I'll be honest I'm Protestant but lately I find myself defending Eastern positions more and more against Protestants / RCs. Please pray for me and my familys journey. The Father argument is one I've heard before but this was a helpful response. Thanks for clearing it up.

@Aaron.T2005

Ай бұрын

That’s what my journey was. I started out a dispensationalist, started learning about Eastern Orthodoxy from intrigue because of their beautiful hymnology, then I started defending their positions, which is the state you’re in. Eventually, you will realize they are the original unchanged apostolic church, and that you actually BELIEVE their teachings. So this’ll drive you to eventually seek conversion. I am personally at the point where I want to convert, but familial pressure is what is stopping me. While learning the faith, be patient and don’t jump. This is a long process Edit: grammar

@ChristianWario

Ай бұрын

Praying for you!

@LambsServant

Ай бұрын

What objections do you have against the Catholic Church? I’m speaking as a Catholic.

@maxromano2262

Ай бұрын

Don't try to lump in the Roman Catholic Church with the Protestants. Orthodox and Catholics have far more in common with each other, then either have with Protestants. I'm not even sure what a Protestant is, considering that there are a thousand different denominations. Some, so bizarre that they are hardly recognizable as Christian. Plus, only Protestants could come up with an abomination like "Christian" Zionism. Of course, I pray that God guides you on your journey.

@ChristApologetics01

Ай бұрын

@@LambsServant I wouldn't phrase it so much as objections to Roman Catholicism so much as I'd phrase it as - when looking into Church fathers, practice, and doctrine in the first 1,000 years prior to the great schism, Roman Catholicism takes a bit more elaborate explanations as to why they don't do certain things that way anymore vs Orthodoxy for the most part still operates very similar to that first 1,000 years. God bless.

“Rainbow skittle agenda” that had me laughing pretty hard 😂 another amazing video father!

@angiekereakes6551

Ай бұрын

me, too

This is exactly what I've been looking for! Short, concise, and using Bible verses! I'll have to show my Protestant mother this!

This is one of the sillier talking points from them... I've actually been in conversations with someone who say "Well I call my father Dad, so that doesn't count!" 🙄🙄🙄🙄

@meg3298

Ай бұрын

Insanely low IQ

This is one of those points prots make over and over, never listening to the answer. Like Muslims with the "why Jesus pray to God if He's God?!" No matter how many times they have it explained to them, they go right back to it like programming.

@TheRealRealOK

Ай бұрын

So true

@collectiveconsciousness5314

Ай бұрын

It’s almost as if the same spirit fuels their different erroneous copypastas.

@slowboywhiteboardv4

Ай бұрын

@@KyrieEleison3 Even the most "devout" protestant has misplaced devotion.

@MultiSpeedMetal

Ай бұрын

⁠@@KyrieEleison3Protestants do this with every Orthodox position they don't hold though. You can endlessly explain to them why they are wrong about whatever but it's often futile because they didn't reason their way into their current positions to begin with. We've been through the same arguments for centuries but you still see the same bad arguments popping up over and over again. It's not just a problem of reason but of the heart and lack of humility. Also if a protestant denomination didn't have a problem with anything the Orthodox church teaches why exactly aren't they Orthodox themselves then?

@meg3298

Ай бұрын

People hate admitting their wrong

I saw a protestant say it was ok for paul to do it because he was an apostle, but in the protestant view calling yourself "father" is making yourself God, so he said it was ok for an apostle to make themselves God.

@CMAC.1483

Ай бұрын

🧠

@adamrosner4396

Ай бұрын

When I was a kid I thought Bobba Fett was once one of the sand people based on something I misread in a magazine. I told my friends about it and saw myself as something of an authority on Star Wars lore - self appointed authority I should say

God needed to be "reformed" according to their blindness

So thankful for Orthodoxy. It is like a cool refreashing bewerage on a very hot day. One feels the storm within calm, with every interaction of orthodoxy. It is sane and orderly.

Great video Father. God Bless you and your family and your parish.

