Antiecumenism: A Rant 

Well, He does reveal His will, but some people like keeping Christ all to themselves...

Bible Illustrated Hands My Parish isn’t in a huge City, we are the only Orthodox Church in town. However, there are two Universities, many other Churches (Protestant primarily) and a Mormon Temple. My Priest has two talk shows on Ancient Faith Radio. One is a Bible Study (Transforming Our Lives in Christ) and the other is a weekly ‘Live’ talk show (Orthodoxy Live). Our services are on RU-vid Live. When you don’t hide Orthodoxy under a bush, people are interested! Our Priest is invited to speak at Protestant organizations, and inter religious student groups who usually have no idea what we Orthodox believe. Last night on ‘Orthodoxy Live’, day Fr. Evan reminded us that the Apostles were faced with the choice of allowing non-Jews into the assembly of Christians.A choice some people are not willing to make today. Because they welcomed non-Jews, the Gospel spread until we now have Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox and so on. Don’t we like the Apostles still have the same challenge to make the right choice and let our light shine? The question is who do we love? Who will we let in? Who does Christ keep out?

Ppl does not join orthodox if you show them on tv or so on. Its a spiritual matter its a desire of a peron and Gods will for us to recognise the true faith if we pray and fast seriously we orthodox ppl. We will pull other souls into our church. Also bojan the guy of this video says about nuns that cared for the disabled and how we should ask for their prayers. What they do is good deed

This is exactly why we shouldn't take gifts or miracles as indicative of truth. The woman living with a man who wasn't her husband was indeed doing wrong, but where sin stood God's grace overflowed. To take your example of the woman by the well, the current ecumenistic trend would say that "since the revelation was given to her, it can only mean that sleeping with someone who's not your husband is ok as well, and a matter of personal preference, not a sin".

Hah, God does work in mysterious ways! :-)

I'm a protestant that's really interested in orthodoxy and feel the same way when they just assume I'm hostile to them or worse and treat me rudely

Phyletism is a heresy

Sad but true! We have 35 or so mixed race people in my Greek Parish. (Some my family) How is it possible that this Russian Orthodox person missed the teaching on African Saints? There are Chinese and Native American Saints! What’s going on?! When my 8 year old grandson met Bishop Athanasius Akunda of Kenya (of Blessed Memory, Reposed this January 4 ☦️) he saw a Prince of the Church who looked like him. Bishop Athanasius instantly became his hero. Well meaning cradle born Orthodox have asked, “Why don’t you stay in YOUR own religion in your own culture instead of OUR Orthodox religion?” How do I explain that My own Ancient ancestral religion in Scotland was Orthodox but was wiped out!?!Because of cradle Orthodox, what was lost, is for me restored. It’s the same for my daughter. She has discovered her African Christian heritage in Orthodoxy, and the same for my grandchildren. By the way, my daughter is THE only African American woman podcaster (video) on Ancient Faith Radio (Annalisa Boyd). Author of the Ascetic Lives of Mother’s and Hear Me. (She and her husband have 10 kids!)

Oh wow. I can't even rant about it, it is just so stupid!

This is mostly an idea related more to white nationalism than Christianity. The white nationalist see christianity as an uniting force of the European. So they dont want non-white conversion to Christianity. But this is another topic, the salvation should be for everyone. Dont use christianity as a weapon to save the white race.

Can’t wait for that guy to realize that Ethiopian Orthodoxy exists.

So like changing the church calandar just to get along with catholics?

Exactly! However, I do think he was talking about the first ecumenism

Its not a different religion. All actual Christians should be able to have communion with eachother

@@joshuaboyd6253 No, I'm sorry. They need to agree with the seven ecumenical council, along with the The Fourth Council of Constantinople for them to be considered truly Christian. I'm not trying to be a Pharisee, but to be Orthodox, and thus, to be Christian, you need to recognize the Church (the Ecumenical Councils), along with the Scriptures, to be infallible.

One of my favorite stories! :-)

THIS! Thank you!

Nice Roki pfp lol

Facts

True, very nicely put!

Yes and he told the Samaritan woman that she doesn't know who she's worshipping.

