What is Greek Orthodox? Is it like being a Catholic only your are Greek?
Tags: greek orthodox church, Orthodox, United States, Greek, Hospitality Recreation, Churchdo you have to be greek to join the greek orthodox church, do you have to be greek to be greek orthodox, do you have to be orthodox, do you need to be Greek to join the eastern church?
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no
No, one has to Eastern Orthodox
Most E Orthodox are not ethically Greek
I know converts to Greek Orthodoxy who are not Greek at all
Orthodoxy and Catholicism are close for they were one Church up to AD 1054, but there are differences now:
Orthodox reject Papal Supremacy and Infallibility, Indulgences and most doctrinal developments of Western Catholicism after the split
There are Greek Catholics in Greece of both the Latin and Byzantine Rite
” Greek Catholic” also means those of the Byzantine Rite who are in full communion with the pope and those in communion with him
Greek Catholics accept all the dogmas of the Catholic Church but have the same liturgy as Eastern Orthodox
The Greek Orthodox Church of Greece is the Greek state church and is a self-governing church of the canonical Eastern Orthodox Church
most reject the Immaculate Conception
The Greek Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Church in Greece the same as the Russian Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Church in Russia and the Orthodox Church in America is…well…the Orthodox Church in America.
But America is a bit of an enigma. It is where East met West so you find a number of Orthodox Churches here. But they are all one Church. There are no “denominations” of Orthodoxy.
No, you do not have to be greek.
No, you don’t have to be greek and the Greek Orthodox Church is a denomination within the Christian Church.
Of course. And Roman to be Roman Catholic. And Dutch to be Dutch Reformed. And French to be French fries.
No, you don’t have to be Greek at all to be Greek Orthodox Christian. I converted to the Greek Orthodox faith a long time ago, and don’t have a drop of Greek in me. It’s called Greek Orthodox only because Greece, as a nation, was also an Orthodox nation. There have been many Orthodox nations…like Russia was before Communism took over. Albania at one time, Syria at one time, Bulgaria, Romania, etc… Many different countries have taken Orthodox Christianity as the faith of their country, but the ones that are the most known for that are the Greeks…they were the first, besides Antiochians. and they were also Orthodox for the longest…so that’s what most people have heard of.
Orthodox Christianity is not like being catholic at all…well, except in outward appearances. Orthodox Christianity is the first and original form of Christianity….and it has never allowed any man-made changes to creep into it. Every other form of Christianity has in some way, to some degree. For example: papal infallibility was never a part of the original Christian Church. That was made-up in Rome. It served Rome to consider itself head of all the Christian world. It was never so in Christianity before Rome just claimed it. Well, Rome could claim all it wanted, but it didn’t make it so. That’s one example…there are so many more….When Rome split off from the rest of the Christian world, in about the year 1054, the entire Christian world recognized that the Christians in the eastern world maintained the true and correct teaching or doctrine of Christianity, whereas the people in Rome who claimed to be Christian only had beliefs and practices practiced in Rome. That’s where the two names came from: Christians in Rome had practices only practiced in Rome, and the Eastern Christian world maintained the Ortho (true and correct) Dox (doctrines and teachings) practices and beliefs. It has never changed to this day. Go to a Greek Orthodox Church, and learn more. You’ll be amazed. Don’t hesitate to ask anything you want to know. God bless you in your spiritual journey and quest for the truth.
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