermons are floating around online, including right here on youtube. I'd rec a short book to start with, "God's Revelation to the Human Heart" it's maybe 40-50 pages.
I was raised evangelical, then became atheist, then I’m in the process of joining Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy definitely warms your heart and gains your respect when you take a deep look on it.
Hello! Orthodox Christian here! The service you went to is called the Agape Service (agape is one of the words for love). It’s one of my favorite services! After the midnight Pascha Liturgy (liturgy as what we call Mass), the Agape service that Sunday after. The reason the Bible reading was done in every language is because in that specific service, we try to read it in every single language we can. For instance in my church, we asked parishioners if they spoke any foreign languages, and we ended up doing 17 different languages including ASL! Finally, the differences between “state” churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church is combined of many different autocephalous (self-ruling) bodies: Russian, Greek, Serbian, Antiochian, Alexandrian, Bulgarian, etc etc etc etc. We are all united in one, there is NO difference in theology whatsoever. The only difference is the language the Liturgy is conducted in, the architectural style of the church, and probably the food they eat afterward lol. Each autocephalous church has a Patriarch, which is like their Pope. The difference between us and Catholics, is we think all Patriarchs are equal to one another, and none of them are infallible (they can be wrong, and have been). Actually, before 1054, Orthodoxy and Catholicism was one united church, and the Pope was simply the Patriarch of the West, equal to the others
I'm a Filipino Roman Catholic, born and raised and Schooled in Catholic institutions. I never knew the history of the orthodox church and catholism until i married my beautiful, Loving and caring russian wife who's orthodox Christian and i can truly say that when i first entered the orthodox church when our baby was baptized i immediately felt that I'm home. This is the true and original Christian church. I feel at peace and more connected to God inside the orthodox church than i ever was inside a Catholic church. I have nothing against Catholics, my mother and siblings are still all very devout Catholics but after experiencing the orthodox Christian way, i just couldn't understand why we Catholics didn't keep the same traditions and rituals which are far more serene and spiritual
As a Christian who was raised protestant and considering becoming Orthodox, I really love that you made this video. You are a very respectful atheist and I appreciate that you are very open minded about our religion.
For anyone curious about what stands out about Orthodox theology and our beliefs about God: For Orthodox, we believe we are meant to be united with God in a very deep way, and that the priesthood of humanity is to take what is in our heart and put it into the world. This is why the Fall happened, because the life of Christ was meant to come through mankind as loving priests and into Creation, infusing it all with God's love. When we rejected God and decided to be completely independent (instead of being co-workers with Him), we cut off the supply of life to call Creation, introducing death no only to ourselves but everything. In addition to physical death is spiritual death, which manifests most greatly in pride, which we see as a total self focus and self gravity, the entire universe revolving around our desires, our opinions, our image, etc. In this way, all sins are a form of pride, a brokenness that flows out of this selfishness, this spiritual illness. While sin is very serious and we Orthodox are called to constant warfare with it, their is a balanced view of it being not only our choice but also an illness that has captured us. It is naturally a far more merciful view towards people who sin. Sin in Orthodoxy is actually much broader, describing many broken things. When a soldier kills someone, even if it was considered justified, they go to confession to be "unbound" or healed because we recognize killing anyone damages us. It's not about a legal system but about entering into healing with Christ, the Holy Physician. A major symptom of this pride, this spiritual death, is a lack of love. By love we don't simply mean affection, nor even good deeds, but a heart that unconditionally lives for the beauty of that which is loved. While we humans seem to have some fragmented remains of love, full altruism is a divine reality flowing from God Himself. It's not simply that God is loving, but He is literally love. We see this love at the Cross when, after horrible treatment from enemies and friends, all Christ thinks about is the well being of his beloved Creation: "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do." When we Orthodox say we need a savior, it's not to be saved from God's legal retribution or anger, it's being saved from ourselves. We need Him to help us overcome our selfishness and pride, and plant Himself within us, which means planting this divine, unconditional love. This love is the same love that is shared between the members of the Trinity, and the same love that birthed all of Creation. Not only is there spiritual death but there is also physical death, which is the unnatural fragmentation of man, a split between his body and soul. Death is an ontological reality, and all death, sin, and suffering are linked directly. So what Christ accomplishes at the Cross, while rightly described as a payment or ransom, is more deeply and literally understood as Life Himself entering into death and filling the reality with His presence. We Orthodox call this the Harrowing of Hades. This is why many other people were resurrected the moment Christ died and were said to be seen walking around the city. Again, the way the Orthodox (and the earliest Christians) think about these things was far less legalistic and more ontological. The literalization of the legal language was something that came far later in Roman Catholicism after it split off from the other Apostolic Churches (which are today's Orthodox Churches) in 1054, and when the Protestants left the Catholic Church they unfortunately kept a lot of the legal ideas that produce a lot of mental and spiritual damage today. Christ offers union with Him, healing both spiritual and physical death as He Himself is life and love. The Fathers say God forgives everyone, even Satan, but if one doesn't want forgiveness then the distance is experienced the same as if God rejected someone, thus we speak of the need to approach humbly for forgiveness, because such an act is what makes our hearts compatible with His, a humble God who would bear the worst pain and shame for His children. All the Orthodox services are about a balance of peace but also humility, about nor being terrified but about seeing our need for His help. Even the word repentance in Scripture is "metanoia" meaning change of nous or change of heart, which means putting our heart back on God. It isn't about self loathing or beating ourselves up. In fact, the Fathers were adamant that beating ourselves up was demonic deception and we should have peace. We should admit our sins and struggle against them, as anyone should admit faults and try to grow, but they insisted that God never wanted us to destroy our peace over our sins. As man and Christ are reunited in prayer, liturgical worship, sacraments, etc. man returns to the state of being a bridge between God and Creation. We have our Saints as examples of men who achieved this, who brought healing and peace and love to every person and animal they met. The goal of all the Churches work is the infuse this life and love of God's presence into all things, which is why relics and icons and holy places are a thing, and also why we Orthodox are insistent on using our bodies and physical creation in our worship. Worship isn't stroking God's ego like it is for the pagan deities, it is transformation that enables us to be close to God, hence why He has to reveal it and we can make it up ourselves. Candles and incense don't merely represent things as Westerners would thing, they genuinely participate in prayer with us physically. Scripture talks about how Creation groans because it has been cut off from the Son of God, and now that mankind, the priests of Creation, are being healed, it has a chance to be with God again. I was raised as a non-denom Protestant and dabbled in Catholicism, but when I looked into the earliest Christians I saw something I didn't recognize, something unlike Protestantism and Catholicism. The only place I could find it being lived out was Orthodoxy. It wasn't something to just believe because Orthodox people said so, but it was supposed to be compelling only because the Orthodox lived it, and it was to their shame, not mine, if I didn't believe. And I myself saw it, I saw a peace in these priests and people that I have never seen in any other group or religion. It wasn't a manic high like the cults have, it was the opposite. And when I read the writings of their Saints, it was obvious they knew the heart better than anyone else I had ever read. Anyone who finds this appealing, who wants to heal their hearts and have peace, please visit a local Orthodox Church. Antiochian, Greek, Russian, OCA, Serbian, and several others... these are all part of one family, separated only by leadership but united as one Church. I looked for years in the Bible and in Psychology for healing, but the depths of understanding I found in the Church Fathers and modern Orthodox were the understandings I needed, and that I know believe Christ passed on to us. I don't expect anyone to believe because I say so, but if you are hungry like I was... it's worth a look, eh?
"Scripture talks about how Creation groans because it has been cut off from the Son of God, and now that mankind, the priests of Creation, are being healed, it has a chance to be with God again." I like this.
There’s a big significance to the red egg, and its association with Easter: When St. Mary Magdalene, the woman who first saw the Resurrected Jesus, went to Rome to proclaim that Christ was Risen, the Roman Emperor, Tiberius Cæsar, laughed at and mocked her. Mary was holding an egg in her hand while this was happening, and the Emperor exclaimed, “Jesus has no more risen than the egg in your hand being red,” the egg immediately turned red, and the Emperor would later listen to Mary’s pleas to save an innocent man from being crucified, and removing Pilate from being Governor of Judæa
Orthodox metal-head here, just stumbled onto this channel respect for checking our service out glad you enjoyed! Just listened to some of your songs too you got some bangers homie keep it goin
Eastwrn Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox are not in communion but really like one another. The difference between them to an outsider would be hard to notice. The main difference between Greek, Russian, Romanian, Serbian, OCA, etc is the language and a few minor traditions. What you saw in the Greek church would look basically identical to my Orthodox Church in America Parish where its all in English. Glad you enjoyed it. CHRIST IS RISEN TRAMPLING DOWN DEATH BY DEATH P.s I was an atheist for 25 years.
So if Oriental and Eastern Orthodox are really like one another in the faith then why do the Oriental churches in these modern times not accept the authority of the 7 Ecumenical Councils, only 3 of them. There's a huge difference between the nature of Christ. On earth he was true God and true man having two natures and not one.
Jared, my family and I are going to experience our first Pasca service this year at the Orthodox Church that we are going to become members at. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen so excited about something in my life other than giving birth to my kids and getting to meet them for the first time. I’d love to see more Pasca and orthodoxy stuff from you. You really make me think and question and wrestle with my faith. I’m still such an infant in my faith. It’s insane. I thought I had all the answers when I was a Presbyterian. I am shocked and humbled by how I thought about things and what I believed. Lord, have mercy. Finding orthodoxy has been like finding fresh water in a dry desert that I didn’t even know I was in or water that I didn’t even know I needed. And finding your channel has really made me wrestle and sift myself to see what is really inside my heart. I would 100% die for Christ and for my faith. But I think it’s harder to live it. To live it, to be kind, to love those who hate me, to pray for those who have wronged me, to be genuine and kind with people I don’t particularly like, and to be thankful for trials, because they bring me closer to the Lover of my soul. What more could I ask for? Your channel and your wrestlings you share on here, bring me to my knees spiritually and test me. I keep questioning myself, do I really believe what I believe? And it makes me stop and breathe and search my soul. I have had too many instances in my life to not believe in Christ, even before I was a Christian. In highschool, I wanted to be an atheist. And He wouldn’t let me. (Or my own mental disorders that have yet to be found out 😂). Thanks for your videos.
Just hopping in to say I've been binging some of your videos and it's so nice to see someone in the Christian online sphere that I can relate to. There's a lot of atheists who hate religion, atheists who tolerate but ignore it, but almost no atheists that actively appreciate it and engage in it. You seem to fall into the last camp and so do I. I feel that internally I am 90% an atheist, but Christianity is so beautiful and aligns with what I feel love should be that I'm currently in the process of joining my local Catholic church. I really wish I could believe the way Christians do. Maybe one day I will... but probably not. The joy, kindness, warmth and compassion I have experienced from Christians feels like sitting on the edge of a campsite watching everyone else being warmed around the fire whilst I sit cold in my tent. I have a lot of doubt and little to no conviction, but all I know is that sitting at the proverbial family dinner table with the others and not eating still feels better than not being at the table at all. It hurts when so many tell you "just open your heart to christ and you'll believe" as if it's that easy. For us who seek but never find it's a lonely road.
I believe the Holy Spirit is calling you. All the same, if you would like some evidence for Christianity, here is something you can look up. Read the story of Exodus, and how God struck Egypt with different plagues. Then go and look up the Ipuwer Papyrus, written during the 13th Dynasty. You'll find that the Egyptians also kept a record of this incident. That is proof, at least, that this incident was based on something real, if not completely real.
From an orthodox christian: I look up to people like you so much. All support here. I constantly see people who call themselves Christians hating others, having no faith in God, totally rebuilding Christianity to suit their own desires, enduring trouble with only curses and insults... meanwhile there are atheists here and everywhere who act in such good faith towards people, love beyond their own strength, and endure every trouble without becoming bitter. Tell me, who is the true Christian? The one who says they believe without acting it, or the one who doesn't believe and yet acts as though they did. Don't become sad that you cannot make your mind believe, and you cannot make yourself feel spiritual emotions. Do not worry that you are missing out on something. If Christ is God, truly you will believe, you will have no other choice! In the moment you stand before him in the judgement, with everyone else, you will believe. Prepare for this moment, as a good philosopher, and you will be rewarded with such Joy that you will forget the years of spiritual dryness and loneliness. Who knows, this Joy may come even in this life. I hope my ramblings make sense to you. Be encouraged! God is with you! You will be surprised to find that many of the faithful Christians secretly have/have had similar feelings to you, even some of our saints. You are not alone. God bless you! Macrina
@@Macrina-The-Foolyes. What is “belief” anyway? Mental assent? That can be helpful. It can be delusional, too. But the Truth doesn’t require my assent. But an open heart to others, to Love, to humility - that’s what leads us.
