Becoming Orthodox

A most fascinating story in the renewal of historic Christianity is the strange case of a few thousand Evangelical Protestants converting en masse to the Antiochian Orthodox Church in 1987. Originally begun as yet another attempt by a group of Evangelicals to "get back to the New Testament Church", they, unlike many such endeavors, studied Church history and discovered some unexpected things: liturgy, bishops, sacraments, and various other beliefs and practices reeking of Catholicism.Becoming Orthodox is the story of this journey through the eyes of Peter Gillquist, one of the major players in the group, and details their growth from house Churches to an independent denomination and on to their final acceptance into Orthodoxy. The book serves as Gillquist's answer to the question he poses early in the book: whatever would possess two thousand Bible believing, blood bought, Gospel preaching, Christ centered, lifelong Evangelical Protestants to embrace this Orthodox faith so enthusiastically?The book is divided into three sections detailing their disillusionment with Evangelicalism and their research leading them to believe the Orthodox Church was the Church of the New Testament, a summary and defense of Orthodox belief and practice, and the arduous process of joining Orthodoxy itself. The presentation is enthusiastic, fast paced, and not overly critical to their former Evangelical homes. The trek to Orthodoxy always is presented as a completion rather than a repudiation of the faith of their youth.Most interesting is the comparisons between Orthodoxy and the other contender for the historic Church - Roman Catholicism. In deciding between the Roman and Eastern expressions of historic Christianity, this unusual group of "seekers" compared the major disagreements between the two Churches - with Rome in their eyes always coming up short. However, this criticism is strictly within the context of determining which is the "true New Testament Church". There is no anti-Roman bigotry or cheap shots at Catholics' expense.It should also be pointed out that Orthodoxy does not always come out looking perfect either. When they decided to become Orthodox, the leaders of the group (by now called the Evangelical Orthodox Church) traveled to Constantinople (Istanbul) to see the Patriarch and submit to the Orthodox Church. In the strange politics of the Orthodox (from which we inherit our less flattering definition of 'Byzantine'), he refused to see them. To this day, the rejection has never been explained and - despite the final outcome - some hurt is still evident in the account.. The group later met with the Patriarch of Antioch who welcomed them into the Church, and they in turn have spearheaded many evangelistic outreaches for the Antiochian Archdiocese in America. The overlapping jurisdictions are still a major problem for a strong Orthodox witness to the West and the political intrigue and ethnic divisions serve only to exacerbate the problem.A weakness in the book is a generally superficial treatment of the differences between Eastern and Western theological approaches. There are differences in the starting points of the Orthodox view in relation to Western Churches. The very project they embarked upon is analytical in nature and somewhat alien to the Orthodox ethos. Gillquist acknowledges this somewhat but it is never fully fleshed out and one is left with Orthodox conclusions from Protestant methodology.Despite this issue, Becoming Orthodox presents a strong case for the Orthodox Church as a home for those discontented with the state of Protestantism. It may even be the best starting point since the book is written in the style of many Evangelical Protestant "witness" books. While it may leave some theological questions unanswered, the curious would have as accurate a view of the Orthodox Church and its intrigue as could be expected for an outsider.

The quotes are the last words in the book. This 'manifesto' (imho) is not another 'conversion' story but rather the true story of a spiritual journey; a journey embarked by a group of fervent evangelical Protestants (Campus Crusade for Christ leaders) and which lasted over a decade. Peter E. Gillquist (the author) is a brilliant marketeer and presenter of his group's spiritual journey, of their search for the ancient faith and original New Testament Church.The book is devided into three sections:Part I describes the group's pilgrimage through the history of Christendom. This was done by assigning each members an area of research, such as church history pre-reformation and post-reformation, Biblical doctrine, and Christian worship. As Gillquist sumarizes this new journey in the last chapter, "the change came for us when we stopped trying to judge and reevaulate Church history, and for once invited Church history to judge and evaluate us."Part II entitled "Orthodoxy and the Bible" is the meat of the book (imho). Here Gillquist does an excellent job of explaining (and not overpowering or over-analyzing) the most mis-understood and puzzling components of the Orthodox faith and praxis. These topics include:a) explaining the use of all 5 senses in Orthodox worship,b) the reasons for having a Christian historical tradition ("Traditon is there not just to preserve the Bible, but also to interpret it."),c) using the title "Father" (Fr.),d) why should we honor Mary (aka Theotokos - God-bearer),e) and why does a Christian cross oneself?Part III is a narative highlighting the lows and highs of a decade of pilgrimage before the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC - the name of over 2000 Protestants, 17 dioces who were becoming Orthodox) had been accepted and included into the Antiochian Orthodox Church.As my title suggestions, this books is a great marketing tool for anyone interested in the Orthodox Church and Faith. One should not expect doctoral answers to difficult questions from this 191 page book (although a lot of Biblical verses are quoted and used for explanation). Personally I found the writing style very easy to read (the larger font and spacing definitely helped), coherent and logical, and even entertainining in some spots. I wish Gillquist would have written more about the ones who dropped out early on from the church history research, or the priests/bishops in EOC who did not join the Antiochian Orthodox Church. As a liturgical Protestant I certainly do not agree with the statement that "to forsake the Church, you must also forsake the faith" (pg.143) and I wish Gillquist would have spent more time talking about ecclesiology and its view and development throughout the history of Christendom.Nevertheless, I found the tone, style, and content of this book to be non-polemical, Christian, and informative. I would recommend it for any Christian (Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox) interested in why a large group (over 2000) of hard-core evangelical Campus-Crusade-for-Christ Christian activists became and joined the Eastern Orthodox Church. This book is also beneficial to any non-Christian intersted in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Fascinating story of a group of American evangelicals search for the New Testament church which eventually led them to the Orthodox churchA bit dated though as transition happened 15 or so years ago

fantastic book

A wonderful account of a journey to Orthodoxy. It's a little brief and fast paced, but presumably with the intent to render the book more digestible.

Very nice and informative in relation to the beginnings of the church and different it’s origins .If you are interested in the original Christian history and the church that the apostles built , then it s a must read.