Christian bronies: meet, greet, and mingle!

[EMT Brony 65]

 Hey there Orthodox Christian here.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

 

 Hey there Orthodox Christian here.

 

 

Welcome. Feel free to discuss and share. Everypony is pretty easy going here but willing to offer advice if needed.

[StarNote 231]

 

 Hey there Orthodox Christian here.

 

nice to meet you orthodox 

[EMT Brony 65]

nice to meet you orthodox 

likewise.  Im glad there isn't any sort of debate here

Welcome. Feel free to discuss and share. Everypony is pretty easy going here but willing to offer advice if needed.

Thank you.  I'm quite content now.  This week has been quite enlightening despite my earlier posts.

[ChB 18,550]

Can I ask you people here to kindly pray for me.

These next 16 weeks for me with school are gonna be nasty

I'll be praying for you, Captain. May God give you strength to work hard, as well as comfort to persevere. Pray for me, as well, as I'm starting a new semester, too.

 

 

 

 Hey there Orthodox Christian here.

 

Welcome EMT! I'm an Orthodox Christian, too.

[Techno Universal 2,575]

Well here I am at the end of Friday the 13th... It was a strange day because of me sensing something evil around us all day. Whatever that thing was its name was apparently Entity-303 and it even called us on a number that was 03 3030 3030 and when we tried to call it back we got the non-existent phone number error. It said that its name was Entity-303 and it the said something like I will rise and defeat humanity some day before hanging up. It shocked all of us but still because of the type of language that thing was using on the phone is a clear sign that the spiritual world is becoming more digital based. But still what other strange stuff can happen on Friday the 13th?

[Brightbart 268]

I hope everyone had a wonderful week.

I have two questions for you Orthodox Bronies: Are your Christmas celebrations/traditions similar to those in a Catholic or Protestant country? And to those who live in a Protestant or Catholic country do you exchange gifts on January 7th or December 25th to keep with cultural norms of the country? 

Being an American I don't have much contact with Orthodox Christians, so I'm not much in the know 

[goldheart 22]

My name is goldheart i am a Christian i am going to everfree northwest 2017 i am going to do a little bible study if you are going just let me know the bible study is going to be either Saturday or Sunday i ask you if you attend please bring pizza soda and candy so we can have a party

[Sunwalker 981]

I hope everyone had a wonderful week.

I have two questions for you Orthodox Bronies: Are your Christmas celebrations/traditions similar to those in a Catholic or Protestant country? And to those who live in a Protestant or Catholic country do you exchange gifts on January 7th or December 25th to keep with cultural norms of the country? 

Being an American I don't have much contact with Orthodox Christians, so I'm not much in the know 

 

I am not Orthodox, I am Catholic. But I can say that the main celebrations themselves are similar, sometimes the dates are different however. I know that in Orthodox countries usually they celebrate Christmas at January 6th. The reason is that the Orthodox Church did not accept the Gregorian calendar, the Orthodox Church continued using the Julian calendar.

 

The Julian calendar was proclaimed by Emperor Julius Caesar in 46 BC. The Gregorian Calendar was proclaimed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 AD, and it corrected a difference of 13 days that existed between the calendar date and the actual beginning of the seasons. This is why Orthodox countries celebrate Christmas 13 days after December 25th, which is on January 6th.

 

But to be honest, I don't really know if Orthodox families living on other countries do the same. Maybe some of the Orthodox here could help with that? Anyways, I do know that the exchange of gifts on Orthodox countries happen on the day of Saint Nicholas, which is at December 19th on the Julian calendar.

 

That being said, the traditions and customs of the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church are very similar, especially when it comes to eastern Catholicism. The Orthodox and the Catholic church have almost the same doctrines, with the one major difference being about the authority of the Pope. But aside from that, they can easily be mistaken for each other and work in a similar manner. They even have the same seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing Of The Sick, Marriage, and Holy Orders.

 

During the time of Christmas, the historical Protestant churches (the ones that come from around the time of Reformation) have a similar calendar of celebrations as Catholics and Orthodox. Even many of the biblical readings are the same and on the same dates. I know that some Protestant churches also lit the four candles of the Crown of Advent during the four weeks before Christmas.

