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christians of the east rejected the filioque? yet the lived for hundreds of years knowing the west was using it in the creed and espousing it. The great schism of 1054 was more about azymes than it was about the filioque.

I was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, was baptised at St Aloysius RC Church in Hebburn, and made my First Holy Communion at St Bede RC Church in Jarrow. At school I was taught about great saints like John Fisher and Thomas More. Reading around as a young man, I read St Bede's _Ecclesiastical History of the English People_ and I became aware that St Benedict Biscop was a keen importer of books and icons. The _Codex Amiatinus,_ the oldest Bible still in one piece, was produced in Jarrow or Monkwearmouth. I read about the Greek Schismatic Church in a doctrinal guide, but I have never actually met any members of it even after 69 years of life. My first encounter with "Orthodoxy" was a few years ago on the Internet. I have occasionally driven past the Coptic Orthodox Church in Newcastle. As St Bede recounts, the Filioque was introduced by St Theodore at the Council of Hatfield in 680. It was endorsed at the Council of Lyons 1274 and then at Ferrara-Florence 1435. I imagine that there are people in Hatfield in Hertfordshire who have continually recited the Creed with the Filioque ever since 680. The Filioque has the backing of the Pope, who is the successor of St Peter in a special sense. From what I see online, Orthodoxy seems to operate in a parallel universe. The Filioque were condemned by the *_whole church_* at a meeting in Constantinople in 879, although bishops from Spain, Portugal, England, France and the Holy Roman Empire would appear to have been absent. John Fisher and Thomas More be fake saints, though we are not too sure if they were validly baptised. I be a heretic and a papist, which is the sort of language I normally associate with Protestants. I be also an atheist because I support the Gregorian Calendar independently of being Catholic and can talk about the science. We Catholics are all agreed that your Elder Paisios was validly baptised. We have a Pope whose duty is to co-ordinate doctrine on this sort of thing. Popes can underperform on co-ordinating doctrine concerning the blessing of homosexual couples. Opposition to this among African, Ukrainian, Kazakh and other bishops is a doctrinal, not a cultural matter. One or two African synods have made a point of saying this explicitly. Cardinal Fernandes says it is merely cultural which is an error. His Eminence should investigate himself for heresy. My reference to the Greek Schismatic Church is merely describing what I read. I am not intending to be offensive or to assume what has to be proved.

