"The Orthodox Church is the True Church!"

Recently, on Mike Liccione's blog, Sacramentum Vitae, I had the opportunity to banter a bit with other bloggers about Mike's post, Development of Doctrine,Fr.Louth, and Ecumenism. This post is one of several Mike has posted regarding this issue of development of doctrine, a cardinal Roman Catholic belief that allows the Roman Catholic Church to explain why, having shared in the Orthodox Faith for one millenia with all the Sees of "the East", Rome can hold doctrine today that make us Orthodox very uncomfortable, especially when the higher ups in the episcopacy get together and rumors of uniting once again seem to be increasing.
This post is not an attempt to highlight our differences, nor to discuss doctrine per se, but to ponder impressions I felt being part of the comments early on.

One of my main impressions was the discovery that, to some extent, it did not seem as if many(if any) of the bloggers were interested in dogmatic stances of the Orthodox Church spoken of as self evident facts. What the bloggers were intersted in were in statements being made that could be debated with, to be argued in a philosophical way. This is not necessarily bad in my view, but my real reason for concern was that the religious experience of one making a claim was so easily discounted.
Understandably, I can see why this is so because we can lob religious experiences at each other and never discuss the soil one is rooted in to have said religious experiences and the discussion would quickly break down. But on the other hand I detected a "Philosophy vs. Religion" undercurrent running throughout.
These are issues I will write about in future installments.

Getting back to this post, "The Orthodox Church is the True Church". I use this statement to perhaps once again highlight another impression I mused about while commenting on this site. Substantiating this claim is again not my purpose here, but to comment about reactions to such statements, whether this one or others stating a truth or what one asserts to be true.
When making this statement in debates with our "Western" friends, the immediate response is usually one of indignation and incredulity that one can be so narrow to believe such a thing.
(For the purpose of this post, all non-Orthodox Christians will be designated as "Western". The merits of titles such as "Eastern" and "Western" are not the subject of this post, but I do believe they merit discussion which will be left for the future.)
I believe the incredulity stems not from having examined the claim to judge its veracity but from a manifestation of the times: having to state ideas or assertions in a "politically correct" manner so as to not offend anyone.

Increasingly, even among our Western friends, a statement made such as the the one I chose as the title for this post arouses anger and antipathy that any such statement could be made. However, many of our Christian friends complain of the same treatment given them among non-Christians when the exclusivity of Jesus is claimed. That salvation can ONLY be found in the Person of Jesus Christ is seen as ludicrous and narrow and very "behind the times".
Now what I wish to bring to the Christian reader's attention is his own reaction to someone scoffing at his belief that Jesus is the one and only unique Son of God, and as this Person, none exist or have existed or further yet will exist ever to offer an alternative way to God. If as a Christian, believing on Him as truly the Son of God, I ask you to judge yourself; why do you believe such a thing? What behooves you to accept as true what many countless others cannot or will not? Is it because the Holy Scriptures teach you so? Does the church you attend expound on Him this way? He changed your life? Just because? Really, what proofs do you offer the unbeliever to set forth Jesus as the unique Son of God?

Believing on Jesus in this manner, in so narrow a way, is not hip, not cool at all. It seems to fly in the face of the sensibilities of the modern man approaching anything which purports to be true in and of itself. "That's your opinion" is a common response to making any kind of an assertion of truth. Contextualizing a statement, placing it within a grid where when plugged in the statement comes alive, pulsating with the energy of its atmosphere, seems to be far removed a task for us moderns. The hard work necessary to verify a statement is a great deterrent to seeking out truth. Pat, easy answers, the homework done by someone else is the rule of the day, their conclusions so easily accepted.

"The Orthodox Church is the true Church" statement falls from the same barrage of indifference and political incorrectness. Never mind that parallel with what has been handed down as accepted history runs another telling of the story, unknown and hidden to seekers of the easy way. Never mind that Her Faith is contained intact, full, unchanged from the beginning and that faith is itself that context which the human person may enter into, "plug in". Living in this atmosphere, breathing the fragrance exuded by the Spirit, a man may come to know the Ancient of Days as He freely roams about the garden, fellowshipping with the man. Here the man truly becomes, translated from the realm of shadows into that substance and fabric of which Immortality is fashioned, being healed of death.

No, I say, never mind. For you always seek proof. You have stopped your ears. You do not believe me. You are not willing to believe that maybe, just maybe the truth I tell you. The Christian life to you is just another category of your existence taken down from the shelf at your leisure to discuss, to intellectualize.

Never mind that those who most perfectly realized the perfection to be found in Christ have born witness to His Resurrection, living His Life and have left to us much to inculcate the belief deep down that this life is not for the wise but for the simple, that to live His life I must needs only repent and throw myself upon His mercy.
No. Never mind I say.