Padre Que Dios todopoderoso me lo bendiga mucho y su familia. Gracias a sus charlas nos fortalecen mucho y nos reconfortan con la Santa y única Iglesia la Ortodoxa. Amén 🙏 ☦️

I am a Protestant who has been educated in a background in Church History who has sensed and felt a lack of belonging to the Protestant tradition. The more that I study OT context and the primitive Church the more out of step I feel with them. Moreover, it has appalled me at how our post-secondary institutions have essentially ignored the Eastern Churches. I understand how certain objections from Protestants are irritating to have to respond to over and over again, but there are people who are listening.

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

God bless you! I am glad you’re digging deeper!

Господь да благословит тебя, отец Михаил.

Great video Father! Wait, can I call you that? 🙃

TY Fr. Your videos have been helping me as a catechumen alot. I learn quite a bit from the things you talk about. God Bless, and I appreciate all the work you put into this channel

Bless Father! This is a great video. I wonder sometimes if the majority of those who make those comments are new to Christianity. As you said, it's a constant argument they have, and you would at least think they have already received the answer. whether they agree with it or not. "But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear." Zechariah 7:11

Thank you so much for the videos Fr. Your videos are always informative for former protestant inquirers like myself I found the answers within the videos of yourself and many other Orthodox Channels (like Jay Dyer, Kyle, Patristic nectar, etc) to be more understandable and more guiding and authentic than any of the answers i received during my time as a protestant. While KZread videos aren't a replacement for the guidance of my local priest, the vast amount of knowledge in your videos and the videos of others alongside the absolute beauty of the church (her services, her songs, the promises she keeps, etc.) are what makes me keen to become Orthodox, hopefully soon to become a Catechumen, please pray for me (Joseph) as i learn the Orthodox way and one day come into the body of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church

Thank you Father, for your clarity and directness here. Newly discovering the Holy Orthodox Church, this is something I had never thought about. May God bless you 🙏🙏🙏

Wait! You mean we Protestants use strawman arguments?! Say it ain't so!

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Haha! At least you’re honest about it! Most aren’t sadly.

Well done Father Micheal! Blessings

The Holy Scriptures, where one may find agreement to anything we think or believe, or that which serves us as we are as people. But the reality is, though any person upon the Earth may obtain a copy and Read it, the Spiritual Contents and Contexts, lay Hidden behind the Spirit in which they was Written. Thus so easy to Obtain, but Hidden from the Wise in Their Own Eye's. A Word. The Shifting Sands of the Passing Intellect, can Never Contain the Truth of God, for the Cracked Vase of The Human Mind, can Never of Itself Maintain The Spirits Truth, Without it Trying to turn Them, into a Service to its Own Ego.

☦☦

Thank you father

god bless you father ❤

Blessings Father. Could you please do a video reflection on Matthew 18:20 and Mark 9:38-41. Often Protestants use those verses to justify their position on faith and church. Can you please explain us the Orthodox understanding on those verses?Thank you so much in advance. Your blessings🙏🏻☦️

"A Protestant misunderstanding" Say it aint so!

@rameybutler-hm7nx

Ай бұрын

Shock and disbelief 😮

Hey father, you mentioned that Protestantism is spiritual atheism. Do you have a video further explaining why? Genuinely curious

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

I will make one :). Truly it’s because of the reductionism. They relegate the spiritual life to the mental realm and call it spiritual. They confuse their emotions for “leadings” from the Holy Spirit. Yet divorced from thousands of years of Church history, experience and teaching, they fail to see that emotions are in fact carnal in nature. This is why the prophet Elias encountered God not in the storm but silence. Only once we remove ourselves and silence the inner life can we hear the voice of God.