Well, born as an Orthodox Christian I always felt encouraged to find my own path to God (the best and complete version of Self) whatever that path might look like. I never doubted that we humans and all that exist, descend form higher form of intelligence and that feeling is imprinted in me throughout my religion. I'm not afraid to read all kind of authors and dive into principles of all religions and cults (I mean all) deeply knowing that all that IS, comes from that universal higher form (God) and is aligned to it. Orthodox Christianity is like supportive parent that is loving you unconditionally and giving you freedom to explore, grow and develop on your own.
So glad you visited an Eastern Orthodox service! I grew up Roman Catholic and my husband Lutheran, but for me, a lot was missing and I fell away from my faith. We found Orthodoxy and I couldn't get over from the first couple visits how this was exactly what I had been searching for my entire life. I think my husband felt the same because he took to it immediately also. For the midnight service, come on back next Pascha!
One of the most respectful atheists I've ever seen. Also, we don't call our services "Mass" we call them Divine Liturgy (main Sunday service) Orthros (usually a pre Divine Liturgy) and Vespers (evening/nighttime service)
Orthros is also called Matins (same exact meaning, “Morning”), which is morning prayer. Many church will hold Matins/Orthros the evening before after Vespers. Also, a cultural nuance is that often Slavic churches will emphasize vespers and Greek or Levantine churches will emphasize matins/orthros. Parishes can only do so much! Many have both.
What a surprisingly fun and refreshing hot-take on an Orthodox service. Our Pascha (Pa-ska) service starts at midnight and goes until 2am. Then we have a feast and Party until dawn. Then everyone goes home to sleep and comes back the next day at 2pm for Agape Vespers where we read the gospel in all the languages present, and continue the party until the wine and food runs out. And yes, there is something deeply visceral about receiving and passing candle light.
I recently learned something about the etymology of "Pascha." Our host, Heliocentric, is not wrong when he said it was the Aramaic word for the lamb or "Passover" and his pronunciation isn't exactly wrong either. Our pronunciation (Pa-ska) is the Greek transliteration of the Semitic word (Pa-sha). He did a brief stint studying ancient languages in college, so it would make sense that he would pronounce it the way he did. It is unfortunate that when the Orthodox came to English speaking countries it adopted the Western name for the Feast of the Resurrection, Easter. Pascha literally translates to "Passover." When my family throws the open house every year, complete with roasting a whole lamb on a rotisserie in the front yard and a band for dancing on the closed street. I love the continuity between Orthodox Christianity and the Old Testament. I'm typing this before Great Lent this year, so it's a bit early to say "Kalo Pascha!" but who cares :) Cheers,
This year i got to recite john 20 in native hawaiian (i was born and raised in hawaii), along with about a dozen others who recited in languages that were part of our backgrounds. Our church is serbian, but over 75% of us are converts, so most of our service is in english.
What a beautiful comment. To paraphrase Fr. Josiah Trenham, we (Orthodox) have no sacred language like the Roman Catholics, Jews, or Muslims. It is the Holy Gospel that sanctifies ALL languages. Thank you for sharing.
I find this shocking (probably just from ignorance on my part, I know). How have, and why do, a few Hawaiians become Serbian Orthodox? Does being a Serbian Orthodox in any way mean you align with Serbia's politics too?
@@the_luggage for most of us, especially in America, the national origin of the church has little to do with anything. I became a part of the serbian church because that's what was closest to me. Had the closest church been Russian, Greek, or antiochian, I would have settled in just fine. In my experience, politics don't get mentioned unless an individual parishioner brings it up. But the priest is completely uninterested in politics. I don't know if that would be the same experience had I gone to a Russian or Ukrainian diocese. But as for being hawaiian, most, or at least a sizeable chunk of us profess to be Christian thanks to the missionary work done in the 1800s, so going further in my faith towards Orthodoxy wasn't a big stretch for me. 🙂
I am a Baptist and attended my first Greek Orthodox church recently and was in awe of the warmth of my fellow Christians there. It felt very whole if that makes sense. Great video and peace to you!
I just came across your RUclips channel. Your video is amazing. New subscriber from me! I’m a Protestant who is working on converting to Orthodoxy. Orthodox Christian’s are the most friendly and intelligent people I’ve ever met. They are well educated and very passionate about the Lord.
The red Pascha egg traditionally goes back to St. Mary Magdalene. At one point she found herself dinning with Emperor Tiberius and trying to convince him of the resurrection. He scoffed at the idea and said something to the effect of, "A man cannot rise from the dead any more than that egg in your hand could turn red!" And immediately the egg in her hand turned a crimson red. That's why, in Orthodox tradition, our Easter eggs are dyed red, and in Orthodox icons, St. Mary Magdalene will sometimes be depicted as holding a red egg. And a side note: St. Mary Magdalene is also honored as the Apostle to the Apostles, for she was the very first person commissioned by Christ to proclaim his resurrection, and her hearers were the Apostles themselves.
As a terrible Catholic, I’m just happy you found a place that celebrates the Eucharist. If you ever could fathom what it means to be near Him, you’d never want to be away from Him.
The chant is “Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life” “Christos anesti ek nekron, thanato thanaton patisas. Kai tis en tis mnimasi zoe harisamenos”
Hristos a inviat din morti, cu moartea pe moarte calcand. Si celor din morminte, viata daruindu-le .... 🤗. Amin ! (Oh, how I can here the song in my mind ... )
I’ve been Orthodox for a while. My faith is so important to me and I’m so glad you were able to visit an Orthodox Church. Great video, too. I’m Subscribing. I pray you stay safe and continue to be open and respectful to all your new experiences.
50 years ago if you’d told me I’d be singing an entire service in Old Church Slavonic because I’m Serbian Orthodox, I would not have believed you, and yet, here I am. Hope you find your way to Christ.
Old church Slavonic was old Serbian church language. We can't read it or understand it much because our language was reformed by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and we lost closeness to other Slavic/Russian language. Every Russian who visits Serbia can easily read old church writings in our churches and Monasteries, but we can't.
@@gbp4998sad it’s due to the influence of Islamic languages sadly, Slavonic language was easily understood by 90% of the orthodox churches pre 1400 only few places would be primarily Greek and Hebrew , Serbia is a great country and the orthodoxy that comes from it but sadly has never truly been its own for a while now
Hey there, I am a Greek orthodox in Greece and this is the first time I saw a video so respectful. Also I notice you have a very good understanding of what was happening around you, which tells me that you went there with an open heart and you experienced the 'come and see'. I wish you all the best and really hope the Holy Spirit chooses to nest in your heart. Bless you and your family and all your feature endeavours!
As someone who was born and raised in Bulgaria as an Orthodox Christian, i have to tell you that the Orthodox in Greece is different from the one in Bulgaria, then those are different from the one in Romania, and those differ from the ones in other Balkan countries and the former USSR republics. I musy say that as an atheist, youd probably love the one in Bulgaria the most, as there's absolutely no restrictions to follow and worship, no expectations to participate in anything... I've always felt like this is the most agnostic type of Christianity as we'd go to church teice a year - Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. And the entire religion here is mashed up with what other Christians would consider heresy. We believe in clairvoyants, in esoterics, we have myths and legends about people who weren't canonized as saints, but we'd worship as saits, there's lots of mysticism, magic, precognition, paganism and so on involved. And then, we used to be a communist country for 45 years, so questioning religion and the existence of God is somewhat entwined with spirituality and Christianity. Mind you, we still had churches under communism and we still performed church weddings and people still got baptised and would do our pagan-Christian rituals... it's a huge mish-mash ans it was never in your face the way it would be in other countries. Lately people have become more religious and I find it vere bizarre.
What's up from NC! That's the Church I go to and I love Father Paul - he guided me in my catechism. Always welcome to see other people that are interested in Orthodoxy! Hit me up if you have any questions :)
As a Greek who lives in Raleigh (since 1992) and has been to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, I can confirm that this is a wonderful community. Truly happy that you had the chance to visit. Thank you for the wonderful video.
Glad you enjoyed your visit! I’m an African American woman who was Chrismated into the Greek Orthodox Church about 2 yrs ago. A complicated spiritual journey (and God’s grace) brought me here. If you’re ever in Jacksonville FL, we’d love to have you visit St. John the Divine GOC. ❤
It's super cool... Orthodox Fathers look so strict in pictures but when you actually meet them... boundless humility and kindness and they love smiling
Thank you for this great video! You were at the Agape Service. Orthodox churches read the Gospel in as many different languages as people can read at this service on Easter Sunday. This symbolizes sharing the Word of God to all nations. The egg is symbolic of Christ’s resurrection: Red for the blood of Christ; cracking symbolizes Christ leaving the grave through His resurrection. So glad to hear it was such a positive experience!
I recently learned something about the etymology of "Pascha." Our host, Heliocentric, is not wrong when he said it was the Aramaic word for the lamb or "Passover" and his pronunciation isn't exactly wrong either. Our pronunciation (Pa-ska) is the Greek transliteration of the Semitic word (Pa-sha). He did a brief stint studying ancient languages in college, so it would make sense that he would pronounce it the way he did. It is unfortunate that when the Orthodox came to English speaking countries it adopted the Western name for the Feast of the Resurrection, Easter. Pascha literally translates to "Passover." When my family throws the open house every year, complete with roasting a whole lamb on a rotisserie in the front yard and a band for dancing on the closed street. I love the continuity between Orthodox Christianity and the Old Testament. I'm typing this before Great Lent this year, so it's a bit early to say "Kalo Pascha!" but who cares :) Cheers,
Great video man. I became a Catechumen for the Greek Church last May. I was raised as a strict JW. Im glad you enjoyed your visit and I hope you visit the Church more often.
Hi Jared, I stumbled upon a few of your videos. I enjoy listening to your thought process while you contemplate certain aspects of Christianity. If you’re interested in the topic of theosis I would highly recommend reading the lives of Orthodox saints who participated in theosis during their earthly lives. Reading lives of Orthodox Saints such as Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco, Saint Seraphim of Sarov, Saint Xenia of Petersburg (and many, many others) are truly remarkable and inspiring. May God Bless you in your search for the Truth.
I am so happy you finally went to an Orthodox Church (specifically 'Eastern' Orthodox)!!! I am a convert and I was received into the Church on the night of Pascha in England. I started going to an Orthodox Church in September, so I guess I am part of this 'boom' that you mentioned. As you say, many young men are joining the Church as we crave tradition in a world that we feel is against us in this way and we want to reconnect not just with our Christian history, but that of the original Church of the Apostles that has survived until this day (as promised in Matthew 16:18). The church that you visited looks beautiful as well and I am glad that you enjoyed it. I like your channel and wish you the best in visiting all kinds of churches to see what they are like, though I may be praying for you to eventually join a certain Church that I have in mind lol. I love how you are funny and entertaining, but also open to Christianity and learning more about it despite you becoming an atheist. It is good to see someone with more nuanced opinions that doesn't senslessly bash Christianity since leaving it. Btw, you said in your Coptic Orthodox video that the Copts are older than the Orthodox as they split off before the Great Schism. They did split off much earlier, but this actually makes them younger, as they aren't the original Church like the Orthodox are. The reason for this is that we were all One Church for the first 325 years until the first Ecumanical Council in Nicea, where the Arians split off. Ecumenical Councils define the faith whilst also making clear what different heresies are so they can be avoided and corrected, as to continue the true original faith. The Coptics split in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon as they believed in miaphysitism- that Christ's human and divine natures are actually 1 joined nature, seen as heresy to us Orthodox and the Catholics. This is what makes them younger and not older than us. I hope this clarifies this query. I enjoy your videos, may God grant you many years☦
Sooo happy you had a beautiful experience there! :) It is refreshing to see someone with such an open mind and heart and I admire your courage to continue to venture into these new places, sometimes knowing very little! To speak to the cultural vs spiritual balance in this church, it is such a blessing that you stumbled upon a church that is more anglicized and open to visitors with warm welcomes like that, how amazing!! The truth is, this differs greatly from church to church, and location to location. Living in the greater Toronto area and being Coptic Orthodox, one can find Coptic churches where services are English only, congregations are very diverse, and the mission of the church is to embrace and cater to the needs of Torontonians. On the other hand, there are churches that are extremely Egyptian - many arabic-only services, ministries for new immigrants, and these tend to focus more on the pre-existing congregation that is moving or existing from Egypt. At the heart of the Gospel is mission-to go and spread the good news to others. I pray that our churches become more accessible to the communities we find ourselves in, wherever our diaspora has brought us. The churches that lean more towards a cultural, pastoral approach are not wrong to focus on the congregation they were entrusted to and the demographic of the people who walk in the door - that said it might not be a great place to visit as a first timer as you may find it hard to understand the richness of the service. In short, sometimes you’ll need to explore a bit to find a church community that fits you. With Orthodoxy, there’s a beautiful blend of culture and spirituality, but some congregations are better at making these traditions accessible to English speakers than others.