I'm Romanian. You talk about results but here in its home Orthodoxy as a whole is pretty much filth. At least the institution is. And I know the typical saints you talk about. I am disappointed by the dessert fathers. You advertise the few saints you produce really well but you are not the only ones with saints. It's just we don't have a cult for their veneration. The way I see it is that one of the main fruits of orthodoxy is an episcopate and patriarchate full of lies, theft, sex scandals, mafias and its hands into politics. Sure there are great fruits, I even plan next year to go on Mt Athos, but your propaganda does not touch me. I lived your holy orthodoxy. And not to mention orthodoxy is full of lies and mysticism which is closer to witchcraft (here in the east, I know it's healthier where it's the minority religion). But I can't spend my time reading on every single saint that came out of orthodoxy. There is one thing which for me just shows eastern orthodoxy's authority can only be a lie or I am daft and can't understand history. Nicea 2. The forgeries, the paganist arguments of John of Damascus, the lies about the apostolic nature of icons and relic veneration. I am NOT an iconoclast. But I do refuse the theology behind icons, especially the way it is in orthodoxy. The theology John of Damascus uses to defend icon venerations is pretty much identical to Porphyry in his writings "Against the Christians", or Iamblichus or even Julian the Apostate in Contra Christianos. It's insane to see that almost all of the icon veneration theory is identical to pagans. They were not stupid they did not believe the statues had gods in them. On the filioque I am not sure yet what is truly correct. But I can say I see it in: 1 - Saint Cyril - "[...] the Holy Spirit when He is in us effects our being conformed to God, and he actually proceeds from the Father and Son [...]" Treasury of the Holy Trinity, 2 - Saint Epiphanius - "Christ is believed to be from the Father, God from God, and the Spirit to be from Christ, or indeed from BOTH - as Christ says `Who proceeds from the Father` and `He shall receive of mine.`" Ancoratus 67, 3 - Saint Gregory of Nyssa - "As for the Holy Spirit, it is said to be from the Father and is testified to be from the Son. [...] Hence the Spirit that is from God is also Christ's Spirit; but the Son, who is from God, neither is not is said to be from the Spirit and this relative sequence is permanent and inconvertible [...] this individual property distinguishes on from the other with absolute clarity." Sermon 3 on the Lord's Prayer, 4 - Saint Athanasius - "[...] And as the Son says, `All things whatsover the Father hath are mine` so we shall find that through the Son all these things are in the Spirit also." Epistle to Seapion XXIII, Saint Basil - "The one (Son) is directly from the First and the other (Spirit) is through the one who is directly from the First [...]" and obviously 5 - Saint Ambrose - the latin fathers clearly teach it I won't quote them, 6 - Saint Augustine - even Orthodox agree he clearly believed it, 7 - Hilary of Poitiers - "[...] the Holy Spirit [...] who is from the Father and the Son, HIS SOURCES [...]" The Trinity 2:29, 8 - Saint Jerome - same as with Augustine and Ambrose. I might not understand them well enough, but I see the filioque in how they speak about the spirit (and yes I know what economia is). From my perspective anathemizing the filioque would anathematize some church fathers. And Nicea 2 pretty much indirectly does that with the early church. There can be contradictions in the body of Christ even under orthodoxy. The Church is not that unified in belief, at least not here in the east. Not to mention you refuse other councils and pick and choose what is an ecumenical council. You refuse 14 from the 21 Rome declares ecumenical, the same way they refuse 6 of the ones you deem ecumenical. The 7th council kept going back and forth between Hieria and Nicea 2. Hieria declared itself ecumenical just as Nicea 2 but N2 said it's false, then in a council in Constantinople overturned N2 and declared Hirea the 7th for 20 years only to be overturned AGAIN by an Empress Theodorus. Yes, the Holy Spirit guides us in all truth. And yet you most likely don't have the best pie recipe, nor can you explain the contradiction how the filioque is heresy when the church fathers taught it. It's either that you don't have the Holy Spirit (I don't believe that) or all refers to God. We are guided in who God is and we already have been told what he wants from us. And we most likely won't solve the filioque until the west and east come together again. I would love for orthodoxy to be true. It would be nice to actually participate in the tradition which not only builds on an ancient church but on my nationality itself. But for all I know I am fooled by some devil or orthodoxy is simply not true the way you describe it. Yes doctrine matters. But stop imposing your authority structure as if I actually believe you represent the apostolic teaching. As Augustine says in his response to Maximus the Arian: "I should not, however introduce the Council of Nicea to prejudice the case in my favor, nor should you introduce the Council of Ariminus that way. I AM NOT BOUND by the authority of Ariminus and you are not bound by that of Nicae. By the authority of the scriptures that are not property of anyone, but the common witnesses for both of us, let position do battle with position, case with case, reason with reason." Now, just because of this I still appreciate orthodoxy for what it does well and it does a lot well and the west overall has a lot to learn. Also don't take my passionate attack on this as an attack on most orthodox members nor you. You yourself seem like a great Christian and an important member of the Body and I actually appreciate the surge of Orthodoxy in the west. God Bless. Μόνον Θεῷ δόξα!

St Cleopa does not represent orthodoxy, we talked about doctrinal differenceses in fact his are so that the doubt risies if he was not a tool of the comunist regime. And is not only doctrinal but his understanding of Chist, that can bring people in eror.

Prots don’t even have a Fr Paul much less St Paisios

This is a very sound argument, Father Paul, and I agree with you--but now I have fresh concerns for my non-Orthodox Christian friends.

'Ooooh Loooord Just You SAVE my soul 'Oooooh Lord have MERCY on my soul.. He's got the WHOLE WORLD in His hands He's got the WHOLE WIDE WORLD in His hands 'cause He's The King Of Kings and The Prince of Peace He's The King of Kings and The Prince of Peace Oh you better trust oh oh you better believe He ll bow every knee He ll confess.. every tongue Who the Lord is.. 'Oooooh Loooord Just You SAVE my soul 'Ooooooh Lord have MERCY on my soul.. He's THEE WAAY.. LIGHT AND LIFE He's THE ONLY WAAY.. LIGHT AND LIFE 'cause He's The King Of Kings and The Prince of Peace He's The King of Kings and The Prince of Peace

A very good try. Possibly a better starting place: One God And One Mediator. 1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, Matthew 23:8-10 (NKJV) “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ,fn and you are all brethren. “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. “And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.” Cool quotes and stories though bro, they’re really the only thing that can prove your point from your view.

Beautifully said, father.

