The Orthodox View of Christianity

The West has viewed Christianity more as a set of beliefs that are analogous in some sense to a cognitive theory of the world. The Orthodox would say, as near as I can tell, that you should pick up your damn cross and stumble up the hill. That's your job, right? And the cross is the X where everyone is located. You're right at the center of reality, you're suffering and dying and being reborn all the time on this earth. And you have to accept that and embrace it.