@normadaly7506

Ай бұрын

​@@living_orthodoxthank you

Are Protestants saved? Or do they need to convert to Orthodoxy to be saved? I was a Protestant but I no longer agree with the Protestant teachings, I just wish to know if there is an answer. God bless and thank you

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Their teachings and Gnostic approach to salvation cannot save. God can save whom he wishes. But I wouldn’t leave it to chance. He gave us the Church for a reason. If you need help you can email me at fr.mikhail.baleka@gmail.com

@Jesus_isGod

Ай бұрын

@@living_orthodox God bless. Thank you for your answer. My family is Protestant but God willing as I continue to learn about orthodoxy and convey it to them God will lead them to the fullness of the faith. God willing

It's funny because some of these points I thought about myself, especially when reading Acts and the epistles and things Jesus said. And something else I realized is that cherry picking scripture without the full understanding and context to try and make your point right is manipulative and no different than what the enemy tried to do to Jesus when he was fasting in the wilderness and trying to tempt him over again. Ppl are doing this as well to others.

Can you do a video on the dangers of p*rnography addiction and tips on how men can quit it even if they've tried 1000 times before and failed?

question: if it's not an prohibition against calling a man genetic/physical father, and it's not against calling a man one's spiritual father, what is Matthew 23:9 an injunction against?

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

That was very clearly explained in the video.

@AnHebrewChild

Ай бұрын

@@living_orthodoxat 7:15 of the video. "This isn't a prohibition actually on the term or title. St John Chrysostom says, 'not that they should not _call,_ but that they may _know_ whom one ought to call father in the highest sense.'" Is that the part? I'm just a little unclear on what this all meant. I realize you run into antagonistic people who just want to argue, but that is not me. I'm asking someone to patiently explain. Thank you in advance

Father, could you please help explain the female African Deacon I’ve heard about?

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Check out the livestream I did.

@alexphlegm1963

Ай бұрын

@@living_orthodox thank you Father

Protestant logic, that like, military intelligence? 🤔 💭

Is there different context to father? Isn't father, father. Does it matter who the person is, the role is plain. Has anyone ever thought this would be synonymous to the law?

How do you explain the Orthodox icon of Christ? The earliest depictions show him with short hair, sometimes no beard (I believe he had a beard but Im not convinced he had long hair, as only Nazirites did and Christ was not a Nazirite; not to mention Pauls claim that its a shame for men to have long hair). Do you hold the view that the Orthodox Icon is based on the Holy Shroud which was most likely in Constantinople prior to being taken to France and then Italy? I am Presbyterian, but I do understand the difference between an idol and an icon; nonetheless, the reason I am against depictions of Christ is because I would not want to be responsible for propagating a false image of the LORD. The more I learn about the shroud the more I realize there is no explanation, besides Medieval Europeans having advanced lost technology, which I do not believe is the case. Do you have any explanation as to how or why Christ would have long hair?

@acekoala457

Ай бұрын

"Long Hair" is relative. In the 1st Millennium "Long Hair" was at the Waist and was considered feminine. Now we in modern times consider "Long Hair" anything longer than 5 inches.

@joannagrimeki7415

Ай бұрын

The Holy Shroud was a holy remnand of Christ therefore early christians respected and protected it. But before the time when photography was invented, it was not possible to see the clear figur on the Shroud. Its more possible that early christians or the desciples themselfs described Jesus to their followers. Apostle Luke was the first who painted an icone. Long hair is the correct way to paint Jesus exactly like we see His image on the Shroud. p.s. I have no doubt, the Shroud is the real one in which Jesus was buried!

@l.b.d

Ай бұрын

@@acekoala457 yes it is relative, but what source do you have to prove that “long hair was at the waist”? Also, consider that in Roman dominated Judea the standard was short hair, and Christ was indiscernible to the Romans when amongst his apostles (hence the kiss of Judas). This suggests that he, like his apostles, would have had short hair. Why is it that he, among all his apostles, is the only one depicted with long hair? Not only in contemporary but in ancient art. Look at the tomb frescoes from St Tecla for example, which are the earliest depictions of the Apostles and include an image of Christ with short red hair (David also had red hair; admoni). Not to mention all the ancient Judean synagogue mosaics, such as those at Huqoq or Sepporis/Zippori. Also frescoes from Dura Europos Church/Synagogue, as well as Judea Capta coinage. Not one ancient depiction portrays a single man with hair as long as the conventional image of Christ (other than images of Samson who was a Nazirite).

