Father Josiah & Greek Orthodoxy | Girls Gone Bible

Summary

---

Girls Gone Bible – "Father Josiah & Greek Orthodoxy" (May 22, 2026)

Main Theme

In this in-depth and engaging episode of "Girls Gone Bible," hosts Angela Halili (Ange) and Arielle Reitsma (Ari) welcome Father Josiah, a Greek Orthodox priest, for an expansive conversation on Greek Orthodoxy, the nature of the Church, sacraments, Christian unity, and their personal spiritual journeys. The discussion provides an accessible yet nuanced exploration of Orthodox beliefs and practices, highlights differences and similarities with Catholicism and Protestantism, and confronts contemporary challenges in Christian identity and practice.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to Father Josiah & Orthodox Masculinity (02:05–03:44)

• The hosts express excitement at having their first priest guest, with banter about Orthodox men being "manly", referencing Father Josiah's ten children.
• Father Josiah affirms that "the church does make men and women. And Jesus is the ultimate human being" (03:01). He cites 1 John to emphasize Christian strength and resilience against cultural pressures.

“I write to you young men because you are strong and you have overcome the evil one.” – Father Josiah (03:01)

---

2. The Goal: Christian Unity Across Denominations (03:44–04:27)

• Ange shares the intention behind the episode: highlighting unity within the body of Christ, acknowledging differences but celebrating the shared faith.
• Brief discussion of the historical "beef" since the Great Schism (1204, not 1207 as mentioned).

---

3. What is Orthodoxy? Its Origin and Tie to Jesus (04:58–09:16)

• Father Josiah delivers a powerful overview of Orthodoxy’s Christology—Jesus as both fully God and fully man (the "theanthropos").
• He traces Jesus’ salvific mission, the defeat of death, the sending of the apostles, and the inseparability of Jesus from the Church.

“There is no difference between Jesus and his church. There is no separation.” – Father Josiah (09:01)

• Paul’s conversion and the lesson that persecuting the Church is persecuting Christ himself (Acts 9) are discussed as foundational.

---

4. The Necessity and Nature of the Church (12:25–13:07)

• Membership in the Church is “organic”—not a matter of individualism or mere personal prayer, but of real incorporation into Jesus’ body through baptism.
• “You can’t love Christ and not love the church. It’s not possible. You can’t divide them.” – Father Josiah (12:57)

---

5. Father Josiah’s Journey: From Presbyterian to Orthodox (13:07–23:13)

• Father Josiah grew up Presbyterian in Los Angeles, encountered Orthodoxy through a childhood friend, and was deeply impacted by early Orthodox experiences.
• His conversion was prompted not by anger but by a search for historical and theological continuity ("I knew I could trace it back to 1588, but I couldn’t trace it back to the apostles, and that bothered me.” – 34:14).
• Key areas of study: ecclesiology (Church organization), liturgy, and sacraments.

---

6. Scripture and Tradition in Orthodoxy (23:16–28:20)

• Ange asks if Orthodoxy values tradition over Scripture.
• Father Josiah reframes: For Orthodoxy, “scripture is the chief part of tradition” (24:50). The two are not in opposition, as much apostolic teaching was oral.
• He cites Saint John Chrysostom as a model of biblical devotion, memorizing all scripture and leaving a legacy of extensive preaching.
• The process by which the early church discerned the Biblical canon is discussed (“our bishops... sifted”; 27:17).

"Scripture is the chief part of tradition." – Father Josiah (24:50)

---

7. The Canon of Scripture & Handling of Non-Canonical Books (31:36–34:29)

• The Church categorized writings as divine scripture, good (but not scripture), mixed, or heretical.
• For example, the Book of Enoch, often debated by new believers, is possibly in the 'good' or 'mixed' category.

---

8. Apostolic Succession and The Promise to the Church (34:29–34:39)

• Jesus’ promise that the gates of hell would not prevail means Orthodoxy sees Church tradition as preserved through time—not “fixed” in the Reformation, but continuously maintained.

