What the Greek Orthodox Church is (excerpts):
Holy Tradition, of which Holy Scripture is a
part, includes the writings, teachings, and acts of the apostles, saints,
martyrs, and fathers of the Church, and her liturgical and sacramental
traditions throughout the ages, the oral tradition of the early Church, and the
decisions of the Ecumenical Councils. All of this collective wisdom and
experience through the centuries are combined to form this second great source
of sacred authority.
The
Sacraments are seven in number. They are the visible means by which the
invisible Grace of the Holy Spirit is imparted to us. Four Sacraments
are obligatory:
1. Baptism,
2. Chrismation
(anointment with holy oil),
3. Confession, and
4. Holy Communion.
The central worship service of the Church is
the Divine Liturgy, which is celebrated each Sunday morning and on all holy
days. The Liturgy is also the means by which we achieve union with Jesus Christ
and unity with each other through the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
While the Orthodox Church considers herself the
Mother Church of Christendom, she cooperates with other churches in programs of
educational, philanthropic, and social endeavors insofar as this is consistent
with her theology.
At the center of the life of the Church is the Holy Eucharist, which is the
principal celebration of our faith and the means through which we participate
in the very life of the Holy Trinity. The major Sacraments are closely related
to the Eucharist, and they bear witness to the continuing presence of Christ in
the lives of His people.
The Church blesses individuals, events such as
trips, and objects such as icons, churches, flowers, fields, animals, and food.
In so doing, the Church is not only expressing our thanksgiving, but also
affirming that no gift, event, or human responsibility is secular or detached
from God. For the Orthodox Christian, all good things have God as their origin
and goal. Nothing is outside of God's love and concern.
Death alters but does not destroy the bond of
love and faith which exists among all the members of the Church. Orthodoxy
believes that through our prayers, those "who have fallen asleep in the
faith and the hope of the Resurrection" continue to have opportunity to
grow closer to God. Therefore, the Church prays constantly for her members who
have died in Christ. We place our trust in the love of God and the power of
mutual love and forgiveness. We pray that God will forgive the sins of the
faithful departed, and that He will receive them into the company of Saints in
the heavenly Kingdom.
Epiphany,
one of the oldest and most important Feast days of the Orthodox Church,
commemorates the manifestation of the Holy Trinity which took place at the
Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River. Recognizing rich meaning in this event,
Orthodoxy believes that when Christ was baptized, it not only marked the
beginning of His public ministry and revealed the Trinity, but also signified
that the entire creation is destined to share in the glory of redemption in
Christ. While Christ entered into the Jordan to be baptized, two things were
happening: He was identifying Himself with the people He had come to save, and
He was identifying Himself with the whole of Creation, which was represented by
water. Through His baptism, the Lord revealed the value of the created world
and He redirected it toward its Creator. Creation is good and it belongs to
God.
The
Great Blessing of Water is held on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany and on
the day itself, following the Divine Liturgy. The Blessing not only remembers
the event of Our Lord's baptism and the revelation of the Holy Trinity but also
expresses Orthodoxy's belief that creation is sanctified through Christ. The
Blessing affirms that humanity and the created world, of which we are a part,
were created to be filled with the sanctifying presence of God. After the
solemn blessing, the Holy Water is distributed to the faithful and is used to
bless homes during the Epiphany season. When the faithful drink the
"Epiphany Water," we are reminded of our own baptism. When the Church
blesses an individual, or object, or event with the water, we are affirming
that those baptized, their surroundings, and their responsibilities are
sanctified through Christ and brought into the Kingdom of the Father through
the Spirit.
The
Orthodox Church worships God alone. Yet, she does offer veneration to
individuals who have been important human instruments of God in the history of
salvation. Among those so venerated is Mary, the Mother of God, the Theotokos.
The Orthodox Church greatly honors Mary because she was chosen to give birth to
the Son of God. As one of the hymns declares:
"By
singing praise to your maternity, we exalt you as a spiritual temple,
Theotokos. For the One Who dwelt within your womb, the Lord who holds all things
in his hands, sanctified you, glorified you, and taught all to sing to you
..."
The
most beautiful and poetic service of the Orthodox Church in honor of Mary, the
Theotokos, is the Akathist Hymn. The word “akathist” means “without sitting.”
The congregation stands throughout the Service out of respect for Mary and her
unique role in our salvation in Christ. The Akathist Hymn is chanted in four
parts during the first four Fridays of Great Lent. On the fifth Friday, the
entire Service is chanted.
The Sacrament of Baptism incorporates us into
the Church, the Body of Christ, and is our introduction to the life of the Holy
Trinity. Water is a natural symbol of cleansing and newness of life. Through
the three-fold immersion in the waters of Baptism in the Name of the Holy
Trinity, one dies to the old ways of sin and is born to a new life in Christ.
Baptism is one's public identification with Christ Death and victorious
Resurrection. Following the custom of the early Church, Orthodoxy encourages
the baptism of infants. The Church believes that the Sacrament is bearing
witness to the action of God who chooses a child to be an important member of
His people. From the day of their baptism, children are expected to mature in
the life of the Spirit, through their family and the Church. The Baptism of
adults is practiced when there was no previous baptism in the name of the Holy
Trinity.