@l.b.d

Ай бұрын

@@joannagrimeki7415 if Luke was the first to paint an icon, where is it and does it depict Christ with long hair? If the apostles were describing Christs appearance to those they preached to, why do all the earliest depictions show Christ with short hair?

@joannagrimeki7415

Ай бұрын

@@l.b.d The ancient tradition of the Church says that the holy Evangelist Luke painted the first icone of the Mother of God. According to the Lives of saints, this testimony was cited by Patriarch Germanos, in an epistle to Constantine Copronimos attributed to St. John Damascene, and in an epistle of the patriarch to Emperor Theophilus. So I trust the tradition of the Church! p.s. About Jesus hair, i have no doubt He had long hair at the time when He started His ministry. Orthodox clergy wear their hair long and beards untrimmed to emulate Christ, who was a Nazarene. Christ with short hair, was more roman-greek style or maybe He was painted in a younger age? I suppose so but i am not sure about that....

Hope you're doing well Father. ❤☦️

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Thank you Nathaniel! Doing well!

As a Protestant, i’ve never heard a better explanation than this. And I only came across this channel and episode by chance or God will. I hope you don’t stop talking about such things because you are tired of it. I appreciate and respect what you had to say to me today.

@AnHebrewChild

Ай бұрын

I've listened to it twice and still have a question. Since you seem to better understand what he's saying, maybe you can answer. Q: if it's not a prohibition against calling a man genetic/physical father, and it's not against calling a man one's spiritual father, what IS Matthew 23:9 an injunction against? That's the part of this video I'm unclear on still. Thank you

@joannagrimeki7415

Ай бұрын

@@AnHebrewChild Matthew 23:5-9 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make atheir phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they clove the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are hall brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. // Read the whole verse and not only a separate phrase of it, then you will understand the meaning of this verse.

@AnHebrewChild

Ай бұрын

@@joannagrimeki7415 yes. Matthew is my favorite book. I've read chapter 23 many times. One of the many commandments Jesus gives in Matthew is contained in ch 23 verse 9. This is my question to the OP or anyone willing to answer: what is this commandment forbidding?

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

The placing of oneself under one who doesn’t abide by the law of God but rather, tries to puff up and benefit from it. The reformers are a fine example of this in that they established their own “churches” for the sake of intellectual pride and denying the reality of the Church established by Christ.

@AnHebrewChild

Ай бұрын

@@living_orthodox I agree. Placing oneself under those kinds of lawless men is a terrible thing to do. But is this what you're saying 23:9 is an injunction against?

"Call no man Father" is Jesus speaking to the pagans who refered thier key gods as a father. Pagans were there as well also known as Gentiles that whom Jesus chose to start this new Christianity. Many became converts to Christ but many thaught him to be an incarnation or a prophet of some other diety. This phrase of Jesus for many centuries the best Protastamt weapon a religion created by created by ignorant Catholics that fell into scrupulousity,...why?by letting them read the Bible without educated guidence. When The Book was more available in any home it became the beacon to spiritual fear and end of world wowes and still is to this day. Father please don't misunderstand, I am Catholic and embrace my faith with its battles and all. Thank You so much.

“So why are Pastors calling themselves guides?” This one question blows up the Protestant stance on this matter. As someone in a Baptist church that has done some historical reading and has some understanding, I HAVE to admire other denominations and acknowledge them because there is no true stance that my particular denomination is THE sole, exclusive, definitive, set-in-stone path to Christ. To not have love in my heart for other denominations would be extremely ignorant for me and I believe that’s the problem with and for a lot of Protestants. For a lot of us there’s surface level understanding and misconstrued concepts taken for whole truth. I genuinely believe that Protestants might perhaps by the grace of God get to Heaven, but boy are we going to get sat down and have a talking to. The more I learn about history and the Orthodox Church, the more I support you. I have to acknowledge other churches, but you don’t because the Orthodox Church has maintained the faith… It breaks my heart that I’m currently unable to attend an Orthodox Church, at the same time, I know the path to attending one would be ROUGH. I’ve found faith because of a vision God put upon me that taught me faith and linked me to my Pastor. I love my Pastor and the people attending my church, so the fallout would be… Difficult.