@@mickeymick2861 that's the difference between ecumenism and indifferentism.

Amen, I'm evangelical but I vist Orthodox churches because I love my siblings in Christ and want to be with them. Some of them don't like me but oh well. I'll say a prayer for you friend and hope you have a good day.

Same issue 1:1 here in Germany as a German. There is no such thing as German orthodox. Where should I feel home between mono ethnic greek, Russians, Serbs etc.

@@nicodemuseam You know I can't speak for the future but I almost did a while back. I even went as far as to get icons and incense. I have a prayer book and rope, and i use them occasionally as best as I know how to, but I'm not a catechumen. As far as being your sibling in Christ, don't worry I understand; unfortunately it's common for all the Christian groups to see me as an outsider, and its your conviction about the body of Christ, and I respect that. As long as it doesn't offend you I would like to pray for you, and ask you to please pray for me.

Wow, I know this is old but I'm in the process of converting. I have never been treated poorly or called a heretic or anything of the sort. I have only ever been welcomed. We also speak English, Arabic, and Greek at my Church during service. Nothing is missed by me not speaking the other languages, and it's just restated in the other languages. Our website is completely in English. Honestly, I'm wondering if what you are saying has been that truthful and not overly exaggerated, but I guess some Churches are good and some are bad no matter what denomination. I have had the opposite experience of losing almost all of my friends because I am becoming Orthodox. They called me a Mary worshiper and idolator and told me I was going to hell. These were my friends for years as a protestant, and now I'm no longer welcome. Or not allowed to talk about Orthodoxy. Anyway, the ethnic thing has not been an issue in any Orthodox Church I've been to so far. At first, I'll admit I was worried, but outside of my head, It was no problem when I actually went.

@@Esaias77 I was told as I protestant that I was no better off than a buddhist bit that was the meanist thing they said. They also gave me a lot of blin with jelly so it kind of evens out

Thank you. Alot of people hear Allah in Arabic Orthodox chants and start talking about moon gods.

@@mickeymick2861 also in Syriac it's Aloho

I was about to comment with the same thing about "Allah".

The difference being - if a Muslim says 'Allah' in English, that's more of a dogmatic statement than a plain 'Allah' in native tongue :-)

@@BanterWithBojan Yes usually when a non-arabic muslim uses Allah when speaking it means he wants to signal how observant he is. That's because as weird as it sounds Allah (The God) is not only the title but also God's name in Islam (not to christian arabs though).

Oh, I know, he took it way to far

Jean Paul II is not a Pope or a Saint

@@nomore9004 right

Ecumenism is heresy. Period.

Pachamama was in the Vatican and Francis and co prayed directly to it. Catholics definitely take ecumenism into heresy territory, but not all ecumenism is heresy, not all Catholics go that far (but several popes have) and the kind which is not heresy is a treasure.

And he isn’t denying your belief, he’s talking about the general hatred among your group, I am personally anti ecumenism but this doesn’t mean we have to call ecunemists heretics

But that would only mean that we are ok with their heterodox ideas and innovations ​@@GODBLESSBELKA

Some believe truth works on multiple levels, with multiple denominations pointing out different applications of that singular truth. Good Catholics (which I am) will find their relationship with Christ all the more enhanced with Orthodox thought and sentiments - it's all really complimentary really.

​@@user-lu3eo5ml4qtruth doesn't work on "multiple levels" there Is exactly ONE truth, and that is Christ and his ONE church, everything else is wrong, if you deny this then you are denying Christ.

I agree with what you've said. Just saying that need to be more careful when engaging others.

What is ecumenicism of the laity, friend?

@@Branwolfe1 treating other christians as your brothers, without necessarily accepting/practicing their doctrinal differences (which would be ecumenism amongst the priesthood)

@@CHURCHISAWESUM Thank you =)

That's a pretty good way to put it. My priest said we should always speak the truth in love.

3 years later, how goes your faith journey?

​​@@kukumatz4502 thank you for asking. My faith journey goes fantastic! I was accepted into Orthodox Church of America through baptism on April 15, 2022.

@@Aleksandr-Herman Congratulations, glory to God! Proud to hear it, my brother in Christ.

