You can't read your way into Orthodoxy

This is the 15th in a series on why some LCMS pastors have converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. So far, I have highlighted the public testimonies of:

1. Thomas L. Palke
2. Ezekiel
3. Benjamin Harju

The next several posts will look at the public testimony of Fr. John Fenton, another pastor in the LCMS who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.

Fr. Fenton has more excellent advice for members of the LCMS exploring Eastern Orthodoxy. He states:

You see, there is this temptation to believe that one can read his way into (or out of) Orthodoxy. …And reading yourself into Orthodoxy is forcing the Church to be an academic endeavor when, in fact, she is body of Christ animated by the Holy Spirit in the lives of the saints and faithful.

If one pursues the course of reading one's way into the Church, then one may end up very knowledgeable about Orthodox teachings, but not yet understanding the Church or her life; and so not yet Orthodox. It's rather like reading one's way into a family or believing that taking a class in "being a good sister or faithful husband" will actually achieve that end.

Let me suggest, then, that the better way is to understand the purpose of books and teaching as these relate to the Christian faith and life. Books, catechesis and instruction exist not to impart a body of knowledge so that one might become convinced or perusaded about the correctness of a belief. Rather, books, catechesis and instruction are provided to help explain what one has already experienced in the body of Christ. The liturgy is, most chiefly and commonly, this experience of the Church. So books, catechesis and instruction in the faith exist to explain the what, the how and the why of the catholic and godly living that is the liturgy. Or, put more simply, one ought to attend regularly an Orthodox worship service (Byzantine or Western rite) and allow various Orthodox books (like those by the good Bishop) to explain why the Church worships as she does.