I’m a Reformed Protestant, and I appreciated your thoughts on this topic. At the same time, I was surprised by your annoyance/anger at the reformers for thinking a Reformation was necessary. Surely you would agree that many doctrines and practices had built up to that time which needed to be forsaken, wouldn’t you? I was just surprised by your stance toward this.

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Anger? No it’s simply blasphemy. It was necessary that they come to the Church Christ established. Not their man made tradition. It shouldn’t surprise you. One God, One Saviour, One Church. We Orthodox aren’t ecumenist who believe in a Nestorian ecclesiology. We ceased communion with the Catholics. The problem with Protestant reformers is that to them, the west is the only thing that exists in Christianity and it reveals their ignorance. We never accepted the papal developments. Church history goes back further than 1517 and 1054.

@rameybutler-hm7nx

Ай бұрын

Word.🫡

@tjkhan4541

Ай бұрын

@@living_orthodox may I ask what you mean by Nestorian ecclesiology?

@rameybutler-hm7nx

Ай бұрын

​@@tjkhan4541 nestorianism is bad. Coptic church believes in nestorian they believe that jesus in just a son of God not part of God, like hercules is the son of zeus. I hope i didnt mis explain this Father am i wrong?

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Like Nestorios, Protestants divide the body of Christ (the Church) so distinctly that they are considered two separate things. Just as Nestorios divided the natures of Christ so sharply that he essentially professed that Christ is two people and not one person. And no. Don’t get it twisted with the Trinity. The Trinity are three distinct persons who share one divine nature. Christ is fully God and fully Man. Two natures united in one hyspostasis (person). The Church mirrors her spouse in that she’s both human and divine. There is no “earthly” Church and “heavenly” Church. There’s only one. One Lord, one bride/one church. Christ isn’t a polygamist.

Jesus specifically said, “If any man does not HATE his FATHER & Mother, he cannot be my servant.” It’s not an attack on levitical priesthood. It’s a rejection of earthly authority & attachments. If Jesus had yielded to his mother’s will, he probably wouldn’t have gone to the cross. Not that he hated Mary as a person, but he had to consider her desires for his life, to be of less importance than God’s desire for his life. Sometimes our devotion to our parents, wives, children, etc. though it seems to be an act of virtue, can be a direct stumbling block to what God wants. This was especially important in the first century when Jesus was calling his followers out of their religions & societal standards. Some people would have to “turn their back on their families” in order to follow Christ. With the Father being the head of a house, his word is of the highest authority. However, the true highest authority is God. Therefore, in truth, we only have one Father, who is in heaven.

@AmericanIlluminati

Ай бұрын

TLDR; The actually meaning is sometimes what your earthly parents want for you, contradicts what God wants for you. Your earthly parents may want you to be a doctor, or lawyer. God may be trying to call you to ministry.

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Jesus never said unless one hates mother and father. Here you reveal your deception and inconsistency, as well as the absence of true Christianity in the west. He doesn’t command “honour thy mother and father” and then command a contradiction. God doesn’t change and if you think He does, then you’re a pagan, a son of the devil. You reveal the stark ignorance born out of the enculturation of pride in the western ethos. Jesus says one must love father and mother more than Him. Not that one must hate them. You’ve further proved my point of the ignorance of scripture that Protestants have. Listen to the video. I can tell you didn’t. If you won’t and you want to engage in dishonest arguments, I have no problem blocking you. Better that than allowing blasphemy. Of course God’s will May be different than earthly parents. But that’s truly unrelated to the topic.

