I hold a degree in theology and have a teaching certification for upper secondary education (Auth). Currently, I am doing my master's at Uppsala University, studying biblical studies.
The heart of this channel is my podcast interviews on different topics related to theology. Creating this channel has given me the opportunity to have dialogues with people around the world. The strength of this podcast is its exploration of all kinds of topics through the lens of orthodox theology.
The views of the person being interviewed are not necessarily mine.
You can support this channel here: Patreon www.patreon.com/accordingtojohn. My interviews are in English, Swedish, and Greek.
I write on substack in Swedish: enligtjohannes.substack.com/
All facets of Christianity reveal realities concerning BEING IN GOD. The church not an institution, but a gathering of those called out and awakened to who they truly are. Galatians 1/16. Orthodoxy is closest to the way the early church fathers understood the relationship of our humanity with that of God. Franciscan Catholicism the reality of Omnipresence. Protestantism the hunger for scriptures etc. But ultimately where ever we chose to gather we are encouraged to worship God in spirit (hearts) and in truth( reality). Maybe Christianity has lacked the witness to transform the world because of our desire to know God through intellectualism or emotionalism. Blessings to all who seek to find!
Jag själv växte up i en religiös familj. män Efter 55 år av nåd jag fick förstå GUD villja, detta var aldrig att jag ska bugga eller gå till kyrkor, moské eller sunagoger. HAN har en ända önskemål . ATT VÄNDA MIN HJÄRTA och LIVSSTIL tillbaka till HANS tänkande grundade på i HANs 10 original BUDORD ! Du/ni läser samma sak i Exodus ( 2 Mose bok ) kap.20. Frågan är ! Vad gör du mer än läser detta. Vad är orsaken till att du sätter aldrig i praktiken ? Bara följer Satanska teater utställning in din korrupt, lurade mine . Tiden är kort ! Vänd dig ! Låt idiotiska tankar och praktiken bakom dig !!! Följ aldrig mig män Gör våra SKAPARE instruktioner, vilja och BUD inställe ! Detta är min åsikt och råd ! Makulära inte detta kommentar hellre. Din medmänniska.
You become tottaly Satan possessed! Or only partially? This is not God-fearing, but despises HIs patience and courage! GOD thinking is not our thinking and sect politics ! Wake up my dear proud, blind fellow human being! Isaiah, 66:22 - For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says Yahweh, so your seed and your name shall remain. 23 - It shall happen, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says Yahweh. 24 - They shall go forth, and look on the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh. Are you one of them ?
I have a hard time getting past the icons of your church. As God is a jealous God, and He alone is to be worshipped. Also, if Protestants can love Jesus and severe Him and preach Christ how can we be outside the Church?
Could you please develop about the εωσ preposition ? Im a little bit into exegesis and not conviced by the father's argument, but maybe missing something important. Regards
Saint Paul wrote: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.” - 1 Corinthians 11:1-2 (KJV) Ordinances = Orthodox Traditions
On could say that there are many Orthodox churches that are not in communion with one another. Which Orthodox Church would be the "true" Church? The Coptics are in communion with Rome are they part if the true Church? Is Rome?
You say Orthodox are exclusive and people aren't Christian outside the church but you are a Calvinist and believe most people were chosen to go to hell and only the few chosen are going to heaven. Explain that.
Can you be a Christian saved outside of Orthodoxy? Yes. However, why settle for watered down worship? Why avoid all of the miraculous healing powers available through participation in and rich history of the ancient Apostolic Church? Why be content with lukewarm Christianity that has lost its flavor and sweet aroma, that was once pleasing to the Lord? The Orthodox establishment far exceeds a mundane Sunday-life-it is the very essence of a consecrated Christian life for all believers. Serve the Lord in faith, follow the Orthodox way of Jesus Christ. Amen. ☦️ P.S. Please host a dialogue between Fr. John Whiteford and Dr. Gavin Ortlund. Thanks.
Francis chan , your humble way of following God has led you to these questions. The Church is indeed one, amd going back to its root is best for all of us
Here, sign for this delivery please. What delivery? Oh, it's here, you just don't see it. See what? The Church. I'm signing for an invisible item that you delivered to me? Oh, makes sense, where do I sign?
Really great - but a small correction - the Orthodox Church is NOT the Ancient Church :) t's a LIVING CHURCH :) The Orthodox people have been living within this Church for 2000 years now - it is not ancient for us - it is our Living, True Church. My humble opinion is that it is very wrong to call it Ancient Church, when it has been Alive and practiced by millions of people for 2000 years now :)
As an African believer; The church in the west confuses me by what seems to be a sectarian culture. So does it mean that when you become an “Orthodox”, you become more justified before God than if you are “Protestant” or any other denomination? Isn’t the gospel, underpinned by the centrality of Christ, the authority of the bible, and living by it enough?