@@kukumatz4502 thank you

Thank you for clarifying. You said it well.

Very nicely put! Arguments are a good thing, but they also need to be tempered with Christian charity.

I was led to the Faith initially by arguments. Apologetics debates online. But the beauty and humility if parish life sealed the deal.

Thank you for your kind words, Thomas! :-) I don't plan to ever stop doing this, and I am glad that people find some use in it!

Ralph David Abernathy. said " We can disagree without being disagreeable."

It can bring unity. Which is what we lack and what only Roman catholics can give us

Well it deepends ...

I do think protestants and Catholics have things we lack. Protestants have a zeal for spreading the gospel, for example, whereas we Orthodox are notoriously insular. I do, however, agree that their understanding of Christ is nonsalvific, and very specifically I have seen constant evidence that neither has the capability to actually heal people or produce saints. Which is what this is all about.

No its about reunification of all actual christians. We should come together to point out and get rid of the lies in councils instead of being stuck in our pride

@@joshuaboyd6253 its not about pride, but about truth, you see, if you mix clear water with dirty water, will it became clean or dirty? Ecumenism is exactly that, mixing truth with lies will make even bigger lie...

Ayyyy, you like Chesterton?

And neither will ecumenism save you, but sentence you to eternal damnation, even if you were merciful, chaste and humble.

lol Whoever said that one finds salvation in ecumenism? And what you said directly contradicts Matthew 25.

um what don't have a handy Latin dictionary here with me

Ah, Dacian Wolf

Always!

Eh I agree. I pray for the unity always...

When a branch of a tree has fallen, than that is split, then split again, and the splits have split,,, why would you try to put them back on the tree that’s standing?? That tree is Orthodoxy.

Well, that is the whole point of the channels - we need all to relax a little bit and enjoy a cup of tea :-D

What is an "Ephraimite"? Never heard of that before

Toby Fiver it’s a pejorative used for those who follow the life/teachings of Elder Ephraim of AZ of blessed memory.

I understand the Jewish people believe all creatures and plant & living things God made will Be in heaven. At my Christian college a Rabbi taught an Old Testament book class..Psalms

I understand the Jewish people believe all creatures and plant & living things God made will Be in heaven. At my Christian college a Rabbi taught an Old Testament book class..Psalms

Thank you so much! :-)

*Devil :D

Hey Sue, I removed those videos in order to get that channel monetized. Majority of removed videos are on this channel: ru-vid.com/show-UCimB21LDZvUdUK8qiE4I_qQ However, the biblical videos will be put here: ru-vid.com/show-UCM4BfrCWV_3Drl09t4fz0pg So far, there's nothing on that channel, but I'll upload as my friend Andrew sends me narratons. :-)

Will answer! :-)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Calendarists

There's a difference between canonical groups that use the old calendar and 'Old Caldenarists' which refers to schismatic groups who broke away from the Church.

this isnt what you requested but I suggest the band Get Scared. u might have heard Sarcasm or Don’t You Dare Forget The Sun before. i used to listen to all these bands (except the 1975) when i was in middle school lol.

Songs, movies, books and computer games all have an effect on your mental state, and this is true whether you are aware of this or not (whereas a lot of other "mental influences" become largely ineffective once the target is aware, especially traditional "subliminal messaging"). Therefore, be careful with the media you consume, as it can have a strong effect on your worldview and your moral compass, even if no logical argument is presented by said media and you are aware of the effect. Even such things as the artists'/writer's personal beliefs can and will subconsciously bleed into their work, implicitly rather than explicitly.

If you are still into emo, I would recommend the band Mineral. While I don't know if they are explicitly Christian, many of their songs have Christian themes and they are all incredible.

At least someone likes it :')

Oh I know that, but still, a majority people mean 'the Muslim conception of God' when they say Allah

@@BanterWithBojan Ah, ok! I am in an Antiochian church with a lot of people who say "Mashallah' now and then. It gave me a surprise too. Thank you for clarifying your thought.