---

9. The Eucharist: Real Presence, Not Symbolic (36:33–44:18)

• Ange shares her personal journey of daily communion, searching for real healing power in the Eucharist.
• Father Josiah expounds on Jesus’ teaching in John 6: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life."
• Early church, including Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, saw the Eucharist as truly transformative—not merely symbolic—warning against casual or irreverent participation.
• The Protestant Reformation’s various branches are discussed, with Father Josiah noting that some (e.g., megachurches) “don’t actually believe the sacraments do anything... that is not the teaching of the Church.” (41:53–44:05)

“The Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus given to us to conquer death and to give us life and to nourish us in a one-flesh union.” – Father Josiah (40:13)

---

10. Baptism: When and How (44:18–45:31)

• In Orthodoxy, converts are baptized as adults, and their children are typically baptized at around 40 days old, paralleling Old Testament circumcision for entering God’s covenant.
• Re-baptism is "completely forbidden."

---

11. Orthodoxy, Spiritual Experience & Saints (45:31–52:51)

• The hosts explore whether Orthodoxy is more “intellectual” compared to “emotional” charismatic contexts. Father Josiah pushes back, highlighting that Orthodox liturgical life and sainthood are deeply spiritual and transformative.
• Churches are designed to tell the Gospel story visually for the illiterate through iconography.
• The 20th century produced more Christian martyrs than any other.

---

12. The Role of the Church versus Individual Spirituality (53:23–58:45)

• Can you take communion at home? Father Josiah gently asserts that while God can work outside the visible Church, the sacraments are organically tied to the Church community under a bishop or priest.
• He uses Cornelius's story (Acts 10) to show that God’s activity outside the Church is meant to draw people into full participation through the Church.
• Spiritual experiences outside Orthodoxy are described as “preparatory”—authentic and meaningful, but not the fulfillment.

"If you don’t have a priest in your life... you’re missing out. You’re seriously missing out." – Father Josiah (54:29)

---

13. Prayer to Saints & the Communion of Saints (59:10–62:06)

• Ari inquires about praying to saints. Father Josiah confirms it’s standard practice—not as replacements for Christ, but as united members of Christ’s body, alive in the next life and present in liturgy (Revelation 6:9-11; Hebrews 12).
• Saints are seen as companions and intercessors.

“Our worship service... we ascend not a physical mountain... we mingle with angels. Angels and men meet. This is in every liturgy.” – Father Josiah (60:41)

---

14. Women, Veils, and Saints (62:06–63:47)

• Ari asks about wearing veils. Father Josiah confirms women saints are always depicted veiled—it's a sign of honor and holiness.
• Saint names (Ariel, Angela) are present and meaningful within the tradition.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You can’t love Christ and not love the church. It’s not possible. You can’t divide them." – Father Josiah (12:57)
• “I wasn’t mad at my church. I had really fine pastors since I was a little boy.” – Father Josiah (13:33)
• “The Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit, written by the apostles, but discerned by the Church.” – Father Josiah (27:17)
• “How many heresies do you have to believe to be a heretic?... I think one. Just one. And I felt that I had a couple.” (34:29)
• “The greatest witness that Jesus is alive... is the production of wholeness. Whole healed people. That’s who we call saints.” – Father Josiah (48:08)
• “His spirit fills his church. And this in Cornelius’ life, he wasn’t saved until he met Peter, and Peter baptized him, and he received the Holy Spirit.” (58:26)
• "Is it heresy?... If you don’t have a priest in your life... you’re missing out." (54:29)
• "Put your seatbelt on." – Father Josiah, inviting Ange and Ari to visit the parish (62:51)

---

Timestamps: Important Segments

• 02:05 — Introduction to Father Josiah, "masculinity" and Orthodox family
• 04:58 — What is Orthodoxy? Jesus and the Church
• 13:07 — Father Josiah’s conversion story
• 24:08 — Scripture vs. Tradition
• 36:33 — The Eucharist and its reality
• 41:53 — Reformation, Sacraments, Salvation
• 44:18 — Baptism: infants and converts
• 45:59 — Is Orthodoxy intellectual or spiritual?
• 53:55 — Communion at home vs. Church
• 58:45 — God’s "preparatory" work outside Orthodoxy
• 59:10 — Praying to saints & Communion of Saints
• 63:19 — Veiling & women's icons

---

Tone & Takeaways

The tone throughout is gracious, honest, and passionate about fostering understanding between Christian traditions. Father Josiah answers even challenging questions with depth and humility, and the hosts express sincere openness to learn. The episode is a treasure trove for anyone curious about Orthodoxy, Church history, and living faith today, highlighting both shared foundations and unique Orthodox insights.

