A Teaser for the Orthodox Christian Faith
We shatter our soul when we live like this.1 Then—sensing the fragmented condition—we try to fill the cracks in our soul with something, anything. We try to satisfy the longing for God—who is infinite—with things or activities that are finite. This way of living is not life. It is death. Fracturing our soul is a slow death, the entropy of our being. We need a way to live that unifies our self and unites us to each other and God; we need a way of Life.
The Orthodox Christian faith is that Way of Life.2 It was taught by Jesus Christ to His followers and passed down to their followers down through every generation. The Orthodox Church is the followers of Jesus Christ united to Him in the Way of Life. This Way of Life is one of transformation3, centered on Jesus Christ, who permeates the stories, hymns, laws, and prophecies of the Old Testament and then is disclosed directly in the New Testament. He has given us, through the Holy Spirit, concrete means to draw closer to Him. He gave us commandments that have the power to re-shape our heart. Rather than arbitrary moral rules, they are the pattern for drawing nearer to God. When we follow the commandments, we learn how to be like Christ. In Holy Baptism, He has given us a way to unite with Him in His death and resurrection.4 In communion of bread and wine—His body and blood— He has given us a means to physically be united with Him.5 The myriad ways that the Orthodox faith intersects with “daily” life—patterns of worship, fasting, icons, customs— all shape us into the true version of ourselves that is ultimately found in Jesus Christ.6
The Way of Life includes doctrines about God and man. God is One and Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created all things and declared that is was good. Mankind is the pinnacle of His creation and He declared that we are very good.7 Because we are made in His image 8, we are good. However, we are have inherited a world infected by death. By humankind’s disobedience and refusal to repent, death entered creation and has buried (but not damaged) the likeness of God in each of us. By His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ transformed death into the way for our birth into true life. The Way of Life enables us to begin living in the Kingdom of God right now.
The Orthodox Faith is the continuation of the way of life proscribed by God to Israel in the Old Testament—now perfected by the Incarnation of God as a man. Throughout the Old Testament, God called his people, the descendants of Abraham, to live a life of holiness. He gave them specific instructions on how to be faithful followers. He gave them the pattern of Heaven to guide their worship. He sent prophets to call them back when they strayed. Ultimately He was born as a man to bring His people back into communion with Himself.
For nearly 2000 years the Orthodox Christian faith has drawn people into union with God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This union—the very reason we are created—is made possible because Jesus Christ unites in Himself divinity and humanity, without mixing or blending the two. By following the Way of Life we are invited to participate in the Kingdom of Heaven now, and into eternity.
The Orthodox Christian faith is the way of life that…
- was taught by Jesus Christ to His disciples and lived by the Church in every generation;
- includes specific dogmatic doctrines about God and man: God as Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and Jesus Christ as fully human and fully God;
- continues the way of life given by God to Israel in the Old Testament, now perfected because of the Incarnation of God as a man;
- unifies a person to his true self; and
- leads to total communion with God.
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