/lit/ - Literature

>>20815031
>>20815365
Both of these perspectives are pretty good, from opposite directions but meeting in the middle. Being Orthodox is a life’s work, and it’s one that I’m only starting to pick up again after being strong armed by some friends into being Catholic. Your faith is something God will expect from you long after it stops being cool or glamorous or mystical. It would be better if you had one icon of Christ, one Bible (I like the Lexham+EOBNT combo just because it’s from the Greek and in modern English, but any Bible with “the apocrypha”/Deuterocanon is more than good enough), went to Liturgy every Sunday and feasts, and prayed daily, you would be a fine orthodox Christian.
Guys like this >>20814843 are larpers and would probably get an eye roll from any preist that’s been working more than 10 years. Rene Gueyon ended up becoming Muslim, Seraphim and Spyridon are controversial figures who went beyond the stated aims of their work into tangents (how does knowing UFO’s are demons or the Tollhouse controversy really help someone grow in their faith?), and Sherrard seems to be writing from a very scholarly standpoint that, while interesting, also doesn’t really touch on the basics of the faith that a convert needs to know. The fact that reading list also contains swearing should be a clue to where the heart of the creator is, and I’m sure any preist would say the same.
TL;DR: if you don’t want to be a larper, a well translated New Testament and pic rel would be a good starting point, since Theopan writes mainly for the average person, and you would be following along with the actual readings that are read in church (with some slight differences if you’re not in a Russian parish). More importantly, get involved in your church and pray daily, as much as you can for where you’re at.