Unlike the overwhelming majority of my fellow parishioners at the church I attend, I came to Orthodoxy not from protestantism, but the Catholic Church.  With the exception of a fine little collection of Enlightenment/post-Enlightenment philosophers, my exposure to the “protestant faith” (loosely defined, I suppose, as a faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity which rejects the traditional hierarchy of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches) was almost null until I met my fiancee nearly a year & a half ago.  In that time I have come to be exposed to such a wide variety of individuals professing a “protestant faith” yet oftentimes their beliefs and worship would be almost unrecognizable to another protestant.  Almost all point to Holy Scripture as the guiding light of their faith, yet what teachings they take from the text (or from those to whom they have deferred interpretation to) are as bountiful and varied in shape as snowflakes in Antarctica.

I am left to wonder then on what grounds is it possible for the Orthodox to dialogue (generally) with protestants?  Shamefully, I have found myself becoming mute as to the particulars of my own faith when religious discussions are taken up because I feel utterly incapable of translating it into a language most protestants would understand (and not be offended by!).  I have marveled at some Orthodox clergy who have been able to bridge the gulf between Orthodoxy and protestantism, though I have also felt strong reservations about whether or not that bridge typically entails some “watering down” of the Orthodox faith.  My own youthful biases coupled with the good natured skepticism of a learned, adult mind compels me to worry that a number of the damaging attitudes that have come to exemplify modern protestant Christianity will tunnel their way into Orthodoxy (including fundamentalism).  While I have certainly come to know some *amazing* protestant Christians with a faith which shines brighter than the stars on a summer night in rural Michigan, I cannot say that I am anything but cautious/nervous in how myself or other Orthodox approach them in dialogue.

The fact of the matter is that both Orthodox and Catholics share a core set of beliefs that are diametrically opposed to many of the assumptions of protestantism.  At the same time, we all hold as truth that Jesus Christ was the Son of God who came into the world to save sinners.  Except with the extreme fringes, all Christians hold a Trinitarian understanding of God.  Even though the protestants have deleted books out of the Bible, it is certainly not diminished in any way with regards to their willingness to adhere to it.  But is that enough?  No protestant is going to likely accept that St. John Chrysostom hit the nail on the head for the Church when it came to understanding Romans or endorse Thomistic thought as the official Christian philosophy.  How important are these differences?  And heck, are there not even more fundamental ones I haven’t even touched upon?