It seems as if there is something wrong with every church. The only true Christian died on the cross.
If the only true Christian died on the cross, you call Jesus a liar when he says thst the gstes of bell will not overcome the church. You also are denying the many saints and martyrs who suffered torments for being shining beacons of Christ in the world.
Is there something wrong with every church?
Christ Himself took on flesh. Weak human flesh that needs to eat, drink, and rest. Weak human flesh that is subject to time and the elements. The Church here on Earth is as the flesh. The Church up in heaven is as the divine. Just as Christ himself was fully God and fully man, so to is the Church fully God and fully man. The Church here on Earth and the Church in heaven constitute one Church, they are not 2 churches.
Are you a sinner? Great, then the church is for you. The Church is not a museum of the saints or courthouse to stand before the judge. It is a hospital of the spirit to help you to free yourself from passion and delusion.
The Catholics, apart from doing something that I think is mary worship, have a sex abuse scandal that the pope does not much about.
The Roman Catholic Church broke away from The Orthodox Catholic Church a thousand years ago.
The biggest obstacle towards them reconciliation with Orthodoxy is their doctrine of Papal Supremacy, which the Church at large has NEVER accepted. Besides that, they altered the creed of the church which cannot be done outside of an ecumenical council, and they have introduced. a lot ofnother innovations to the faith.
We Orthodox love Mary very much, because she is the ark of the covenant, the throne of God, the mother of the church, the Theotokos. Christ took his flesh from her. We don't worship her as God, though she is easily the most venerated and loved of the saints.
To give an idea of how we might think differently of Mary, note that it isn't uncommon to see icons of Mary in the Latin church where she is alone by herself. With very rare exceptions, every icon you see of Mary in The Orthodox Church has her pictured with Jesus, and she is always trying to direct your attention to Him, be it through her hand gesture or eyes.
Historically, Christians have always venerated Mary, for it is even written in scripture, "all generations shall call me(Mary) blessed."
The unitaritarians are too liberal for God. They are all about accepting sin, rather than rehabbing those who have done sinful things.
Unitarians do not accept the Trinity, which frankly disqualifies them from even being called Christian. If they do not believe that God's Word and Holy Spirit are divine, they are effectively denying that God ever became man. They are denying that God is with us. They aren't really Christians.
The evangelicals are too conservative for God. They reject undocumented immigrants, which is not very christian.
It's a bit more complicated than that I am sure. For example, breaking the law is not very Christian. If you want a better reason for rejecting Evangelical Christianity, it's that it has become overly Calvinistic, and Calvin's teachings are very much in opposition to what the church has always taught.
Another good reason to reject any evangelical church is lack of consistency. The only thing you might find consistent is a lack of depth and a whole lot of going from the cuff. Oh, you found a church you like and the pastor is really on point? Well, he died or moved away, and the next guy that replaces him is a mug.
Really though, you'll find a lot of conservatives in the Orthodox Church. It is a conservative Church. We have been doing the same liturgy for over a thousand and a half years! Politically, it's a mixed bag. I have friends at church that are Democrats and Republicans. I think at least at my parish, politically people are a little more conservative.
I personally do not have much faith in politics.
I think every Christian should be an independent Christian from a religious standpoint, so they can think for themselves on the bible.
That is a very protestant way of thinking!
And that is why there are 30,000+ protestant denominations.
Humility is very important in the Christian walk. You can't do that if you take yourself as having more authority to interpret scripture and doctrine than even a bishop! Besides, there is no such thing as a lone wolf Christian. Christianity is not an individualistic faith, it is in a way very communal. Even monastics and recluses partake of the eucharist and participate in liturgical life.
