Into the Wardrobe

I'm Orthodox, a convert from academic atheism. P-dave, you are looking at Orthodoxy with protestant categories of thought.

i admit i never thought the protestants might be True; I went with the Catholics for some time, not quite happily. I wanted, as they say, Organized religion, but ended up Orthodox instead.

why? because it is True, although I don't know where to begin in explaining why I see it so. one thread- we do not hold with the so-called atonement, justification by legal fiction, or original sin. that knot of ideas repelled me, and i did not stop searching till i found a better soteriology- Christ the hero, the trampler of death, deceiver of hades, lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

do all you can to get to Lenten services- greek, oca, coptic, whatever - that's the core of the faith. Kallistos Ware is giving a retreat here! Ascencion Greek cathedral, Oakland, calif- in late February - we're attending. Our Gandalf, our Dumbledore - all the wizard we need.
i have a lot to say on this topic - today things are tumbling out...

and it might be misleading to say that the Lenten services are the core of the faith. Holy Week and Pascha would be the main way to experience what the Orthodox think is most important, I think....though it is true that Holy Week & especially Pascha don't have quite the same impact when you haven't experienced the forty day fast beforehand.

Sorry, I was writing too quickly - I meant the Lenten and Paschal cycle of services, through Holy Saturday. i wasn't contrasting Lent to Holy Week. In fact, most Orthodox in my experience miss out on the jewel of it all: the morning service of Holy Saturday, when the church is re-robed from purple to white and we change from sorrow to joy.

As regards Coptic, there is a parish local to me [in Hayward, California] and we have attended services- the theology presented is indistinguishable from canonical Orthodoxy. And, you can get a whiff of the old Pharaonic liturgy: the Evening Light [phos hilaron] hymn is derived from it. It is true that they are not in communion with the OCA or the Greeks, etc , but I think the diffference to a visitor is negligible.

WRT Quakers, it seem to me on no particular authority that they seek the position of the believing Greeks of the OT. In rejecting the sacramental basis of worship, they retreat to the outer courts of the Temple. It's a legitimate place, perhaps, but Christians have been permitted farther in.