Changes

Jump to: navigation, search

Evangelism

1,567 bytes added, 03:44, September 4, 2007
Thoughts on Orthodox Witnessing
Witnessing '''Evangelism''' or ''witnessing'' or ''bearing witness'' to Orthodox Christianity is the process of bringing Orthodox teachings to people who are outside of the [[Church]], in hopes that they will accept these teachings and decide to become a part of the Church. Witnessing can be done In Greek, the word ''witness'' is μαρτυρια, ''martyria'', from which English derives the word ''martyr''. Martyrs gave their lives as an act a witness for the Gospel of Christ. In Othodox Christianity, then, witness is primarily a character of one's life more than a program of [[proselytism]]. Still, individual acts of evangelism can result from deliberate [[missionary ]] work, or evolve from a casual discussion about faith between an Orthodox Christian and a person (or people) outside the Orthodox Church.
A witness for Orthodoxy can be either a cleric any member of the Church, clergy or a laypersonlay; in any case, they should be worshipping with the Church regularly, and observing all normal practices of the Church as practiced locally and with the guidance of their spiritual father. During discussions about the Orthodox faith, a prepared witness will know Orthodox doctrine and be versed in Orthodox apologetics in order to best answer questions. It can also be helpful if the witness is familiar with various non-Orthodox ideologies.
A witness for Orthodoxy can and should pray for God's help in his or her task. Evangelism should be conducted out of love, and should be personal.
Orthodoxy believes teaches that only a person's free will can must accept faith, it does not believe freely; faith cannot be coerced in compulsory or any way. Such a conversion would be insincere conversionsand invalid.
== Prayers ==
Fr. Maxim Kozlov, Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana, Moscow State University.
== Resources ==“Acquire the Spirit of Peace and thousands around you will be saved.”-- St [[Seraphim of Sarov]]
==See also==*[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodoxwitness Orthodox Witness, an online e-group devoted to the discussion of witnessing Orthodoxy[Proselytism]]
[http://www.antiochian.org/dynamis/1116475200.html An Orthodox homily on the Gospel of John and belief]==Published works==
* Green, Michael. ''Evangelism In The Early Church''. (ISBN 0802827683)* Oleksa, Michael J. ''Orthodox Alaska: A Theology of Mission''. (ISBN 0881410926) ==External links== '''Resources for Orthodox evangelism''' * [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orthodoxwitness Orthodox Witness, an online e-group devoted to the discussion of witnessing Orthodoxy]* [http://www.antiochian.org/dynamis/1116475200.html An Orthodox homily on the Gospel of John and belief]* [http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/mission/makarios_zimbabwe_evangelism.htm Mission and Evangelism by Metropolitan Makarios]* [http://orthodoxwitness.wikispaces.com/ Wiki-editable webpage on witnessing Orthodoxy, including prayer lists.]* [http://wiki.ehow.com/Bring-Someone-to-the-Orthodox-Chrisitan-Faith Wiki How to Bring Someone to the Orthodox Christian Faith]* [http://www.orthodox.net/articles/evangelism.html Eastern Orthodox Christian Evangelism is Different by Fr. David Moser]* [http://orthotracts.org/ orthotracts.org] '''Other resources'''* [[Wikipedia:Proselytism|Proselytism]] (broadly defined) at Wikipedia [[Category:Church Life]]
28
edits

Navigation menu