Allah is just Arabic for God though. There no reason why a Christian can’t say it

Tomorrow definitely, and the next one soon after that :-)

Okay, it will be on Tuesday, today was crazy :-/

~350 million

lol You're fine, I like what you said (except I'd say that I believe that good non-Orthodox will be saved), but meh, we'll see it eventually. :-)

@@BanterWithBojan Well, I'm in no rush to find out... :D

You're welcome! :-)

"...for He makes His son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust." Matthew 5:45

@@carissstewart3211 Yeah but is that implying unbelievers too

Of course.

@Straight White Male Does God love unbelievers: Yes or No? Does He provide for them: Yes or No? God healed Namaan who was a pagan. God heard the prayers of Nebuchadnezzar who was a pagan. There is no indication that Marduk was ever displaced by Yahweh as patron of the Babylonian empire.

God does not deny himself to whoever seeks him. I know former atheists, muslims and protestants who through prayers found orthodoxy. Jesus died for the whole world, and his blood is upon us as well as well as the Muslims. They might not know Christ, but they can still be led by God to the truth.

Thank you so much, Phil, and thank you for the pledge! :-D

Turned out way better than I thought it would :-D

I was watching this on 1am in the midnight and that laugh was really freaking me out...

@@BanterWithBojan Yes, and it was done with out the accent!

I was in a a group last Lent with some fellow Catholics, two of them in the group were Trads, they hated modern music, buildings, the current pope and believed that all Protestants go to Hell, it was not a fun group, but hey, it was Lent!

Straight White Male how does it differ from the Saint Dominic rosary Rome uses?

Will answer :-)

I just get annoyed and it gets the better of me. Ironically, the Serbian equivalent is 'go to the devil,' which would be in line with St. Paul B-)

I cannot even begin to tell you how draining I find the comment section after each of the rants. :-D

@@BanterWithBojan Bojan no!

Well, again, I'm against toxicity, and also not against traditionalism - it is just that this particular kind of toxicity is usually bred in traditional circles.

Just remember, knowledge does not save us. There are those who know very little of what the Bible says, and are incredibly Christian. Then, there are those who know every passage in the Bible, but live un-holy lives. But I think you know that. :p

There's nothing wrong in the word "Allah" in itself, true, but we should remember that Islamic Allah and Christian Allah are not the same God - that's the point... It's very same thing with Mormon God and Christian God.

Yes, that is a problem, there are a lot of things 'ecumenism' can mean, and naturally, there is a lot of problems when fighting breaks out regarding ecumenism without defining it first.

I said it's antifun because I've had a lot of experience with the Old Calendarists. And I didn't define it because that is an entire video that I plan to post on the main channel. :-)

Interestingly enough, not all protestants hold that teaching. Lutherans in particular reject transubstantiation, but don't deny the real presence, just explain it in a different way.

There are ongoing discussions with the Coptics. Pray that they will succeed and bring one less schism! Love!

At least I made someone else rant, that is something! And I like reading other people's rants!

Depends how you define it :-)

@@BanterWithBojan I'm indonesian Muslim, and i deciced to convert to orthodox christianity, but i confused about which orthodox should i convert to, because there are many people who claim that their church is a true orthodox church, like the member of GOC (genuine oerthodox thurch) that refused the ecumenism and sorry if my english is so bad

