Icons, baptism of children, veneration of saints, "call no one father", "if anyone adds or subtracts a word in this book", "God does not require the service of human hands", "salvation from faith"... The Orthodox understanding of these questions has been set forth above********************.

But after each new topic is exhausted, demand a direct answer from the Protestant interlocutor: now that you know why Orthodoxy does this and how it understands this action, do you still consider us apostates and pagans?

Do you think this issue is a sufficient reason for our division?

And don't tell me, "If all Orthodox Christians really understood this as you have just explained it to me...", we have agreed that we are comparing the doctrinal principles of our theological traditions, and not the degree of their understanding and fulfillment by some of our parishioners.

So, isn't this question worth splitting? And this one? And this one? So, excuse me, why do you consider the Orthodox to be infidel pagans, why are you separated from us?

And remember well – on whom lies the sin of unauthorized separation? Have we, the Orthodox, separated from the Baptists, or have the Protestants separated from us?

Our separation is your sin, and, therefore, the duty of repentant correction lies upon you...

It is clear that repentance is an act of grace, and the Spirit breathes where it wants, and it is not at all necessary that a repentant mood will really awaken in your Protestant interlocutor at this very moment.

But on a rational level (and it depends on us), this section of the conversation can have the following conclusion: so, you now know that, say, the Orthodox understanding of the veneration of icons is not a betrayal of the Word of God.

Can you give me, yourself, God, your word of honor in the end, that from now on you will never again blame the Orthodox for venerating icons? Or maybe you will be able to call on your flock, your disciples in your community to throw this rusty weapon out of their arsenal?

An accusation that comes from ignorance is one thing. But if a person already knows the real state of affairs, but continues to say the opposite, this is already slander. Why should you take the sin of perjury upon your soul? Accusing the Orthodox of an imaginary violation of the second commandment, from that moment you yourself will violate the ninth commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" (Deuteronomy 5:20).

8. At the next stage of the conversation, offer the interlocutor an excursion into the world of Orthodoxy.

Since we are Christians, then perhaps over the two thousand years of Christian life and thought we have accumulated something that could be useful to you?

First of all, it is the world of Orthodox asceticism, anthropology, then it is the world of Orthodox culture (icon, church, music) and the world of Orthodox thought. In order to understand and accept these acquisitions and gifts of ours, it is not even necessary to become Orthodox.