A Pilgrim’s Podvig: Part Ten

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Transition by Fr. John Whiteford As my doubts about Protestantism increased, I found myself in a very unpleasant situation. As an associate pastor, I had certain responsibilities, which included leading a small group on Sunday nights, and also occasionally preaching on Sunday morning. I continued to fulfill these duties, but was increasingly less convinced about [...]

Nicolae Steinhardt: A Jewish Convert to Orthodoxy

Nicolae Steinhardt

Nicolae Steinhardt (July 12, 1912 – March 29, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox hermit and father confessor. Early life He was born in Pantelimon commune, near Bucharest, from a Jewish father and a Romanian mother. His father was an engineer, architect and decorated World War I participant (following the Battle of M?r??ti). Due to [...]

The Rabbi Who Converted To Orthodoxy On Pentecost In 1952

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Among the many converts to Orthodox Christianity was the Jewish rabbi Paul Fotiou from the Hebrew community of Arta in Greece, who converted from Judaism and was baptized as an Orthodox Christian together with his family. To read a little about the Jews of Arta, see here. Archimandrite Nektarios Ziompolas writes the following about Paul [...]

My Search for the Truth: Part 17

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by Tamara Schmerse This is the final installment of Tamara’s delightful story about her journey to the Orthodox faith and it is absolutely captivating. We published it in it’s entirety as a series from her blog, My Search For The Truth. Judging from the responses from you, the readers, it has been well received. Thank [...]

My Search For The Truth: Part 16

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by Tamara Schmerse Part 16 of 17. 16: Roman Catholicism In the lead-up to Reformation Day, my beloved History Channel had been screening many Lutheran documentaries, and now that it had passed, they were now, for better or worse, focusing on the Roman Catholic Church. I watched shows for and against, and ironically, it was [...]

My Search For The Truth: Part 15

LutherSeal

by Tamara Schmerse Part 15 of 17. 15: Lutheranism And so there I was again, sitting in between my computer, my Bibles and my Foxtel remote, with no idea of how to proceed further in my search for the Truth. I looked back over my previous few months: I had studied with Jews, and come [...]

My Search For The Truth: Part 14

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by Tamara Schmerse Part 14 of 17. 14: Islam While I had been sniffing around the adherents.com website, I could not help but notice the next most populous group. 1.5 billion people in the world followed the teachings of Islam. And while I had been brought up to believe that the reason their religion was [...]

My Search For The Truth: Part 13

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13: Judaism Part 13 of 17. I had begun to feel that the Torah was where the answers were at. A few well-timed Jewish documentaries on the History Channel added to my growing doubt about Jesus being the real Messiah. Along came a young man on Facebook who seemed to smell my moment of weakness [...]

My Search For The Truth: Part 12

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12: The Union of Chanochian Netzarim Yisraelites  Part 12 of 17. So back to Facebook it was with a mind that was in some ways more open, in others more closed, and in most, more confused and impatient. Being like the Ethiopian eunuch, before that fateful trip to Jerusalem, I fervently searched the Scriptures daily [...]

My Search For The Truth: Part 11

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11: Jehovah’s Witnesses  Part 11 of 17. So at this point I was still, though researching furiously in my free time, faithfully attending Sunday Services at the Methodist Church. I was getting more confused with each passing week, and the “development” of the church was making me most uncomfortable. There were hardly any old hymns [...]