An Evangelical Makes a List

My goddaughter, while she was still an Evangelical, upon first encountering Orthodoxy, made a list of thirteen things Orthodoxy had which her denomination did not. Fully cognizant of the fact that her denomination is only one among many and not necessarily typical of anything, I here reproduce the list she made.

1.) Beauty
2.) Liturgy
3.) Sacraments
4.) Theosis (union with God in Christ)
5.) Understanding spiritual, practical implications of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity
6.) Understanding and spiritual, practical implications of the doctrine of the Incarnation
7.) “Elegant theology” – I do not know what she meant, but intend to ask.
8.) Depth and breadth
9.) “Answers to questions I’ve always had.” Ditto to that from me!
10.) Services chalk full of prayer, praise, Scripture, “and content!”
11.) Being relatively heresy proof. The Church has already addressed all the heresies and there are no genuinely new ones. Moreover, there are safeguards in place.
12.) Awareness of pre-Reformation church history
13.) Recognition of the value of spiritual guidance

P.S. Tomorrow morning (Thursday) we are leaving for Greece. There will therefore be a hiatus on this blog. Whenever I DO get hooked up to the Internet again, probably what I will post mostly will be my adventures over there. (And the trip is absolutely guaranteed to be an adventure! Greece is a perpetual adventure in progress. To participate in it, all you have to do is be there!)