A complex post intended for a priest. (Hint: I'm interested in Converting.)

I believe that Krishna as spoken of in Vedic Holy Literature, whom the Hindus believe was God incarnate, was in fact not God so much as an ancient Indian myth which symbolized India's premonition that the Advent of Christ was immanent. 

I believe that The Advent of Christ was likewise foretold in the apocalyptic literature of Israel, and was represented in Moses' prophecies as they stand addressed in The Pentateuch, being The Five Books of Moses. 

I also believe that The Buddha's enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree was itself an experience of The Pre-Incarnate Logos, so that The Buddha was teaching an early revealed, though incomplete, Wisdom Tradition he received directly from The Father as he manifest himself to Buddha as The Christ - which The Buddha experienced within himself as The Soul of his Enlightenment. 

Beyond this, I believe that there is no god but God, that God is One, that he has no partners and no other god exists save God alone, and that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three partners in one godhead so much as Three Apocalyptic Images revealed in the parables of Christ that symbolize the three primary attributes of One True God.

I believe Jesus' parable of The Father is Apocalyptic Imagery revealed by God to Christ, and that this imagery symbolizes God's Supreme Transcendence as an inconceivable, utterly unknowable God which no human mind can adequately apprehend save for what God deigns to reveal about Himself.

I believe Jesus' parable of The Son is Apocalyptic Imagery revealed by God to Christ, and that this imagery symbolizes God's Supreme Personality, which is eternally begotten from The Father and is eternally made manifest as The Son, who was incarnated as Jesus of Nazareth, and is the God which was known to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and, most recently, Muhammad and even Baha'u'llah.

I believe Jesus' parable of The Holy Spirit is Apocalyptic Imagery revealed by God to Christ, and that this imagery symbolizes God's Supreme Spirituality which manifests as the Divine Will that moves through all Creation, maintaining its order, though in such a way as elude to the presence of a Supreme Divine Personality behind the Holy Spirit: The Son, who is the manifestation of the eternally unmanifest and utterly transcendent Father. 

It is in this way that I discovered that there is no contradiction between being Trinitarian and Unitarian, and that Trinitarians are in fact Unitarians when properly understood. That is why it is clear and evident to me that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are, in fact, one God and that the Apocalyptic Images of three distinct persons of the Trinity are symbols which Jesus used in his parables to Reveal to God's Oneness to his disciples.

However, most Christians take issue which the following believe if mine.

I believe that Muhammad was an authentic prophet sent by God and that The Qur'an represents a Revelation from God that was intended to lead the pagans of his generation to the knowledge of Christ in The Bible, and that The Qur'an was never intended to replace The Bible so much as to lead The Muslims to The Bible as Revelation from God.

Last but not least, I believe in Baha'u'llah's teaching of the Second Coming: that we live in The Last Days, and that The Second Coming of Christ isn't going to be a literal descent of Christ in bodily form from Heaven so much as a Rapture of souls that causes a global awakening of The Holy Spirit within millions of hearts and souls into Christ Consciousness - and that Baha'u'llah is the First Person of the Second Coming, which is the Resurrection of the Christ within ourselves, as ourselves. 

In other words, I believe in One God: Allah. I believe that Allah reveals Itself through the Apocalyptic Imagery of Three Divine Persons. They are The Father, Son and Holy Spirit of The Christian Trinity. I believe that Jesus was a prophet and Messiah who taught of Allah's Oneness using parables of The Trinity wherein he symbolized God's Attributes of Transcendence, Personality, and Spirituality as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and had himself submitted so completely to Allah since birth that the nature of his Human Will and the nature and Allah's Divine Will were brought into Hypostatic Union, thus ordaining Christ not only a prophet, but also a Manifestation of God. 

I believe that Muhammad was a prophet sent by Allah to pagans to bring them first into the knowledge of God through The Qur'an, and then ultimately to lead them into the knowledge of God as revealed by Christ in the Bible - and that the Islam of today represents a corruption of Muhammad's original teaching, was that Submission to God means submission to Christ and the acceptance of Him as Lord, Savior, and Divinely Ordained Intermediary between ourselves and God. 

Last but not least, I believe that Baha'u'llah, who is the prophet of The Baha'i Faith, was The First Person of the Second Coming, and was made manifest by God in order to lead us all back to faith in God as revealed by Christ in the Apocalyptic Imagery of his Parables featuring God as personified as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

That having been said,
1. I believe in One God as symbolized by the Apocalyptic Imagery of God as Three Divine Persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit converging on one Divine Self, Con-substantial in Hypostasis, Con-substantial in Will, and Con-substantial in being. 

2. I accept Christ as my Lord, and Savior, and regard him as the Personality of God revealed in flesh.

3. I believe that Salvation comes through the knowledge of God through the Person of Christ by accepting Christ as the Person of God among us: an acceptance which leads us back to the Father via The Holy Spirit.

4. I believe that The Holy Bible is the Inspired Word of God.

5. I believe that The Coptic Orthodox Church is the Body of Christ, that The Holy Spirit circulates through the Coptic Orthodox Church as The Soul of Son present among The Faithful, and that The Coptic Orthodox Church is the path to relationship with Christ.

My question is this: believing in as much as I do, can I convert?

Comments

  • You are aware that the Coptic church is not pluralistic and we affirm the nicene creed which is explicitly trinatarian and states that there three persons or hypostasis but one divine esssnce
  • I pray you do convert, but it may be more than belief. We look for the remission of sin so our souls become purified and that God's work is also done in us via the Holy Spirit.
    The way we do something is as important as what we believe and that those two things are in unison with each other. It is a church tradition that came from Christ and His teachings didn't assimilate other faiths for our salvation.
  • --My question is this: believing in as much as I do, can I convert?

    To answer your question, No!

    Orthodox Christianity doesn't declare all what you believe as faith. 
  • Hello Lux Aeterna,

    Honestly I'm not sure any Priests are active on this forum regularly. While I'm not a Priest, as others have chimed in, I might as well add my two cents, for what little it's worth. 

    It seems to me, as it did to the others that what you're asking is "Can I believe this way, and become a full member of the Coptic Church?" 

    To that, I have to agree with the others; this is not possible, whether we look at your whole statement of belief or focus only on the 5 numbered statements you provided.

    The reason is relatively simple. It is not enough to say I believe; one has to believe as the Church believes. Focusing only on the 5 numbered statements, there are some inconsistencies in regards to Orthodox Theology.

    For example, to say "I believe in the Holy Trinity" leaves us needing to explain what is meant by "the Holy Trinity." One is Orthodox only when they have the same understanding as the Church. However, this is not due to an empty dogmaticism; there's a method to the madness.

    Our own knowledge of & ability to communicate truth is always going to be limited. This is especially true when we are speaking of the incomprehensible God. For this reason, we humble ourselves and cling to the faith which we have received because we believe it to contain sound words about God. God Himself through the Incarnation and the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church chose the way in which we speak about Him. 

    The words were not chosen arbitrarily, but to provide a firm foundation whereby we can understand the plan of salvation and from which we can build a personal relationship with Him and enter into the mystery of His incomprehensibility, knowing Him not as a collection of abstract philosophical axioms, but as a person with whom we have a relationship.

    However, if you mean "can I continue studying Orthodoxy and develop my understanding of it so that I may believe as the Church believes" then the answer is "of course!" I'm sure everyone who has engaged with you in this thread is sincerely praying for that to happen. Your best best would be to find a local Coptic Church and speak to the Priest about your desire to convert.

    May God help you find your way.

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