Story
Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2017
- Messages
- 106
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 16
- Location
- United States
- Faith
- Orthodox Christian
- Jurisdiction
- GOA
This is a thread for former Protestants to look back on the good and the bad of their old tradition. Not looking back in a turn-into-a-pillar-of-salt way, just in a contemplative way
Also, note that I came from a non-denominational Evangelical tradition so my observations definitely won't apply to all forms of Protestantism equally.
It's an interesting thing to think about. I'm of course overwhelmingly glad that by God's grace I found the Orthodox Church; I feel deeply like Protestantism could never truly satisfy me and that there was ultimately nothing for me there. There was a certain lack of depth in the spirituality, despite people's truly deep sincerity and devotion. There was a lot of focus on being in a "saved" state, which made it harder to understand what the purpose of life was once you were sure you're in that state, other than "don't sin" and "evangelize".
I tried to fill the lack of depth with Calvinism, which seemed at first to work, but turned out ultimately terrible, because it does not actually fix the problem I mentioned at all, adds a bunch of doctrines which I eventually realized were completely horrifying, can potentially make people be more focused on being intellectually right than on being Christ-like, and focuses so completely on the soteriological significance of Christ's sacrifice that you pretty much do not have any understanding of or connection to Him other than that, at least in my case. Yes, it was wonderful to contemplate His sacrifice, but in retrospect, everything about Christ other than that was barely emphasized at all, which is troubling to say the least.
Also, not to be mean, but in retrospect Protestant beliefs, no matter how hard they try (and sometimes they try very hard), have a lot of intellectual failings. I began doubting Protestantism in large part because of the Bible itself, which is especially bad when "Sola Scriptura" is one of your tenants.
But, it would be dishonest and ungrateful to be completely negative about my spiritual past. It still grounded me in basic Christian teachings, and in solid Biblical knowledge that I think is very beneficial. Plus, while I find Protestant approaches to evangelism to be rather dubious a lot of the time, they have reached a lot of people with Christianity even if it's not the fullness of the truth, and I do think it would be beneficial if Orthodox Christianity could perhaps be a bit more proactive in this regard.
There have been occasional moments when I feel nostalgic for my faith past - not to the extent of ever wanting to return, but just a feeling. I feel like that's less to do with doctrine or practices and more on a cultural/familiarity level. Protestantism in America feels so...accessible, I guess you could say. It's easy to digest, easy to get into, and is well-integrated into American culture in general. None of those are inherently good things, but the fact that Orthodoxy doesn't have them does make it more difficult in a lot of ways.
Fellow converts from Protestantism to Orthodoxy, what are your thoughts and feelings when you contemplate the faith you left behind?
It's an interesting thing to think about. I'm of course overwhelmingly glad that by God's grace I found the Orthodox Church; I feel deeply like Protestantism could never truly satisfy me and that there was ultimately nothing for me there. There was a certain lack of depth in the spirituality, despite people's truly deep sincerity and devotion. There was a lot of focus on being in a "saved" state, which made it harder to understand what the purpose of life was once you were sure you're in that state, other than "don't sin" and "evangelize".
I tried to fill the lack of depth with Calvinism, which seemed at first to work, but turned out ultimately terrible, because it does not actually fix the problem I mentioned at all, adds a bunch of doctrines which I eventually realized were completely horrifying, can potentially make people be more focused on being intellectually right than on being Christ-like, and focuses so completely on the soteriological significance of Christ's sacrifice that you pretty much do not have any understanding of or connection to Him other than that, at least in my case. Yes, it was wonderful to contemplate His sacrifice, but in retrospect, everything about Christ other than that was barely emphasized at all, which is troubling to say the least.
Also, not to be mean, but in retrospect Protestant beliefs, no matter how hard they try (and sometimes they try very hard), have a lot of intellectual failings. I began doubting Protestantism in large part because of the Bible itself, which is especially bad when "Sola Scriptura" is one of your tenants.
But, it would be dishonest and ungrateful to be completely negative about my spiritual past. It still grounded me in basic Christian teachings, and in solid Biblical knowledge that I think is very beneficial. Plus, while I find Protestant approaches to evangelism to be rather dubious a lot of the time, they have reached a lot of people with Christianity even if it's not the fullness of the truth, and I do think it would be beneficial if Orthodox Christianity could perhaps be a bit more proactive in this regard.
There have been occasional moments when I feel nostalgic for my faith past - not to the extent of ever wanting to return, but just a feeling. I feel like that's less to do with doctrine or practices and more on a cultural/familiarity level. Protestantism in America feels so...accessible, I guess you could say. It's easy to digest, easy to get into, and is well-integrated into American culture in general. None of those are inherently good things, but the fact that Orthodoxy doesn't have them does make it more difficult in a lot of ways.
Fellow converts from Protestantism to Orthodoxy, what are your thoughts and feelings when you contemplate the faith you left behind?