Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!bloom-beacon!think!ames!sun-barr!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mark@drd.com (Mark Lawrence) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Glasnost and the Orthodox Church Message-ID: Date: 23 Sep 89 07:51:20 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: DRD Corporation, Tulsa, OK Lines: 47 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu COSC2U2@uhvax1.uh.edu wrote: } } [Exposition of the Russian Orthodox Church] } ...Second, the recent Fundamentalist scandals of Bakker, Roberts, et. al. } have caused a fallout. Since the Eastern Orthodox Church is a Conservative } Church, they were able to corral some maverick lambs. } } What do they have to offer Americans? } ... I appreciated the insights gained about a group of the brethren that I hadn't known a lot about until this article, but I have to admit being put off a bit by some of the presentation, e.g. the excerpt above. The enumerated list of "What the ROC offers" reminded me of a marketing presentation. The crucial issue is: should a segment of the Body with which we choose to be filial be selected on the basis of hymnology (I can see the arguments now: "you may have Tchaikovsky, but *we've* got Crosby, Watts and Wesley..."), church architecture and so on? Granted, mode of worship (liturgy, no benches?!) probably enter into it on a practical level. Perhaps I'm just hopelessly out of touch and uneducated in these matters, but the thing that is most important to me with regard to "church selection" is whether or not one has the confidence that the Lord has placed one *there*. The lack of sensitivity in the article in this regard, frankly, disturbs me. One might hawk the attributes of a particular secular organization (country clubs, health clubs, altruistic enterprises, etc.) in such a manner, but certainly God's elect deserve better. -- mark@DRD.Com (918) 743-3013 Jer. 9:23,24 {uunet,rutgers}!drd!mark [A couple of comments: (1) there is no question that realistically denominations are in competition, and they do compete on matters such as style. This may not be good, but it's not entirely bad either. In my view it's perfectly OK to have several denominations that preach the gospel with equal faithfulness but have different styles of worship. My worship would be seriously impeded by music that a younger generation may find helpful. (2) I think at least some of his point was that the Orthodox Church would bring these things as a contribution to the Church as a whole. I think he's overly optimistic about the Orthodox Church converting Southern Baptists. However a more vigorous Orthodox Church might still have an impact on all of us. --clh]