I Have Some Revelations and Questions About Church Tradition

[X Immigrant]

So, I'm a member of the Russian Orthodox church. Recently, I've thought of something. Do you have to be in our church in order to go to heaven? If yes, that means Southern Baptists and Catholics won't? If no, does that mean that tradition is meant to pay our respects to God, or to help learn what God has taught us better? Is it meant to convince people to join our church? I just want to know what you think, and gain insight on why we perform tradition. I do know that our traditions are what the apostles started and what Jesus intended though.

 

[baqqrih]

Well, as a Southern Baptist, my personal belief is that salvation is a gift from Jesus. If you acknowledge that Jesus' gift is what is getting you to heaven, and you accept that gift, then you'll be with Him in heaven. As such, I believe that we will all go to heaven as long as we have a full-hearted belief that Jesus' sacrificed himself to take the punishment we all deserve for going against His will. I think tradition is great at finding ways to do good things and to praise God, but it isn't what's going to get us into heaven, just as how the Judaizers wrongly thought that circumcision + belief = heaven. I'd love to learn more of what other believers think, albeit.

 

[Aedra]

"Going to heaven" is a bit of a strange expression to use from the Orthodox perspective since hell and heaven are not understood as places but rather a state of being. It is usually said that the "hell fire" that consumes sinners is the same fire that brings salvation to the believers. Both heaven and hell are in reality the same thing. The energy of God. It is more about how we react to said energy; for the sinful, unbelieving man God's love is the hell fire, it is wrath, punishment, justice and so on. But for the believer, it is the greatest joy.

Hell and Heaven | A Russian Orthodox Church Website

The position of Orthodox Dogmatic teaching is that heaven and hell are not two limited places where the righteous are rewarded and the unrighteous punished after death, nor that hell is a region of concrete instruments of torture.

www.pravmir.com

Also a good illustration for this teaching, so that it's easier to understand:

Here we have the "energy" I mentioned. The Lord is revealing Himself to both the condemned and the saved in the exact same way. But it is hell for those who are condemned.

As for whether salvation is possible for the heterodox, I'll simply write the words of one of our saints here, you can decide how to interpret it. Keep in mind that none of this implies we're preaching universalism here, we are not. There are plenty of people who will not be saved.

"You ask, will the heterodox be saved… Why do you worry about them? They have a Saviour Who desires the salvation of every human being. He will take care of them. You and I should not be burdened with such a concern. Study yourself and your own sins… I will tell you one thing, however: should you, being Orthodox and possessing the Truth in its fullness, betray Orthodoxy, and enter a different faith, you will lose your soul forever." St. Theophan the Recluse.

 

[baqqrih]

"Going to heaven" is a bit of a strange expression to use from the Orthodox perspective since hell and heaven are not understood as places but rather a state of being. It is usually said that the "hell fire" that consumes sinners is the same fire that brings salvation to the believers. Both heaven and hell are in reality the same thing. The energy of God. It is more about how we react to said energy; for the sinful, unbelieving man God's love is the hell fire, it is wrath, punishment, justice and so on. But for the believer, it is the greatest joy.

Wow, I never thought about it like that.

 

[istanbul]

fairytale stuff lol

 

[Nihilma]

shitskin above, and except that trvthnvke thread.
I read your posts, didn't expect half of them to be this charitable geg.
Every christian thread I see on the sharty has "cathcuck", "orthodog", et cetera in it

 

[Brainstorm]

Orthopagans have tainted Christianity with their eastern pagan religions, this is why they are so bizarre compared to other sects and why only Eastern Europeans and former pagan countries believe in it.

 

[JC Denton]

Non-christcuck bros... is it over for us? Are we destined to experience infinite suffering?

 

[Aedra]

Orthopagans have tainted Christianity with their eastern pagan religions, this is why they are so bizarre compared to other sects and why only Eastern Europeans and former pagan countries believe in it.

>only former pagan countries believe it therefore it's wrong

Nigga, that's literally every country.

 

[Brainstorm]

>only former pagan countries believe it therefore it's wrong

Nigga, that's literally every country.

False trvke

 

[nagolbud]

Faith of the Chud Star Supreme Bible Thumper vs Fake Religion of the Christian Chud • C o C

In the diverse and often polarized landscape of contemporary religious practice, two distinct archetypes have emerged: the Chud Star Supreme Bible Thumper and

chudstar.com

 

[AshkeNazi]

Orthopagans have tainted Christianity with their eastern pagan religions, this is why they are so bizarre compared to other sects and why only Eastern Europeans and former pagan countries believe in it.

all countries are at least formerly pagan doe

 

[Brainstorm]

all countries are at least formerly pagan doe

What I meant is more recently pagan countries (during catholic reign)

 

[nagolbud]

What I meant is more recently pagan countries (during catholic reign)

Catholic = Pagan

Vatican is the Same Pagan Priest Class from Rome, Babylon, and Egypt • Spergsbud

According to Catholic propaganda, Saint Linus (year 67 - 80) was the second bishop of Rome, succeeding the first "Pope," Saint Peter. The very first

nagolbud.com