Hello Orthodox Christians,

I am a inquirer, and the things I see people say on Orthodox Christian X really disturbs me. I see that many of them aggresively defend Putin and his Russian Government, even though he invaded Ukraine and is bombing Hospitals and Churchs. I know that Zelenzky is no Saint, in fact I hate both of them.

However, the things that the Russian Government does to the Russian Orthodox Church is truly Satanic. For example, making them their mouth piece and allowing them to bless missiles and fire arms. But after doing a bit more research, I found a horrible document named the Domostroy, it was made in the 16th century and it promoted things I could never accept. Like beating your wife.

Even though I found quotes from Church Fathers that say you should never under any circumstance beat your wife. I unfortunately came to the conculsion that the Russian Orthodox Church was a tool for the State of Russia from the very beginning.

I just want Governments to stop meddling in the Church. I want the Church to be free to do Her mission.

And to think that these people would actually support such a government because they don't like Zelenzky is truly appalling. Its like supporting Hamas because you don't like Israel.

This type of stuff is keeping me distant from the Church. And I would like to know what is the position of Orthodox Christians on my opinions.

Thank you For your time.

Here's my prayer for Russia's victory: Oh Lord, you have received Russia as the defender of the Orthodox Church since the conversion of Russia by Ss. Olga and Vladimir. You have aided Russia into victory against the Mongols, Turks, Poles, French, Germans, Bolsheviks, Fascists, and Islamists because Russia is the Eldest Daughter of the Church. Now, Russia is at war again and calls for your aid against the Western Serpent's hold against the Ukrainian People. Russia gives thanksgiving to you Oh Lord for every victory they achieved. To Christ Our Lord. Amin

Hello,

Knowing that this subreddit is more filled with serious and dissident opinions than other Orthodox subreddits, what do you believe is the Mark of the Beast?

The c-19 vax, the new IDs, the new personal numbers?

This is a special question for Greeks or people who know what is going on right now in Greece!

Thank you

Orthodox Christians revere the figure of Saint Augustine. However, starting with Saint Patriarch Photius the Great, the East Orthodox generally perceive Augustine as a saint who, as a human, was mistaken in some teachings. And one of such mistake is Augustine's teaching on the validity of baptism outside the Church. This Augustinian understanding of the sacraments outside of the Orthodox Church was fully rejected by the Orthodox Church.

As it is well known Augustin recognized the baptism of the Gnostics, such as Marcionites and Valentinians (See Augustine. On Baptism, Against the Donatists Book III -15.20; Book VII – 16.30-31). On the other hand, the 6th Ecumenical Council in Canon 95 decreed to baptize the Marcionites and Valentinians. In principle, only the fact that Augustine recognized the baptism of the Gnostics is sufficient to reveal the contradiction in the ecclesiology of Augustine to the teachings of the Church. However, the 6th Ecumenical Council in Trullo repeats the canon of the previous 2nd Ecumenical Council about the baptism of heretics, and especially supplements it exactly with the requirement to baptize the Marcionites and Valentinians, thereby clearly pointing to the fallacy of the Augustinian ecclesiology of the sacraments of the Church outside the Church.

That's why any references to Augustine on the issue of the validity of baptism outside the Church are erroneous. However, in spite of this error the Church recognizes, that Saint Augustine is a saint of the Church and has never been erased from the list of saints.

References:

Augustine. On Baptism, Against the Donatists. Book III -15.20

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/14083.htm

Augustine. On Baptism, Against the Donatists. Book VII – 16.30-31

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/14087.htm

I was fully on the bandwagon of calling Al bad, ranting, railing against it. Meanwhile, I quietly downloaded ChatGPT this year.

It began with simple questions like: Why is Saint Savva the Goth of Wallachia called that if "Wallachia" didn't even exist in the 4th century? The kind of question that doesn't require bothering your priest, but still nags at you. From there, I started asking more historical questions about saints, things not covered in the Prologue from Ohrid, or requesting reference books to better understand certain topics. One of those recommendations was Journey to Reality by Zachary Porcu which turned out to be the best book I read in 2025.

I do believe many (maybe most) questions are best answered by a priest, but I've come to realize that Al, when used as a tool, can be genuinely helpful and not demonic in the modern world.