---

Transcript

[Ange]

Foreign. Have you ever been in a relationship and kept having unwanted doubts like do I love them enough? Am I really happy? What if God has someone better for me? And those questions felt impossible to ignore. And suddenly you're repeatedly praying for certainty or signs, constantly comparing your relationship to others, asking friends what they think over and over, but you can't find peace no matter what you try. Unwanted relationship doubts can feel so real and so scary. But here's what's important. No thoughts like these can be a sign of relationship ocd. Unlike the stereotypes about being organized, real OCD is a serious condition that can latch onto anything we care about. Relationship OCD creates this never ending loop of doubt and anxiety followed by behaviors you do to try to feel better, but the relief never lasts. But OCD doesn't have to take over your relationships because it's highly treatable with a type of specialized therapy called Exposure and Response Prevention or erp. And that's why I want to tell you about nocd. NOCD is the world's leading OCD treatment provider and all of their licensed Therapists specialize in ERP therapy with no CD is 100% virtual, covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans and includes support between sessions. Their therapists are extensively trained, deeply understanding and ready to help you reclaim your relationships. If any of this sounds like you or someone you care about, visit nocd.com and book a free 15 minute call to help. Learn more about how NOCD can help. That's n o c d.com

[Lowe's Advertiser]

pros save more on the materials you need to get the job done inside and out at Lowe's right now get 10% off in stock Trex Naturals decking now available in more styles. Plus get 15% off select custom entry, interior and storm doors. Then we'll deliver it all straight to your job site to help keep your jobs moving. Get the brand's pros trust priced right and ready when you need them. Our best lineup is here at Lowe's, valid through 527 while supplies last selection varies by location.

[Ange]

Hi guys, I'm Ange. And I'm Ari and this is Girls Gone Bible. And you know when I'm on this side of the table it's because we have a very special guest and today is a huge day. We have Father Josiah on GGB with us today, the first priest. It's been three years in the making. We've been waiting for this. Hi Father Josiah. Thanks for being here.

[Father Josiah]

Thank you to both of you for having me.

[Ari]

Of course.

[Ange]

Of Course, we. We'll get into everything. But first we were having a conversation off camera, and I said, you know what, Just give us one second. Let's turn the cameras on. The Greek Orthodox Church makes manly men, Right? That's what we've heard. No, And I've seen it.

[Ari]

And then he just tells us that he has 10 children.

[Ange]

Amazing.

[Father Josiah]

You know, the church and a beautiful wife.

[Ari]

Catherine.

[Father Josiah]

It's all true. Yeah. And the church does make men and women.

[Ange]

Yeah, yeah.

[Father Josiah]

And Jesus is the ultimate human being. And in the church, by his spirit, he makes people who are whole and men are supposed to be manly. There's a beautiful text in First John where Saint John says, I write to you young men because you are strong and you have overcome the evil one.

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

It's a really important word today because so many young men are, what shall I say? Viciously assaulted by all sorts of depressing things in our culture. And they need to hear this, that God views them. The Apostle John views them as strong. And they have to use their strength to love God and to conquer all the threats, all the demonic threats.

[Ange]

It's beautiful.

[Father Josiah]

They need that.

[Ange]

Ari and I have been really excited to have this conversation with you because we both grew up Catholic. We are not originally Protestant. We would both identify as being Protestant today. We both go to non denominational church churches. And this is one of my favorite conversations to have. I love the Catholic Church, I love the Greek Orthodox Church, and I love the Protestant Church. And I think in this conversation our goal is to bring so much unity to the body of Christ. There's so much division between denominations, and we want to bring people together. And Father Josiah, we've been. They've been having beef since 1207, since the great Schism. Would you agree?

