On our journey to South America we stopped at a L.A. hotel for breakfast. As we sat there chatting I began to notice a whole bunch of long bearded, black robed guys wondering around… being a sharp minded genius, I picked up on the huge crosses dangling from their necks and figured out that they were members of a Christian church. A mind like a steel trap – that’s what I have…
In my studies of Church history, one group has contentedly eluded me – yet they have also intrigued me. That group is none other then the Eastern Orthodox Church.
And as you might have guessed, the men at the L.A. hotel were priests in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Lord had given me an opportunity to learn more about this ancient church body – so I walked over to one of their tables and asked them if I could chat a bit. (no, really, I’m a very shy person!)
The conversation that followed was amazing! I found out that all three of the priests at the table I walked up to had converted to Orthodox Church from Prostantism. This background really helped me as we begin to discuss various theological points – mainly in that they understood where I was coming from and what I meant by certain words or comments. Overall we jumped right in and talked about salvation, the global church, church history, the Trinity, the Apocrypha, the way church services are preformed and the natures of Jesus. [@more@]
It was a fascinating morning!! I learned a ton about the Orthodox Church – for example, they are the only “main stream” Christian church that has continued from the Apostles to today without breaking off from some other group. This is huge… and it makes me what to know more about them and their theology.
Think about it – Rome was the one who broke relationships with them, not the other way… there may be some other churches started by the Apostles that fall into the category, but I can’t think of any…
I remember reading some of the Nicene Fathers in VLI and enjoying their writings… they seemed to be more focused on the love of God and relationships then logic and justification (as Augustine, Rome, and the Western church was and is). Maybe this was why I allowed the priests to give me five different books about the Orthodox Church’s practices and theology. 
What about the Coptic church – I thought they were a pretty early strain? Was there anything in Asia?
The Coptic church was left (or was kicked out – depending on who you ask) of the “main” church. The Orthodox is the last group of the original “church”
Of course, the apostles did start some small churches in Asia which were not part of the “main” group… I also don’t know much about them. =/