The phenomena is well documented I concur. A word of caution here though...the "zeal" or more accurately the fervor with which converts defend the traditions of Orthodoxy is the same they used to defend and follow their heretical past. When an overwhelming number of leadership positions are filled by converts coming to be in the one true faith, and more important for the economy of the church, to lead it into the next generation it is worthy of a cautionary note. The conviction of their past faith or belief system was sought after with the same dedication they now user to promote Orthodoxy. I believe that a strong examination of the character type or personality type which tends to be an all or nothing having the same commitment whatever the cause. I am not talking about a Borderline Personality Disorder or any disorder in the clinical sense but it should not be easily dismissed. In the end we are all converts of course. Studies need to address the character which promotes such rigidity and later which tends to ostracize other followers. These well meaning humble converts who keep every fast very often are the first one’s to continue in their former tradition of overthrowing the ‘big church’. Not having been sufficiently purged of their “I can’t go straight to Jesus” mentality they soon reframe this to “I can practice Orthodoxy without a Mother Church. I can dismiss essential jurisdictional concerns and banish the ethnicity of those with which I am not a part.” Archbishop Kallistos Ware in his conversion was warned against joining the Greek Church because “he would never be accepted” and would have no “future” in it. IN his book he discusses how his mindset was not to lead or take over but to be a part a follower in the Orthodox Church. Likewise he denies ever having experienced resistance or discrimination for his Anglican roots. This is contrary to the experience of Peter Guilquist who arrived on the scene an already self proclaimed bishop. Perhaps pressure is applied or more correctly perceived based on the conscious or unconscious agenda of the convert. Orthodox living in a true sense is a continuous mellowing and rounding out of the person as he or she moves toward God. It is not a rigid Pharisaic adherence to stipulations and minutia.
7 comments:
To be fair, you're responding to John Hart's article, which is featured on my blog. I can't claim to be an expert in conversion...except for the fact that I'm a Catholic convert :)
Thank you for the correction. I hope you will visit the site again and please feel free to expound on your thoughts.
Before I respond, I want to see if you find any distinction between Orthodox and Catholic converts. That might be interesting to analyze.
I would have to think more concisely on the matter. I would have to say without going initially to deep into the matter that converts to Orthodoxy and converts to Catholicism would have a different phronima as each faith has a difference expression. What I have noted personally overall is how for Catholics the status of the Pope is nonnegotiable even though some of his edicts might be controversial. In the case of the Orthodox Christians they tend not to have this outward loyalty to the Ecumenical Throne for example. Thank you for continuing to post many refrain from posting here and have banned or censored my posts. They tend to engage with only a few people bent on sticking to sites which only agree with their position or ideology.
Hi Elgreca,
Looks like your comment on my blog got deleted. I don't know how! Please feel free to repost!
Well, I believe in dialogue! Why else would I blog, after all? I am going to link to this post, and come up with some sort of response.
Post a Comment