Hi, I just wanted to reply real quick to your comment, and maybe, as an Orthodox Christian, clarify some misconceptions: First of all, in regards to The Papacy: the big problem with the papacy/vatican is related to Truth not changing. Truth is from God, God is never changing, He's timeless, and so is Truth, and as Church Dogma is Truth it can never be false/contradict itself. If A=B and B=C, A=/=C cannot be true, if it were true then we'd have a logical contradiction, wich rather: A) means God is a liar (wich is not the case). B) The institution claiming to have Truth on it's side is indeed wrong/false/in error. Roman "Catholicism", since the Schism, or better say, it's fall into heresy, has had many rewritings of it's dogma, justified under the umbrella term of "dogmatic evolution", wich is nothing more (no offense) than a way of the Vatican to cope with all the legalistic and contradictory circular loopholes inside it's Theology/Dogma. The vatican has sadly become a humanistic secular corporation, wich only cares about it's economical assets and power, and for wich Truth/dogma/tradition is just an obstacle at this point, standing in it's way, not something that's de facto it's cornerstone. Take a look at what you said about the filoloque: The vatican's actual position was historically that The Orthodox version is Heretical and condemned, but now bcs they wanna integrate many Orthodox Churches as uniates (Greek "Catholic") they say it's not so anymore, it's actually good. Same thing they did with Saint Palamas, first he was condemned as a disgusting heretic, now he's a Great Saint of Rome too... But Palamas condemns the filoloque, ADS (absolute divine simplicity, also known as Thomism) and overall the error's of the west, so how can a man that calls the vatican heretical be a Saint of the vatican. If you can't spot the incongruence and hypocrisy from miles away, I really don't know what else to tell you. Orthodoxy my dear, is The Truth, although it might have some practical issues, related to stuff like Churches abroad Orthodox majority countries, and overall other small unresolved issues, is grounded in Truth, cuz first and foremost it's grounded in Christ, in His sacrifice on The Cross, and it's Dogma is preserved and untouched, what The Early Fathers deemed True was the same we deem True today, and even the OT Prophets would agree with us, we might look "exclusivist" in our approach, but Truth is exclusive, cuz it divides, most people spit on Christ, reject Him, blaspheme and curse his name, His Truth unites only those that listen to It, only those whose hearts are longing for His love. This is also another proof of Orthodoxy's Truthfulness, Hell and Heaven: in Orthodoxy Hell and Heaven are not 2 places, it's 1 spiritual dimension, unlike the legalistic western hell and heaven, where there's this legal judgement of our sins, in Orthodoxy, the way we relate to Christ's love is what makes us be in Heaven or Hell. In the next life we'll be with Christ for Eternity, however, those that accepted His Light and Love will see it as a salvific energy, a liberation, a purifying energy, however those that have not accepted Christ in life but actually have hated him, will see this very Light and Love as imprisonment, damnation, a burning flame, etc. Who will Judge us will be our conscience, sin is nothing more but us going further and further from God, our hearts rotting and being filled with hate, and so on, what will judge us will be the way we will relate when we'll see the face of Christ on Judgement day, some will love it, others will hate it, and all comes from them, not from the western/islamic legalistic God. In Orthodoxy we take things very seriously, we might look backwarded and close minded, but that's bcs we do not evolve, change, trade Truth for the lies of satan, that's why we are hated by many, and that's why we will never accept the western sacraments, that's sacriledge. The west has fallen, it has corrupted, there is no western Church, there are no 2 lungs of The Church, there is Orthodoxy, and the lies of satan... the west has no Church, only the few Orthodox Churches that are there to serve migrant comunities. We are not good at proselytizing? But don't you remember how just 30 years ago we were still under some of the worst communist dictatorships, where The Church would be attacked on all fronts? Then in the early 2000s we could finally breathe again, and slowly, as migrant communities, in the last 10 years, from Orthodox countries, have moved west wards, we have gone abroad, what do you expect in roughly 10 years since we could finally be back on our feet and do Christ's will? We are growing more and more, and doing our best to make Truth widely known, however the problem is that we still have limited resources, we have 200 million members, roughly, we have our finances, and we are using them as much as we can, as we grow our presence will also grow, it's a natural process, it takes time. Many times some of your fellow Roman "Catholic" brothers, wave in our face the success at "evangelizing" pagans from the vatican, however how did that come, at what cost and what did it ultimately achieve? Conquistadores exterminating natives in what would go on to become Latin America? The way they spread the Faith is not Christian, but what did they ultimately achieve? Did paganism fade away in South/Central America? Clearly not, paganism there never died, the pagan soul survived to this day, their pagan indole is still visible, from the rampant degeneracy and divorce rates all across latin America, to the cartel's inhuman execution methods, to the social unrest and untameable violence that the region has suffered from for the last 500 years at least... Now Papism is dying there, paganism is returning, degeneracy rampant, clearly the vatican, through anti-Christian murderous instruments, did not achieve the conversion of the natives' souls, so how in the world can this be used as an example of the vatican's success and even truthfulness? Do we wanna talk about the immorality and nothingness achieved by the crusades? Especially, do we wanna talk about the crusade against The Orthodox of The East, and the countless murders, rapes, massacres, pillaging done by the crusader on Christians all throughout the Balkans? The vatican has long shown it's head and it's true nature, we in The East have nothing to unite with a satanic fallen secular institution, however what we do have at heart is the conversion of the souls of the westerners to Orthodoxy, to Christ, to Truth, to Salvation. If you'll choose to realize The Truth and come to Orthodoxy, you'll have a long way ahead of you, there'll surely be difficulties ahead, but that's all from the devil, he wants to discourage you from coming to Christ, and God allows them to fortify you, if you'll persevere, trust me, it will all be worth it. Ex-papist here, never going back. My heart has finally found Christ, that's all that matters

