Robyn Lebron The preserver of Truth which compares all newer theological ideas to the already established beliefs and practices of the Church; accepting ideas that clarify and correctly teach, while rejecting ideas that are theologically incompatible with the scriptures The preserver and compiler of the New Testament The Bible of the Orthodox Church is the same as that of most Western Churches, except that its Old Testament is based not on the Hebrew, but on the ancient Jewish translation into Greek called the The wisdom of the Fathers of the Church is central to the Orthodox way of life as today’s inheritors of the “true faith and Church” passed on in its purest form The Bible is always interpreted within the context of Holy Tradition, which gave birth to it and canonized it.6 Fasting and prayer play an important part of the Orthodox Christian life Orthodox believe that fasting can be the foundation of all good The discipline of training the body can enable a believer to concentrate the mind totally on preparation for prayer and all things spiritual (See Special Doctrine) All Orthodox churches use the mystery of penance or confession, but in Greek-speaking churches, only priests who have been blessed by the bishop as spiritual fathers are allowed to hear confession Children may be admitted to the Sacrament of Confession as soon as they are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong Sin is not viewed by the Orthodox as a stain on the soul that needs to be wiped out, or a legal transgression that must be set right by a punitive sentence, but rather as a mistake made by the individual with the opportunity for spiritual growth and development Though it sounds harsh, “temporary excommunication” (prevented from taking communion) is fairly common (the Orthodox faith requires a fairly high level of purity in order to commune, therefore certain sins make it necessary for the individual to refrain from communing for a period) Confession and repentance are required in order to raise the individual to a level capable of communing Because full participatory membership is granted to infants, it is not unusual for even small children