Yes, its great to see charitable responses, but what good is it if we cant come to know the truth? If Orthodox are the one true Church, all non-orthodox are damned. This is the historic Orthodox view. The whole "we know where the Church is, but not where it isn't', is a modern idea and was not present in the ecumenical councils. This is not good news. If this is true, a person who repents of sin and places faith in Christ is still damned because they weren't "in the one true Church'. This renders the orthodox faith to be a faith of works. This is not Scriptural and not what Christ taught in John 6, let alone the entirety of the New Testament.
What origins of Orthodoxy are you from, this type of Christianity is is an Ethnic caste system sort of like Brahma for example if you hsve no Syrian then you can go to service but have to be a Syrian to recieve any communion. A Catholic for instance is lower caste like. Shudra and is not allowed such if not of Greco origins. Orthodoxy means purity of origins and Catholic which an insult meant universal "scattered" impure all over the place.
damn! The video stream chopped up right when father Trenham was making a profound point about the Mormon faith there at the end of the interview. I would love to know what he actually said there. I get the gist, obviously, but I would like to know exactly what his words were.
I’m a Protestant who is inquiring into Orthodoxy, and having watched sermons from Pastor Chan, it doesn’t feel surprising that he’s started coming to these conclusions. Pastor Chan has always had a very fervent desire for closeness to God and a love for Him that is palpable. Perhaps in time he will be lead into the historical churches.
The problem of the Filioque and why it also appears in the East, seemingly unchallenged for several centuries as heresy is precisely that what the Filioque in the post 9th-10th century western Creed is NOT equivalent to what the Church fathers teach in the earlier centuries. The Holy Spirit can proceed or come from the Son indeed, but only as an *economic procession* FROM the Father. The Father is the ultimate ETERNAL source of the Holy Spirit and the Son sends the Holy Spirit from the Father in space and time, and the scripture is also clear on this in multiple instances. What the post 9th-10th century western position changed into is that the procession of the Holy Spirit is eternally from the Father AND the Son, which is completely antithetical to the monarchical view of the Trinity as expressed at Constantinople I by the Cappadocians and thus, the actual theology behind the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. The Creed in its Constantinople I form defines the unique hypostatic identities of the Trinity, not econominal actions in space-time, the Son is the Son because He is eternally being begotten from the Father, the Spirit is the Spirit because He is eternally being spirated, or eternally proceeeds from the Father. Thus, the Filioque as understood in the western Creed is a heresy because they conflate eternal procession with economical procession, and what is more perverse is that the Vatican has been wishy-washy on this definition and many modern roman-catholic theologians are seemingly walking back on it, stating that the Spirit proceeds FROM the Father THROUGH the Son, which we agree with, but that was not the Filioque of the 10th century. It's a modern ecumenistic push to homogenize the Roman-Catholic Church with the Orthodox Church and appease us into accepting the Vatican, which we will not under heretical terms. The silver bullet against the Filioque is the Eastern Catholics who are in communion with the Pope of Rome, yet they refuse to say the Filioque, refuse to accept purgatory to a large extend, many o them do NOT affirm the mariology of the Immacculate conception, and they also venerate eastern post-Schism orthodox Saints that Rome has condemned for several centuries. This proves that Rome is more interested in ecumenism isntead of actual theological unity a.k.a what the work Katholikos means.
The Church is the collection of sheep who hear their shepherd’s voice. Is it amongst the Orthodox, yes it is, is it coterminous with the bureaucratic institution of the Eastern Orthodox bishops, NO. This is the main issue. Show me in the New Testament where Jesus or the apostles told us that there would be an institution to which we must look for salvation. It’s not there. I’m sorry. I’ll only respect your response if you’ve spent as much time learning Koine Greek to read the New Testament in the original as I have, or as many years studying the fathers as I have
History shows orthodox spit with the Catholic church 0n 1054 and protestant on 1517 so it is clear Jesus warms us not to take heed of the false prophet.
Some people might cite the whole Theosis thing, and well that might be kind of weird, what I can certainly say no to as a protestant is the idea of salvation by Grace plus works, which both the Roman Catholic and Eastern orthodox churches preach. The Bible teaches that salvation is by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone on the authority of scripture alone to the glory of God alone (Ephesians chapter 1 through two, 2:1-10; Romans 3:19-28; second Timothy 3:15-17; Isaiah 49-50 John 3:16; Romans 11:6).
The idea of indentured servitude still exists in the trope where some fictional character eats in a restaurant but then can't pay their bill, so they are shown washing dishes. This is like the ancient debt slavery referred to in the bible, but no one ever gets offended by the trope for some reason.
The Bible teaches "one church". The Catholic curch is "one church" too. But those two churches seems not to be in compliance. The reformers tried to harmonize those churches. - Not very successful.
