A true story. A conversation my colleague was told about a conversation of a would-be convert to the Orthodox Church and a priest who thought she needed to know more about Orthodoxy before converting.
She was a Muslim but ended up reading the whole Bible — OT and NT. She ended up believing Jesus was way, the truth and the life. So she decided to be baptized. She went to the local Coptic priest and told him of her desire to be baptized and enter into the Church.

Priest: “Are you Orthodox?”
Woman: “What’s that? Is it in the Bible?”
Priest (laughing): “No, my dear, it’s not in the Bible.”
Woman: “Then don’t ask me about it! If Orthodoxy is in the Bible, I’ll read it, and I’ll tell you what I think about it.”
Priest: “I can’t just baptize you because you believe. You have to know Orthodoxy.”
So the woman left without being baptized.
Later that night at 1:00 am she heard a great and majestic voice speak to her. God told her “Call the priest right now and tell him that if he doesn’t baptize you, the sin will be on his head, not yours.” So she called the priest and told him what happened.
Priest: “Ok, I will meet you in the morning and baptize you.” The next morning, she went to the Church and was baptized.
The point of this true story: It’s all about Jesus, not “Orthodoxy!”
More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad