![\"Christian](\"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Christ_Pantocrator_01_1024x791.jpg\")
by Chris Banescu –
\nIn the Orthodox Christian view, Christianity is not just a \u201creligion.\u201d Christianity is a way of life. Christianity is complete reality. Christianity is the fully revealed truth about God and man. Christianity is the fulfillment of man’s search for divine truth and ultimate meaning.<\/p>\n
The Christian Faith embodies the most important truths of this life and all human existence which God first revealed to Moses and the other Old Testament prophets. The fullness of that truth was then completely made manifest in the birth, life, teachings, miracles, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. \u201cIt is the fulfillment of all religions in their search for divine truth and human meaning as inspired by God\u2019s law written on human hearts,\u201d explains Fr. Thomas Hopko.<\/p>\n
Our God is the God of the whole universe and all life.<\/strong> His laws and power govern all creation and all matter, seen and unseen. His wisdom illumines every field of human endeavor. This is why Saint John the Theologian so powerfully declared a truth that shook the very foundations of the world: \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it\u201d (John 1:1-5). <\/p>\n The Scriptures embody the most important principles and lessons needed for us to live in full communion with God and other human beings, and ultimately become faithful stewards of our world. The Christian faith is the complete manual for our minds and souls which allows us to become truly human; creatures living in harmony with our Creator and each other.<\/p>\n Our faith and love for God are made evident when we follow His Word and do His will.<\/b> “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” This is how we we may acquire the divinity that Christ has by His nature. This is how humanity can discover truth, find real happiness, and live life to the fullest. \u201cI have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly\u201d (John 10:10).<\/p>\n The writings of Fr. Thomas Hopko offer further illumination on why, in the Orthodox view, the Christian Faith is much more than just another \u201creligion.\u201d Christianity embodies and proclaims timeless wisdom and understanding that reflect and confirm the reality of God\u2019s truth and laws; which live in our hearts and are made manifest throughout the whole universe.<\/p>\n In the Orthodox view, Christian Faith is not a \u201creligion\u201d (except in the conventional everyday use of the word). It is the fulfillment of all religions in their search for divine truth and human meaning as inspired by God\u2019s law written on human hearts. In this understanding, God\u2019s Gospel in Jesus is the end of all religions as human constructions, however good and inevitable they are in their desire to deal with life\u2019s mysteries and to comprehend the ways of God (or the gods) and creatures in a demon-riddled, death-bound world.<\/p>\n Christian faith and life, as witnessed in apostolic Scripture and the lives and teachings of the saints, belongs to a \u201cnew creation\u201d (Gal 6:15 ; 2 Cor 6:17). It does not belong to \u201cthis age\u201d whose \u201cform is passing away\u201d (1 Cor 7:31). It is \u201cfrom above\u201d and leads always to what is \u201cbeyond.\u201d It is not from human beings, and it transcends human history. It is not contrary to nature and reason, but surpasses their limitations. It discloses the original nature and purposes of things, reveals their ultimate destiny, and illumines human minds and hearts to \u201cthe knowledge of the truth\u201d about God and all things in Him. As such, Christian faith and life is God\u2019s gift of divine truth, light, wisdom, and power given to creatures as completely and perfectly as is now possible within the conditions of the corrupted cosmos.<\/p>\n When Christians understand Christ\u2019s Gospel to be but one of humankind\u2019s many religions, even the first, best, and greatest, the Gospel ceases to be what it is. It becomes but another product of sinful humanity in its fallen form: good, true, and beautiful in many ways, yet incomplete and dangerously deceptive. As such, it is inevitably deformed into an ideological mythology, or mythological ideology, employed to promote and defend the \u201cmerely human\u201d and, inevitable, sinful persons and societies that use it for this deplorable purpose. This is so whether this Christian religion is fundamentalist and sectarian, or whether it is relativistic and inclusive, seeing itself as no better or worse, and essentially no different from any other. ~ Fr. Thomas Hopko<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Christianity declares that man was originally created to be immortal and live in communion with God<\/b> and in harmony with all of creation. Despite our rebellion and temporary separation from the Creator, we retain in our hearts and minds the imprint of the divine and the desire to discover truth, to discern meaning, and to find God.<\/p>\n \u201cGod designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just not good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion [Christianity]. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing,\u201d proclaimed C.S. Lewis.<\/p>\n by Chris Banescu – In the Orthodox Christian view, Christianity is not just a \u201creligion.\u201d Christianity is a way of life. Christianity is complete reality. Christianity is the fully revealed truth about God and man. Christianity is the fulfillment of man’s search for divine truth and ultimate meaning. The Christian Faith embodies the most important … [read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25,10,4,26,67,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apologetics","category-christianity","category-intelligent-design","category-orthodox-christianity","category-theology","category-wisdom"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxnet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"