​@@mileschristus8861I would be externally grateful for your prayers and helping me find good sources. I'm an inquirer coming out of Protestantism who is on the fence between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, though I lean more towards Orthodoxy thus far. I'm confused as all crap.

We had this terrific set of commercials, I can't even remember what they were about, but the tag line was perfect: "It isn't difficult to be nice." I call different teachings heresies all the time, I did in this precise video. But I never bash 'Catholics' or 'Protestants' themselves.

@@BanterWithBojan exactly the mistake is in going after the person instead of the idea. You come off like an asshole and don't get anywhere. I'm definitely bad at it so I tend to leave it to better hands.

Is this a serious post?? You “keep hearing from your Orthodox sources”? Who are, what, RU-vidrs and 15 year old children on twitter? And now you’re not attending church because of this?? You should probably talk to the priest there.

@@Jd-808 I never said I’m not attending church anymore. The Orthodox sources I was referring to were for example Fr. Mikhail and Fr. Josiah Trenham. Once again, I didn’t say I don’t attend Church anymore, I just meant that it’s something I’m worried and wondering about.

@@kajadaw4313 You realize your own priest is an “Orthodox source”, right? People online are so obsessed with rules. What does it matter if your priest is “ecumenical” or not. To say that you’re “conflicted” about attending because of this is crazy talk. Seriously, what do you think is going to happen to you? You might not look down on others in the same way?

@@Jd-808 I can’t really talk to that priest because he barely speaks my language. Let me rephrase the issue; I’m worried because the Church I’ve attended is part of a movement that a lot of Orthodox Christians think is bad.

Yup!

In a political manner. To preserve the _status quo_ of the _pax Romana_ and prevent something that happened about 40 years later...

@@florian8599 According to the Gospel it was also in his capacity as prophet, for he was high priest that year.

Well no, the point here is not treating others wrongly for the sake of it, not to leave the Church. The Orthodox Church is waiting and honestly you will get nothing at all from the catholic services

Yeah because God forbid someone in this day and age take his religion seriously right?

Since when is being a trad 'taking religion seriously'?

@@BanterWithBojan since when is being a virtue-signaling ecumenist "proffessing the truth"?

@@BanterWithBojan The commenter implies that there is something wrong with wanting to be traditional period.

Maybe I should clarify. I am not against traditionalism. I am against radical traditionalism. Sedes and the like.

Wait, which hypothetical nun? The guy definitely wasn't recognizing the virtuous deeds of a holy woman, he just called her out on a street for wearing a nun's habit. They weren't engaged in a conversation. He was an idiot, to put it succinctly. Eh, it is shameful, but then again, I'm not perfect and I have a VERY short fuse for nonsense.

@Fireurchin Productions "I wouldn't wish Hellfire on even Hitler. What you did was shameful". He knows that anyway. But you and me - we do probably things which are more shameful... ;)... :(

@@lessthandust For a catechist, a teacher, a person of authority within the Church, I would expect more. I would expect him to be better than that... Better than us when he preaches.

Fireurchin Productions He’s not a “teacher in the Church”. He’s a simple Reader, if I’m not mistaken, and this channel seems rather to be the personal reflections of an Orthodox sharing his opinions and experiences, not passing himself off as an authority in the Church. I don’t like the language, but I think the outrage he feels regarding the kind of behavior he describes is just-it parallels Christ’s harsh censure of the Pharisees & Scribes who Christ accused in Matthew 23:5 of making their followers “twice as much a son of hell” as they were themselves!