Relation in Poland to Orthodox Christians?

None. I'm agnostic. If believe that if there is some kind of divine.... entity.... then human perception cannot come close to perceiving more than a tiny part of it. Different religions are like the blind men examining the elephant.

That's not to say I'm against religions. A large majority of people clearly need some kind of symbolic communication with something beyond their experience. And something like a religious drive is pretty clearly part of the human makeup.

I can go on but at this point most people beg me to stop...

That sums it up really.

So many of them and most of them say that they've got it all right and the others have got it wrong.


Very much so; an attempt to make sense of the intangible together with dopamine released by religious observance.

You are a very suspicious person to ask such personal questions.


I guess it was Ms. Atch that I told way before you were even a member here.
Ah, yes, here it is. post #633

polanda.com/off-topic/discuss-muslims-jews-buddhist-christians-77767/22/#msg1587448

Five years ago and you guys are still hounding me.


No joun, you and I were debating scripture, not religion.
See just how shallow and blind you are on the subject. ;-)

I told you my church affiliation when you asked. Why can't you do the same? Immensely suspicious...

Are you so thick that you can't comprehend 'why' I choose not to ?
One more time though just because you are Polish.
I already explained that five years ago in post #633 to Ms. Atch.
Read it again.
Maybe if you read it out loud to yourself you would get it.

polanda.com/off-topic/discuss-muslims-jews-buddhist-christians-77767/22/#msg1587448

No, sorry - you're just dodging the question again. A true Christian would be proud of his church, not ashamed to admit his membership in it.

As I said before - that's suspicious as f*ck, Johnny.

Cause it's something weird and tiny.... maybe he handles snakes....

Anyhoo, he's obviously Baptist (sensu largo)

He prioritizes the Bible over church (so... protestant)

Within that he seems to have a 'low church' attitude that prioritizes a 'relationship' with JC rather than church authority and/or good works (low church almost disdains good works*).

There are so many different denominations within the Baptist-like that the name wouldn't really tell you much...

*this is why the deep south is hard Baptist - a denomination that would allow people to feel godly and have no urge to right wrongs all around them in society.... the segregated south and Baptistism more or less made each other in the US...

I understand

Oh, it would. Denominations are a bit of a hobby of mine (I'm an avid watcher of Ready to Harvest YT channel). :)

Besides, what's the worst that could happen if he says baptist, presbyterian or methodist? Unless, as you say, it's some sort of strange quasi-Christian sect.

Sectology. Fascinating but a rabbit hole to fall down.

You'd like some of the industrial towns in northern England where there can easily be 50 different ones, most of them tiny as well as the main ones like Anglican, Roman Catholic and Methodist.

Plus the Episcopi Vagantes and their exotic followers. Growing in. Poland at the moment.

I quite like the Christadelphians. Odd beliefs but generally very nice people. There are some in Poland now

I wouldn't go that far. As long as a church proclaims gospel, administers sacraments and preaches divine inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, I would refrain from calling it a sect.

There are, of course, sects disguised as Christian churches, that's why Johnny refusing to reveal his church's name (or even general denomination) is so suspicious.

That's the name of the discipline.

Remember, in English, the word sect simply means religious group with a specific set of beliefs and is less likely in English to be used negatively. There are sects within Catholicism too. The Polish word sekta translates into English more accurately as cult.


Different denominations proclaim different things and emphasise different things. The variety is quite amazing. Not all have sacraments (and the number of sacraments that exist is not universally agreed on) and many/most do not believe in "inerrancy of the Bible".


That would be in English, cult. Some of them of course are Christian in focus however they tend to have certain characteristics. The thing Jim belongs to is simply a rather odd sect rather than a cult.

That remark is exactly why I have a hard time engaging with such ignorance.
Good works are nice but they don't get you to heaven like "some" denominations preach and believe.
It clearly says in the Bible that it is not so.
Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.

So see maf, when you make ignorant statements like you did, it is my duty to set things straight like I did with joun when he tried to say that Peter never met Jesus on earth in person. lol

I just roll my eyes to think some denominations are not listening to what Jesus preached to his disciples.
Never as a student in Catholic school was I introduced to a Bible, a lot of Catholic doctrine but never a Holy Bible.
If you know Gods word and live Gods word the best you can, do you really need a denomination ?
The Bible is the handbook of life.
Everything you need to know how to get to heaven is in it.
Isn't that our purpose and goal here on earth as mortal men ?

Right. Thank you.


RCC and most American evangelicals teach the inerrancy; as far as divine inspiration is concerned I can't imagine a Christian church not acknowledging it.

Very much so. The RCC of course has a more nuanced understanding of the use of metaphor and mythology, especially as it is used in the OT.

The term "inerrancy" implies a firm belief that the Ass of Balaam really was a talking donkey.

Very convenient :)

That's exactly what I thought, Johnny. Exactly. Thank you for confirming my suspicions. You should find a local church and be a part of it, as all Christians should, receive sacraments and be subject to the church's teaching and discpline instead of relying on your "knowledge" and false assurance of salvation. You have been warned.

Should you choose to continue in your pride and self-righteousness then you will wake up one day in a hot place being sodomized by a bunch of well-hung and very horny demons. When that happens, don't say nobody warned you.

Worse things can happen,,,

I'm not a Christian, so I don't care what it says in the Bible.


A bunch of people speculating about their motivations is crack cocaine for a narcissist. It's hard to understand for more normal people, but he's not giving a name precisely to keep people guess and talking about him. He's an addict, stop supplying him with his drug.

Well, I was talking about a hell option for Johnny, not for you, Jon. :D

In your case, it would be eternity in a small provincial Russian town with Putin's portraits and monuments everywhere and obligatory watching of state TV for at least 8h/day. Scary enough?

Oh I am a member of a very nice church with great people.
In fact last Sunday communion was served.
When was the last time you went to church Gefrey ?
When was the last time you went to communion ?
Again Gefrey, spreading false witness about someone like you just did with me is a mortal sin and it would be wise to ask forgiveness of your sins before you meet your Maker.


Yes maf, we heard you the first six times.
Nobody is impressed.

... and yet you are ashamed to tell us its name. You're so full of it.


I am not answering any of your questions until you tell us which church you belong to.

And who's Gefrey - your imaginary friend? Or one of the tame deer that you shoot when they trust you and come to eat in your backyard?

You are no more in position to lecture people on Christianity than you are to lecture them on hunting ethics.

Nope.

I never agreed with any woke agenda and I never made a secret of my Christian views here. And yet nobody ever tried to "torment" me, even though I've been on this board since 2008 (under a different username then).

Most Brits here including Harry were sound fellows, even if I disagreed with them sometimes (especially with Harry about the victory parade :D).

I may start but not for your denomination but for swapping it :P

To be on topic, has anyone visited the Polish Orthodox monastery at Supraśl? I went there once and it is very worth a visit. There's a picture below.

A surprise to me was that there's an archdiocese of the Polish Orthodox Church in Brazil. Two dioceses even, The Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro and the Diocese of Recife. There must be an interesting story behind that.

• 
  Suprasl_orthodox_chu.jpeg
  

Several millions Ukrainians can join this church.

More Rinse & Repeat.
No I am smart enough to know if I told you that, you would use such information to try to diminish and shame me with it.

And if not you, other members for sure would.


Says who ?
Are you upset because I know the Bible verses better than most of the people here ?


I was not referring to you my friend.

They'd probably want to preserve their traditions; both of the Orthodox churches are in communion with each other anyway.

Doubtless many already do attend, however Orthodox churches aren't something that the laity 'join' as such.