Why. Do Orthodox and Catholics reject Paul own words in 1 Corinthians, Romans and Philippians when he calls all believers Saints . They all took the Bibles and made their own religion
I had an extended series of conversations with a cradle Orthodox woman at my church that began by mentioning Frost's book and advocated pushing altar girls, then deaconesses, and progressed to her advocating a removal of all gender specific language around the holy trinity, and for women preists and hierarchs. I held the line throughout, and forced her to think through the implications of her views- that the rendering of all distinctions between the sexes arbitrary and the changing of our language to fit the message of today would so fundamentally shift the church's theanthropology that there would be nothing to stop the rest of the advance of the LGBTQ movement in the church. She responded by admitting she wouldn't mind if the church one day ordained a trans bishop. This stuff is poison.
It goes to show that "cradle Orthodoxy" means nothing in the Western diaspora, where hardly anything in the cultural environment helps Orthodox immigrants keeping the mindset of their ancestors.
My faith as a believer is not based on the 16th century but on the Word of God “ delivered once for all to the saints” Jude 3 He uses the 16th century as a marker for those who left the Catholic Church but there were true believers all along before that time
So sad my orthodox brothers don’t understand Protestantism . It didn’t start in 15th century. History doesn’t teach this fantasy about Church History as being united as they propose
If I start a new "church" next week is it just as valid as The Church that is mentioned hundreds of times in the New Testament? Where do you draw the line?
This is why scripture is important and interpretation. But orthodox don’t have exclusive right to interpretation. Many churches get things wrong. You cannot group all Protestant churches together.
2:55 This is the crux of it all for Protestants: pride and arrogance. It was the case for me before I surrendered to the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ - The Orthodox Church. Since my journey began into Christ’s church, I noticed so much pride in my soul - I knew everything I needed to know through Scripture and the Holy Spirit. As I gave myself over to the Truth, I found how arrogant I was(am). I began to hear that same arrogance and pride in all the Protestant family and friends I spoke to(and still do). My soul longs for their salvation, because I remember well the state of my soul as a Protestant before Christ led me to His Holy Church.
There's a certain fanatical emotionalism I find in many Protestants (I was raised as one), or at least the lower Churches that disturbs me, especially since many think emotions alone is proof of their spirituality. While no man is perfect and many of all denominations fall prey to their emotions, lower church prots definitely have this theme of being just hot-air with no depth and a sense of panic, wrath/anger and a borderline demonic scoffing and mocking when confronted with anything outside their interpretations. The more I learn about Orthodoxy the more I see how worldly this personality is, there's little humility in it or even peace at all.
Also Ortland says it’s not fair to say Protestants go by their opinion but when you listen to him it’s always “I think” or “my interpretation “ always an emphasis on “I” or “me”
@@kmatz09 you cant just claim sole authority via your particular denomination. this is where the orthodox never back up how their so called succession is the only correct and true one. and fail to explain why that would even matter when it comes to reaching the world with the gospel. You add in many extra steps and legalistic requirements when we can see a man dying by Jesus was saved without having been baptized or anything.
@@easytiger35 if you honestly have to ask why it would matter what the Apostles believed and taught then I’m sorry I can’t help you. I’m sorry that you’re so prideful that you think your own individual interpretation is more accurate than what the poll that literally learned from Jesus Christ himself and Saint Peter and Saint Paul etc.
@@easytiger35 that’s not an argument. “You think too black and white. Orthodox gets interpretations wrong” refuses to elaborate. How are we interpreting anything wrong? 1) our interpretation has been the interpretation since the church was founded at Pentecost. 2) Greeks are Orthodox, I think they know how to interrupt their own language
@@kmatz09 so you claim and many other churches as well. that is a ignorant thing to claim "our interpretation has been the same since the very beginning".... um God keeps His Word true throughout the ages and it is not exclusive to your one special little church. And you cannot prove any of that, just like the Catholics can't. You interpret things wrong because even within scholars of differing denominations, there are always things that stick out that catholic and orthodox both pull out of thin air basically. When you include "my church history" at the same level as Scripture, you are opening the door to all kinds of made up junk that was smuggled into the faith. Kind of like how you spend so much time kissing little paintings and insisting this is some sort of necessity of worship. It is utterly ridiculous. "But the early church did it...according to...us!" And according to others, they didnt. You dont seem to understand that just saying "ours is the one" doesnt actually do anything.
@@easytiger35 it’s not ignorant when you can literally follow through history and read early church fathers of the early 1-2nd centuries and see none of them believed what modern day Protestants believed. Modern day Protestants don’t even believe what the early Protestants believed, it’s completely made up traditions of men that started in the 1500s. Orthodox and other apostolic churches can literally trace our beliefs back to said early church fathers and see continuity with what they wrote and taught.