Lutheranism is the best house on the Western side of the street

This is the 12th in a series on why some LCMS pastors have converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. The series has highlighted the public testimonies of:

1. Thomas L. Palke
2. Ezekiel

The next few posts will look at the testimony of Benjamin Harju, another former LCMS pastor who recently converted to Orthodoxy.

Rev. Palke stated that:

“I personally had to come to the realization that Lutheranism no longer chooses to consciously be what it was intended to be--a movement for reform in the West. And I still think that Lutheranism, as it is portrayed in its confessional portfolio is the best of the houses on the western side of the street.”

This idea of Lutheranism being the “best of the houses on the western side of the street” is shared by Benjamin. He states:

“If Lutheranism were only compared against Roman Catholicism and the plentitude of Protestant denominations, it would win hands down every time. But never can Lutheranism compare to the Truth and faithfulness of Holy Orthodoxy, and the intimacy she holds with Christ our Lord. Words can neither do justice nor exhaust the greatness of Christ in His Orthodox Church, with the Father and the Spirit ever reigning, world without end. Amen.

In the Orthodox Church my children have the very best they could ever hope to have: communion with Christ in the fullness of His grace. No; it’s better to say that my children have what they should have as Christians. They have what Christ has won for them by His voluntary suffering, death, and resurrection to life. Anything else will just not do.”