[Father Josiah]

One of the realities of being Christian is that we know God and we are on a path towards his kingdom. But we're not perfect and we have a lot of sins that we have to overcome. This is why St. Paul says in the present tense, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Right. So we have things to overcome. That doesn't mean that we're not authentic. It doesn't mean that we're not sincere. But we're incomplete. And so conflicts do arise, heresies do arise.

[Ari]

Could you explain Orthodoxy to us? The origin and the connection to Jesus

[Father Josiah]

with God's help? I think so. I think so. You know, the Lord Christ came out of his great love for man. He has always been with his father. Jesus is not a creature. He didn't start in Time. He's the co. Eternal Son of God. He is divine and human. And he's always been in the bosom of his Father for all eternity. In time, in agreement with his Father and the Holy Spirit, he became a man joining divinity to humanity and becoming what the church fathers call the theanthropos. That's a combination of two fancy Greek words, Theos, which means God, and anthropos, like anthropology, which means man. Jesus is the one unique God.

[Lowe's Advertiser]

Man.

[Father Josiah]

He became what he was not. St. Augustine says, A man without ceasing to be what he was. God.

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

And he remains forever the unity between God and man in himself. Once he came and he taught us his life giving words. He crushed the devils. He went into the desert right after he was baptized and the devil tried to ruin his life. He came to him and tempted him viciously. And Jesus conquered Satan's temptations, which was the first time Satan had ever been tempted, completely just overcome. And then Jesus launched his public ministry. And for three years he taught the truth, the unerring truth. He never spoke a single word mistakenly. He never said a single error. You know, I've been preaching for decades and decades and I make a lot of mistakes.

[Ange]

Oh, you do? It's comforting. I feel seen.

[Father Josiah]

I wish it was something. I'm glad that there's some benefit to it, to comfort other idiots.

[Ange]

Sorry it's so great.

[Father Josiah]

Lord, have mercy. Mercy. But our Lord never did. Our Lord, at the end of his ministry, he said, I have only spoken the words that the Father has given me to say. Can you imagine being that obedient Lord? He loved his Father so much. He only spoke the words that his Father gave. And he confronted head on all the enemies of the human race. Everything that torments us, our sins, he bore them on the cross. The devils who constantly attack us, he crushed under his feet and. And then death. Death tyrannized the human race. St. Paul says in his Epistle to the Hebrews, he says that death was the ultimate weapon. This is in Hebrews 2, verse 14. It's the ultimate weapon that Satan used to smash mankind. And Jesus voluntarily accepted death. He said, no one takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up. He voluntarily allowed himself to die, entered into death in his soul, descended into Hades, the domain of Satan and death itself, and then blew it to smithereens, crushed it under his feet like dust, filled that dark place of sorrow with light, and then on the third day, resurrected his flesh, which he had given over to death. And then brought humanity for the first time to the other side of death. Until that time, no one, not even the greats, not even the God seer Moses or the great prophet Elijah. These were incredible people. No one had beaten death. No one had beaten death until he did it. And then he announced, when he raised from the dead, he gathered his disciples and he told them, go into the whole world. Preach the good news to everyone that Satan has been trampled. He doesn't have to be your tyrant anymore. That sin has been atoned for. You can be forgiven everything in the love of God and that death has been crushed. Go tell everyone, baptize everyone in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all of my words, all my sacred commandments. And I'll be with you until the end of the age. This is the message. This is the message that has changed the world. My life, your life, the whole world.

[Ange]

Thank you.

[Father Josiah]

