If you aren't Orthodox, does church do much for you? I'm Orthodox and I have been to many Christian services...

If you aren't Orthodox, does church do much for you? I'm Orthodox and I have been to many Christian services, but none of them are what I would call transcendent experiences. Catholic High Mass was the only one that had anything to it. But I can't grasp the point of going to regular Catholic services and Protestant services, they are like PowerPoint presentation with elevator music.

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why r u orthodox christian?

>muh liturgical aesthetics
That's not what faith is about, nigger.

Because a deep understanding comes from wisdom and mysticism. Deep understanding of Catholicism is about reading thousands of pages of dense philosophy. Now I love dense philosophy, I love Heidegger, who draws extensively from Western theology. But a deep understanding being contingent on that, is not the faith taught by Christ and the Apostles.

>aethetics are cosmetics

I hate the Reformation

OP is right. I'm no longer Christian but Orthodox maintained it's mystical roots much better than Catholicism, and Protestantism is just bastard shit - at best it's a good social/support group.

t. raised Protestant.

>aethetics are cosmetics
They quite literally are in every respect. You're retarded if you think otherwise. And I'm Orthodox myself.

>at best it's a good social/support group
That's what every church is in its entirety.

>muh incense
The earliest Christians met in houses for commemorative meals, what was the point of those meetings according to you? Many people feel closer to God at a humble service.

No, they're not. Orthodox aesthetics are extremely spiritual. Why do you think so many people were willing to die for icons? Orthodoxy is a union of heaven and earth, and takes her aesthetics from heaven. This is not cosmetic beauty, but beauty as truth.

If they cared about humility, they would have serious ascetics. Protestants love bourgeois comfort and refinement but shun aristocratic splendour

data.grammarbook.com/blog/pronouns/1-grammar-error/

Aesthetics are objects of relation and experience, cosmetics are objects of ordering.
Incense is cheap, and it can be burnt in any house.

Can we just all stop LARPing as Christians, please?

>Why do you think so many people were willing to die for icons?
Innate idolatric drive of unwashed masses.
>and takes her aesthetics from heaven
Spare me the autism. You're arguing irrelevant personal feefees. For me an average Gothic cathedral is much closer to heaven than all the fruity frescos clad in goldleaf. And it's also ultimately irrelevant. You are literally arguing LARP preferences.

Visit Athos and have a talk with the monks there.

>raised a protestant
My condolences.

I don't understand the purpose of church services. I never felt anything.

>I never felt anything
Church brings one back in touch with the very core of existence. Embrace the boredom. Learn to love it, even. It's the paper on which all things are writ.

>ctrl+f "eucharist"
>0 of 0

You absolute fuckers. The Eucharist is literally the most important reason to go to Mass. The Body and Blood of Christ is among the greatest gifts mankind has ever been given, and it's given away for free every Sunday. That's what church "does for you."

It's given away 'for free' in every moment you absolute heretic

You know what I mean.

this...you all seem so fake

stop going to shit church. Im agnostic and sometimes I still go for pageantry. go to a major cathedral and take part in a easter vigil, get dizzy from candles and lack of air and drink some wine while enjoying the beautiful artwork and architecture

Latin mysticism is just as substantial as Eastern, look at St. John of the Cross. A Catholic with a low IQ and no formal education could still have a "deep understanding of Catholicism", just not its theology.

The East never developed the university system that the West did in the High Middle Ages, so its theology is less developed. That doesn't make the East better than the West.

Anything I don't like is in-authentic or false consciousness.

dont mean that at all, im not an atheist but everyone on the Bible/Chrsitianity threads here are onviously contrarian kiddies playacting at Christianity, like reverse Richard Dawkins.

legitimately interested in a more mystical / spiritual experience. for my own clarification, when you guys say "orthodox christian," are you talking about eastern orthodox?

i'm looking for a church near me and found "greek orthodox." i'm assuming that's not the same thing.

I do not believe in any god sadly, and it is actually quite funny for me to watch Christian's explain how everything works. Probably just as funny for Christian's to watch scientists explain how everything works

There's surely an element of that but I don't think its everybody. Maybe on /pol/ its everybody

I just started going to Ortho Church regularly, love it. Amazing. Ya standing up for 3+ hours can be tiring but it helps keep me awake and the icons keep my attention focused on God and the eternal realm, the incense is nice, the liturgy is always good, specially when I get to read out some bits of the gospel :)
...the priest also has an amazing singing voice, gives me goosebumps. I want to go again right now! REEEEEEEEEEEE

I watched a protestant church service and it seemed totally dead in comparison, people just sitting and listening. I mean, they don't even prostrate or get their bodies involved, most looked half-asleep. And then when it was over they CLAPPED LMAO WTF?

