Missions and Evangelism Committee Questions

Here are a list of questions we as a committee came up with regarding the Orthodox Church (our version of FAQ's by non-Orthodox to Orthodox). Please read the above entry for more information on why I am posting this:)

If you have a question to add, please comment... answers to come in the coming months.

Questions regarding the Orthodox Church:

You’re Jewish, right?
You’re just like the Catholic Church, but in the east.
Don’t you worship Mary? Can Mary save us?
Are you saved?
Do you fall under the pope? (and get back up again.. he he he)
You must be Greek (or Russian, etc.)
Are you a Christian?
Questions pertaining to the infallibility of scripture and our belief in the Bible.
Do you ordain women?
Do you believe that Communion is the body and blood of Christ?
What do you believe about cremation?
Why can’t I receive communion in the Orthodox Church?
Do you have priests?
Why do you call your priest father? “…call no man father…”
Why are your priests allowed to marry?
Why do you fast?
Salvation is based on faith alone and is not related to works
Protestant notion of grace v. the Orthodox idea of grace and what is the different understandings of the word ‘salvation’.
How do we understand propitiation and expiation?
How and when are we saved?
Questions pertaining to prayers to saints.
The use of icons.
Infant baptism and baptism in general.
What is the Orthodox understanding of the sacraments?
How does the Orthodox view of tradition impact our faith and cause us to view scripture and the Church differently?
The Orthodox understanding of monasticism.
Do you believe that Orthodoxy is the only way to Christ?
Why is it that Orthodox Christians do not evangelize?
The Orthodox understanding of prayers for the dead.
The incarnation and its impact on our worship.
Can you lose your salvation? –predestination
Free will and the sovereignty of God
What is the Orthodox understanding of rapture?
Are you born again?
Interpretation of scripture by the Fathers, by an individual, or by the pope.
Septuagint v. Masoretic texts for the Old Testament and their use in the New Testament.
When Christ asked Peter three times “do you love me?” was a different word for ‘love’ used in the original Greek or was it the same word for all three questions?
I thought Jesus was the mediator between God and man.
Formal v. informal prayers (repetitive) and the nature of prayers.