Reddit reviews Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith

Check out books by Robert Webber such as Evangelicals On the Canterbury Trail and Signs of Wonder an others of his.

Read Thomas Howard's Evangelical Is Not Enough about a BRILLIANT scholar (and C.S. Lewis expert) who came from a fundamentalist Evangelical heritage and made his way into the Anglican and eventually Roman churches.

Peter Gilquist's Becoming Orthodox is about a group of Campus Crusade For Christ Evangelicals who ended up on a journey to Eastern Orthodoxy.

Finally (but in order of importance first), get yourself a copy of The Apostolic Fathers and read the letters written by three men trained and ordained by the Apostles: Ignatius, Polycarp, and Clement. What they have to say is mind blowing. There are a BUNCH of different editions available on Amazon.

Initially, my wife wasn't super down with going Orthodox. Patience is key. I also introduced her to multiple Orthodox podcasts from ancientfaith.com. I recommend Intersection of East and West and anything from Fr Thomas Hopko. Start meeting her in places where it's easy to agree. Becoming Orthodox may also be helpful.

I'm only a catechumen, and I still have strained relationships with Protestant friends that feel particularly insulted by closed communion and the claim to be the One Church. In the end, what won me over and what convinced my wife wasn't the theological arguments, but the Liturgy and the spirituality of the Church as experienced through the daily prayers. If she's even remotely open to going to Liturgy with you, try to get her to go at least twice... maybe three times. More than any convincing argument, this is what all my Protestant friends are missing.

Recent (this Pascha) Protestant convert here. I can attempt to answer each of your questions, though my answers about more complex issues of doctrine/Catholicism will probably be worse than those about contrasts with Protestantism.

1. I think this is really two issues, though you focus on one here more than the other.
   
   a)
   
   > lack of evangelism/out-reach within the Orthodox church
   
   The Evangelical type of outreach is definitely lacking, in terms of going door to door, consciously trying to evangelize acquaintances, tracts, etc. Since becoming Orthodox I've come to see this as largely a good thing, but that's my opinion, so let me focus on the outreach that the Orthodox actually do.
   
   There are still Orthodox missions throughout the world, youth groups still go on trips to Mexican orphanages like my Protestant YA group back in California, etc. Orthodox laity tend to focus more on personal/family spiritual growth, but don't take that to mean that there are no opportunities for evangelism if you are so called.
   
   Keep in mind two related issues as well. First, the Orthodox church in America is small and has less resources to leverage than America's Protestant denominations. Also, it has a rich tradition of monasticism which the Protestant tradition tends to lack and which fills in some gaps you might observe "in church".
   
   b)
   
   > some congregations felt more like ethnic clubs
   
   I was extremely blessed to find a parish full of converts. More ethnic congregations certainly exist, but largely this seems to be a myth/outdated truth about Orthodoxy. My own experience would indicate that the Greeks/Russians tend to have strong friendships with one another and language/culture barriers which can make it difficult to form relationships. That said, the times where that extends to hostility to outsiders is rare, in my experience.
   
   The parish I'm at is Antiochian. If you can find a similar church near you, you may find a surprising number of converts as well!
   
   
2. My historical knowledge is a bit fuzzy, but as far as I know papal primacy was something which was accepted by all the churches up until the Schism. During the period of the split, the Eastern bishops rejected papal supremacy as a new doctrine. And the mutual excommunication was the end of any debate as such.
   
   This is definitely a question that someone more knowledgeable can elaborate on!
   
   
3. There was a good article on this here a few days ago: http://www.pravmir.com/what-is-not-church/. When I first started attending my parish and began to become concerned about my salvation as a Protestant, it was explained thus: Because some of the image of God exists in every person and in all creation (the Orthodox view of the Fall is more nuanced than the one I grew up with), there are pieces of the Truth everywhere. However, the fullness of the Truth only exists where the fullness of Christ exists, in the Eucharist.
   
   Or, as my priest likes to say: The Orthodox are maximalists, not minimalists. We are not so concerned with what we must do to be saved but what we can do to live as if we are in the Kingdom of Heaven now.
   
