@DrJordanBCooper Fr. Anthony Mourad here, the priest in the video you're reacting to. Thank you for your thoughtful and very respectful response, I appreciate your demeanor and approach very much. There are some points you've made that I genuinely agree with, others I would love to respond to with some clarifications and maybe some historical and theological rebuttal. Regardless, I am open to dialogue and exchange. Let's find a way to connect. I would be very happy to do so! God bless you

As a Protestant non denom for 30 years, now slowly inquiring Orthodoxy- I’ve come to teach everyone with insults and superiority.

When the Holy Spirit first led me to faith I listened to a lot of discussion and debate centered around denominational differences and I was attracted to the claims of Orthodoxy as the one true church. But ultimately I found that representatives of EO were mostly unsure of their or anyone else's salvation. Some even went as far as to say there is no salvation outside the orthodox church but still make no claims as to whether anyone in their church is saved. They simply stated they dont know if they are saved.. When I read the bible and seen God's promises to His believers I felt that an insecurity like that should be foreign to a believing baptized Christian. When I studied the Word further and got into Lutheran doctrine I really began to realize the work of salvation has already been done through Jesus Christ. Theres nothing I can do to merit my way into heaven, Christ has done it for me and I can have confidence in God's promises that were made to us in His Word. I am grateful to be a Lutheran and to be sure where I am going when I die. I have no burden of conscience and I no longer spend copious time thinking about things that are tertiary or whether I am in the right church. I know with certainty what Christ has done and place my salvific confidence in His actions and His promises, not in my alliance to a particular niche group of believers nor from my own works. What a gift the true Gospel is. That I a poor miserable sinner can be saved by the grace of God through faith. Amazing. Praise be to the Lord alone, all glory to Him.

Being raised non-denom, when I first heard of Orthodoxy, I thought, "They must be the truest Church, because they follow what the earliest Christians believed." I must thank Orthodoxy, because it led me to Lutheranism.

Ah you have mentioned orthodoxy! You must now debate every single Orthodox apologist!!!!

I do have a fondness for Orthodoxy, and I think there is a lot of practical wisdom within their expiriences (to the point of the Latvian Evengelically Lutheran Church printing Orthodox books sometimes, mostly those of Monks), especially when it comes to fighting sin. I even use a prayer rope my Orthodox friend gifted me. But, I cannot in good faith confess Orthodoxy - their claims hinge on the church being unchanged since it was established, but objective historical evidence shows a lot of facts that are contradictory to their theology.

I'm just here for the "As an Orthodox..." comments. 😄

As someone from Latin America who lives 330 kilometres away from the nearest Orthodox Parrish, hearing Orthodox apologetics saying no salvation outside the Orthodox church (and even more Ecumenical Orthodox stances) is very depressing.

I’m not very intellectually minded but as a convert to EO, I can attest that the Church is truly a hospital that healed me spiritually after 40+ years struggling as a Protestant. The Church offers so many things I was missing out on. I was spiritually anemic before. I don’t understand all the history or theology but I do know that the gospel is proclaimed at every service & the Holy Spirit is alive and active (empowering to give up life dominating sins!). Even with an emphasis on staying in repentance and abiding in Christ daily…I have never felt more secure in my salvation. The least secure of my salvation was ironically when I was a reformed Calvinist that had zero power to change sin patterns.

If you’re reading this, don’t determine truth by aesthetics or by whatever seems trendy online right now. I almost fell into that trap myself, until God led me to the evangelical catholic faith: Lutheranism. Word and Sacrament. Historic liturgy and the Gospel. You don’t have to choose between them. God bless you on your journey.

Orthodox stasis in practice:  introduce a new doctrinal idea or liturgical practice.  After 30 years it becomes "we've always believed this/done it this way."  After another 30 years or so, "it's a traditional teaching/practice of the Church."  After 100 years, "It's Apostolic!"

As an Orthodox, I appreciate how cordial your critique was, Dr. Cooper.

Thank you doctor for your work it has brought me and a fellow brother to love Lutheran theology, but the state of Lutheran Church is here in Miami is quite sad so we’re hoping by the grace of God to bring young brothers and sisters back into the church. God bless.

So early the Orthodox Church hasn’t even started venerating any icons.

Evangelicals in the West: oh wow orthodoxy so nice 😮😮
Orthodox in the East: oh wow evangelicalism so nice 😮😍

The sad thing is, the Orthodox Church has a lot about it that we can admire, and yet there are other things about it that frankly confuse me and make me wonder where on earth they get their ideas from.

A great response to a common mistake, Dr. Cooper! Interestingly it is not only the EO, CO, AO, and RC that make this species of test a form of standard for doctrinal and church purity. Many Baptist and modern day anabaptists will do the same thing and then claim that their church just so happens to be the one that perfectly follows pre Nicaean Christian practice and doctrine. Normally people make this sort of claim when they haven't really read the Church Fathers or church history (or have read them selectively). I remember when I started reading church history, the fathers, and the councils... It was pretty unsettling at first how much disagreement and what  there was, and is, in the great Tradition. But then I studied the miracle that is the transmission of the scriptures and it started to make more sense to me: God gave us what we needed for Faith and practice!

Excellent job Dr. Cooper.

As a non-denom that is plugged into a church that tries to teach what the church has taught for 2000 years but in our context...

I have to say that I revere as many icons and offer prayers to as many saints as Jesus and the apostles did...

And I do read the New Testament and notice that the churches addressed were all non-denom churches in the first century...

I would genuinely love if you debated the online orthodox guys. Theyre the ones convincing people with poor arguments and we need a scholar willing to stand against them