Jesus sent his disciples out to represent him. This is the connection between Jesus and the Church. The Church is literally his body. There's no separation between Jesus and the Church. Paul learned this. You know, before Paul became a Christian, he was a rabbi, a Pharisee, and he hated Christians. He was actually holding the coats of the murderers of St. Stephen, who we proto martyr. He was the first one to give his life for Christ. It's recorded in Acts chapter seven. It's an incredible text. And Paul was sitting there, breathing threats against Stephen, encouraging his murder. And then after Stephen was killed, which was a glorious death by the way, he saw heaven open and he saw Jesus waiting for him, standing, supporting his martyr. The Lord has done that for martyrs for 20 centuries. And the 20th century was actually the greatest martyric century in the history of the human race. We gave more martyrs for Christ in the 20th century than all the other centuries. Jesus was there and supporting Stephen. And Paul launched into this vicious attack. He got letters from the high priests and he went to Damascus in Syria, in order to round up all the Christians, arrest them and bring them back for trial. And on the way Jesus appeared to him. The text in Acts chapter 9 says that it was high noon, the sun was at its full strength. And yet when Jesus appeared to him, he made the sun look dark. That's how bright our Savior's face is radiant in glory. And he appeared to Paul. And Paul was blinded and fell off his horse. I'd actually been there in Syria. We built a church years ago on the spot and put a beautiful. And we have a beautiful statue of Paul Falling off his horse there. It's always been a place of pilgrimage. But my point is that Jesus said something to Paul that blew his mind. And it answers your question about the relationship of Jesus and the church. Paul heard these words. Jesus said, saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now, Paul didn't know Jesus. He was persecuting the church. He had not ever interacted with Jesus. He never did anything to Jesus directly. But Jesus didn't say, saul, Saul, why are you persecuting the church? He said, why are you persecuting me? There is no difference between Jesus and his church. There is no separation. Paul says, jesus is the head and the church is the body. And believers who are incorporated through baptism into Christ become individually members of that body. Paul found out that Jesus is not a floating head up in the atmosphere. If you want Jesus, you find the church. To touch the church is to touch Jesus. So this is the Orthodox Church's concept of how thick, how important it is to be a member of the church. Jesus seeks everybody. He loves everybody. He's calling everybody to repentance and faith in him. But the way that you get that is you go to the church. The idea of going to your closet and praying is a great idea, but you can't let it stop there.

[Ange]

Yeah, for sure.

[Father Josiah]

There's no, like, individualistic Christians. That's not how it works. You go to the church and there's a beautiful text that's in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Paul says that the church is the body of Christ who fills all in all. So if you want to find the whole Christ, you can't just go to the right hand of the Father and see Jesus. If you want the whole Christ, you need Jesus and the church. This is why we Orthodox have such a thick understanding of the importance of the church, the centrality of the church. There's no dichotomy between loving Christ and loving the church. You can't love Christ and not love the church. It's not possible. Yeah, because you can't divide them.

[Ange]

There are so many different directions. We have so many questions. First, we want to ask. You were originally Protestant, right? You grew up in Los Angeles.

[Father Josiah]

You were Protestant, Glendale Presbyterian Church.

[Ange]

You were Presbyterian, and then you converted to Orthodoxy. We want to know what that switch was.

[Father Josiah]

Do you have three days?

[Ange]

I know. Unfortunately, I know. I wish.

[Father Josiah]

Well, I should say first that I was very blessed. I feel very blessed in my upbringing. And I didn't convert to holy Orthodoxy because I was mad at my church. I had really Fine pastors since I was a little boy. As a matter of fact, when I went to college, I had applied to UC Berkeley, which is where my best friend was going. And I was planning on going there. I got in, I went up there and on. Before I actually decided to go, I visited another friend who had gone to a Christian college in Santa Barbara called Westmont. And when I was up there, I was so taken by the college that I wrote Berkeley. I said, I'm not coming. I'm going to go there instead. So I ended up going to this beautiful college and studying the Scriptures, which was really my main study when I was in college, and I really deepened my Presbyterian faith. I had this interaction with the Orthodox Church that was so intriguing to me. When I was 8, I had a buddy who I played baseball with in Glendale, and he was Greek. And I would sometimes spend the night at his house, and he would sometimes spend the night at my house on the weekends. Well, he went, he took me once to St. Anthony Orthodox Church in Pasadena on Rosemead Boulevard. And I remember being so shocked by the liturgy and I didn't know what it was. And at the end, we have this custom at the end of going up and kissing, the priest will hold a cross, or sometimes he'll distribute bread to us. And we kiss our priest's hands, which is a sign of respect because that's the hand that baptizes us. That's the hand that touches us when we confess and he reads forgiveness prayers for us. And then when we die, those are the fingers that actually close our eyes and put us in the grave. We love our priests. And. And I had never. I didn't. I had a pastor boat. As a Protestant, you know, we didn't think pastors were priests.