I absolutely love the Orthodox Church and wouldn’t personally go to another. Before discovering Orthodoxy, I always had a hard time going to church. Sometimes, I just didn’t feel a connection, and other times, it was boring to listen to someone talk for hours. In Orthodoxy, it feels like you’re truly part of the service, engaging in something greater, experiencing genuine worship of God. The service feels holy and inspired, which might be why it’s called the Divine Liturgy.
Wow really appreciate your humility and kindness, thanks man. I’m praying for you. Also that song sounded amazing I’m gonna check out more of your stuff.
Ex atheist jewish muslim and Lds protestant pentecostal here. I left every church and got introduced to both orthodox and catholic church, and these founding churches have my respect. Ive been attending mass for three years now and been soaked and absorbing the teachings and i dont want anything else than serving and worshipping the Lord in these two beautiful churches. Praise the Lord for transforming me to a new person🕊️☦️✝️
Serbian Orthodox church is more nationally oriented because their entire natonal history is tightly interwoven with the Orthodox faith, in fact most knowledgeable Serbs would agree that being a Serb without being Orthodox is absurd as Orthodoxy is the only thing that gives meaning to their history and the suffering they went through.
Loved the video. Regarding your closing comments inquiring how common your experience was: I'm in multiple online Orthodox communities, I've chatted with easily thousands of people over the past 5 years. You are correct that there are some priests that are maybe... More cold or strict. There are parishes that are far more suspicious of visitors. However, the OVERWHELMING majority match your experience. I can confidently say at least 95% of experiences match yours. Even on the cases that are more on the negative side compared to yours, it often isn't enough to deter people from staying away because they enjoyed the other things you mentioned, plus much more. Thanks again for your charitable attitude.
I think we were at Wheaton at the same time. I am Orthodox and work for a ministry now :) Great video! It sounds like you have a great experience and a very friendly parish.
Hey Ellie! If I'm not mistaken, I think we had a class on the apostolic fathers together in the Billy Graham Center. I'm glad that you've found a home in Orthodoxy, and hope you're well and thriving. Cheers!
@@HeliocentricOfficial Yes, that's right! Thank you! I grew up in the Orthodox Church :) being at Wheaton was a culture shock haha. But grateful for the opportunity to read the Fathers and understand my faith deeper.
The quality and editing of your videos is so good. You have a great camera presence and persona. I became a catecumen right after Pascha. I pray to someday see a video drop of you also becoming a catecumen. Glory to God! ☦️
Hey @Heliocentric I suggest you if you ever decide to visit Greece! Make sure to go to the holy mountain Athos next to Thessaloniki, you can find some orthodox monasteries from the 10th century and maybe older, this experience will show you the original church of Christ, and you can live with the monks for a few day's and discuss anything about the Christian religion. Hope that i gave you a good idea for a video!!🙏🏻
Just saw your interview with Luther! Great stuff. I knew his video had to be the Agape Vespers 😂 I was so confused when I first saw it because I had never seen an Orthodox Church do a full liturgy right after the midnight Pascha service.... Anyways.... I agree with Father and Luther, definitely check out the OCA church during a normal Liturgy. Be prepared to stand! (We actually all make fun of the Greeks for using pews and letting people sit 😂) Keep the great content coming! You have a very profound channel here.
In my parish in Chile we do the same thing of reading that passage in many languages in Pascha. When I first heard it, when I was still 50% atheist, it struck me. The fact that I can hear the singing in a Chinese parish and know exactly what is happening, even if I don't understand the words, is just beautiful for me. We often say that Liturgy is participatory theology, you are not studying a book or hearing a preacher, you receive the Gospel with your whole being, the music, the smell, the fact that you are standing, the icons, etc., all your senses are ritually purified.
So glad you visited an Orthodox temple! You attended Agape Vespers. It’s typically a short and subdued service because after the Pascha Liturgy, which is joyous, the after party is epic 🎉
Hey, man. I only discovered your atheist church audit series a few days ago, and I've already watched them all. Like you, I'm a former Pentecostal, and theologically educated. Like you, I lost my faith (a hugely painful, traumatic experience) and became an atheist for many years. Unlike you, though, I recently came back to faith and I've been visiting a lot of different churches to see where I fit in. (I think I've found the right one for me now, though.) I find your experiences fascinating, and I appreciate your respectful but honest tone in these videos. Keep them coming!
We’re happy to welcome you to the Orthodox Church and we hope to see you again! I encourage you to do a little more research more so that you have a greater and more meaningful understanding of the services themselves. I hope to see a sequel to this video!
There are a couple of stories related to the tradition of the red egg. According to tradition, after Jesus' Ascension into heaven, the Magdalene-a wealthy woman of some importance-boldly presented herself to the Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ, with an egg in hand to illustrate her message. Holding the egg out to him, she exclaimed for the first time what is now the universal Easter proclamation among Christians, "Christ is risen!" The emperor, mocking her, said that Jesus had no more risen than the egg in her hand was red. Immediately, the egg turned red as a sign from God to illustrate the truth of her message. The Emperor then heeded her complaints about Pilate condemning an innocent man to death, and had Pilate removed from Jerusalem under imperial displeasure. Why would Mary Magdalene bring an egg to talk about Jesus with the Roman Emperor? In another tradition, it is said that Mary Magdalene brought a basket of white boiled eggs with her on Easter morning to the tomb of Jesus-perhaps as a meal for herself and the others as they waited for someone to roll the stone away. When she arrived at the site of the Resurrection, finding the stone already rolled away, she also found that the eggs in her basket had turned into bright shades of color. Perhaps this is why she brought an egg to the Emperor; did she expect that Jesus would perform a similar miracle for her egg as he had done on that first Easter morning? While we do not know if these stories are true with absolute certainty, we do know that the tradition of handing out red eggs at Easter is one that originated among Christians in Apostolic times. And we often find Mary Magdalene depicted in icons holding a red egg.
This is WILD. I had no idea about this apocryphal tradition. I'll have to do some more digging into this, but it's a much more satisfying answer about why there are eggs surrounding Easter rather than this Eshtar nonsense. Preciate you, friend!
@@HeliocentricOfficial Romanian Orthodox here ... We do share the red egg tradition (just so u know all those orthodox churches u mentioned including Romanian, Moldavian, Bulgarian, and Albanian are sister churches ... we have the same beliefs and rituals just using a different language and a different administration - everything but spiritual, structure) ... In our culture the red egg has a different origin ... a few details are very relevant here so you understand why this is part of our tradition - if you study Jesus's death you will learn that in his last moments before his physical death, he was abandoned by everyone - another technical detail is that the crucifixion is the most agonizing death one can suffer and it was preferred by Romans to enforce fear. - in many cases, the person being crucified "refuses" to die so they would "help" him by poking his heart with a spear (like they did to Jesus), and when that does not work they would break their shins to let the blood drip So while he was taking his last breath, the women who followed him as the Messiah, refused to stand by without seeing what was happening or even help if they could. They took the basket of eggs because it would be a good cover for them to be able to reach his cross. When they reached him they put the basket at the base of his cross and started to mourn him. During this time, blood from his wounds dripped down on the basket so when they ran (because soldiers were periodically passing by to see if anyone was still alive) they were holding a basket of red-blooded eggs. This became a way of expressing faith in what happened that day. There's a lot more to go over but I tried to point out a few relevant aspects.
Welcome! I'm glad you visited an Orthodox parish. I saw your Episcopal video first. I was a cradle Episcopalian until about age 50, then stopped attending until a set of personal events got me back into church. But instead of returning to TEC, I moved on for one of the same things you cited in that video. God opened my eyes and heart to Orthodoxy and I'm so glad He did! Orthodoxy is awesome!
Hey man, greek orthodox here who lives in Athens!I found your channel yesterday and i binged watched many of your vids. I started by watching this and what struck me as "odd" wasnt the fact that an atheist reviews from the outside an orthodox church. It seemed obvious to me that although you stated you didn't have any knowledge of orthodoxy,the way you talked and approached the topic indicated that you clearly seemed to be invested in Christ's faith on a deep personal level, at least in the past. So..i then watched your video on the episcopalian church and then a couple more where you stated how much you despise the confrontation of "you were never a christian to begin with". Please allow me to share my thoughts: It is obvious that there is a deep existential agony, a sincere search for the truth and a willingness to humble yourself in a way that many people who think that they are settled with their faith haven't done so including me. You are also absolutely right when you say that you are bothered by the confrontations that you had with many christians when they told you "oh but you were never a real chrisian' and that most of these people seem to rely purely on themselves. Obviously i don't know you, but If i was to annoy you with a confrontation i would do the opposite and ask you " you don't strike me as a real atheist':D Having said that and knowing that you are still invested in the christian faith in a way- your content says so- i would urge you to search and read the biographies of ealy Saints and Fathers. You might find yourself relating to their struggles with the faith in a positively surprising way. Many of them felt for decades the feeling of the absence and abandonment of God. Until we close our eyes our journey on this earth continues and we don't know how things will play out. I really like your channel and the fresh, sincere and sensitive way you approach things. Wish you all the love!
Pascha was also my first delve into attending - I have been back a few times for Matins/Divine Liturgy and it is the good stuff. It is a reverence I have found nowhere else. Nice video, brother!
Orthodox Christian, here. Orthodoxy trancends ethnicity. Yes, some Orthodox churches are heavily one ethnicity but most are quite mixed here in the US. I attend a Russian Orthodox church and, out of the entire parish, there's only ONE Russian. The majority in our parish are American-born of Scots-Irish ancestry but we also have Lebanese, Italian, Polish & Greeks that attend our church. I'm so glad that you attended & it's obvious from the video that Liturgy touched something in you. I encourage you to continue attending & to speak to Fr Paul about our beliefs. I think you'll be surprised at our outlook on many things. You've just barely scratched the surface of the richness of Orthodoxy. There's MUCH more to discover! And when you do, I think you'll understand the reasons for the expansion of the Orthodox Church in America. God's blessings upon you!
I got baptized home into Holy Orthodoxy back in April (Lazarus Saturday) after a majority of my life as a non-denom Protestant, then BRIEFLY Roman Catholic last year & it was my first Pascha liturgy I ever attended; which has surpassed all Easter services I went to all my life! The Orthodox Church is where I really encountered Christ.
From your description, it sounds like you went to what is called the Agape Vespers. Vespers is an evening service, but the Agape Vespers are usual done around noon or so, since the Liturgy was done early. And it is the custom to read John 20:19-25, in many languages, which interestingly ends with the Apostle Thomas saying: "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." This is because this is what happened on the evening of the first Pascha. Next Sunday they would have read the rest of the story, which happened a week later, when Christ appeared again to his disciples.
Romanian Orthodox here. I’m glad that you went to an Orthodox Church and I thank you for speaking in such a nice way of what you experienced there! 🙏 I would like to recommend you to talk privately to a priest/monk about every “big” question that you have. Just ask, in your area, about a good priest or monk (I know how this sounds; most of them are incredibly good but, like doctors, there are a few not-so-good ones), and go talk with him. Also, check some of father Josiah Trenham’s videos. He’s an american orthodox priest and he does a really great job. Doamne ajută! 😁
I also came back to Orthodoxy (baptized as an adult but walked away into protestantism and now back) around the same time this sudden surge into the Orthodox Church started.
