Lesson 2: Aim of a Christian Life

The biggest challenge in learning about the Faith of the original church is to realize that it embodies a different way of thinking. In western Christianity, including the ones you have been exposed to, have adapted the faith to a “western” mind. This has limited the full understanding of what Jesus taught and passed on to His Apostles. I hope as we go along you will be able to recognize this. The Orthodox mind assumes a way of thinking that is beyond that of the rational thinking mind that we are taught and drives the society we live in. This effects the meaning of words and concepts you may have already learned. For example the very nature of salvation and sin are quite different to the Orthodox mind. The action of the Holy Spirit is assumed to always be involved. And we don’t limit our understanding to worldly things. Entering the nave of the Church, we know we are entering a heavenly space where we will be joined with the angels and all the martyr saints. Worship is a joining of Heave and Earth. There is assumed a unity of the heavenly realm with the worldly.

Enough for now. I just ask that you let your mind be open to more mystical concepts. Don’t worry if you find this difficult, it often takes a long time to grasp it being brought up in our Western society.

To become Orthodox you need to be able to surrender to the teachings of the Church, which includes not only Scripture, but also Holy Tradition that has been passed on to us by the Apostles. This is a surrender to Christ Himself who is the head of the earthly church. To do this you need to be comfortable with it’s foundation, it's history and doctrines. Don’t worry, there is nothing that disagrees with Scripture in the Orthodox faith. There is more that comes from Holy Tradition. It clarifies and gives us the a way of live lived in union with Christ and the Holy Spirit.