Wow father. This video really was powerful. Glory to God ☦️

A good word :)

☦️☦️☦️

The circumcision party was not merely arguing that Gentiles should keep biblical festivals, dietary laws, etc. They were arguing that JUSTIFICATION (initial salvation) was not possible for Gentiles unless they first became Jews through proselytization. There was no problem with Gentiles observing Sabbaths and festivals and Old Testament dietary laws. The problem was in seeking justification through becoming a proselyte. Even justified persons in the Old Testament were justified by faith, not works of law.

(PART 1) So I have watched Father Paul's other video he has referenced, and now watched this one. Some background, I grew up protestant, specifically Methodist, Pentecostal, and non-denominational, and my wife grew up baptist. Through and through we have been protestant for the entirety of our marriage. Now my response to his last video wasn't to comment with words, but instead to listen by doing some research and finding the closest good Orthodox church near me and sitting down with Father Nicholas, and having a good conversation with him. From what I have taken away from it, yes the foundational things many protestants that I know, and the Orthodox church agree on. I do think some doctrine differences are divisive and there's likely nothing Father Paul can say to change my mind on that one, I've seen it with my own eyes. Now, I will also say, doctrine matters, the Bible says to be weary of false doctrine so yes doctrine matters. From everyone who I've talked to who are true Christians (including Father Nicholas who I sat down with and talked to) agree that we need to follow Jesus in every way. Father Nicholas didn't look me in the eye and tell me I was going to hell, him and I both agree that we don't know the other's heart. I would say the TH-camr Redeemed Zoomer explained many Christian differences with his "Protestant Catholic Orthodox Venn Diagram" pretty well, and from what Father Paul here says, a good foundation is important, but so is building upon it. I agree with this statement as well, because a house built from only sticks still isn't going to hold up well without any other material even with a good foundation. When I sat down with Father Nicholas, he immediately started out with politics and theology, he also apologized if he offended me in any way, but he didn't, I agreed with every word he said. For example historically Christians have never been ok with sin. Sin separates us from God and the wages of sin is death. I would say that if you say a sin is permissable in anyway, you're a heretic. If you watch redeemed zoomers video I referenced he didn't say this as a foundational belief, and if you watch his other videos he does discuss the controversial topic that shouldn't be controversial on whether or not it's ok to be gay or not, and redeemed zoomer himself has the stance that it's not ok to have the sin of homosexuality. Personally I believe it should be foundational that all of us can agree that sin is sin. Now as for Solar Scriptoria, I again agree with what Redeemed Zoomer says, the church still has authority, but the Bible has greater authority. I recognize that Father Paul saying the Bible requires interpretation, I agree with this, but the Bible also says to be careful of wolves in sheep's clothing and again to be weary of false doctrine. Different churches interpret the Bible differently, and it ultimately comes down to the Holy Spirit allowing us to discern who is of God and who is of the devil. I agree that we need to find the true church, but can I ask...what if the true church has Christians of several different doctrine believing churches? I have met Christians who seem to be absolutely filled with the Holy Spirit and yet they go to a church that either believes in bad doctrine or down right heresy, and they are often in those churches because do the deceived believers not need Christ too? Of course they do, everyone does. Again to reference Redeemed Zoomers video, I will even go out on a limb here and say, while I am protestant, if the other three types of churches in his Venn Diagram believe in something, who are we to say they are undoubtedly wrong? That means while I'm protestant, I believe in the veneration of the saints because for me to sit here and think that my side is 100% correct in my opinion would be a foolish thing to do. I come here to this comment section with an open mind and open heart, not to argue or to be rude or mean. I seek justice, love mercy, and I also seek the truth. At the end of the day if God told you that a different group was the right way to follow Jesus and you were doing it all wrong, would you stay where you are or would you drop everything and follow Christ? I would drop everything and follow Christ, and I believe any true Christian would have the same answer. Protestants often go against the veneration of the saints with the scripture of when Jesus says "no man can come to the father except through me" and I believe the protestants who do that are taking that out of context. This was Jesus' call to worship that we need to follow Jesus and leave everything this world has to offer behind, give our life to him and that's the only way we'll ever have any way to go to the father. I also watched Father Paul's video sermon on Protestants vs Orthodox, and again I agree with nearly all of what he said, my biggest disagreement is how he handled the lady at the airport in his story. He probably could of been nicer, but ultimately don't we all sin and make mistakes? We're all human, and thus I commend him for being honest for how he went about things. I don't agree with the idea of leaving Protestants with "a holy sense of discomfort" you get more bees with honey not vinegar, if anything you guys should leave protestants with a hungry soul wanting to learn more, wanting to make sure they are following Jesus how Jesus intended us to follow him. Again to reference Redeemed Zoomers video, I would also say any doctrine that only your type of church believes in the Venn Diagram could be a dangerous doctrine as well. I do believe in Sola Fide as well though, but how he explained in the video, that grace is receiving by faith alone but true faith also creates good works. As Father Paul said in his Protestant vs Orthodox video, salvation requires a lot of things, but I'd like to argue, a Christian that truly follows Jesus would have all those attributes, or at least strive to obtain them and make good effort to do so. It ultimately comes down to following Jesus, and in order to properly follow Jesus we need to strive to be apart of the true church, we need to strive to follow Jesus how we're supposed to, we need to strive to live the lives that we're called to live, as Father Paul stated what a saint is in this video, I believe we should all strive to be like the saints in their walks with Christ, and I believe the saints are indeed good examples of this. I have met people who judge other denominations without understanding them first, and I believe this is wrong, because when I dated my baptist wife as a non-denominational Christian, I came home from her parents church and my dad said "baptists don't believe in the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit still is around today" so I asked, and he was wrong, they aren't as charismatic as Pentecostals which my dad was for a fair amount of his life, but they still believe in the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit still works today. My wife's and mines first argument was on Bible translation, I was following along from a translation other than KJV and she frowned upon this, Baptist doctrine states only KJV is allowed, she asked her parents, her dad was very stern, her mom said "do your own research" she did and concluded some translations are good and some are not, and I agree. The Bible says not to be unevenly yoked and my wife and I always took that seriously from the very beginning, we have to be in agreeance with what we believe no matter what, thus my wife and I get into Bible, theology, and doctrine debates often, they don't escalate into arguments because we both know we have good intentions in the ideas, but we disagree with respect. When I sat down with Father Nicholas, he said "if you and your wife don't agree on whether or not to become Orthodox, then don't come to our church. Marriage is important, and it's not good to be unevenly yoked." I left that conversation with Father Nicholas thinking that he seemed to care, he seemed wise, and he surely seems to be a Christ follower. He told me there's a lot of bad Orthodox churches out there too, some don't believe what the Orthodox church believes as a whole so you have to be careful. Ultimately, yes the church has authority, but in the dangerous world we live in, we need to be weary of what authority the church has and how much authority they have, and that's my stance on that.