Confession is the Sacrament through which our
sins are forgiven, and our relationship to God and to others is restored and
strengthened. Through the Sacrament, Christ our Lord continues to heal those
broken in spirit and restore the Father's love those who are lost. According to
Orthodox teaching, the penitent confess to God and is forgiven by God. The
priest is the sacramental witness who represents both Christ and His people.
The Eucharist, the principal sacrament mystery
of the Orthodox Church, is not so much a text to be studied, but rather an
experience of communion with the Living God in which prayer , music, gestures,
the material creation, art and architecture come into full orchestration. The
Eucharist is a celebration of faith which touches not only the mind but also
the emotions and the senses.
In so doing, Orthodoxy has clearly avoided reducing the
Eucharist to a simple memorial of the Last Supper which is only occasionally
observed. Following the teachings of both Scripture and Tradition, the Orthodox
Church believes that Christ is truly present with His people in the celebration
of the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharistic gifts of bread and wine become for us
His Body and His Blood. We affirm that these Holy Gifts are transfigured into
the first fruits of the New Creation in which ultimately God will be "all
in all".
The birth and early life of the Virgin Mary is not recorded in the Gospels or other books of the New Testament, however this information can be found in a work dating from the second century known as the Book of James or Protevangelion.
According
to the story found in this book, Mary's parents, Joachim and Anna, were
childless for many years. They remained faithful to God, but their prayers for
a child were unanswered. One day, when Joachim came to the temple to make an
offering, he was turned away by the High Priest who chastised him for his lack
of children. To hide his shame, Joachim retreated to the hill country to live
among the shepherds and their flocks.
As
Joachim was praying, his wife Anna was praying at the same time at their house
in Jerusalem. An angel appeared to both of them and announced that Anna would
have a child whose name would be known throughout the world. Anna promised to
offer her child as a gift to the Lord. Joachim returned home, and in due time
Anna bore a daughter, Mary.
It is on the Feast of the Annunciation, that
Orthodox Christians commemorate both the divine initiative of God, whereby He
took on flesh from the Virgin for our salvation, and the human response,
whereby Mary freely accepted the vocation offered to her. He elected to become
man, and He desired to do this with the willing agreement of her whom He chose
as His mother. Mary could have refused, for she was not a passive instrument,
but an active participant with a free and positive part to play in God’s plan
for our salvation. Thus, when on this and other feasts the Orthodox Church
honors the Theotokos, the Mother of God, it is not just because God chose her
but also because she herself chose to follow His will.
On the right side of the icon the Virgin sits
on an elevated seat, indicating that as the Mother of God she is “greater in
honor than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim,
who without corruption gave birth to God the Word.”
The three stars on her garments (7) represent
that she was a Virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ.
Following her repose, the body of the Theotokos
was taken in procession and laid in a tomb near the Garden of Gethsemane. When
the Apostle Thomas arrived three days after her repose and desired to see her
body, the tomb was found to be empty. The bodily assumption of the Theotokos
was confirmed by the message of an angel and by her appearance to the Apostles.
In front of the bed of the Theotokos is a
candle (5.) that helps to form a central axis in the icon. Above the candle is
the body of the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Standing over His mother is
Christ holding her most pure soul. Above Christ the gates of heaven stand open,
ready to receive the Mother of God.
We also affirm through this Feast as we journey
toward our heavenly abode that the Mother of God intercedes for us. Through
Christ she has become the mother of all of the children of God, embracing us
with divine love.
End quotes. Bold or italics are my emphasis.
These teachings are in direct opposition to the biblical doctrine of Scripture. Only by and through Christ is a regenerated person, who places full trust in the life, death (propitiation) and resurrection of the biblical Jesus. Baptism which is immersion in water, is for those who already have repented of their sins and turned to the biblical Christ Jesus alone for salvation, realizing there's nothing they can do or add to His work on the cross and His resurrection to get save or stay saved (Matt. 28:18-29). The Lord's Table is indeed merely symbolic of the cross work of Christ, for even as Jesus gave it for the first time, He wasn't on the cross; moreover John 6,
1 Tim, 2 Tim, etc. which teach that it is the doctrine of Christ that feeds us; not that Jesus becomes literal bread and wine, but that His life, death, resurrection, and doctrine are the only Truth which brings eternal life. To say Jesus becomes that which is eaten and then expelled from the body is blasphemous. Our unity to Christ comes by way of the Spirit giving us a new heart, a new nature, faith, repentance, etc., not by fleshly means.
Mary has nothing to do with our salvation in any way. She was an instrument through which the humanity of Jesus was given birth, but she is never hailed as anything more than a believer. In fact, Scripture condemns veneration of Mary:
Luk 11:27 While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed."
Luk 11:28 But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."
Mary doesn't participate in mediating between God and man because only Jesus can do so:
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
1Ti 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
See my other articles on Roman Catholicism for more reasons why these teachings are unbiblical.
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