[Ange]

Yeah.

[Father Josiah]

And I went up there and I kissed the priest's hand and I felt like electrical light bulb, like lightning strikes coming out of my mouth. It was the weirdest thing. And I remember stumbling out of the church.

[Ange]

This episode is brought to you by Glorify, the number one Christian daily devotional app. Honestly, one of the questions we get asked the most is how we stay connected to God throughout the day with life gets busy, overwhelming, distracting, and genuinely, one of the biggest tools for you will be Glorify. What we love about the app so much is that it creates intentional moments with God that actually feel doable in real life. Like five minutes before your morning starts, during a walk, sitting in your car, or even at night when your mind won't slow down, you can start your morning reading the Bible verse of the day, go through one of their daily devotionals and they also have this really immersive experience called Daily Walk with God that helps your heart before the chaos of the day begins and throughout the day day. If you're anxious or overwhelmed, they have guided meditations, worship playlists, and honestly just reminders that bring you back to peace and truth. You'll especially love using the sleep meditations at night because sometimes after a long day your mind is racing and it's so beautiful falling asleep focused on God instead of fear. Whether you've been walking with Jesus for years or you're still figuring things out, Glorify really makes spending time with God feel approachable and consistent. Listeners to the show can get full access to Glorify for just 29.99 for the entire year. That's Glorify's lowest price ever. When you download the Glorify app [e-mail] CGB we want you to feel closer to God this year. Get full access all year for just $29.99 at glorifi-app.com cgb that's glorified-app.com ggb. You guys know we love anything that helps us feel a little more put together without making life harder and lately that's been all of in June for us. Their mani system is honestly so good because it gives you salon quality nails at home without the appointments, the waiting or spending a fortune every two weeks. Everything comes in one box. Salon grade tools designed for diy, your choice of six polishes and the polish actually lasts seven days or more without chipping and it breaks down to like $2amanicure which is kind of crazy considering what salons cost now. We've also been obsessed with their gel mani system because it comes with everything. The five finger LED lamp, salon quality tools, their and their Hema free gel polish that lasts up that lasts up to 21 days. It's honestly perfect for busy schedules, staying home, netflix nights, travel, everything and their press ons. They're so good, they look so real, they last forever, they're non damaging and you can literally do a full manicure in under 10 minutes. Plus the removal is so easy, you guys warm water and that's it. Also we're obsessed with their gel colors, especially the color icing. Icing is the best part. Visit olivendune.com ggb for 20% off your first system. That's O L I V E A N D j u n e.com ggb for 20% off your first system. Guys, we are so excited to tell you about our sponsor, Avocado Green Mattress. Their certified organic mattresses are specifically designed to relieve pressure points, support your body the way it needs, and help you actually get the deep, restorative sleep you've been missing. Every mattress is made with thoughtfully sourced MA and built with real care, so you get incredible sleep night after night. When I invest in something for my home, I want it to last, especially if it has to do with my sleep. Because, guys, honestly, sleep affects everything. Your mood, your stress levels, your hormones, your energy, all of it. So lately we've been really trying to be more intentional about the things we bring into our homes, especially the things we use every day. And what we love about Avocado is that everything feels intentionally made, not mass produced, not cheap, not something you replace in a year. Their mattresses are supportive, comfortable, breathable, and genuinely feel luxurious while still being practical for real life. And you can feel the difference with the materials, too. Everything feels high quality, cozy, and thoughtfully crafted in a way that actually supports your body while you sleep. We also love that choosing Avocado is a more sustainable choice overall because their products are made with responsibly sourced materials designed to last longer, which means less waste. Avocado products are made, not manufactured, and thoughtfully crafted with real materials to deliver lasting comfort and support. Go to avocadogreenmattress.com GGB to check out their mattress and furniture sale. That's avocadogreenmattpress.com GGB avocadogreenmattrush.com GGB because after

[Father Josiah]

that, you just walk out of the church and I remember the sun coming in. I was eight years old. I kind of regained my composure and never thought about it again for 10 years. Then I'm 18. I go off to Westmont College, and in the love of God, he lets me meet the woman who would become my wife.

[Ange]

Thank you, Jesus.

