You don’t confess TO the priest. The priest bears witness as you confess to God. You confess in the presence of the priest if you are so inclined. But mince words. It is also NOT required to confess to a priest in Orthodoxy, ever, and completely optional, and a practice, not a rite, because most people have a difficult time being honest to themselves let alone God. The purpose of the priest is to advise you or guide you to personal transformation if requested, which they cannot do without information. Being your brother’s keeper means holding each other accountable where you cannot hold yourself accountable and priests are intended to offer that service where yourself or others may fail. But mince words about a faith you don’t actually practice with someone who does like an ignorant fool.
Everything you say is a stretch. Seriously. Icons are not idols. Icons are symbolic, like letters, words, sentences and stories. They are an abstraction and representation to imperfectly communicate the meaning and purpose of the faith like all means of man’s communication. No one worships icons. They are a tool to worship God. No different than the book itself or prayer beads. Pictures are worth 1,000 words and setting is important to the orthodox faith, and icons create a setting which focus your mind on God instead of the material world.
It should be noted that the largest collection of icons in the world, on Mt Aethos are put away into storage and almost never seen again after being finished because the act of creating the icons themselves is a form of prayer no different than when monks wrote and illustrated bibles. They paint the icons as prayer and they are preserved in deep storage and almost never seen again. That is not worship. They are not praying to the icons, they are praying to God as they make them as they do when they bake bread or candles or write texts.
An icon is no different than a cross for lay people. Is the cross idol worship? No.
Sadly you can quote text, but do not fully understand it beyond cherry-picking for selfish purposes.
You don’t confess TO the priest. The priest bears witness as you confess to God. You confess in the presence of the priest if you are so inclined. But mince words. It is also NOT required to confess to a priest in Orthodoxy, ever, and completely optional, and a practice, not a rite, because most people have a difficult time being honest to themselves let alone God. The purpose of the priest is to advise you or guide you to personal transformation if requested, which they cannot do without information. Being your brother’s keeper means holding each other accountable where you cannot hold yourself accountable and priests are intended to offer that service where yourself or others may fail. But mince words about a faith you don’t actually practice with someone who does like an ignorant fool.
Everything you say is a stretch. Seriously. Icons are not idols. Icons are symbolic, like letters, words, sentences and stories. They are an abstraction and representation to imperfectly communicate the meaning and purpose of the faith like all means of man’s communication. No one worships icons. They are a tool to worship God. No different than the book itself or prayer beads. Pictures are worth 1,000 words and setting is important to the orthodox faith, and icons create a setting which focus your mind on God instead of the material world.
It should be noted that the largest collection of icons in the world, on Mt Aethos are put away into storage and almost never seen again after being finished because the act of creating the icons themselves is a form of prayer no different than when monks wrote and illustrated bibles. They paint the icons as prayer and they are preserved in deep storage and almost never seen again. That is not worship. They are not praying to the icons, they are praying to God as they make them as they do when they bake bread or candles or write texts.
An icon is no different than a cross for lay people. Is the cross idol worship? No.
Sadly you can quote text, but do not fully understand it beyond cherry-picking for selfish purposes.
This is bill clinton type BS. Am I surprised?
That would be Catholicism with transubstantiation lol.
Orthodoxy is a works and rites faith, not dogma.
But, keep trolling closet queen. Sorry you can’t marry your boyfriend in my church. You seem like a Lutheran.
Faith is based on salvation alone. I thought you said you read the Bible.
Never said it wasnt. You cannot even read a paragraph let alone an entire book lol.