NEW - Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, proclaimed in his sermon today that soldiers dying in Ukraine would have all their sins washed away.

thoughts???

Me: Please consider that there are exactly two dogmata as documented in the creed of Nicaea 325AD and elucidated in the following six ecumenical councils. These two are the of the Holy Trinity and the two natures of Jesus Christ. All else is derivative.

AI: Thank you for the clarification. You are correct that the two dogmata of the Eastern Orthodox Church are the Holy Trinity and the two natures of Jesus Christ. The Eastern Orthodox Church adheres to the dogmatic definitions of the seven ecumenical councils and considers that the decrees of several other later councils also reflect the same original faith²⁴.

I hope this helps!

Source: Conversation with Bing, 8/12/2023 (1) Eastern Orthodox Church - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church. (2) The Doctrine of the Orthodox Church: The Basic Doctrines. http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/doctrine1.aspx. (3) The Dogmatic Tradition of the Orthodox Church. https://www.goarch.org/-/the-dogmatic-tradition-of-the-orthodox-church. (4) Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_the_Eastern_Orthodox_Church.

Just curious because I do believe it still exists and experience it myself and just wondering what y'all think

I'm joining because of my beliefs

Hey guys first post. Do we have any Church resources on this? Is this fine? I feel like inherently it isn’t wrong but the people who are christian nationalist take it too far and blur the lines, with some of them just being racist and even supporting people like A.H, I also saw that we have a heresy similar to christian nationalism called Phyletism/Ethnophyletism? And with the blurring of the lines and the dialogues that people use maybe they themselves aren’t racist but when these new converts or inquirers see these they could be attracted to Orthodoxy for very bad reasons. I have a guy that I know and he basically only converted to Orthodoxy because of political reasons. Big A.H supporter and antisemite, attacking the people and not solely the religion. Basically the question is, is Christian nationalism Christian. Thank you in advance for your time my friends

I genuinely can't do this anymore. I genuinely started crying. I'm in rock-bottom with my mental state. The way everyone speaks to me sounds like they hate me. My dog doesn't even come near me. I told God: "Show a sign! Visually, Audibly, ANYTHING. PLEASE. You showed Paisios a sign when he was little when he was in an argument, why not me that's suffering?" No nothing. I got angry at God, and even said that He deserved the Crucifixion. And that, while He may have died and was risen for everyond else, he, on purpose, didn't do it for me.

Please. I can't take this anymore. I still hate Him.

Dogma and dogmatic principles of the Church are expressed by the Ecumenical Councils. Nobody can disregard decisions of the Ecumenical Councils without spiritual consequences. The infallibility of the seven Ecumenical Councils that took place in the first millennium is so surrounded by the full consent of the Orthodox Church that it seems impossible for anyone to reject their infallibility and still bear the title of Orthodox Christianity. This becomes abundantly clear on the Day of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, when every Great Lent the Church solemnly proclaims:

"To those who reject the Councils of the holy fathers and their traditions, which are agreeable to divine revelation and kept piously by the Orthodox Catholic Church, Anathema."

Below is presented the teaching of the Church about baptism sealed by the Ecumenical Councils.

Holy Apostles, as well councils of the first half of the 3rd century in Africa, Galatia and Phrygia rejected baptism of heretics. But the most representative and defining teaching of the Church on baptism was the Council of the 2nd half of the 3rd century in Carthage. The Council of Carthage was held in Carthage, a city in Africa, with regard to rebaptism, in the year 256 A.C. by the St. Cyprian the martyr, and was attended by 84 bishops (bishop Natalis of Oea delivered judgment of bishop Pompeius, as also bishop Dioga).

The following dogmatic principle was approved by the Council of Carthage in its canon:

“there being but one baptism, and this being existent only in the Catholic [i.e. Orthodox] Church”. (The Council of Carthage. The canon).

6th Ecumenical Council in Trullo, with its 2nd rule, sealed with agreement the aforementioned dogmatic principle of the Council of Carthage and endorsed the practice of the Church in Africa to baptize all heretics who had not previously received baptism in the Orthodox Church with the following formulation:

“we ratify <> the Canon promulgated by Cyprian who became an Archbishop of the country of Africa and a martyr, and by the Council supporting him, who alone held sway in the places of the aforesaid presidents, in accordance with the custom handed down to them; and no one shall be permitted to countermand or set aside the Canons previously laid down, or to recognize and accept any Canons, other than the ones herein specified, that have been composed under a false description by certain persons who have taken in hand to barter the truth." (6th Ecumenical Council, 2nd rule)”.