I used to be Atheist then got into BlackMagic. I saw things that my eyes should have not seen. I cried so much and asked Mercy and help from God. After seeking his kingdom for 15 years going to all kinds of we will play a happy song and everything is good kind of church. I found Orthodoxy I walked in an Orthodox church in Tarzana, Ca doors were open and no one was there. As I walked past the entrance and came into the church I feel on my knees and cried and said. "I'm home." that was in 2010 I am today going to an Orthodox monastery and it is a blessing. God will put us through trails and tribulations in order to come to him and only he knows our heart better than we do. I am happy to have watched your review on this it means a lot to me. The truth is out there. God is not done with you yet. Keep on Rockin'
Hi. I just stumbled upon your video and, although I know nothing about you, I think that it’s great that you try to find something. I was not trying to find God, God came to me. I am a Serbian Orthodox and attending church before and after believing cannot be compared. When I changed everything changed. I wish you all the best!
This is my husband, Fr Paul Christy, and our Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Raleigh, NC! You ROCK!! Thank you!
Thank you all for your warm hospitality.
Peace and blessings.
That’s our Father Paul ❤️✝️
Been thinking about going to Holy Trinity for a good bit now, glad I found this vid!
Greeks are protestants!
In Holy Orthodoxy women have to cover their hair and pews are forbidden
I’m a former atheist now Orthodox Christian! Glory to God
Welcome home ❤️
I'm a former Orthodox Christian now atheist. Glory to humanity!
Man, 2 of us are literally like ☯️
@@Milorad_Parlic sorry to hear that
@@Milorad_Parlic another one bites the dust 😔
Hope u come back home
And we are not like that we reach our fullness in Christ
You know what fullness means?
That theirs no more place for nothing else in this case ur nonsense you can reject the faith that’s one but poisoning others with this kinds of nonsense is another level of arrogance
I’m a former catholic now atheist. I believe in humans rights a equality now
Happy you finally went to an Orthodox Church!
You mentioned you wanted to understand the "politics" behind each church (serbian, russian, greek, coptic, etc.) and it's pretty straightforward. To get started, there are actually two main branches of Orthodoxy - Oriental and Eastern (both mean eastern, I know, it's just their names). The Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches split during the Council of Chalcedon for a disagreement about Christ's God and Human properties. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are:
- Coptic
- Ethiopian
- Eritrean
- Syrian
- Malankaran (Indian)
- Armenian
The biggest Eastern Orthodox Churches are:
- Greek
- Russian
- Serbian
- Ukrainian (kinda, it's a whole mess)
- Antiochian
- Romanian
There are 17 independent Orthodox Churches, but I won't name them all here.
Each of these Eastern Orthodox Churches all fall under the same denomination of Orthodoxy, but each church is called an autocephalous church, meaning it's independently run and has what is called a Patriarch. The church doesn't report to any higher authority in that case. There are many other churches such as the OCA and the ROCOR and (disputably) Estonia and Ukraine which do report to a higher authority but are referred to on as their own independent churches.
However, while each of these churches do have an independent Patriarch, it doesn't mean they are divided any more than that. Each Church has the same theology, and you will find Greek, Russian, and Serbian books alike in many of their bookstores. The unity comes in with meetings called Synods, where Bishops from each church come together to discuss current theological or ecclesiastical issues. The Holy Synod is for the Patriarchs where they discuss it.
However, the cultures in each church are quite different because they are tailored to that specific country and place. Entire nations were baptized at one point (Baptism of Kievan Rus') and so national identities and cultures were formed around the church, giving us the distinct styles we see today. However, these differences are only aesthetically and with language. Each hold the same service in their native language (Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) and teach the same dogmas.
Hope this helps!
This was an INSANELY detailed synopsis! Thanks so much, homie!!!
Yeah what was the disagreement on the nature of Christ and the body
@@dirkjensen969 Whether or not Christs human nature was subsumed into his divine nature(Oriental pov) or not(Chalcedonian Christianity) It is generally understood by all but the most polemic of orthodox people that this split was not over anything real, it was largely political and linguistic differences.
@@Emporerofkortoph oh what side are you and why
One extremely nerdy caveat on the liturgy: sometimes it is the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, and in Western Rite Orthodox churches the ordinary liturgy is the Divine Liturgy St. Gregory... And there's a bit more, but that's just one additional layer of the onion.
You are honestly the most respectful athiest i ever seen as an Orthodox Christian thank you
I dont believe he is and Atheist anymore 🤣☦️♥️
They should be respectful. I was an atheist until a few years ago. A bunch of CIA docs got released from freedom of information act. Classified stuff from the 90s. I don't know if there is an astral plane or afterlife.. but I know the CIA thinks it's real, and believe they have seen it and I also know now the CIA believes in psychic abilities in some ppl. At this time they were teaching atheism in public schools while the while time CIA beleived there's something more. Based on this it's no longer possible for me to be atheist and it's shady as hell they would teach atheism all the while military didn't agree
He doesn't at all come across as an atheist. Seems like he's genuinely interested in God.
Just because you are atheistic/agnostic doesnt mean you hate or even dislike religion. Sometimes you are genuinely confused and just honestly can't rationalize the belief for yourself.
Blessed are those with a pure Heart: For they shall see.
As someone interested in Orthodoxy, the Orthodox are very welcoming and in a genuine way. Several strangers have talked to me, offered me their seat, brought me food after the divine liturgy, said they're glad to see me again after not going to church for a few weeks, and much more
are you interested in learning about Orthodoxy?
I’m sure you can find genuinely welcoming people in every denomination
@@thomasthellamas9886 just minus the FULLNESS of the faith.
@@redaquila2891 You aren’t wrong. But what Church/denomination has the fullness of Faith comes down to the Spirit calling and/or the validity of the logical and historical arguments for whichever church.
@@redaquila2891 Mormons say theirs has the fullness and that yours is false
Hey man, Orthodox here. You were in my recommended so I decided to take a look. Good video, thanks for being so respectful.
same
That's one of his problems. Christianity would extend him zero mercy if the roles were reversed.
@@dirkjensen969 bruh lol
@@blockhead1899 say something nice about Atheists or Atheism that is superior in some way to Christianity, explicitly. If not, it's clear, you don't have respect for them, or dignify their position. Even the Bible takes every opportunity to lob childish insults at Atheists.
@@dirkjensen969people like you are always out there giving atheists a bad name. There’s no reason to be confrontational for no reason.
Former atheist here. Also former Protestant. I am currently a catechumen in the Eastern Orthodox church. I typically go to a Greek parish but have recently attended services at a Serbian parish. In fact, I just came back from a 6:00am Matins service - on a Monday! If there is a Serbian parish in your area, I cannot recommend enough checking one out to diversify your experience. Heads up though, they probably won't have pews. EDIT: I also had a chance to spend a few days at a Serbian monastery. I did not want to leave!
May God bless your journey into the Church!
The drip always shows who got it right.
@@wjckc79 🗿☦️
You really need to visit Hilandar in Greece that is like one of the most important places for Orthodox Christians. I went when I was younger and it was truly amazing.
@@felixmikael9495 How do you know it's a profound place? Women are forbidden to enter it 💀
We Egyptians love our Greek brothers
🇪🇬☦️🇬🇷
Last Egyptian dinasty was Greek and we use their greek alphabet to write Egyptian language
Ⲡⲓⲭ̀ⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ ⲁϥⲧⲱⲛϥ ⲉ̀ⲃⲟⲗ ϧⲉⲛ
Wait really do you Egyptians use the Greek letters in your alphabet
@@Nikos-o-gamer
Yes we do but we created 5 letters extra cause Egyptian language has more sounds than Greek
Much love from Greece too! God bless
I AM Orthodox From Srbija.
@@EgyptianOrthodox ok
Hi, I’m Paul! Actually though, I’m the guy you spoke to that morning.
Thank you so much for respecting our community and all of the kind words you said. I’m really glad you were moved by the service. If you ever feel like coming back, or want to grab a coffee, let me know, and I can give you my contact info! It helps to have someone explain some of the Traditions, and there are a lot them…
Thanks again for being so respectful and positive!
Hey Paul! (So stoked that I actually remembered someone's name correctly for once.)
Thanks so much for showing a stupid atheist the basics of the church service. It was a wonderful introduction and you made me feel right at home. All the best to you and your church family there. I may have to swing by again some day to have a proper discussion with your priest there.
Cheers!
Omg its Paul. Even the Patriarch's wife left a comment. This video is such a ride.
Beautiful church hope to return soon
When you enter an Orthodox Church you enter true Christianity
Amen ☦️❤️
Putting yourself in the "True" category of Christianity is very common but when it comes to defining those terms everybody gets real quiet...
To me that's precious
@ichsehsanders Do your research. Dont come to me. Find the truth. Seek God, Seek truth.
@@Orthodoxzee
It's my task to defend your "Truths"
Precious
The only people that get mad at questions are conman and people that lie to themself...
I'm not mad. There is only one truth. Have a good day
Welcome to original Christianity.
Imperial Christianity. Do you think impoverished persecuted Christians in house churches of the 1st century were mincing about in grand robes under massive basilicas? That didn't happen until the 4th century when the state took over and that relationship persists as can be seen with Putin's Patriarch in Moscow who is head of nearly half of all Orthodox. The rest are those cuddly Balkan churches (Dont ask about the 90s) or the Greek Orthodox which is the largest landowner in the country.
@@clivejungle6999 house churches were the houses of wealthy christians. The fact that there could be an upper room in the first place should tip you off to that fact.
@@bigol9223 Not the wealthiest, just more affluent. And they were more modest ones besides. What they didn't have were giant basilicas and vast temple premises.
@@clivejungle6999 do you think it is a sin to create beautiful works of art on this earth? I'm missing what the problem is.
@@clivejungle6999 No but the theology was the same. Also, yes they probably had vestments or some sort of protovestment.
As a former Protestant who became Catholic and finally Orthodox - you did an amazing job at being unbiased, and you described how Divine Liturgy is at every church, every Sunday. Midnight Pascha is the most powerful thing - I 100% urge you to go next year!
Wow, just found you thanks to the RUclips algorithm. I'm an Orthodox priest. Interesting video! I'm glad your visit was so positive!
When it comes to the differences between the different Orthodox national churches, most are simply related to culture and musical style. All Orthodox Churches are in a worldwide communion and are a single denomination. However, the Coptic and Armenian churches are actually part of a similar but distinct communion of churches called the Oriental Orthodox.
Absolutely Father!In all of Easter Orthodox Churches we get the same theology and same liturgy!The only thing that can be different is chants and language that the priest speaks. Im from Serbia and we mostly chant on Church Slavonic but we also use Greek, in short all of autocephalous Churches are in communion and are the same, Armenian and Coptic Churches are Oriental Orthodox and they beleive that Jesus had 1 nature.
Is the Russian Orthodox jurisdiction back in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate?
@@ericlammerman2777 Sadly no, but whole thing was Constantinople’s fault, they didn’t had right to proclaim autocephality on land that is under jurisdiction of ROC
Coptic and Armenians are not Orthodox and they are not in communion with the Orthodoxs.
❤🙏
I go to a Serbian Orthodox Church. From what I learned, the nation just represents the groups who started it. So mine was a Serbian group and our church is a great way for the Serbian culture to live on. I believe it's the same every other church, since the local Coptic Orthodox holds Egyptian festivals and all. Orthodox is the key, being that they held onto the foundation and original style intended from the beginning of the church. It's a beautiful thing. I'm happy I am there as a former protestant.
I'm newly converted Orthodox, along with my wife and our son. I saw your video, seemed interested, I clicked. Thank you for stopping by an Orthodox Church and listening. God bless you and your family! ☦️
I was an Atheist/Agnostic until I was about 23 years old. I'm now 26 years old and I'm a Baptized Orthodox Christian. I have searched for the truth since I was 15 years old. Orthodoxy Christianity is true. I appreciate your perspective as most atheists are insufferable. Please speak to an Orthodox priest at length it will change your life if your heart is open and ready.
