Ecumenical Patriarchate on 60 Min

[Jennifer]

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6001717n
did you guys see this?
what do you think?
it is only about 15 min long.

[Otsukafan]

I enjoyed it but they could have really said much, much more about Christian persecution in Turkey.

[Jennifer]

well it is amazing that anything was said at all. Bartholomew is smart, if too much was said it could make things worse in Turkey. We will see what happens.

[Bobby]

Interesting video. My church recently caught my ear during the announcements when they mentioned that one of the ministries they support is an evangelical church in Turkey. They plan on starting construction on a church building soon but could not elaborate for fear of retaliation.

[Nathan Powell]

I really loved the interview. I was surprised to see the Patriarch on the program and, like Ots, wish more would've been said about specific persecutions.

[Travis Martin]

Good interview, but I have difficulties with the patriarchal-ness of non-protestant Christianity. The pope and bishops are seen almost as mini-gods. Maybe not to the truly devote, but to the masses they are. People seek them out, kiss their hands, and confess to them as though they were gods. Elevating a man who is obviously not God does harm, I believe, to the perceived spiritual worth of the followers. "He is so holy! I could never be like that." They fail, as a result, to see that holiness comes only from Christ and is equally imparted (available) to all who believe. There is so much pomp and circumstance that Christ gets lost, and so do His followers.

[Otsukafan]

Quite a judgement you have pronounced.

Travis Martin said:

Good interview, but I have difficulties with the patriarchal-ness of non-protestant Christianity. The pope and bishops are seen almost as mini-gods. Maybe not to the truly devote, but to the masses they are. People seek them out, kiss their hands, and confess to them as though they were gods. Elevating a man who is obviously not God does harm, I believe, to the perceived spiritual worth of the followers. "He is so holy! I could never be like that." They fail, as a result, to see that holiness comes only from Christ and is equally imparted (available) to all who believe. There is so much pomp and circumstance that Christ gets lost, and so do His followers.

[Nathan Powell]

I understand your viewpoint, but please don't just lump all non-protestants into a pigeonhole. The same way that many protestants don't want to be associated with other protestants, please don't imply that the EOC has a pope or that it has any sort of papal structure. This is incorrect. That was another problem I had with the interview: they explained that he was like a "pope" to the Orthodox faithful. Incorrect, he is a bishop.

Travis Martin said:

Good interview, but I have difficulties with the patriarchal-ness of non-protestant Christianity. The pope and bishops are seen almost as mini-gods. Maybe not to the truly devote, but to the masses they are. People seek them out, kiss their hands, and confess to them as though they were gods. Elevating a man who is obviously not God does harm, I believe, to the perceived spiritual worth of the followers. "He is so holy! I could never be like that." They fail, as a result, to see that holiness comes only from Christ and is equally imparted (available) to all who believe. There is so much pomp and circumstance that Christ gets lost, and so do His followers.