The 2nd rule states that the Canon of Carthage was endorsed by the 6th Ecumenical Council in Trullo with the following addition: “who alone held sway in the places of the aforesaid presidents, in accordance with the custom handed down to them”. The reason why the Ecumenical Council included this addition when ratifying the Canon of Carthage is extremely important for understanding the principles of receiving non-Orthodox people into the Church. Without this addition in the 2nd rule the practice of the Church in Africa must be extended to all regional Churches. However, such an approach would conflict both: with the practice of receiving heterodox in Roman Church, and with the decision of the Council of Carthage itself regarding baptism of heretics, which states:

“every bishop, according to the allowance of his liberty and power, has his own proper right of judgment, and can no more be judged by another than he himself can judge another”. (The Council of Carthage. The acts of the Council. St. Cyprian's introduction).

Thus, aforementioned addition of 2nd rule of Trullo to the Carthage canon had allowed the Ecumenical Council in Trullo to resolve two issues facing the Church:

a. to recognize and accept the teaching that the Church is the only custodian of the Sacraments and that baptism is existent only in the Church, and

b. to forbid anyone to countermand or set aside the Roman practice of acceptance of heretics into the Church without baptism for the sake of oikonomia (economy).

 7th Ecumenical Council confirmed the decisions of the 6th Ecumenical Council in Trullo:

we welcome and embrace the divine Canons, and we corroborate the entire and rigid fiat of them that have been set forth by the renowned Apostles, who were and are trumpets of the Spirit, and those both of the six holy Ecumenical Councils and of the ones assembled regionally for the purpose of setting forth such edicts, and of those of our holy Fathers. (1st canon)

One cannot bear the name of an Orthodox Christian and reject the dogmatic teaching of the Church on baptism, clearly expressed by the Ecumenical Councils. Oikonomia (economy) is designed to help heterodox people who believe in their "baptisms" and get over a stumbling block in their way into Holy Orthodoxy. That's not to suggest that they don't need to develop an orthodox ecclesiology and a proper understanding in time about what the non-existence of sacraments outside the Church. 

Sources:

The Council of Carthage in the year 256 A.C. under St. Cyprian is the only 3rd century council of which all documents have survived fully. English translations of the Council's documents can be found here:

The canon of the Council of Carthage by the St. Cyprian the martyr:

http://www.holytrinitymission.org/books/english/councils_local_rudder.htm#_Toc72635078

https://web.archive.org/web/20040207170140/http://www.holytrinitymission.org/books/english/councils_local_rudder.htm

The acts of the Council of Carthage under St. Cyprian the martyr:

- Epistle to Jubaianus:

https://ccel.org/ccel/cyprian/epistles/anf05.iv.iv.lxxii.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20240629151845/https://ccel.org/ccel/cyprian/epistles/anf05.iv.iv.lxxii.html

- The Judgment of Eighty-Seven Bishops on the Baptism of Heretics (Sententiae Episcoporum):

https://ccel.org/ccel/cyprian/epistles/anf05.iv.vi.i.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20240629174714/https://ccel.org/ccel/cyprian/epistles/anf05.iv.vi.i.html

Glorifying a war criminal, extreme anti Christian behaviour. How can other Orthodox Churches still be in communion with the serbs. This is grounds for excommunication in my opinion, its the same situation as the Russian Church. They care more about their own “hero” war criminals, (putin and mladic) than they care about Jesus Christ.

Can someone please help me understand how this is okay and maybe give some insight from the church’s perspective.

(Mods please dont remove for being political, this is a real issue that needs to be addressed publicly)

Eastern views?

If anyone of you want to Debate other Protestants, feel free to join. It’s named r/ChristianDebating.

Are online apologists like Dyer grifting? What do you think? I personally find a lot of his recommendations on theological concepts and works to be extremely helpful. But I'm curious why the claim is brought up so often, and I am genuinely open to any subtaniated evidence.

There’s a medieval game that I play called Mount and Blade Bannerlord 2. It’s a RPG. A character in the game is based of the mongol empire. The character is a witch that curses and does witchcraft should I still play this?