Took more or less this same journey recently, apologetics brought me first to Christianity again and then the Eastern Orthodox Church. God bless ☦️
@@qzvl God bless you too
Let's test your insufferable ility...
You speak of Truth
That implies you get some kind of Methodology that let's you test religions on their true/false value!?
Share it!
@@ichsehsanders easy. Elimination via absurdity of worldview/evidence of the contrary.
@@qzvl sure
Go ahead
I became an Orthodox Christian in 2016 and my huband became Orthodox a uear ago...the best decision we ever made.
I am a Greek Orthodox Christian. Thanks for the respect. God bless from Texas.
You are orthodox christian, under the greek patriarchate.
You're from Texas? Any Orthodox Churches in San Antonio?
@@michaelturnage3395certainly are! I recommend St. Sophia’s as that’s where I go now, I know St. Anthony’s is really good aswell though
@@michaelturnage3395one thing I will let you know my friend, is in San Antonio we see a lot of “Indian orthodox” churches, sadly those aren’t actually orthodox, they split off from us in the year 300 or so, but they kept the name, so check out either of the two I said and you’ll be set! ❤
@@andrew1958 Yes.
Glad you got to enjoy it bro. Pascha is the event that cemented me on Orthodoxy too. Start praying now because there's no turning back. God bless you and stay pointed to the truth.
Lol, you were at my church today, All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church, I found out later that you were there. You introduced me for a second, I was the crazy chic at the end. Lol. I wasn't an atheist but I used to be a pagan and a witch and now I'm Orthodox. Go figure. Hope we see you again!
We visited an Orthodox church in Israel. Built in 400 AD or so. In the back was an old well. Jacobs well. The priest drew some
water and we got to drink some of the water out of paper cups. Pretty cool.
You drank from the same well as Jesus Christ during the parable of the Samarian woman (John 4:5-7)
@@PomazeBog1389 I know. It was hard standing there and fully grasp that.
How would you know its orthodox, if there existed no ortodox church before the first millenia 1000
@@kovacs.z It's a Greek orthodox church now.
I'm a protestant. Had the opportunity to celebrate a midnight Easter service with a Greek Orthodox church this year and was overwhelmed by the chanting and the beautiful liturgy. Would absolutely go back.
brother `we want you back
Absolutely we want you back, how happy I am to hear of this experience
Come again brother! We would love to see you. God bless ☦️
Dude, read Igantius' epistle to the smyrnaeans, it's better to be an ortho than protestant, this I say as a catholic.
Ignatius*
Orthodoxy transcends nations, the faith is more important than the nation. Many conflate national pride and identity with their church, but I can (and have) walk into a Russian Orthodox Church and it’s the same faith. Orthodoxy is a lifestyle as much as it is a belief. There is no one “I felt really strongly so now I’m saved for ever and ever” moment. To truly follow Christ, it involves a change in how you live your life. Glad you had a good experience! It’s a very long history, if you have continued interest.
Which Orthodox Church do you belong to?
@@FriarJoe66 Constantinople
@@Constantineopulosis Constantinople in communion with Moscow?
@@jaggedplanet At this point in time, I don't believe so. Doesn't change much on the ground. I had the pleasure of visiting the monastery of St. Tikhon in Pennsylvania, earlier this year.
@@Constantineopulos Are Russian Orthodox allowed to receive communion at a Greek Orthodox parish and vice versa?
Yo I know your comments are already flooded with Orthodox folks saying thank you for your respectfulness, but I just wanted to ditto that. I spent my whole life being "spiritual" but never found any church/religion that stood out to me. I had read through the Quran, ancient Indian texts (Upanishads), Judaic texts (Mishkan Tiflah, Talmud), The Bible, and a plethora of esoteric texts some in which delved into strange occult practices, etc. Every church I had ever stepped into, I was disgusted with. It never failed to lack the spiritual depth that I was seeking, and so I never stepped into the same church or temple twice. About 3 1/2 years ago, I was properly introduced to the Orthodox Church. Some acquaintances invited me to go with them to the Divine Liturgy. For the first time in my life, I stepped foot into a church that I felt I could return to. This Church actually felt alive. And it wasn't just the aesthetics/hymns that made it feel that way. It was the people themselves. I could sense life in them. The only problem was that this church was 2+ hours away from where I lived, so I unfortunately did not return. Finally I ended up moving to a city big enough to have it's own Orthodox Church and slowly started going to the different services, fasting, confessing, going to the fellowship hours. That was about a year and a half ago when I started attending regularly. It's taking me a while to get accustomed to the Orthodox Christian way of life, especially since I do not have a background in protestantism like most of the converts my age. That said, in about a month I will be received by Baptism into the Greek Orthodox Church. Never would have imagined in 1000 years that I would be doing something like this, yet here I am. I consider the decision to enter the church to be the most important decision I've ever made in my life to this date. Where else can you find people taking their spirituality this seriously while also refraining from entering "zealot" territory? Anyways, not sure why I felt the need to share this, but I hope this finds you well, and I also hope that you will visit an Orthodox Church again in time. Pascha is indeed beautiful, but there are so many beautiful feast days/special days throughout the year that I would also recommend experiencing (Saturday of Souls, Holy Pentecost, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Dormition of the Theotokos, the Nativity of Jesus Christ, Transfiguration, etc.)
when you get your baptism in the orthodox church,the Holy Spirit is leading you to spread the Gospel and testimony your life! 🥰
that’s nice brother, God bless ☦️🙏
💗
Welcome to Orthodoxy! Some years ago, a young, atheist professor walked into an Orthodox Church in San Francisco. Afterwards, he quit his professorship, took a job and began researching Orthodoxy. Eventually, he was ordained priest and founded a monastery in Northern California. Many consider him a saint. Fr Seraphim Rose is his name. This could happen to you!
All I knew of father seraphim rose is he was taught by Alan Watts! I didn't know Father Seraphim rose was an atheist professor ! Now I got the full story. Thanks I feel hope filled for specifically atheists now hahaha uh oh I rightfully hold hope from atheists because they're very horrible people often, and condescending very difficult humans with attitude worthy of condemning negative people , emotionally toxic, And so this man is up there as a not as horrible as Atheists of the popular types in Popular media where they are literally atheists lame hereosz and Pagan worshippers, Atheist Priests they are being worshipped, it's funny to see the collapse of atheism, God bless amen
Wow! I would like to read or hear more about his story. I see that he has written several books. Is there one that you can recommend I start with?
“Not of This World: The Life and Teachings of Father Seraphim Rose” by Hieromonk Damascene Christensen is good. (It’s out of print and very expensive, but there are PDFs online).
Many of his sermons are floating around online, including right here on youtube.
I'd rec a short book to start with, "God's Revelation to the Human Heart" it's maybe 40-50 pages.
Not some years ago, several decades ago, that was in the 60’s.
I was raised evangelical, then became atheist, then I’m in the process of joining Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy definitely warms your heart and gains your respect when you take a deep look on it.
Hello! Orthodox Christian here!
The service you went to is called the Agape Service (agape is one of the words for love). It’s one of my favorite services! After the midnight Pascha Liturgy (liturgy as what we call Mass), the Agape service that Sunday after. The reason the Bible reading was done in every language is because in that specific service, we try to read it in every single language we can. For instance in my church, we asked parishioners if they spoke any foreign languages, and we ended up doing 17 different languages including ASL!
Finally, the differences between “state” churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church is combined of many different autocephalous (self-ruling) bodies: Russian, Greek, Serbian, Antiochian, Alexandrian, Bulgarian, etc etc etc etc. We are all united in one, there is NO difference in theology whatsoever. The only difference is the language the Liturgy is conducted in, the architectural style of the church, and probably the food they eat afterward lol. Each autocephalous church has a Patriarch, which is like their Pope. The difference between us and Catholics, is we think all Patriarchs are equal to one another, and none of them are infallible (they can be wrong, and have been). Actually, before 1054, Orthodoxy and Catholicism was one united church, and the Pope was simply the Patriarch of the West, equal to the others
I'm a Filipino Roman Catholic, born and raised and Schooled in Catholic institutions. I never knew the history of the orthodox church and catholism until i married my beautiful, Loving and caring russian wife who's orthodox Christian and i can truly say that when i first entered the orthodox church when our baby was baptized i immediately felt that I'm home. This is the true and original Christian church. I feel at peace and more connected to God inside the orthodox church than i ever was inside a Catholic church. I have nothing against Catholics, my mother and siblings are still all very devout Catholics but after experiencing the orthodox Christian way, i just couldn't understand why we Catholics didn't keep the same traditions and rituals which are far more serene and spiritual
As a Christian who was raised protestant and considering becoming Orthodox, I really love that you made this video. You are a very respectful atheist and I appreciate that you are very open minded about our religion.
Just like you guys are open minded and respectful to Atheists or other beliefs right? Oh wait no, they're all false, Satan inspired and going to hell.
Southern Baptist moving the same way.
Blessed he who comes in the name of the Lord.
@@Hope_Boat oh yeah? What's his ACTUAL NAME then, not Yah or YHWH, that's the tetragrammaton
@@dirkjensen969 Jesus
I'm not Serbian, but I got Baptized into the Serbian Orthodox Church. The service is 50 % English. Depends on which parish you visit.
Welcome! 🇷🇸
welcome brother
I'm Polish and baptized in Serbian Orthodox Church, there are more of us ☦️🇷🇸
@@chanpasadopolska I'm Russian brother
@@alt-monarchist 💪🙏
For anyone curious about what stands out about Orthodox theology and our beliefs about God:
For Orthodox, we believe we are meant to be united with God in a very deep way, and that the priesthood of humanity is to take what is in our heart and put it into the world. This is why the Fall happened, because the life of Christ was meant to come through mankind as loving priests and into Creation, infusing it all with God's love. When we rejected God and decided to be completely independent (instead of being co-workers with Him), we cut off the supply of life to call Creation, introducing death no only to ourselves but everything.
In addition to physical death is spiritual death, which manifests most greatly in pride, which we see as a total self focus and self gravity, the entire universe revolving around our desires, our opinions, our image, etc. In this way, all sins are a form of pride, a brokenness that flows out of this selfishness, this spiritual illness. While sin is very serious and we Orthodox are called to constant warfare with it, their is a balanced view of it being not only our choice but also an illness that has captured us. It is naturally a far more merciful view towards people who sin. Sin in Orthodoxy is actually much broader, describing many broken things. When a soldier kills someone, even if it was considered justified, they go to confession to be "unbound" or healed because we recognize killing anyone damages us. It's not about a legal system but about entering into healing with Christ, the Holy Physician.
A major symptom of this pride, this spiritual death, is a lack of love. By love we don't simply mean affection, nor even good deeds, but a heart that unconditionally lives for the beauty of that which is loved. While we humans seem to have some fragmented remains of love, full altruism is a divine reality flowing from God Himself. It's not simply that God is loving, but He is literally love. We see this love at the Cross when, after horrible treatment from enemies and friends, all Christ thinks about is the well being of his beloved Creation: "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do." When we Orthodox say we need a savior, it's not to be saved from God's legal retribution or anger, it's being saved from ourselves. We need Him to help us overcome our selfishness and pride, and plant Himself within us, which means planting this divine, unconditional love. This love is the same love that is shared between the members of the Trinity, and the same love that birthed all of Creation.
Not only is there spiritual death but there is also physical death, which is the unnatural fragmentation of man, a split between his body and soul. Death is an ontological reality, and all death, sin, and suffering are linked directly. So what Christ accomplishes at the Cross, while rightly described as a payment or ransom, is more deeply and literally understood as Life Himself entering into death and filling the reality with His presence. We Orthodox call this the Harrowing of Hades. This is why many other people were resurrected the moment Christ died and were said to be seen walking around the city. Again, the way the Orthodox (and the earliest Christians) think about these things was far less legalistic and more ontological. The literalization of the legal language was something that came far later in Roman Catholicism after it split off from the other Apostolic Churches (which are today's Orthodox Churches) in 1054, and when the Protestants left the Catholic Church they unfortunately kept a lot of the legal ideas that produce a lot of mental and spiritual damage today.
