Exploring Orthodoxy 1

Since the Greece trip, I have had a bit of an interest in exploring Greek Orthodoxy. There is something attractive about joining the tradition which goes right back to Jesus, the historical church which is the "ground and pillar of our faith" as they say. There is something reassuring and stable about the traditions which go back thousands of years, about a faith and a creed which have not changed.

I do have some hesitations though, about the elevation of what seems to be "tradition" over what seems to be the guidance of the inspired Holy Spirit? I can't help wondering if some of the man-made "rules" (which is what the tradition amounts to) are actually hinderances rather than helpful? And I wonder a lot about a church which claims to have "not changed" in two thousand years, but which obviously has acquired the accretions and trappings of a patriarchal culture along the way?

Apart from those hesitations, the major one I have is the relative authority given to tradition, even when it seems (to me) to be in opposition with either the Bible or with current culture. I know this is a totally Protestant way of looking at the whole issue, but I can't help that. If I had "the Mind of the Orthodox Church" then I would be able to just accept it all on authority, but since I obviously don't, then I can't.

The final problem of "tradition" as I see it, is that if it serves no particular function and if it gets in the way - why keep it? Apparently some of the vestments of the Orthodox priest haven't changed in nearly a thousand years. So? I don't see a current need to dress like that, and I think it alienates people for priests to look weird. I am told repeatedly that it is not "Orthodox" to think and speak like that - that Orthodoxy will not change to accommodate current ideas.

I think that is a major problem. Any church which will not even consider current social ideas and norms, which allows itself to become so estranged from mainstream society that it can't even talk to people - this is a problem. This is what I see in the modern Greek Orthodox church - a church which is so far removed from the current generation that it has nothing but rebukes for them for not being what it wants. A generation which is so estranged from the church that it feels the church has nothing to offer. A dialogue which is in two different languages and never the twain shall meet! A huge opportunity being lost...