Nassif on Orthodoxy

Bradley Nassif teaches theology at North Park University in Chicago. Amongst his more scholarly writings, this popular article stands out as a gem: Reclaiming the Gospel. Here's Nassif:

I am convinced that the Orthodox Church preserves the fullness of God's truth, but I am equally persuaded that we have not made that truth meaningful and accessible to our own Church members. The most urgent need in the Orthodox world today is the need for an aggressive "internal mission" of (re)converting our people to Jesus Christ. The gospel of Christ and our life in Him need to be reclaimed as the very centerpiece of Church life.

This is enough to warm the heart of even a Byzantine-rite Calvinist. It confirms my longstanding global impression that, amongst the various Orthodox jurisdictions in North America, the Antiochian Orthodox are the best of the lot. Worthy of note is Nassif's repudiation of the dark influence of nationalism — something which sadly afflicts the Greeks and Russians and contributed to the partition of Cyprus, among other things.