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Protestant denominations and the Orthodox churches have a lot in common in terms of ecclesiastical organization, and a respect for how cultural differences can coexist within the universal church. They differ enormously in terms of liturgy and its role, and liberal Protestants will find much to dislike in orthodox teaching. At the same time, respect for national differences found in both traditions could help them move closer together.
This is the story of a Protestant congregation that felt increasingly uncomfortable in its nondenominational tradition. After researching alternative denominations, they surprised themselves by deciding to become Orthodox. They would describe their journey a bit differently, but I read their story as illustrating two themes: (1) a pull to liturgy and structure as a way to find God in the Church service; and (2) comfort with socially and politically conservative teachings in the Orthodox church.
Both they, and I, were surprised that they had to pick a flavor of Orthodoxy before they could complete the journey - - that is, they had to decide among Greek, Serbian, Russian, and other Orthodox traditions in the United States. This is, it seems to me, the greatest obstacle to Orthodoxy in the US, and there is a clear need for a unified US Orthodox church that could respect these heritages while adopting to the North American context.
This book won't tell you all that much about Orthodox doctrine and teaching, but it's an interesting personal account for open-minded people interested in thinking outside whatever denominational box you happen to find yourself in.
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This book is divided into three parts: (1) Looking for the true church, (2) Orthodox doctrines usually unpalatable to Evangelicals, (3) merging a Protestant-originated variety of Orthodoxy with the historic Orthodox Church.
The first part is an interesting personal story of growing dissatisfaction with shallow Evangelicalism. If you are an Evangelical who is tired of the megachurch "entertainment" approach to church, or the fundamentalist portrayal of God as a collection of "sound doctrines" with a judgmental face, you will really like this part.
The second part is generally good. I found the attempt to justify the Orthodox approach to Mary quite unsatisfying, though. It assumes you are coming to the issue with a fundamentalist mentality, which I am not. Its "biblicistic" approach is frustrating, not convincing.
The third part of the book has a lot to do with with bureaucracy. After being snubbed in Constantinople, Gillquist and his group are accepted in Englewood, New Jersey. After that the journey is quite positive. The joining of the Evangelical Orthodox Church with the Antiochean Orthodox Christian Archdiocese is an very uplifting.
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This journal of the path to Orthodoxy taken by some non-denominational Evangelical Christians (with roots in the "Jesus Movement" of the 1960's and Campus Crusade for Christ) is a wonderful book for anyone seriously considering conversion to the Orthodox Christian faith.
However, don't expect your non-Orthodox friends to gain great insight from it.
It is best received by inquirers, not as an "Orthodox evangelical tool" to pass along to your protestant friends.
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Peter Guilquist's Becoming Orthodox is a fascinating journey to discovering an ancient faith by a group of modern day evangelical Christians.
It provides details on how this group of faithful came to question their status quo faith and to yearn for answers in the historical church, its teachings, its practices and most importantly where in the present day this historical church could be found?
Their journey led them to discover the Eastern Orthodox Church as the true historical Church of Jesus Christ and His Apostles handed down to us through ages through the bishops by Apostolic Succession.
Complicated theological issues are treated with a clear and simple approach.
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In this book, written as an autobiography, Gilquist explains to the reader why he converted to the "true" church. It would seem that in this age of tolerance, few would listen to a man saying that only his denomination is right, but that is the sum of what Gilquist is promoting. It seems that the book is written to convert Protestants to Eastern Orthodoxy, while also getting in some digs on Catholics. Gilquist, after all, is in charge of evangelism (shall we say proselytizing) for his denomination. Left out of the book is the sad story of the Ben Lomond excommunication of many of Gilquist's fellow Orthodox converts, after they disagreed with their bishop, who excommunicated them by fax and gave control of their church building to the few who remained faithful to him. It presents Orthodoxy as a utopian ending to his quest, but he leaves out the warts and tries to slide unpalatable Orthodox doctrine under the door whenever he can. For instance, while quoting Jesus' statment that scripture is more important than tradition, he sidesteps that by saying that Jesus was referring to "bad" tradition and not "good" tradition. Good traditions, of course, are the ones that Gilquist believes. Bad traditions are the ones other churches hold to. This is not supported by the facts. For those wishing to convert to Orthodoxy, Gilquist's book will be helpful. For those who want a balanced analysis of the issues, I recommend other books: "The Gospel According to Rome" by McCarthy (although about Catholicism, the issues are mostly the same as Orthodoxy and Catholicism are very similar), "The Protestant's Guide to Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy" by Rials, or "Why Angels Fall" by Clark.
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