View of Orthodox Church Practices from a Pentacostal Faithful

I was taught in Sunday school in Jacobite church about things to build unfailing loyalty to the sabha, just like in the (Islam) madrasas. I realized my real hero - Jesus Christ & his sound teachings for mankind were put by them on the back burner. I realized this in class 7 at Sunday school & opted to drop out, much to the agony of everyone around. Something told me it was all terribly wrong.

Yes, You might stick with the koonan kruz satyam that is taught. But can you explain why the Syrian Christians never took to the biblical teaching of leading the non believers to Christ? Their reaction may be one based on the traditions of their ancestors, justified to some extent, in the absence of the bible & sound doctrine. But today, with hindsight contained in the bible, can you say what St. Francis Savior did to convert the masses of fishermen along the Kerala and Konkan coasts was wrong? Only the Syrian Christians were interested in their social status as derived from the Hindu caste systems.

This is not scriptural. In hindsight, when I see the schism in Syrian Christian churches during the Portuguese times, I can see that Syrian Christians were in much error. The bible is the word of God. It is the backbone of the Christian faith; not traditions borrowed from Jews or priesthoods from Aaronian & Leviticus priesthoods (read Hebrews 8 - this form of priesthood was abandoned by the new covenant) nor teachings borrowed from other idolatry religions & cults for personal gains, comforts & social status.

As for history. Check out again whether the Syrian Christians had a bible with the masses. I believe it became popular with the coming of the English reformists and may have been introduced for the first time by the Portuguese.

As far as Orthodox priests, bishops & others go. Their spiritual leadership is there for all to see. Rather than resolving issues between brothers by the spirit & word of god, they are more hungry to gain property & power. It is ugly even to the point that the dead are not buried in respect without police escorts. Their church processions are marked & made to go in opposing directions and their victory is in who drank most and their satisfaction is in who spit the most vulgar words to the other camp, all this when there is no real difference in their liturgies, beliefs, lineage or traditions.

A Balakrishnan or a Madhusoodan knows that the warring brothers should come to peace & terms with each other & he mediates for them. But the children of Christ does not know that. What have you to say? They bring a great name to the Lord as ambassadors of Christ, don't they? With newspapers & media having a field day reporting all the happenings for the world to see and appreciate the chair & lineage of the apostles.

I believe that in the sight of God all men are equal to start with. Their shepherds are there to lead the sheep in the right doctrine. Other than that the claims of lineage to apostolic chairs etc are man made. The apostles will be judged just as the common man and so will all the elected bishops and the priests. In fact they may have much more to answer for because much was put under their trust. We should pray for them, rather than for the dead.

For us, the least would be to discern between the good & the bad by the spirit & the word that the the lord provides us with. Search out the truth.

Just a reality check. Is attending the qurbana getting you any nearer to God or is it just a matter of habit & rituals, a chanting of manthras & slogans (maybe in foreign languages) for the comfort. Man seeks in habits & religiosity. Is it making you a better human being? Are you in touch with your spiritual sides? Is your life getting transformed in the process?