@AmericanIlluminati

Ай бұрын

@@living_orthodox He literally says it in Luke 14:26… go check the passage, and then get back to me on that. Jesus made various statements that contradict what The Law given at Sinai said. The Law says eye for eye, Jesus said turn the other cheek. The Law says divorce is permissible, Jesus forbid it except in the case of adultery. The Law says no pork, shellfish, etc. Jesus said all food is clean. If you’re leaning on the Law to justify your beliefs, you’ve missed the message. I won’t call you a liar, though. Just confused. I’m not a protestant btw.

@AmericanIlluminati

Ай бұрын

@@living_orthodox Also, I watched your video up to 17:10. So, I didn’t neglect to hear you out. Though, you don’t seem to want to generate a conversation from this.

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

No. There’s no conversation or bartering to be had with gnostics, heretics and other such persons. You’re here to learn. Not to dialogue.

The thing that keeps me from Orthodox beliefs is the fact that it is has been inable to expand or strongly change the world in a thousand years. Something must be missing. Otherwise, to me, it wouldn’t be the shadow of the kingdom of God. At least the other parts of the kingdom still expand and don’t scrape in converts due to the World being in such disorder

@living_orthodox

27 күн бұрын

That’s a very historically and theologically dishonest perspective.

Its your choice to call another man father i feel that its disrespectful to my dad and to Jesus but uts uo to you your choice 👍

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Then you’re making up a false position and one against the gospel.

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Honour thy mother and father. 1 Corinthians 4:15. You contradict scripture with your interpretations

@DaddyD-vf2rm

Ай бұрын

@@living_orthodox JESUS CALLS us brothers he never called any of us fathers

@Desertfox21

Ай бұрын

​@@DaddyD-vf2rm Paul calls people his children in the faith throughout his epistles and says he fathered people in the faith. Jesus did call a man father, Joseph. Yes they were not related biologically, jesus is still called the son of Joseph in the gospels. Abraham is also according to Paul, the father of those with the faith of abraham. He calls abraham the "Father of our faith".

@DaddyD-vf2rm

Ай бұрын

@@Desertfox21 Jesus is my brother bro God is my father I'm not against u I just don't feel right about it my Father was killed that's my father I'm still loyal to him. Love u bro

I Quite Frankly Don't Give A 🤬 What The Heretical and Hetrodox Protestants Say Or Think. We Who Are, Not As Others, Are The Tier One and Only, Holy, Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church Established AD 33 By Our Master and Commander in Chief of Our Holy Faith, The Lord Jesus Christ Himself And Like Metallica Once Sang : " Nothing Else Matters !!! " AXIOS ☦️🕊🕯🙏☦️‼️

@MartyRodriguezOrthodoxMarine

Ай бұрын

@KyrieEleison3 : Nothwithstanding Your Self Righteous Ranting and Raving, I'm Not Called To " Cast Pearls Before Swine " and " Give To Dogs, The Bread of Children." I Will Not Be Lead To The Temptation of " Evangelical Ecumenicalism " Because It's The PC Thing To Do. I Didn't Convert To Byzantine Rite Eastern Orthodoxy From Latin Rite Roman Catholicism By No Man. I Was Called By The Holy Spirit of God Almighty Himself. Take Care And KRISTOS ANESTI ☦️🕊🕯🙏☦️⛪️‼️

You make clever defenses of your traditions but the true reason Jesus warned us about calling a man father is because of the honor men always seek for themselves in authority over their sheep. The jews thought they were right about their traditions and many still do cling to them. I encourage people to be ultra orthodox

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

Nice strawman. Jesus also said salvation of is of the Jews. Tell me you didn’t watch the video and listen to anything, without saying you didn’t watch the video.

@YHWH32

Ай бұрын

​​@@living_orthodox You don't want to see the view that would be critical of your traditions and I understand. Call it a strawman or whatever you like. But on a more positive note let me encourage you to be great in the kingdom of heaven. Be the servant who doesn't seek or demand honor and glory or respect. No glory only service

@living_orthodox

Ай бұрын

I don’t. I only seek to bring people to the Church Christ established. My loyally is to Him.