Christ offers union with Him, healing both spiritual and physical death as He Himself is life and love. The Fathers say God forgives everyone, even Satan, but if one doesn't want forgiveness then the distance is experienced the same as if God rejected someone, thus we speak of the need to approach humbly for forgiveness, because such an act is what makes our hearts compatible with His, a humble God who would bear the worst pain and shame for His children. All the Orthodox services are about a balance of peace but also humility, about nor being terrified but about seeing our need for His help. Even the word repentance in Scripture is "metanoia" meaning change of nous or change of heart, which means putting our heart back on God. It isn't about self loathing or beating ourselves up. In fact, the Fathers were adamant that beating ourselves up was demonic deception and we should have peace. We should admit our sins and struggle against them, as anyone should admit faults and try to grow, but they insisted that God never wanted us to destroy our peace over our sins.
As man and Christ are reunited in prayer, liturgical worship, sacraments, etc. man returns to the state of being a bridge between God and Creation. We have our Saints as examples of men who achieved this, who brought healing and peace and love to every person and animal they met. The goal of all the Churches work is the infuse this life and love of God's presence into all things, which is why relics and icons and holy places are a thing, and also why we Orthodox are insistent on using our bodies and physical creation in our worship. Worship isn't stroking God's ego like it is for the pagan deities, it is transformation that enables us to be close to God, hence why He has to reveal it and we can make it up ourselves. Candles and incense don't merely represent things as Westerners would thing, they genuinely participate in prayer with us physically. Scripture talks about how Creation groans because it has been cut off from the Son of God, and now that mankind, the priests of Creation, are being healed, it has a chance to be with God again.
I was raised as a non-denom Protestant and dabbled in Catholicism, but when I looked into the earliest Christians I saw something I didn't recognize, something unlike Protestantism and Catholicism. The only place I could find it being lived out was Orthodoxy. It wasn't something to just believe because Orthodox people said so, but it was supposed to be compelling only because the Orthodox lived it, and it was to their shame, not mine, if I didn't believe. And I myself saw it, I saw a peace in these priests and people that I have never seen in any other group or religion. It wasn't a manic high like the cults have, it was the opposite. And when I read the writings of their Saints, it was obvious they knew the heart better than anyone else I had ever read.
Anyone who finds this appealing, who wants to heal their hearts and have peace, please visit a local Orthodox Church. Antiochian, Greek, Russian, OCA, Serbian, and several others... these are all part of one family, separated only by leadership but united as one Church. I looked for years in the Bible and in Psychology for healing, but the depths of understanding I found in the Church Fathers and modern Orthodox were the understandings I needed, and that I know believe Christ passed on to us. I don't expect anyone to believe because I say so, but if you are hungry like I was... it's worth a look, eh?
Hey aren't you that guy on Twitter?
@@ronin2387lmao
@@ronin2387 I deny the accusation.
That was great! Thanks for sharing! (A few typos you might want to fix up)
"Scripture talks about how Creation groans because it has been cut off from the Son of God, and now that mankind, the priests of Creation, are being healed, it has a chance to be with God again."
I like this.
There’s a big significance to the red egg, and its association with Easter:
When St. Mary Magdalene, the woman who first saw the Resurrected Jesus, went to Rome to proclaim that Christ was Risen, the Roman Emperor, Tiberius Cæsar, laughed at and mocked her. Mary was holding an egg in her hand while this was happening, and the Emperor exclaimed, “Jesus has no more risen than the egg in your hand being red,” the egg immediately turned red, and the Emperor would later listen to Mary’s pleas to save an innocent man from being crucified, and removing Pilate from being Governor of Judæa
Wait - are the red eggs not supposed to represent drops of Jesus' blood? That's what I've been told growing up in Orthodoxy.
@Rabid_Nationalist it's in honor of St Mary Magdelene
@@Rabid_Nationalist symbols have multiple meanings. If it only had one meaning it wouldn't be a symbol, it would be a sign.
❤❤❤THANK YOU FOR TELLING THAT STORY..
I LOVE TO TELL IT MYSELF..
I HAVE NO RED EGGS SO I WILL SEND RED HEARTS.❤❤
In Serbia we write on each egg, Christ has risen, (XBBB-is serbian cirilic). Witch stand Christ has Risen, in Truth he has Risen.
Orthodox metal-head here, just stumbled onto this channel respect for checking our service out glad you enjoyed! Just listened to some of your songs too you got some bangers homie keep it goin
We just had a former atheist become a catechumen yesterday! Praying for you!
Eastwrn Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox are not in communion but really like one another. The difference between them to an outsider would be hard to notice. The main difference between Greek, Russian, Romanian, Serbian, OCA, etc is the language and a few minor traditions. What you saw in the Greek church would look basically identical to my Orthodox Church in America Parish where its all in English. Glad you enjoyed it. CHRIST IS RISEN TRAMPLING DOWN DEATH BY DEATH
P.s I was an atheist for 25 years.
we do not like oriental orthodoxy we rather pray for their repentance
So if Oriental and Eastern Orthodox are really like one another in the faith then why do the Oriental churches in these modern times not accept the authority of the 7 Ecumenical Councils, only 3 of them. There's a huge difference between the nature of Christ. On earth he was true God and true man having two natures and not one.
Hopefully the orientals and EO fix the schism they're both full of wonderful sincere people.
We both have the same Creed ☦️
I love Eastern Orthodox brothers even tho they hate us
@@EgyptianOrthodox I don't hate you
You cannot unsee Orthodoxy.
I’m glad you could experience the beauty of the Orthodoxy. ☦️
Jared, my family and I are going to experience our first Pasca service this year at the Orthodox Church that we are going to become members at. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen so excited about something in my life other than giving birth to my kids and getting to meet them for the first time.
I’d love to see more Pasca and orthodoxy stuff from you. You really make me think and question and wrestle with my faith. I’m still such an infant in my faith. It’s insane.
I thought I had all the answers when I was a Presbyterian. I am shocked and humbled by how I thought about things and what I believed. Lord, have mercy.
Finding orthodoxy has been like finding fresh water in a dry desert that I didn’t even know I was in or water that I didn’t even know I needed.
And finding your channel has really made me wrestle and sift myself to see what is really inside my heart.
I would 100% die for Christ and for my faith. But I think it’s harder to live it.
To live it, to be kind, to love those who hate me, to pray for those who have wronged me, to be genuine and kind with people I don’t particularly like, and to be thankful for trials, because they bring me closer to the Lover of my soul. What more could I ask for?
Your channel and your wrestlings you share on here, bring me to my knees spiritually and test me. I keep questioning myself, do I really believe what I believe? And it makes me stop and breathe and search my soul.
I have had too many instances in my life to not believe in Christ, even before I was a Christian.
In highschool, I wanted to be an atheist. And He wouldn’t let me. (Or my own mental disorders that have yet to be found out 😂).
Thanks for your videos.
Just hopping in to say I've been binging some of your videos and it's so nice to see someone in the Christian online sphere that I can relate to. There's a lot of atheists who hate religion, atheists who tolerate but ignore it, but almost no atheists that actively appreciate it and engage in it. You seem to fall into the last camp and so do I. I feel that internally I am 90% an atheist, but Christianity is so beautiful and aligns with what I feel love should be that I'm currently in the process of joining my local Catholic church. I really wish I could believe the way Christians do. Maybe one day I will... but probably not. The joy, kindness, warmth and compassion I have experienced from Christians feels like sitting on the edge of a campsite watching everyone else being warmed around the fire whilst I sit cold in my tent. I have a lot of doubt and little to no conviction, but all I know is that sitting at the proverbial family dinner table with the others and not eating still feels better than not being at the table at all. It hurts when so many tell you "just open your heart to christ and you'll believe" as if it's that easy. For us who seek but never find it's a lonely road.
It's been a long time since I've heard how I feel described so beautifully.
Thank you so much for being here, friend.
I believe the Holy Spirit is calling you. All the same, if you would like some evidence for Christianity, here is something you can look up. Read the story of Exodus, and how God struck Egypt with different plagues. Then go and look up the Ipuwer Papyrus, written during the 13th Dynasty. You'll find that the Egyptians also kept a record of this incident. That is proof, at least, that this incident was based on something real, if not completely real.
From an orthodox christian: I look up to people like you so much.
All support here. I constantly see people who call themselves Christians hating others, having no faith in God, totally rebuilding Christianity to suit their own desires, enduring trouble with only curses and insults... meanwhile there are atheists here and everywhere who act in such good faith towards people, love beyond their own strength, and endure every trouble without becoming bitter.
Tell me, who is the true Christian? The one who says they believe without acting it, or the one who doesn't believe and yet acts as though they did.
Don't become sad that you cannot make your mind believe, and you cannot make yourself feel spiritual emotions. Do not worry that you are missing out on something. If Christ is God, truly you will believe, you will have no other choice! In the moment you stand before him in the judgement, with everyone else, you will believe. Prepare for this moment, as a good philosopher, and you will be rewarded with such Joy that you will forget the years of spiritual dryness and loneliness. Who knows, this Joy may come even in this life.
I hope my ramblings make sense to you. Be encouraged! God is with you! You will be surprised to find that many of the faithful Christians secretly have/have had similar feelings to you, even some of our saints. You are not alone.
God bless you!
Macrina
@@Macrina-The-Foolyes. What is “belief” anyway? Mental assent? That can be helpful. It can be delusional, too. But the Truth doesn’t require my assent. But an open heart to others, to Love, to humility - that’s what leads us.
Well, born as an Orthodox Christian I always felt encouraged to find my own path to God (the best and complete version of Self) whatever that path might look like. I never doubted that we humans and all that exist, descend form higher form of intelligence and that feeling is imprinted in me throughout my religion. I'm not afraid to read all kind of authors and dive into principles of all religions and cults (I mean all) deeply knowing that all that IS, comes from that universal higher form (God) and is aligned to it. Orthodox Christianity is like supportive parent that is loving you unconditionally and giving you freedom to explore, grow and develop on your own.
So glad you visited an Eastern Orthodox service! I grew up Roman Catholic and my husband Lutheran, but for me, a lot was missing and I fell away from my faith. We found Orthodoxy and I couldn't get over from the first couple visits how this was exactly what I had been searching for my entire life. I think my husband felt the same because he took to it immediately also. For the midnight service, come on back next Pascha!
One of the most respectful atheists I've ever seen. Also, we don't call our services "Mass" we call them Divine Liturgy (main Sunday service) Orthros (usually a pre Divine Liturgy) and Vespers (evening/nighttime service)
Orthros is also called Matins (same exact meaning, “Morning”), which is morning prayer. Many church will hold Matins/Orthros the evening before after Vespers. Also, a cultural nuance is that often Slavic churches will emphasize vespers and Greek or Levantine churches will emphasize matins/orthros. Parishes can only do so much! Many have both.
What a surprisingly fun and refreshing hot-take on an Orthodox service. Our Pascha (Pa-ska) service starts at midnight and goes until 2am. Then we have a feast and Party until dawn. Then everyone goes home to sleep and comes back the next day at 2pm for Agape Vespers where we read the gospel in all the languages present, and continue the party until the wine and food runs out. And yes, there is something deeply visceral about receiving and passing candle light.
I recently learned something about the etymology of "Pascha." Our host, Heliocentric, is not wrong when he said it was the Aramaic word for the lamb or "Passover" and his pronunciation isn't exactly wrong either. Our pronunciation (Pa-ska) is the Greek transliteration of the Semitic word (Pa-sha). He did a brief stint studying ancient languages in college, so it would make sense that he would pronounce it the way he did. It is unfortunate that when the Orthodox came to English speaking countries it adopted the Western name for the Feast of the Resurrection, Easter. Pascha literally translates to "Passover." When my family throws the open house every year, complete with roasting a whole lamb on a rotisserie in the front yard and a band for dancing on the closed street. I love the continuity between Orthodox Christianity and the Old Testament. I'm typing this before Great Lent this year, so it's a bit early to say "Kalo Pascha!" but who cares :) Cheers,
This year i got to recite john 20 in native hawaiian (i was born and raised in hawaii), along with about a dozen others who recited in languages that were part of our backgrounds. Our church is serbian, but over 75% of us are converts, so most of our service is in english.
