SUMMARY

Father Josiah Trenham, an Orthodox priest, converses with pro-life advocate Lila Rose about his journey from Protestantism to Eastern Orthodoxy, emphasizing apostolic continuity, liturgical differences from Catholicism and Protestantism, and the unchanging nature of Orthodox faith.

STATEMENTS

Jesus promised to build His church with unbreakable continuity from the first century onward, rejecting later inventions like those of Martin Luther.
The Book of Revelation's letters to seven churches in Asia Minor illustrate Jesus's active vigilance in maintaining the purity of His church through correction and replacement if necessary.
Orthodox Christians preserve the faith once delivered to the saints without alteration, as reflected in the prayer to "preserve the holy orthodox faith" at every service.
In Presbyterianism, innovations like delaying communion for baptized children contradict the traditional full initiation into Christianity through baptism, confirmation, and communion.
Orthodox worship involves standing, kneeling, and prostrating during prayer, aligning with over 200 biblical references, unlike the predominantly seated Protestant services.
Early Christian worship, as described by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 14, profoundly impacts visitors, leading them to recognize God's presence and fall in prostration.
Father Trenham's conversion was influenced by attending Great Vespers, where icons, chanting, and reverence evoked a deep sense of heaven mingling with earth.
The Orthodox view children as sinless Christians who receive holy communion first, embodying Jesus's call to let the little children come to Him without hindrance.
Historical study, inspired by figures like G.K. Chesterton and the Church Fathers, reveals the depth of ancient Christianity beyond modern Western innovations.
Stubborn adherence to unchanging faith and morals defines Orthodoxy, distinguishing it from adaptable practices in Catholicism and Protestantism.

IDEAS

Protestant churches often lack historical traceability to Christ's time, creating spiritual insecurity absent in Orthodoxy's unbroken apostolic line.
Jesus's threats in Revelation to remove candlesticks from unrepentant churches demonstrate His hands-on role in purging corruption, not a distant oversight.
The prayer to preserve Orthodox faith rejects improvement, treating doctrine as a sacred treasure rather than an evolving construct.
Baptized infants in Orthodoxy receive full sacraments immediately, viewing them as complete Christians, unlike delayed practices in other traditions.
Children in Orthodox liturgy commune before adults due to their sinlessness, inverting adult-centric hierarchies in worship.
Over 200 biblical prayer positions exclude sitting except in one penitential case, challenging modern seated services as irreverent.
Great Vespers' sensory elements—icons, chanting, standing—melt visitors into profound reverence, mirroring early pagan conversions.
Worship transcends earth to join angelic hosts on Mount Zion, as per Hebrews, making Orthodoxy a lived heavenly experience.
Seminary licensure exposed Father Trenham's Orthodox leanings through exceptions to Presbyterian standards, like infant communion.
Personal prayer retreats at monasteries aided discernment between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, highlighting liturgical stubbornness as a virtue.

INSIGHTS

True church identity demands visible continuity across centuries, ensuring Christ's promise against hell's gates holds without historical invention.
Jesus's active church oversight, from Revelation's warnings to global mission, reveals divine vigilance preserving faith's integrity over passive growth.
Preserving unaltered doctrine as a treasure fosters deeper spiritual security than adaptive theologies prone to cultural drift.
Full sacramental initiation for infants underscores baptism's transformative power, empowering new life through immediate communion rather than phased delays.
Liturgical reverence—through bodily prayer and sensory worship—bridges heaven and earth, evoking God's palpable presence beyond intellectual sermons.
Historical immersion in Church Fathers unveils ancient Christianity's richness, countering shallow modern roots and guiding authentic conversion.

QUOTES

"Jesus started his church. He said, 'I will build my church.' Not Martin Luther, not Thomas Cartwright, not some uh person three quarters of the way towards our our current point in history after 1500 years."
"Preserve, oh God, the holy orthodox faith and all orthodox Christians unto the ages of ages. Amen. It's not improve. It's not make better. No. The faith was once delivered to the saints."
"When a person is baptized, when a child is baptized, they become fully a Christian. And to be a full Christian means traditionally that you're baptized, you're confirmed, and you're communed."
"The children are sinless and they're not doing what we do. And so if anyone should be receiving holy communion, it's them."
"You want to sit in church, fast for a week, you have my blessing. Fast for a week. Otherwise, get your butt up, stand and show some reference to God."

HABITS

Attend Great Vespers on Saturday evenings for immersive, reverent worship with icons and chanting to experience heaven-earth mingling.
Stand, kneel, or prostrate during prayer services, aligning bodily posture with biblical precedents for approaching God.
Study church history and Church Fathers daily to trace apostolic continuity and deepen conviction in unchanging faith.
Prioritize children's full sacramental participation, allowing infants immediate baptism, confirmation, and communion as complete Christians.
Incorporate fasting rigorously, such as a week-long abstinence, to cultivate reverence and prepare for worship.