   
4. This (and Mary, which I'll address in a minute) was one of my biggest discomforts when I began to attend an Orthodox parish. Eventually, I came to view that discomfort as culturally-motivated rather than theologically-motivated. I won't speculate on your motivation and assume your knowledge is as shallow as mine was, but I would encourage you to attend services even if you are uncomfortable. No one should judge you for not venerating icons. If you are still deeply theologically uncomfortable, I would take the time to carefully consider what you think about the councils, since icon veneration was maintained as valid in them.
   
   
5. I was never a Catholic, so again I'll leave the bulk of this question to those who know better. That said, here's what I do know about Orthodox Mariology: Mary was ever-virgin, she was the most important woman in Church history, we venerate her icon and pray for her to intercede with her Son for us, we love her, and we do not believe in the Immaculate Conception.
   
   Hope that's helpful! I don't know based on your post whether you've attended any services, so I'll exhort you to as if you have not. Orthodoxy isn't "real" until it's lived, and you can't live Orthodoxy outside the liturgy. The beauty of the services was the first step in my conversion, and I think everyone considering the Church for its theology should also visit a parish and let their whole person experience Orthodoxy before making up their mind.
   
   EDIT: Skimmed your previous posts. No idea where you are physically, but on the off chance you're in the Salt Lake City area, I'd love to meet you in person as the journey from Protestantism to Orthodoxy is near and dear to me. In either case, if you ever want to know more about my conversion experience don't hesitate to reach out on Reddit or elsewhere.
   
   TL;DR Wall of text has my rough thoughts. I highly recommend Becoming Orthodox; It's where my deeper exploration started.

Don't leave us!!!!!!

The Roman Catholic Catechism is a great tool to understand Catholic beliefs.

Return to Rome is a book about someone who came from being a Protestant to being a Catholic.

The Orthodox Way is a good intro to Orthodox understanding.

Becoming Orthodox is a book about a ton of Protestants converting to Orthodoxy.

For reference: Becoming Orthodox by Fr Peter Gilquist, formerly a leader of Campus Crusade, recently reposed.

Also, it's been a long while, but I recall also enjoying a book called Common Ground.

I think you need more time before weighing in on stuff like this from an Orthodox perspective. The theology does smack of protestant legalism. The journey to become Orthodox is a long one and it's not merely about adopting a certain set of principles. It's a mindset and takes participation in the Mysteries and acquiring the Holy Spirit. We never give up hope on someone's salvation, even after they die. Through God, all things are possible.

As for books, here's a great book that begins to deconstruct protestant legalistic theologies on sin and heaven/hell. https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Orthodox-Journey-Ancient-Christian/dp/1936270005

We're not kidding around when we say that the Orthodox Church is the one, true Church founded by Jesus Christ himself. A traditional way of putting that would be to say that we believe that the Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. It kind of boggles the mind, when you think about it.

If you're interested, I'll include a link to a book by a Protestant who went in search of this Church (and found it, imo). If you're familiar with Campus Crusade for Christ, he actually helped found it back in the 70's. The title is a spoiler alert -- when he went on a quest to find the Church, he found the Orthodox Church. Link.

As an aside, his son is also a priest (and also named Peter Gilquist). And Fr. Peter Gilquist (Jr.) is the priest who received me into the Church. I'm not at his parish any more but I sure miss him -- God bless that family.

Anyway, good luck in your quest. Let us know if you have any questions.

Non-mobile:

• Becoming Orthodox
  
• Common Ground
  
  ^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Orthodox-Journey-Ancient-Christian/dp/1936270005

https://www.amazon.com/Mystical-Theology-Eastern-Church/dp/0913836311/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1522778316&sr=1-8&keywords=orthodox+eastern

Essentially the Orthodox don't believe that we can know for sure why and how we are saved, unlike the Catholics and Protestants. The Orthodox don't claim that certain actions are guaranteed to send us to hell, nor even that hell involves eternal fire. They emphasize more of an approach of constant prayer and empathy towards fellow man, as the best way to evangelize.