God bless you all❤❤❤
What a beautiful comment. To paraphrase Fr. Josiah Trenham, we (Orthodox) have no sacred language like the Roman Catholics, Jews, or Muslims. It is the Holy Gospel that sanctifies ALL languages.
Thank you for sharing.
I find this shocking (probably just from ignorance on my part, I know). How have, and why do, a few Hawaiians become Serbian Orthodox? Does being a Serbian Orthodox in any way mean you align with Serbia's politics too?
@@the_luggage for most of us, especially in America, the national origin of the church has little to do with anything. I became a part of the serbian church because that's what was closest to me. Had the closest church been Russian, Greek, or antiochian, I would have settled in just fine. In my experience, politics don't get mentioned unless an individual parishioner brings it up. But the priest is completely uninterested in politics. I don't know if that would be the same experience had I gone to a Russian or Ukrainian diocese. But as for being hawaiian, most, or at least a sizeable chunk of us profess to be Christian thanks to the missionary work done in the 1800s, so going further in my faith towards Orthodoxy wasn't a big stretch for me. 🙂
Honestly your video should have more views! You gave such an honest, genuine and RESPECTFUL review of the church. It’s a rare thing to see today
I am a Baptist and attended my first Greek Orthodox church recently and was in awe of the warmth of my fellow Christians there. It felt very whole if that makes sense. Great video and peace to you!
Have you been back?
I just came across your RUclips channel. Your video is amazing. New subscriber from me! I’m a Protestant who is working on converting to Orthodoxy. Orthodox Christian’s are the most friendly and intelligent people I’ve ever met. They are well educated and very passionate about the Lord.
The red Pascha egg traditionally goes back to St. Mary Magdalene. At one point she found herself dinning with Emperor Tiberius and trying to convince him of the resurrection. He scoffed at the idea and said something to the effect of, "A man cannot rise from the dead any more than that egg in your hand could turn red!" And immediately the egg in her hand turned a crimson red.
That's why, in Orthodox tradition, our Easter eggs are dyed red, and in Orthodox icons, St. Mary Magdalene will sometimes be depicted as holding a red egg.
And a side note: St. Mary Magdalene is also honored as the Apostle to the Apostles, for she was the very first person commissioned by Christ to proclaim his resurrection, and her hearers were the Apostles themselves.
As a terrible Catholic, I’m just happy you found a place that celebrates the Eucharist. If you ever could fathom what it means to be near Him, you’d never want to be away from Him.
Why are you a terrible catholic?
The chant is “Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life”
“Christos anesti ek nekron, thanato thanaton patisas. Kai tis en tis mnimasi zoe harisamenos”
Hristos a inviat din morti, cu moartea pe moarte calcand. Si celor din morminte, viata daruindu-le .... 🤗. Amin ! (Oh, how I can here the song in my mind ... )
Orthodox here! Thank you for this video and I hope that you know that you are always welcome in the Orthodox family❤️
Greetings via the RUclips algorithm! Glad to see you enjoyed your visit. May there be many more!
I’ve been Orthodox for a while. My faith is so important to me and I’m so glad you were able to visit an Orthodox Church. Great video, too. I’m Subscribing. I pray you stay safe and continue to be open and respectful to all your new experiences.
50 years ago if you’d told me I’d be singing an entire service in Old Church Slavonic because I’m Serbian Orthodox, I would not have believed you, and yet, here I am. Hope you find your way to Christ.
Old church Slavonic was old Serbian church language. We can't read it or understand it much because our language was reformed by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and we lost closeness to other Slavic/Russian language. Every Russian who visits Serbia can easily read old church writings in our churches and Monasteries, but we can't.
@@gbp4998sad it’s due to the influence of Islamic languages sadly, Slavonic language was easily understood by 90% of the orthodox churches pre 1400 only few places would be primarily Greek and Hebrew , Serbia is a great country and the orthodoxy that comes from it but sadly has never truly been its own for a while now
Hey there, I am a Greek orthodox in Greece and this is the first time I saw a video so respectful. Also I notice you have a very good understanding of what was happening around you, which tells me that you went there with an open heart and you experienced the 'come and see'. I wish you all the best and really hope the Holy Spirit chooses to nest in your heart. Bless you and your family and all your feature endeavours!
I am An Orthodox Romanian I am glad that you have visited the One Apostolic Holy And True Church, God Bless❤❤❤❤
As someone who was born and raised in Bulgaria as an Orthodox Christian, i have to tell you that the Orthodox in Greece is different from the one in Bulgaria, then those are different from the one in Romania, and those differ from the ones in other Balkan countries and the former USSR republics. I musy say that as an atheist, youd probably love the one in Bulgaria the most, as there's absolutely no restrictions to follow and worship, no expectations to participate in anything... I've always felt like this is the most agnostic type of Christianity as we'd go to church teice a year - Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. And the entire religion here is mashed up with what other Christians would consider heresy. We believe in clairvoyants, in esoterics, we have myths and legends about people who weren't canonized as saints, but we'd worship as saits, there's lots of mysticism, magic, precognition, paganism and so on involved. And then, we used to be a communist country for 45 years, so questioning religion and the existence of God is somewhat entwined with spirituality and Christianity. Mind you, we still had churches under communism and we still performed church weddings and people still got baptised and would do our pagan-Christian rituals... it's a huge mish-mash ans it was never in your face the way it would be in other countries. Lately people have become more religious and I find it vere bizarre.
Man, thanks for being so respectful, but also curious!
What's up from NC! That's the Church I go to and I love Father Paul - he guided me in my catechism. Always welcome to see other people that are interested in Orthodoxy! Hit me up if you have any questions :)
As a Greek who lives in Raleigh (since 1992) and has been to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, I can confirm that this is a wonderful community. Truly happy that you had the chance to visit. Thank you for the wonderful video.
Glad you enjoyed your visit! I’m an African American woman who was Chrismated into the Greek Orthodox Church about 2 yrs ago. A complicated spiritual journey (and God’s grace) brought me here. If you’re ever in Jacksonville FL, we’d love to have you visit St. John the Divine GOC. ❤
Greek Orthodox Christian here. You, sir, are my favourite atheist. Love your way of describing your experiences! As you say :"Go to church"!!!!
It's super cool... Orthodox Fathers look so strict in pictures but when you actually meet them... boundless humility and kindness and they love smiling
PRO TIP! NEXT EASTER! GO ON FRIDAY TO THE ORTHODOX CHURCH! DON'T NEED TO THANK ME! THANK JESUS!
Seriously! There's nothing like it.
Thank you for this great video! You were at the Agape Service. Orthodox churches read the Gospel in as many different languages as people can read at this service on Easter Sunday. This symbolizes sharing the Word of God to all nations.
The egg is symbolic of Christ’s resurrection: Red for the blood of Christ; cracking symbolizes Christ leaving the grave through His resurrection.
So glad to hear it was such a positive experience!
Orthodox here. Love that you enjoyed our service. You probably have heard this 100 times already but it's pronounced "Pas-ka"
I recently learned something about the etymology of "Pascha." Our host, Heliocentric, is not wrong when he said it was the Aramaic word for the lamb or "Passover" and his pronunciation isn't exactly wrong either. Our pronunciation (Pa-ska) is the Greek transliteration of the Semitic word (Pa-sha). He did a brief stint studying ancient languages in college, so it would make sense that he would pronounce it the way he did. It is unfortunate that when the Orthodox came to English speaking countries it adopted the Western name for the Feast of the Resurrection, Easter. Pascha literally translates to "Passover." When my family throws the open house every year, complete with roasting a whole lamb on a rotisserie in the front yard and a band for dancing on the closed street. I love the continuity between Orthodox Christianity and the Old Testament. I'm typing this before Great Lent this year, so it's a bit early to say "Kalo Pascha!" but who cares :) Cheers,
Great video man. I became a Catechumen for the Greek Church last May. I was raised as a strict JW. Im glad you enjoyed your visit and I hope you visit the Church more often.
I encourage you to continue to explore Orthodoxy!
Hi Jared,
I stumbled upon a few of your videos. I enjoy listening to your thought process while you contemplate certain aspects of Christianity. If you’re interested in the topic of theosis I would highly recommend reading the lives of Orthodox saints who participated in theosis during their earthly lives. Reading lives of Orthodox Saints such as Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco, Saint Seraphim of Sarov, Saint Xenia of Petersburg (and many, many others) are truly remarkable and inspiring. May God Bless you in your search for the Truth.
I am so happy you finally went to an Orthodox Church (specifically 'Eastern' Orthodox)!!!
I am a convert and I was received into the Church on the night of Pascha in England. I started going to an Orthodox Church in September, so I guess I am part of this 'boom' that you mentioned. As you say, many young men are joining the Church as we crave tradition in a world that we feel is against us in this way and we want to reconnect not just with our Christian history, but that of the original Church of the Apostles that has survived until this day (as promised in Matthew 16:18).
The church that you visited looks beautiful as well and I am glad that you enjoyed it. I like your channel and wish you the best in visiting all kinds of churches to see what they are like, though I may be praying for you to eventually join a certain Church that I have in mind lol. I love how you are funny and entertaining, but also open to Christianity and learning more about it despite you becoming an atheist. It is good to see someone with more nuanced opinions that doesn't senslessly bash Christianity since leaving it.
Btw, you said in your Coptic Orthodox video that the Copts are older than the Orthodox as they split off before the Great Schism. They did split off much earlier, but this actually makes them younger, as they aren't the original Church like the Orthodox are. The reason for this is that we were all One Church for the first 325 years until the first Ecumanical Council in Nicea, where the Arians split off. Ecumenical Councils define the faith whilst also making clear what different heresies are so they can be avoided and corrected, as to continue the true original faith. The Coptics split in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon as they believed in miaphysitism- that Christ's human and divine natures are actually 1 joined nature, seen as heresy to us Orthodox and the Catholics. This is what makes them younger and not older than us. I hope this clarifies this query.
I enjoy your videos, may God grant you many years☦
Sooo happy you had a beautiful experience there! :) It is refreshing to see someone with such an open mind and heart and I admire your courage to continue to venture into these new places, sometimes knowing very little!
To speak to the cultural vs spiritual balance in this church, it is such a blessing that you stumbled upon a church that is more anglicized and open to visitors with warm welcomes like that, how amazing!! The truth is, this differs greatly from church to church, and location to location. Living in the greater Toronto area and being Coptic Orthodox, one can find Coptic churches where services are English only, congregations are very diverse, and the mission of the church is to embrace and cater to the needs of Torontonians. On the other hand, there are churches that are extremely Egyptian - many arabic-only services, ministries for new immigrants, and these tend to focus more on the pre-existing congregation that is moving or existing from Egypt.
At the heart of the Gospel is mission-to go and spread the good news to others. I pray that our churches become more accessible to the communities we find ourselves in, wherever our diaspora has brought us. The churches that lean more towards a cultural, pastoral approach are not wrong to focus on the congregation they were entrusted to and the demographic of the people who walk in the door - that said it might not be a great place to visit as a first timer as you may find it hard to understand the richness of the service.
In short, sometimes you’ll need to explore a bit to find a church community that fits you. With Orthodoxy, there’s a beautiful blend of culture and spirituality, but some congregations are better at making these traditions accessible to English speakers than others.
I absolutely love the Orthodox Church and wouldn’t personally go to another. Before discovering Orthodoxy, I always had a hard time going to church. Sometimes, I just didn’t feel a connection, and other times, it was boring to listen to someone talk for hours. In Orthodoxy, it feels like you’re truly part of the service, engaging in something greater, experiencing genuine worship of God. The service feels holy and inspired, which might be why it’s called the Divine Liturgy.
Wow really appreciate your humility and kindness, thanks man. I’m praying for you. Also that song sounded amazing I’m gonna check out more of your stuff.
Glad you came and hope you get the chance to keep on coming! God bless you. ☦️
Ex atheist jewish muslim and Lds protestant pentecostal here. I left every church and got introduced to both orthodox and catholic church, and these founding churches have my respect. Ive been attending mass for three years now and been soaked and absorbing the teachings and i dont want anything else than serving and worshipping the Lord in these two beautiful churches. Praise the Lord for transforming me to a new person🕊️☦️✝️
Serbian Orthodox church is more nationally oriented because their entire natonal history is tightly interwoven with the Orthodox faith, in fact most knowledgeable Serbs would agree that being a Serb without being Orthodox is absurd as Orthodoxy is the only thing that gives meaning to their history and the suffering they went through.