Show me a saint who has risen.

Please don’t put off your video about counseling and orthodoxy for too long. Coming from a Jungian background and reading “Orthodox Psychotherapy,” I see a real opportunity for a bridge between the “science of the fathers” and counseling/therapy to be made. As I am seeing it, Jungian therapy was the most successful form we have seen, but is only a reiteration (and lower resolution expression) of the work of the clergy that we (modern society) have been disconnected from.

Fr. Paul answers the question of the title of the video at about 12:00

Amen.. Thank you. Yes, my life is different now

When you refer to yourself as “father” it really does not sit right… maybe because it is not right…

Yes there is evidence that there is a point it ended… “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.” ‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭5‬:‭23‬ ‭ Why take anything for their infirmities if they could be healed by touching an apostles snot rag?

I'm looking to become Orthodox, I currently have trouble getting to a church because I cannot drive and nobody is willing to take me. I currently go to an episcopal church and it can only fulfill me so far. Pray for me please and for all who are seeking orthodoxy! ☦️☦️☦️

Neither is needed… why do you insist on a label? The church is not some organization or building…

As an ex protestant, now a catechumen: No. Protestants have no answer for this. But they are so far removed from actual grace and holiness that they don't even understand the argument in the first place. It's like you talk about an ocean and all they can imagine is a puddle.

God bless you Father

Interesting. Should a person who has a non-Orthodox Trinitarian baptism be re-baptized or received by chrismation? Is the Synod of Jerusalem 1672 binding on the whole church? Was Jesus offered to placate the wrath of the Father meant for us? Should infants be baptized as soon as possible or is there no hurry as Trisagion Films says? For a church called "Orthodox", you guys sure have little to no real doctrinal unity.

Its such a shame that other denomination members outside of orthodoxy refuse to research the saints, but would rather become hostile out of ignorance. Kyrie eleison ☦️

Great video as always Father !