FACTS

The Book of Revelation begins with seven letters to churches in Asia Minor, supervised by John on Patmos, each structured with commendation, rebuke, call to repent, and threat of removal.
Over 200 biblical references describe prayer in standing, kneeling, or prostration, with sitting mentioned only once by King David in penitential fasting.
Early Christians fully initiated baptized infants with baptism, confirmation, and communion, a practice later separated in Roman Catholicism around the age of reason.
St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 14 describes pagan visitors to worship falling prostrate, declaring God's presence due to its profound impact.
Orthodox services end with a prayer to preserve the faith unchanged, reflecting its delivery "once to the saints" without need for expansion.

REFERENCES

Book of Revelation (Apocalypse), particularly the seven letters to Asia Minor churches.
1 Corinthians 14, on worship's impact drawing pagans to declare God's presence.
Hebrews chapters 10 and 12, describing Christian worship as ascending Mount Zion with angels.
G.K. Chesterton and Church Fathers, inspiring historical study leading to Catholicism.
St. Gregory of Tours, commemorated on November 17th in Orthodox calendars.

HOW TO APPLY

Examine your church's practices against first-century Christianity, tracing beliefs, worship, and life back through every century to verify apostolic continuity.
Read the seven letters in Revelation to understand Jesus's corrective vigilance, applying personal repentance where modern faith deviates from purity.
Attend a traditional liturgy like Great Vespers, immersing in icons, chanting, and standing prayer to sense heaven's mingling with earth.
If baptized as an infant, ensure full sacramental integration by receiving confirmation and communion immediately, treating children as sinless full Christians.
Fast rigorously before worship to cultivate reverence, avoiding seated prayer unless in penitential states, and incorporate kneeling or prostration biblical positions.
Study Church Fathers and historical saints from each century in sermons or personal reading to join Orthodoxy's 20-century unbroken tradition.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Embrace Orthodoxy's stubborn preservation of apostolic continuity for secure faith rooted in Christ's unbreakable church promise.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Seek Orthodox worship experiences like Vespers to feel profound reverence absent in innovative Protestant services.
Prioritize full infant sacraments to honor baptism's new life through immediate communion, avoiding delayed traditions.
Trace your denomination's history rigorously, rejecting those without clear links to first-century Christ-founded church.
Incorporate biblical prayer postures—standing and kneeling—into daily devotion for authentic God-encounter.
Study Revelation's church letters to inspire vigilance against complacency, ensuring personal and communal faith purity.

MEMO

In a candid dialogue blending personal testimony with theological depth, Father Josiah Trenham, a former Presbyterian pastor turned Orthodox priest, shares his transformative journey with pro-life advocate Lila Rose. Raised in evangelical circles with Presbyterian roots, Trenham grappled with the fragility of Protestant foundations, realizing they lacked the historical tether to Christ's apostolic church. "Jesus started his church," he insists, echoing Matthew's promise that the gates of hell would not prevail. This epiphany propelled him from seminary doubts to Orthodox conviction, where unbroken tradition spans two millennia without the innovations that plagued his former faith.

Trenham vividly contrasts Orthodoxy's liturgical rigor with Protestant banality and Catholic adaptations. In his Presbyterian days, services were grand in oratory but seated and sermon-centric, evoking little awe of the divine. Orthodoxy, he recounts, demands bodily engagement—standing, kneeling, prostrating—as biblical prayer norms, with over 200 scriptural endorsements save one penitential sitting. Attending Saturday Vespers first captivated him: icons gleamed, chants resonated, and reverence palpably bridged heaven and earth, much like St. Paul's vision of pagans falling prostrate in 1 Corinthians. "They actually believe they're in the presence of God," he marvels, a sentiment that melted his resistance after months of quiet immersion.

Central to his conversion is Orthodoxy's unyielding preservation of the faith "once delivered to the saints," as prayed at every service's close. Unlike Presbyterian shifts—such as admitting divorce or delaying infant communion—Trenham found Orthodoxy's stubbornness a virtue. Baptized children receive full sacraments immediately, communing before sin-burdened adults as sinless exemplars of Jesus's call: "Let the little children come unto me." He nods to Catholicism's shared historical depth, inspired by G.K. Chesterton and Church Fathers, yet critiques its phased initiations as deviations from ancient norms.

Revelation's seven letters to Asia Minor churches underscore Jesus's vigilant oversight, threatening to extinguish unrepentant lamps— a metaphor for relocating the gospel's light. Trenham weaves this into Orthodoxy's global mission, inspired by saints across centuries, urging believers to recognize the church's enduring pulse. His brothers-in-law, simple men drawn by liturgy, mirrored his path, proving worship's power transcends intellect.

For seekers like his younger self, Trenham recommends historical scrutiny and prayerful retreats, as he did at a Poor Clares monastery. In Orthodoxy, he found not evolution but eternal treasure: a faith cherished, lived, and preserved against Satan's assaults. This conversation illuminates why, for Trenham, the Orthodox way embodies Christ's living church—stubborn, sacred, and supremely secure.