Which kind of Orthodoxy is the correct one?

[Liudmilla]

This is a topic that bothers me a great deal. Simple Orthodox people striving to save their souls, caught up in a great debate of which Orthodox faction is the "correct" one. Each of us in the forum belongs to one or another.

The thing that I liked about this forum was that no one group was pushing their version over the rest. This was a place where any Orthodox could come and discuss, argue, read and comment on Orthodox teachings and Orthodox life without prejudice and judgement. Yet lately I have noticed postings that had a somewhat superiority complex. A sort of "I'm better that you" feel to them. And I have to admit that this has always been a peeve of mine. If you are so good, then your actions and christian charity, your piety would show that goodness, gloating that you are "better", more "correct", the "only path to salvation" is not the way to truth.

If truly examined from a historical view, all churches would be found wanting in some fashion, in some manner, in some act. None of us can truly say their version is not without some flaw. Ultimately it all boils down to how many of us, little people, remain truthful and faithful to their faith in Christ. For we are the bricks of Christ's church and all the rest is nothing but mere trappings. When we fight amoungst ourselves about who's right, we only serve to advance the position of mankind in it's bickering, schism and all the rest. We do not serve GOD when we do this!!!

I have long thought that when we all finally stand in that last judgement, we will find that we, the individuals and we, the churches, did not fulfill Christ's commandments, His intentions, or His teachings.

We need to concentrate on our own salvation and not on who's right and who's wrong.

[Seraphim Reeves]

Hasty condemnations and hyper-correctism are fuel for sectarianism and schism.

Seraphim

[Justin Kissel]

It's interesting, Fr. Seraphim Rose believed (based on what he'd read in the Church Fathers and Saints) that, at the end, almost all would fall into apostasy. You'd think this would have made finding the "right group" important in his mind, but this actually seemed to be unimportant to him. He seemed to have thought that if you had an Orthodoxy of the heart, a suffering Orthodoxy, if you were striving to seek the Lord, that you would be ok (finding by a natural movement of the soul the same thing that the mind would be seeking if one were relying solely on intellectual decisions and beliefs). The odd thing is, I became ROCOR because I thought this would allow me to escape from all of this judging, but sadly, my spiritual life hasn't much improved It's not the group you're in, it's the condition of your heart. That's not to say that the group you're in is unimportant: but if your heart is in the wrong place, no group can help you.

[Jakub]

I am new to your forum, but do belong to a few others, but I must say that Liudmilla's post is one of the best I have read... anywhere.

James

[??????]

I think that because we all belong to the Orthodox faith, it should not matter which of the branches you are in. I'm not sure if others see it the same way I do. I belong to ROCOR and personally, I think that celebrating by the old calendar is correct, however, we all know that there have been saints from the different branches, which shows that all the branches carry truth.
Andrey

[Joseph]

Luidmilla has a great point. Nothing can ruin a collective project faster than faction. Jurisdiction is a law or rule under which we voluntarily place ourselves, but against whom do we compete? What good does it do to argue amongst ourselves who will sit where in heaven? It is sometimes so hard to avoid the trap of medieval thinking... Unfortunately, if we do not begin to look at our neighbor's problems as our own we will set the stage for one who will come and solve the problem for us.

[OrthodoxyOrDeath]

This is perhaps one of the most important topics for those coming from new-calendarism.

I would largely agree with this. In these terrible times, which are likely the last days, Satan has gathered all his might, built up over centuries, to destroy the church. He does this namely by destroying the truth. In the face of this the genuine Orthodox Church appears disintegrated, fragmented into small, scattered, parishes, so that it is even common that one suspects the others orthodoxy for lack of confidence, just as soldiers suspect each other when it is learned the enemy is wearing the same uniform.

There are many people today who claim to be true Orthodox Christians, and that Orthodoxy is as they understand it to be. But in spite of all this, those who have a pure heart and a mind enlightened by divine grace will recognize the Orthodox Church despite the apparent divisions and utter lack of external splendor. We must believe they gather around the true priests and they are protected by millions and millions of angels of all kinds, and that Christ has given them His Grace. They are the pillars of the Church.

So let the