Bravo
Loved the video. Regarding your closing comments inquiring how common your experience was:
I'm in multiple online Orthodox communities, I've chatted with easily thousands of people over the past 5 years. You are correct that there are some priests that are maybe... More cold or strict. There are parishes that are far more suspicious of visitors. However, the OVERWHELMING majority match your experience. I can confidently say at least 95% of experiences match yours. Even on the cases that are more on the negative side compared to yours, it often isn't enough to deter people from staying away because they enjoyed the other things you mentioned, plus much more.
Thanks again for your charitable attitude.
I think we were at Wheaton at the same time. I am Orthodox and work for a ministry now :) Great video! It sounds like you have a great experience and a very friendly parish.
Hey Ellie!
If I'm not mistaken, I think we had a class on the apostolic fathers together in the Billy Graham Center.
I'm glad that you've found a home in Orthodoxy, and hope you're well and thriving. Cheers!
@@HeliocentricOfficial Yes, that's right! Thank you! I grew up in the Orthodox Church :) being at Wheaton was a culture shock haha. But grateful for the opportunity to read the Fathers and understand my faith deeper.
The quality and editing of your videos is so good. You have a great camera presence and persona. I became a catecumen right after Pascha. I pray to someday see a video drop of you also becoming a catecumen. Glory to God! ☦️
The "little prayer room" is called the Narthex.
The Orthodox Church stays true with traditions. It's also the only Christian Church that was created by Jesus and not by man.
Hey @Heliocentric I suggest you if you ever decide to visit Greece! Make sure to go to the holy mountain Athos next to Thessaloniki, you can find some orthodox monasteries from the 10th century and maybe older, this experience will show you the original church of Christ, and you can live with the monks for a few day's and discuss anything about the Christian religion. Hope that i gave you a good idea for a video!!🙏🏻
Just saw your interview with Luther! Great stuff.
I knew his video had to be the Agape Vespers 😂 I was so confused when I first saw it because I had never seen an Orthodox Church do a full liturgy right after the midnight Pascha service.... Anyways....
I agree with Father and Luther, definitely check out the OCA church during a normal Liturgy. Be prepared to stand! (We actually all make fun of the Greeks for using pews and letting people sit 😂)
Keep the great content coming! You have a very profound channel here.
In my parish in Chile we do the same thing of reading that passage in many languages in Pascha. When I first heard it, when I was still 50% atheist, it struck me. The fact that I can hear the singing in a Chinese parish and know exactly what is happening, even if I don't understand the words, is just beautiful for me. We often say that Liturgy is participatory theology, you are not studying a book or hearing a preacher, you receive the Gospel with your whole being, the music, the smell, the fact that you are standing, the icons, etc., all your senses are ritually purified.
Que la Ortodoxía siga creciendo en Chile ☦
So glad you visited an Orthodox temple! You attended Agape Vespers. It’s typically a short and subdued service because after the Pascha Liturgy, which is joyous, the after party is epic 🎉
Hey, man. I only discovered your atheist church audit series a few days ago, and I've already watched them all.
Like you, I'm a former Pentecostal, and theologically educated. Like you, I lost my faith (a hugely painful, traumatic experience) and became an atheist for many years. Unlike you, though, I recently came back to faith and I've been visiting a lot of different churches to see where I fit in. (I think I've found the right one for me now, though.)
I find your experiences fascinating, and I appreciate your respectful but honest tone in these videos. Keep them coming!
Sorry to hear about your traumatic experience Brother. Praying to God that you find your home.
We’re happy to welcome you to the Orthodox Church and we hope to see you again! I encourage you to do a little more research more so that you have a greater and more meaningful understanding of the services themselves. I hope to see a sequel to this video!
There are a couple of stories related to the tradition of the red egg. According to tradition, after Jesus' Ascension into heaven, the Magdalene-a wealthy woman of some importance-boldly presented herself to the Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ, with an egg in hand to illustrate her message.
Holding the egg out to him, she exclaimed for the first time what is now the universal Easter proclamation among Christians, "Christ is risen!"
The emperor, mocking her, said that Jesus had no more risen than the egg in her hand was red. Immediately, the egg turned red as a sign from God to illustrate the truth of her message. The Emperor then heeded her complaints about Pilate condemning an innocent man to death, and had Pilate removed from Jerusalem under imperial displeasure.
Why would Mary Magdalene bring an egg to talk about Jesus with the Roman Emperor?
In another tradition, it is said that Mary Magdalene brought a basket of white boiled eggs with her on Easter morning to the tomb of Jesus-perhaps as a meal for herself and the others as they waited for someone to roll the stone away. When she arrived at the site of the Resurrection, finding the stone already rolled away, she also found that the eggs in her basket had turned into bright shades of color.
Perhaps this is why she brought an egg to the Emperor; did she expect that Jesus would perform a similar miracle for her egg as he had done on that first Easter morning?
While we do not know if these stories are true with absolute certainty, we do know that the tradition of handing out red eggs at Easter is one that originated among Christians in Apostolic times. And we often find Mary Magdalene depicted in icons holding a red egg.
This is WILD. I had no idea about this apocryphal tradition. I'll have to do some more digging into this, but it's a much more satisfying answer about why there are eggs surrounding Easter rather than this Eshtar nonsense.
Preciate you, friend!
@@HeliocentricOfficial Romanian Orthodox here ... We do share the red egg tradition (just so u know all those orthodox churches u mentioned including Romanian, Moldavian, Bulgarian, and Albanian are sister churches ... we have the same beliefs and rituals just using a different language and a different administration - everything but spiritual, structure) ...
In our culture the red egg has a different origin ... a few details are very relevant here so you understand why this is part of our tradition
- if you study Jesus's death you will learn that in his last moments before his physical death, he was abandoned by everyone
- another technical detail is that the crucifixion is the most agonizing death one can suffer and it was preferred by Romans to enforce fear.
- in many cases, the person being crucified "refuses" to die so they would "help" him by poking his heart with a spear (like they did to Jesus), and when that does not work they would break their shins to let the blood drip
So while he was taking his last breath, the women who followed him as the Messiah, refused to stand by without seeing what was happening or even help if they could. They took the basket of eggs because it would be a good cover for them to be able to reach his cross.
When they reached him they put the basket at the base of his cross and started to mourn him. During this time, blood from his wounds dripped down on the basket so when they ran (because soldiers were periodically passing by to see if anyone was still alive) they were holding a basket of red-blooded eggs. This became a way of expressing faith in what happened that day.
There's a lot more to go over but I tried to point out a few relevant aspects.
Welcome! I'm glad you visited an Orthodox parish. I saw your Episcopal video first. I was a cradle Episcopalian until about age 50, then stopped attending until a set of personal events got me back into church. But instead of returning to TEC, I moved on for one of the same things you cited in that video. God opened my eyes and heart to Orthodoxy and I'm so glad He did! Orthodoxy is awesome!
Hey man, greek orthodox here who lives in Athens!I found your channel yesterday and i binged watched many of your vids. I started by watching this and what struck me as "odd" wasnt the fact that an atheist reviews from the outside an orthodox church. It seemed obvious to me that although you stated you didn't have any knowledge of orthodoxy,the way you talked and approached the topic indicated that you clearly seemed to be invested in Christ's faith on a deep personal level, at least in the past.
So..i then watched your video on the episcopalian church and then a couple more where you stated how much you despise the confrontation of "you were never a christian to begin with".
Please allow me to share my thoughts: It is obvious that there is a deep existential agony, a sincere search for the truth and a willingness to humble yourself in a way that many people who think that they are settled with their faith haven't done so including me.
You are also absolutely right when you say that you are bothered by the confrontations that you had with many christians when they told you "oh but you were never a real chrisian' and that most of these people seem to rely purely on themselves.
Obviously i don't know you, but If i was to annoy you with a confrontation i would do the opposite and ask you " you don't strike me as a real atheist':D
Having said that and knowing that you are still invested in the christian faith in a way- your content says so- i would urge you to search and read the biographies of ealy Saints and Fathers. You might find yourself relating to their struggles with the faith in a positively surprising way. Many of them felt for decades the feeling of the absence and abandonment of God. Until we close our eyes our journey on this earth continues and we don't know how things will play out.
I really like your channel and the fresh, sincere and sensitive way you approach things. Wish you all the love!
Pascha was also my first delve into attending - I have been back a few times for Matins/Divine Liturgy and it is the good stuff. It is a reverence I have found nowhere else. Nice video, brother!
As an Orthodox, this was an excellent video! Also i didnt expect that you make such amazing music 🔥
Orthodox Christian, here. Orthodoxy trancends ethnicity. Yes, some Orthodox churches are heavily one ethnicity but most are quite mixed here in the US. I attend a Russian Orthodox church and, out of the entire parish, there's only ONE Russian. The majority in our parish are American-born of Scots-Irish ancestry but we also have Lebanese, Italian, Polish & Greeks that attend our church.
I'm so glad that you attended & it's obvious from the video that Liturgy touched something in you. I encourage you to continue attending & to speak to Fr Paul about our beliefs. I think you'll be surprised at our outlook on many things. You've just barely scratched the surface of the richness of Orthodoxy. There's MUCH more to discover! And when you do, I think you'll understand the reasons for the expansion of the Orthodox Church in America.
God's blessings upon you!
I got baptized home into Holy Orthodoxy back in April (Lazarus Saturday) after a majority of my life as a non-denom Protestant, then BRIEFLY Roman Catholic last year & it was my first Pascha liturgy I ever attended; which has surpassed all Easter services I went to all my life! The Orthodox Church is where I really encountered Christ.
You were briefly RC? Were you baptized upon entering RC?
@@caseycardenas1668 “Baptized” twice: once as an infant, second was during a baptism pool party in 2014 so yeah I was RC for a little in 2023
Thank you for this brother. Accurate, honest, clear. One comment: Orthodoxy is NOT a new flavor. It's the most ancient one...
From your description, it sounds like you went to what is called the Agape Vespers. Vespers is an evening service, but the Agape Vespers are usual done around noon or so, since the Liturgy was done early. And it is the custom to read John 20:19-25, in many languages, which interestingly ends with the Apostle Thomas saying: "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." This is because this is what happened on the evening of the first Pascha. Next Sunday they would have read the rest of the story, which happened a week later, when Christ appeared again to his disciples.
Romanian Orthodox here. I’m glad that you went to an Orthodox Church and I thank you for speaking in such a nice way of what you experienced there! 🙏
I would like to recommend you to talk privately to a priest/monk about every “big” question that you have. Just ask, in your area, about a good priest or monk (I know how this sounds; most of them are incredibly good but, like doctors, there are a few not-so-good ones), and go talk with him.
Also, check some of father Josiah Trenham’s videos. He’s an american orthodox priest and he does a really great job.
Doamne ajută! 😁
how it will be if he would somehow come to Ro and ask Teodosie the big questions :))
@@wisequigon I think it will be amazing!
I also came back to Orthodoxy (baptized as an adult but walked away into protestantism and now back) around the same time this sudden surge into the Orthodox Church started.
I used to be Atheist then got into BlackMagic. I saw things that my eyes should have not seen. I cried so much and asked Mercy and help from God. After seeking his kingdom for 15 years going to all kinds of we will play a happy song and everything is good kind of church. I found Orthodoxy I walked in an Orthodox church in Tarzana, Ca doors were open and no one was there. As I walked past the entrance and came into the church I feel on my knees and cried and said. "I'm home." that was in 2010 I am today going to an Orthodox monastery and it is a blessing. God will put us through trails and tribulations in order to come to him and only he knows our heart better than we do. I am happy to have watched your review on this it means a lot to me. The truth is out there. God is not done with you yet. Keep on Rockin'
I am a Greek Orthodox and I think atheists how do their research on the issue of God and Afterlife are the coolest type of atheists. Keep going bro.
Hi. I just stumbled upon your video and, although I know nothing about you, I think that it’s great that you try to find something. I was not trying to find God, God came to me. I am a Serbian Orthodox and attending church before and after believing cannot be compared. When I changed everything changed. I wish you all the best!
Mihajlovic sve najbolje sestro 🙂❤