 

I hope I have helped, but I also would like to hear from some Orthodox about their dates

Edited January 16, 2017 by Sunwalker

[Brightbart 268]

 

I am not Orthodox, I am Catholic. But I can say that the main celebrations themselves are similar, sometimes the dates are different however. I know that in Orthodox countries usually they celebrate Christmas at January 6th. The reason is that the Orthodox Church did not accept the Gregorian calendar, the Orthodox Church continued using the Julian calendar.

 

The Julian calendar was proclaimed by Emperor Julius Caesar in 46 BC. The Gregorian Calendar was proclaimed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 AD, and it corrected a difference of 13 days that existed between the calendar date and the actual beginning of the seasons. This is why Orthodox countries celebrate Christmas 13 days after December 25th, which is on January 6th.

 

But to be honest, I don't really know if Orthodox families living on other countries do the same. Maybe some of the Orthodox here could help with that? Anyways, I do know that the exchange of gifts on Orthodox countries happen on the day of Saint Nicholas, which is at December 19th on the Julian calendar.

 

That being said, the traditions and customs of the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church are very similar, especially when it comes to eastern Catholicism. The Orthodox and the Catholic church have almost the same doctrines, with the one major difference being about the authority of the Pope. But aside from that, they can easily be mistaken for each other and work in a similar manner. They even have the same seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing Of The Sick, Marriage, and Holy Orders.

 

During the time of Christmas, the historical Protestant churches (the ones that come from around the time of Reformation) have a similar calendar of celebrations as Catholics and Orthodox. Even many of the biblical readings are the same and on the same dates. I know that some Protestant churches also lit the four candles of the Crown of Advent during the four weeks before Christmas.

 

I hope I have helped, but I also would like to hear from some Orthodox about their dates

That was a great explanation thank you  I didn't know that about the calendars, learn something new every day. 

[N.W. 3,619]

 

 

But to be honest, I don't really know if Orthodox families living on other countries do the same. Maybe some of the Orthodox here could help with that? Anyways, I do know that the exchange of gifts on Orthodox countries happen on the day of Saint Nicholas, which is at December 19th on the Julian calendar.

 

I would say it largely depends upon the family. One of my best friends over here in the United States is Serbian, his family is Orthodox and they have a smaller what one might call American/Western Christmas celebration, but they still hold the 6th to be the bigger of the two celebrations. That is often when my family is invited over to celebrate with them (though we are not Orthodox). They send us gifts around the 25th and we send ours to them around the 6th. That is my experience with Orthodox Christmas and his family. They maintain some of the their old traditions but also have some experience with ours. 

[Whirlwind 1,055]

It's kind of sad that some of humanity lives off lies and hypocrisy. Lying is one of the most selfish forms of behavior.
But this is something thats lasted centuries and even before the birth of Christ, it won't go away.
Though if an individual lives a holy life to heart, people begin to realize that telling the truth can be hard
sometimes. But you know what I've realized, I've realized that God has set a benchmark for me. 
Truth is what God wants, but nobody can be perfect. I do believe that we can build off our past mistakes and eventually turn those and shape them into something beautiful.

[Whirlwind 1,055]

You know. It feels great to have bronies that have a heart for God and religion. Whether you are Christian or not,

It feels great for me to learn and speak God's words of wisdom in a thread dedicated to Christians.

It feels great to be here

[Sunwalker 981]

You know. It feels great to have bronies that have a heart for God and religion. Whether you are Christian or not,

It feels great for me to learn and speak God's words of wisdom in a thread dedicated to Christians.

It feels great to be here

 

I am glad for you! Take good care

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPcLie0HDXE

 

This inspired me to think more about the relationship between our imagination and rationality. They're not opposing forces, but complementary perspectives on how to understand the beautiful world we live in, and to begin trying to fathom the even greater realities which we hope for.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Blue

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Hey guys. Two things.

 

I'm sure at least some of you are familiar with the claim that reading the Bible is the quickest way to disavowing one's faith. Now as Bible readers ourselves, ranging from casual to Biblical scholar, I'm sure we're walking refutations of this claim but can someone perhaps give me an actual reason as to where this claim comes from and a more formal counter against it apart from, "I have read it and I still believe." This sort of crosses over into the phenomenon that I've met more Bible thumping atheists than I have Bible thumping Christians.

