A. In a word, it comes down to “theosis” (union with God) — my growing realization through prolonged prayer and extensive reflection that this transformative process — and ultimate transformation — is the very purpose of human life. What’s more, I’ve come to realize that we can experience the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. That Holy Communion, rightly understood and administered, is vastly more than memorial. It is the primary means by which we may become by grace what God is by nature. Or as Peter puts it, become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Increasingly, I’m yearning to know not only about Jesus Christ as the way and the truth but also Jesus Christ as the way and the life (John 14:6).
Moreover, my orientation toward worship has been radically rearranged. The moment I enter church, the engagement of my senses alerts me to the reality that I am there to worship the one true and living God. Orthodoxy, of course, makes use of earthly perceptible means to set our sights on spiritual verities. Also, I am blessed to live near an Orthodox community of believers that has been impacted by the work of the Christian Research Institute. Reciprocally, this community has impacted my life and that of my family greatly.
It is worth noting that I have been studying, memorizing, and publicly teaching Scripture for more than thirty years. My view of Christianity — in essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things, charity — remains steadfastly the same. I will and have always championed mere Christianity and am well aware that God has His people in Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox communities.
Nonetheless, we live in an age of rapid change and, frankly, hermeneutical chaos — an age in which the evangelical church indulges in what may best be described as interpretive free-for-all with respect to the teachings of sacred Scripture. The broader culture imposes its illiberal sexual values on the Christian community, and all too often Christians capitulate.
From within the Christian community, radical elements impose bizarre notions that deny central teachings of the historic Christian faith, including escapist end-time scenarios that have dramatic geopolitical ramifications, counterfeit revivalism, unbridled subjectivism, and the idea that a Christian must never confess sins and seek God’s forgiveness. Moreover, “moralistic therapeutic deism” and biblical and historical illiteracy increasingly characterize the declining spiritual and intellectual state of the American church. Although Orthodoxy is not a panacea, the local body of believers I have connected with has provided a welcome refuge and respite for my family and me in both teaching and practice.