>protestant church
>And then when it was over they CLAPPED LMAO?
Americans.

Biggest retard in the thread, and that’s saying something

MUST SEE

youtube.com/watch?v=PjWYmBF2T94

Get the fuck off this board

Especially when they cuss

>If they cared about humility, they would have serious ascetics. Protestants love bourgeois comfort and refinement but shun aristocratic splendour
Well said.

I'm glad I was raised a Quaker. All of you poor lost sinners are damned. Would you like some chocolate?

I'm glad I was raised by Quake. All of you poor lost sinners are damned.

You guys aren’t even trying to be Christians

I’m one of the most depraved people I know, but it’s clear, even to me, that you shouldn’t be calling people “fucking retards.” Thats the modern equivalent of “Raca.”

To remove any sting of superiority that there might be in this judgment, to change it to something that is really made out of love, I will offer to anyone who feels insulted that I am burning, every second, with hatred for everyone around me. So I can already fully appreciate the extent of my hypocrisy. I don’t need to be reminded. I just hope I can change this so it’s not out as judgment as much as it was when it was born.

I don't try; I am.

"Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life within you."

I'm an Orthodox from Finland. I of course prefer Orthodox services but I have to admit that some Lutheran services have been very touching. For example, on Holy Thursday, I usually go to a small wooden Lutheran church in central Helsinki (the oldest in the city) where they have very traditional mass, always with a male priest, and they always sing my favorite Lutheran hymn (which is actually a Catholic hymn "Jesus Christus nostra salus").

Once I was in Tallinn, Estonia and happened to go to a Catholic mass held in a small medieval chapel in Püha Katariina klooster (St. Catherine's monastery, which isn't actually a monastery anymore). There was this Polish priest and maybe 7 or 8 locals. The service was partly in Estonian and partly in Latin but it was easy to follow as I understand quite a bit of Estonian and some Latin. The hymns were either sung by the priest alone or by the congregation in Gregorian style. The service and the chapel (pictured here) was one of the most beautiful I've ever experienced.

Naturally, out of respect, I never partake in Eucharist when visiting Catholic or Lutheran masses.

Latin Mass and Divine Liturgies are beautiful with their choirs and incense however its really weak when it comes to preaching and teaching about Gods word indeed its overwhelmed by the ritual to the point where it becomes mechanical.

The protestant church I go to is the occasional a nice song but otherwise ugly but with powerful and engaging preaching which really helps you to better understand the bible and Christian living.

Its a shame there isnt a church that combines the best of both of these traits. Makes you wonder what the liturgies/Mass's prior to the 400s were like.

>Why do you think so many people were willing to die for icons
Source?

i grew up without religion. when i started seeing my dad again, my stepmom made me do bible atudies and go to jehovahs witness meetings with her. i used to debate with her for hours about why i thought it was bullshit but i still ended up going. i wasnt baptized. right now im
not religious but ive been very interested in medieval theology and philo, and whenever im inside a catholic or orthodox church, im brought to tears. so we'll see

Were you born in a Eastern European shithole or is it just a meme you're pushing? Also, all Orthodox Countries are fucking shitholes. That is not a coincidence.

"Greek orthodox" is also Eastern orthodox. In Europe, there's usually just one Eastern orthodox church (or "patriarchate" or "archdiocese") per country, just like there's just one Catholic archdiocese or some other top organization per country. This entity uses the native language of that country in the services and may have some "local customs". For example, the Russian church music is different than the Greek church music. The priests may dress a bit differently, the icons may be of different styles, there might be some local "saints" etc.

But in the States there's many different ethnic groups from Eastern orthodox countries and they all have their own churches, because they want to have services in their own language and retain their "local customs". They are all still Eastern orthodox and can participate in each other's services if they like.

Combining a lot of sensory stimulation (tons of shiny and complex decoration) or almost none combined with rhythmic action (chanting,praying ect) or no action at all are really effectivie ways of triggering euphoria, intense emotions and even visions. Bonus points if you fast or are otherwise tired.

Everyon from Buddhists to Scientologists have versions of it - except for non Pentecostal Protestants

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>dont mean that at all, im not an atheist but everyone on the Bible/Chrsitianity threads here are onviously contrarian kiddies playacting at Christianity, like reverse Richard Dawkins.
Richard Dawkins is playacting as an atheist? What?

The majority is made up of LARPers. Real Christians would not generally post on a Taiwan Loli Drawing Masturbation Enthusiast Cabin

>t. Didn't understand the Bible and what swearing means in it

youtube.com/watch?v=u3d_yxJhmjk

>The East never developed the university system that the West did in the High Middle Ages
Depends what you consider east and west