 

Secondly, have you guys ever felt like your typical sources of God aren't "enough" for lack of a better term? Like when I try to research reasons for faith and religion, I typically get only the Christian perspective rather than a more broad one unless I specify "Judaism, Buddhism, etc." Now obviously I am a Christian but even amongst them I typically find "Jesus freaks" those who are sycophantically devoted to Jesus rather than dispensers of any kind of true theological or philosophical wisdom.

[Brightbart 268]

hmm I haven't actually heard that though it doesn't surprise such a saying exists considering how many people don't like Christianity these days. My guess is they cherry pick violent verses from the Bible as proof that Christianity is bad or w/e without taking the larger meaning from what is said or the historical context of the time. In my opinion reading the gospel only reinforces my belief in Christ and reading the OT, especially a book such a Psalms, teaches many valuable life lessons. Imo the Bible is there to teach not just a belief but a way of living, if people read the Bible and disagree with the messages it says than perhaps they'll disavow their faith, but that hasn't been the case with me at least. 

 

My sources of God is a trickier question to put an answer in words. I feel the holy ghost guides me and I try to be a nice person and make good decisions with its help and I see the positive impact it has. However it can be difficult to show to someone that, they may simply say that doing good things just the the right thing to do and indeed there are many good people who do good things that aren't Christian. But that doesn't mean the Christ isn't with them. He loves us all and wants us all to do the right thing, and he is always with us whether we're listening or not and whether we know we're listening or not. This however is very personal and my point of view and thus why I said trickier to put in words. It's not as easy as going on google and getting a quick and easy answer though there certainly are many resources out there. But that's why it's called faith, because it takes faith in order to believe in something that's greater than us or the universe we live in. And the universe is too incomprehensibly large for us to even begin to fathom to begin with. 

 

To those who still ask "How do you know God is real?" I respond with a philosophical answer, "Well there is something greater than all else in existence, greater than the universe or infinite universes. That greatest thing is God. God must exist because if God did not exist then he would not be the greatest possible thing in existence, and if he is not the greatest possible thing in existence he could not be God because God is the greatest possible thing." So the question isn't "Does God exist" the more appropriate question is "Is Jesus the son of God?" or "is Vishnu God?" etc. And that's where faith comes in   .

 

I hope I read your question correctly, again this is my personal view on it. Happy weekend everyone!

[Sunwalker 981]

I'm sure at least some of you are familiar with the claim that reading the Bible is the quickest way to disavowing one's faith. Now as Bible readers ourselves, ranging from casual to Biblical scholar, I'm sure we're walking refutations of this claim but can someone perhaps give me an actual reason as to where this claim comes from and a more formal counter against it apart from, "I have read it and I still believe." This sort of crosses over into the phenomenon that I've met more Bible thumping atheists than I have Bible thumping Christians.

 

As for the origin of the claim, I think that it comes from the fact that those anti-Christian internet militants usually doesn't have any actual in-depth study of the Bible. What they have is a dozen of out of context passages and some punchlines, and then they considers themselves experts on the matter. With this mindset, someone can just skim through some Bible pages, just randomly looking for verses that could somehow be considered offensive, without actually paying attention and neither having any knowledge of the culture of the society in which that was written. And they consider this as "reading the Bible". The problem of searching for evidence for a specific thing is that it might makes you to ignore the evidences that might go against it.

 

Somewhat related to the topic, I would like to add that it is not possible to understand Christianity without understanding the person of Jesus Christ. That is, what there is of so special with him that makes people to want to follow his steps. Having a great deal of knowledge of History and Theology will not help if one does not understand Christ. He has shaken the society in which he lived, even though he was never a political leader, never had any formal instruction, and had never lead any conflict. Jesus could approach people, understand them when nobody else didn't, and connect with them. And this is the ordinary part, there is also the extraordinary ones: he performed miracles in public, he died in public, and appeared resurrected also in public.

