Statement

[Lydia]

There is no salvation outside The Church. The Lord will ask you why you did not learn about Her when given the opportunity.
The people here are waiting for you knock on the door instead of tacking posters on it about irrelevant worldly things.
There is one thing needful, Nadir...

Lydia, we do not want to give Nadir the impression that we are Evangelical Protestants. :mrgreen:

We all must learn to be patient and pray for Nadir. Additionally, we must present such a good case for Orthodox Christianity that he will be willing to make a long trip to see an Orthodox Christian Divine Liturgy, and then be able to taste and see that the Lord is good.

In the meantime, there are some excellent videos on YouTube even by the World Orthodox that can be viewed by him. I am having great difficulty viewing YouTube videos as my ISP is not providing very good service thanks to Verizon's downgrading. Thus, I cannot provide any links. Any help would be appreciated.

Well, there's no need to be insulting! :mrgreen:
I simply believe that forums like this give all people, Orthodox, Heterodox, Jews, Muslims, etc., the opportunity to learn about The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Part of that is to speak the truth in love.
But Nadir consistently refuses to engage anyone of us in a discussion about True Orthodoxy.
Also, I don't believe that you can reason your way to The Church.

As for "the long trip," my 84 year old mother travels 300 miles, one way, to her Church, which is in another country.

[joasia]

Nadir,

When you ask a question and then tell a person their answer is wrong, then I say that you are looking for an answer that is in your own realm of understanding. You are conditioned to expect a certain response. You will not get that here because you are out of your element. What I am saying is re-read the responses because they are Orthodox responses which I believe you said that you were interested in learning about. You wanted to know how we view things, right?

Nevertheless, how I do save my soul, if I do not do what I am supposed to be doing, namely, fulfil the task that has been assigned to me since my calling by the Lord many years ago?

And what is this calling that you feel?

What will the Lord say to me in the day of reckoning if, after all that grace and light was given to me, I did nothing but just buried it underground?

But, we are trying to give you some enlightenment and you reject it. What grace and light do you think you have been given?

[joasia]

There is no salvation outside The Church. The Lord will ask you why you did not learn about Her when given the opportunity.
The people here are waiting for you knock on the door instead of tacking posters on it about irrelevant worldly things.
There is one thing needful, Nadir...

Very good point, Lydia. There is one thing needful...

Worldly issues are a distraction from our focus of salvation. The devil will do what he wants, in the world. But, the important thing is that he doesn't do what he wants against ourselves. Spiritual warefare is our battle. Everyone has their own spiritual warefare.

[Barbara]

I understand what Nadir is saying. It would sound strange to hear the attitude about soul-saving being the only needful thing,
especially for a Catholic. The Catholics do not emphasize this the same way - or using the same terms - that some Orthodox do.

Therefore let us be patient and hear Nadir out. Let's find out WHAT he feels called to do.

He is highly intelligent and kind. Let's apologize for the impatient and dismissive statements, and attempt a fresh start
in dialogue. One cannot expect him to grasp everything in a month or two !
Almost no one can. Hence the nicer and more thoughtful we are, the more he will feel at home asking EXCELLENT QUESTIONS
which make us all think, too, while answering them or trying to.

[joasia]

Maria wrote:

Lydia, we do not want to give Nadir the impression that we are Evangelical Protestants.

Actually, I believe that we are Evangelical Orthodox, although we are not doing a very good job at it. The Protestants are just more energetic. And why not evangelize on a website that promotes our True Orthodox faith. It's not like we're talking in the office with so many non-believers. And even then, we should be allowed to express our beliefs. Nadir is here in our chat room. It's the equivalent of sitting at someone's table who all happen to be Orthodox and he, a Roman Catholic sits with us. Are we to put our heads down and let him tell us what's what? Why should we feel intimidated to express the truth?? Isn't that what everyone here always proclaims?

Well, I believe that if Nadir wants to be here then he will hear the Orthodox facts and he should consider what is being said. I don't keep the truth from my parents who are Roman Catholic. Why should I feel compelled to suppress the expression of my faith here?

If a person wants to know the truth then that person will listen. That's how I came to Orthodoxy and I think that's how everyone else, who are converts to Orthodoxy, came to it. Nothing can stop a person from learning the truth if that's what they're searching. And if they're not looking for the truth, then they will get bored really fast and leave.

[NadirGP]

Joasia and Lydia,

Why all this acrimony? You claim to love everybody, your enemy included. Then, for once show this love for the lowest of all men; thus, I might start thinking you really are rational and loving persons.

The lowest point, Nadir

[maximus]

I feel that sometimes people talk about Nadir as if he is unable to read what they are posting. As if he were a child in a room and we are parents discussing his behavior.

I think I would personally feel alienated if I were talked about in this way. In which case, why would I want to have a dialogue with somebody doing this?

Nadir, God forbid any of us claim to be perfect. As I'm sure you understand, our faith tells us that Orthodoxy is His Church, His Body. Everything else, Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Muslim, etc. is not of His Body, according to our beliefs.

I'll speak for myself: as such, in a spirit that I hope is love, I find myself wanting to convince anyone who is not in the Orthodox Church to come in. For how can I, being the sinner I am, God knows how much of a sinner I am, NOT share the truth of Christ's Body to others? To my loved ones? To my neighbor? It is my duty, my obligation, to speak the truth when it is called for.

I have friends in the Roman Catholic Church, pious, zealous, God-loving friends who should be here. And they're not. It baffles me. For I am wicked and utterly horrible - and yet an Orthodox Christian. I wish that everyone would come into the Church. That you would come into the Church, Nadir. But if you do not wish to discuss it, I will not push. I will not judge you. I will love you as my neighbor, to the best of my abilities. And if I fall short of it, ever in the future, please forgive me.