“Doctrine is Medicine”. Wow! This is so true! As someone coming from Mormonism, the orthodox prescriptions for sin and worldly things are 1000% more effective. Also, knowing the true God helps in a profound way. Love this!

Amen! Well said father!

Some Protestants in the chat are very open to your words and suggestions and then there’s some that have closed minds. But the fact they are watching your fabulous, informative video says everything you need to know. God Bless you Fr Paul.

Thank you for your effort here Father. We need it in our own language and verbiage… it is changing peoples lives to hear the truth.

Let them open their eyes and look directly at Galatians 6:15-16.

yes!!! fire back at their goofy claims. also more need to speak up on this

In our present age it has become status quo to hold one's own discernment as normative. As such, when entering into Truth, we often bring our own preconceptions and, inevitably, bend the doctrines to conform to our will. In this, we are like the man who thinks he sees, yet is blind. Rather we ought to seek in humility and patience, such that we may be like the blind man who is made to see. In stepping into the Orthodox faith I have found security in the undivided Body of Christ, upon which I can strengthen my relationship to Him. This way, we can be sure we are not acting out our own rogue volitions, instead, being genuine temples of The Holy Spirit, the Comforter and Spirit of Truth. May the Lord our God, Jesus Christ, bless and guide us.

This video came at exactly the right time, I was just having this question!

Truth is all that matters in this corrupt reality. Doctrine must reflect the truth in all aspects. Doctrine is what has manipulated and destroyed God's truth throughout history. I truly love and respect you for being so truthful and clear. Your content is always a pleasure. Bless you.

Early gang comment is to remind myself to come back when I have more time (I misread the video length as 3 minutes instead of 31)

The little bit of doctrine I received as a child by Chinese Baptists seemed incredibly screwed up to me and was a major reason why I was an atheist for so long.

It is a very modern Heresy. Fr. Peter Heers has a good video on the history of Protestant Ecumenism.

In 1527 Martin Luther wrote of Ulrich Zwingli that he would “Rather drink pure blood with the Pope than mere wine with the fanatics.” Luther and Zwingli had little or no expectation of success at Marburg. There was agreement on 14 out of 15 articles but there was never a hope of consensus on the Lord’s Supper. According to eyewitness reports Luther simply wrote on the table either in beer froth or chalk dust “Hoc est corpus meum” (“This is My Body”) and that was that - deadlock!

God bless you Father. This kind of rational, calm content is much needed.

You videos are always the best paul sir 👏🏻👏🏻 !!!!! Ive been protestant all my life and now that ive become orthodox cateucheman after following your videos coz it helped me with lot of my questions so God bless you a great man of God 🙏🏻❤️ !!!! Loads of love from India

"I should have said this". Common even in face to face discourse. We often frame things from our perspective. Just things everyone should consider. Do what you do brother 🙏

Yes Fr Paul, God has provided us with an abundance of MIRACLES to strengthen Faith, convert people to Faith, add to God’s deposit of Faith and settle disputes over interpretation of Faith. HOWEVER, you are asking Protestants to examine the miraculous evidence from Orthodox Canonized Saints when nearly all Orthodox Priests refuse to examine the miraculous evidence God has given Catholic Canonized Saints for the Immaculate Conception. With all due respect I find this position hypocritical. What do you think? Would you accept me passing on to you the miraculous evidence God has provided us for the Immaculate Conception of Theotokos? Miraculous evidence aside for moment, please read The Immaculate Conception and the Orthodox Church by the late Orthodox Priest Fr Lev Gillet and see what you think - afkimel.wordpress.com/2021/09/23/the-immaculate-conception-and-the-orthodox-church-2/ God bless you

It’s interesting watching Christians turn on each other. It’s constant.

You worship a cross instead of Him. You bow down to statues and man. Who is the poop (pope) anyways? Lost and ignorant is what you are. Repent, before it's too late. I'll pray for you so that you may see.

Good to hear you say the miracles and spiritual gifts never died with the last apostles, which means the Orthodox faith believes in the continuation of all that already took place with the apostles.

The issue with the argument is the Catholics can strike back: “show me your Theresa of Avila, Padre Pio, St Francis” etc

There are great men and women of God across the globe. Some are well spoken of and known, others are more obscure, though God knows their name. And their greatness is not their own, it is the Lord's greatness working in them and through them for His glory. God bless everyone reading this. May the Lord bless you and keep you in His peace, as you walk ever closer with Him ☦️❤✝️

1:22 is there a separate video of being married and the other spouse doesn’t want anything to do with religion especially orthodoxy