 

I am saying this in order to state that I think that just reading the Bible from the first to the last place will not work if the objective is to fathom the Christian though. First it is important to understand the person of Christ, and then the Bible will start making sense. The Old Testament is a lead up to Christ, while the New Testament is the fulfillment of the promise. All of the Christ's teachings are also on the Old Testament, albeit in a more subtle and implicit way. But I bet that they are going over the head of most people, who instead end up paying more attention to other things, like the culture of the ancient peoples.

 

 

Secondly, have you guys ever felt like your typical sources of God aren't "enough" for lack of a better term? Like when I try to research reasons for faith and religion, I typically get only the Christian perspective rather than a more broad one unless I specify "Judaism, Buddhism, etc." Now obviously I am a Christian but even amongst them I typically find "Jesus freaks" those who are sycophantically devoted to Jesus rather than dispensers of any kind of true theological or philosophical wisdom.

This actually ties to what I have said just above.

 

In the beginning of Christianity the Bible, as we know today, just didn't exist. During the time of Christ there were some controversy on the canon of what today we refer as the Old Testament, and most certainly the New Testament wasn't even written. The biblical canon didn't got fully established until the fourth century. And Christianity could exist for over 3 centuries without the Scriptures, or at least without the Scriptures as we know today. What I mean by that is that there is more than the Bible when it comes to being Christian. Christianity didn't come from the Bible, it was the Bible than came from Christianity. This is an important distinction to have in mind, and it is the mistake committed by those who try to prove Christianity by the Bible (they fall on the circular reasoning of concluding that the Bible is right because the Bible says it is right).

 

During the first few years after Christ his memory was still livid on people's mind, and it wasn't really necessary to have anything written down, plus some people of those times thought that the second coming of Christ would happen yet within their generation. It wasn't until later that the Apostles have written the gospels and their letters. For a while, just the memory and the oral tradition was sufficient in order to differentiate which writings about Christ held any credence or not. It wasn't until even later that the Church needed to have a council in order to establish the canon, and thus quench heresies that have popped up in order to confuse people.

 

The source of the Christian faith? Jesus Christ is the source. In order to understand it, I recommend studying the person of Christ, what he said and how he thought and acted. A common point between pretty much any religion or philosophies of life in general is the search for happiness and meaning. What set Christianity apart from any of these is that in it the happiness and meaning have a name, a face, and walked among us. And he is still alive.

[Prospekt 11,018]

 

 Hey there Orthodox Christian here.

Welcome EMT! I'm an Orthodox Christian, too.

I am actually considering converting to Orthodoxy... been discovering some of the writings of the early church fathers in my spare time over the past couple of months and all of a sudden everything about the Orthodox Church is starting to make sense to me after years of being an Evangelical. I found a video on YouTube in which an English priest tells the story of how and why he converted from Protestantism to Orthodox and I identified with him so much. Recently, I got in contact with someone who is in charge of an Orthodox student fellowship at my university and they got back to me today about helping me on my journey and I'm so happy. I've been praying long and hard and I think this is the step that God wants me to take.

 

Or intended just not made explicit. Creed does that a lot. As does Jars of Clay. Even Skillet, not all of their songs are specifically about their faith. Awake and alive is an example. That's why I like bands like these, the artists are Christian and that obviously affects what they create but as with life, our belief in God doesn't have to be the only thing we are capable of expressing or that such belief can only be expressed or experienced through explicit worship.

U2 is one of the best examples of that. 3 of the 4 members are outspoken Christians so it's no surprise that there are songs like "40" that are heavily based off of passages from scripture. A lot of my favorite U2 songs are the ones that have double meanings, like both a secular meaning of the lyrics that is pretty obvious, as well as a Christian meaning that you will really only understand if you know the Bible. Like, you'll find biblical allusions in the majority of their songs. Take "One Tree Hill" for example, which throws in a reference to Cain in the book of Genesis: "You know his blood still cries from the ground."

[Vitaj 45]

Hello, I ama christian brony too, and i think this fandom works quite well with such religion, because they work on similar rules and ideologies such as love and friendship

[The_Gobo 36,257]

Hello, I ama christian brony too, and i think this fandom works quite well with such religion, because they work on similar rules and ideologies such as love and friendship

Lemme learn you about a short little book called.. Judges :3

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

This post has been redacted by the author.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Blue

[The_Gobo 36,257]

God is unassailably just. So it makes perfect sense that he is angered by sin. In Judges, he enacts vengeance upon Israel's repeated disobedience.

