The Sweet Smell of Morning Questions

see more crazy cat picsToday is a wonderfully glorious bright sun-shiny day. Sunshine really does (usually) make me happy...and smile.

Recently I mentioned that I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian. Most of you steady readers know this, but sometimes someone comes who doesn't know this and when they stumble upon an entry where I am talking about Pascha or some other feast we have two questions inevitably follow: (1) What do you believe?; and (2) do you believe in the Bible?

Let's go with the second question first: Yes, we believe in the Bible. In fact, the first collection of the holy books now referred to as the Bible was compiled by the first Christian Church commonly known as the Orthodox Christian Church, before the Catholics split and then there were more splits from the Catholic Church because the "Roman" Church got a little greedy and thus many denominations sprang up like...flowers. King James did not approve of some of the books of the Bible and wanted it to be more "king centered" instead of "Christ centered" so took out some of the books he considered to be fluff. Why do we need books of praise, thought, and history in our belief system? The books now known as "the Apocrypha" were not books King James approved of, not the believers and Church fathers and mothers of the time, including the Roman Church. The Orthodox Bible is no different from anyone else's Bible, especially King James - it is just that we have more books. If you would like to have a copy of said Bible you may purchase one through http://www.light-n-life.com.

Now back to the first question What do we Eastern Orthodox Christians believe? Pretty much the same as everyone else. It is listed in our Creed as follows:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made:

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man;

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;

And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;

And ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of the Father;

And He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have not end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets;

And I believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.

I look for the Resurrection of the dead.

And the Life of the world to come. Amen.

If I am not mistaken this was once posted before, but it never does hurt to post it again. I am a firm believer in you should know what someone is talking about especially when it comes to their belief system.

Oh, and when we say we "believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" it is not referring to the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. It means we believe in "the body of Christ" here on Earth. We do not pass judgement on any other body of worship unless that body of worship is genuinely and truly a cult - of which I won't get into any here...everyone knows the Church of Scientology is not a true "church".

Keep asking questions and I will endeavor my very best to keep answering them the best of my ability. As always, my e-mail is hahwriter@Yahoo.com.