 

>But I thought God was merciful...

 

He is, and he also has perfect awareness of your innermost thoughts and motivations. Israel couldn't socially trick God into thinking they were repentant when they weren't.

 

>Israel couldn't obey God's commands. Paul says so in the New Testament.

 

That's why the point of the Law was to be a mirror, not a guideline. A mirror to show how each one of us would be unable to fulfill the law and obey it: therefore repent and seek God's love and mercy.

 

>That sounds bullish.

 

But you must concede that if God is who he said he is, we're in no position to demand an explanation.

That was simple an eloquent.

Nicely worded

 

Though to be clear, I was only be cheeky, not snide.

I wasn't saying that the morals of MLP don't rock out with many of those of Christianity specifically,

More specifically that the totality of each of those do not.

 

For example, Explaining Sin to a world full of friendship and tolerance ^^;

Or the 'Best Friends' status of say DJ Pon3 and Octavia.

Or more specifically Lyra and Sweetie Drops (er, Bon Bon, whatever the deuce her name is)

 

I agree with Vitaj insofar as the general teaching of both that one should be kind to others, seek an altruistic end to all things, and tolerate those (within reason) that would seek to undo or prevent that.

Though, the same could be said of almost every major religion.

And even moreso of common human decency. lol

[ChB 18,550]

I hope everyone had a wonderful week.

I have two questions for you Orthodox Bronies: Are your Christmas celebrations/traditions similar to those in a Catholic or Protestant country? And to those who live in a Protestant or Catholic country do you exchange gifts on January 7th or December 25th to keep with cultural norms of the country? 

Being an American I don't have much contact with Orthodox Christians, so I'm not much in the know 

Sunwalker and Nebula Wolf are right, and many Orthodox jurisdictions (including mine) follow the Revised Julian Calendar, which aligns with the Gregorian Calendar for most feast days, except for the date of Pascha (Easter). I live in America, and my parish celebrates Christmas on December 25th. 

You know. It feels great to have bronies that have a heart for God and religion. Whether you are Christian or not,

It feels great for me to learn and speak God's words of wisdom in a thread dedicated to Christians.

It feels great to be here

Amen! Amen!

 

 

 

Somewhat related to the topic, I would like to add that it is not possible to understand Christianity without understanding the person of Jesus Christ. That is, what there is of so special with him that makes people to want to follow his steps. Having a great deal of knowledge of History and Theology will not help if one does not understand Christ. He has shaken the society in which he lived, even though he was never a political leader, never had any formal instruction, and had never lead any conflict. Jesus could approach people, understand them when nobody else didn't, and connect with them. And this is the ordinary part, there is also the extraordinary ones: he performed miracles in public, he died in public, and appeared resurrected also in public.

 

...

 

The source of the Christian faith? Jesus Christ is the source. In order to understand it, I recommend studying the person of Christ, what he said and how he thought and acted. A common point between pretty much any religion or philosophies of life in general is the search for happiness and meaning. What set Christianity apart from any of these is that in it the happiness and meaning have a name, a face, and walked among us. And he is still alive.

Well said, Sunwalker!

 

 

I am actually considering converting to Orthodoxy... been discovering some of the writings of the early church fathers in my spare time over the past couple of months and all of a sudden everything about the Orthodox Church is starting to make sense to me after years of being an Evangelical. I found a video on YouTube in which an English priest tells the story of how and why he converted from Protestantism to Orthodox and I identified with him so much. Recently, I got in contact with someone who is in charge of an Orthodox student fellowship at my university and they got back to me today about helping me on my journey and I'm so happy. I've been praying long and hard and I think this is the step that God wants me to take.

I wish you all the best in your walk with God, Prospekt! I've had a similar background and a similar journey. Keep praying, find a Parish to attend, and get to know their Priest, so that he may guide you. It is my prayer that the student fellowship will continue to support you on your path. 

Feel free to PM me, if you have any questions about the Orthodox Church, or just want to talk.

Edited February 15, 2017 by ChB

[Whirlwind 1,055]

If you ever feel like giving up on something, read James chapter 1

I guarantee you'll feel more confident afterwards