[Father Josiah]

And when I met her and she finally consented to date me, which was a challenge, she finally consented on March 17, which is St. Patrick's Day. I've never forgotten that, because one year later, on St. Patrick's Day, I asked her to marry me and she said yes, for which I'm very thankful. When I started dating her, I found out she was Protestant also. She was Methodist, Evangelical Methodist. But she was the youngest of six. And her oldest brother had gone off to Wheaton College in Chicago and had become Orthodox. He had this professor of religion who was encouraging people to explore different churches. And he ended up becoming Orthodox. So when I started dating her, he started writing me letters. He started sending me books, books that were super beautiful but raised questions I had never even thought about. And that began a journey for me that took about, I guess, about six years, five or six years in which I was finishing up college and I decided to go to seminary. So I went to a Presbyterian seminary, which was an incredible experience. I loved it. I had incredible professors. But all those years when I was in seminary, on the side, I was taking independent studies about areas of difference, the organization of the church. What's called ecclesiology. For instance, Orthodox Christians have bishops. Presbyterians. They're called Presbyterians because they don't have bishops. Presbyter means it's contracted to priest. It's a Greek word that just means pastor or overseer. And Presbyterians, on principle, didn't believe in bishops. The first Presbyterian was in 1588, a man named Thomas Cartwright. And that was one of the things I studied. Why, as a Presbyterian, do I not have a bishop? So I studied that issue, and then I had another issue, which was the worship style. We studied the liturgy, and another thing was the sacraments. Those three areas I did independent studies while I was in seminary. And in all three cases, I ended up embracing. I can't say that I was even happy about it at the time. I'm happy about it now. But I wasn't so happy about the time. I ended up becoming convinced of the Orthodox tradition on those areas. And so when I was finishing my school, the dean called me into his office. I had been studying very hard. Well, for many reasons. But one of them is I wanted to receive a nice. There was a nice scholarship that you got if you were the top student. And he called me into his office, and he said, you know, you should be getting the scholarship. He said, but if you look in the fine print, it says you have to be going into the Presbyterian and Reformed ministry. He goes, I have a feeling you aren't. And I said, you're right. You're right.

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

Yeah. So then I became Orthodox.

[Ange]

Okay, this is so, so interesting to me. I want to know. I can't wait to talk about the Eucharist. That's like, what I'm. And here's the thing again. Ari and I grew up Catholic. Neither of us had been to liturgy yet. We haven't been to the Greek Orthodox Church. And so I think a lot of what we think about the Orthodox Church probably is similar to Catholicism. And I know there's so many Differences I do want to ask you about again. Haven't been to a service. I just want to know, like, for me, Scripture is everything. The Bible is absolutely everything to me. It's what my life is, you know, built on after getting saved in the Greek world.

[Father Josiah]

Because your girl's gone Bible recently.

[Ange]

Yeah. Yeah, we are. So, in the Greek Orthodox Church, what is valued more, tradition or Scripture?

[Father Josiah]

The question, as you put it, is an expression of your Protestant commitments, because in your mind, those are two different things. Which is it, Scripture or tradition? All I would say to you, with all respect, is you need to read your Bible more closely.

[Ange]

Okay?

[Father Josiah]

St. Paul says this. He said this to the Thessalonians. This is 1st Thessalonians, 2. Stand fast and hold to the tradition, which I imparted to you, either through word of mouth or writing. So tradition is not in antithesis to Scripture. Scripture is the chief part of tradition.

[Ange]

Right.

[Father Josiah]

There's also oral instruction. If you were in that church, you would. By the way, that church, the Thessalonians, that town is still actively Christian. I actually went there first in 1996. It's called Thessalon. It's a famous town in Greece. Paul was the pastor there. When I went to my first liturgy there in 1996, I stood in the altar with the priest, and behind the altar was this old, old stone chair, and it was roped off. It's usually where the bishop sits. And it had an icon of St. Paul in it. And I asked the priest, after the liturgy, I said, why is it roped off? I said, doesn't your bishop sit there? And he goes, oh, he would never sit there. I said, why? He goes, that's Paul's seat that he used to sit in when he was teaching the church in Thessalonica. I said, what? Yeah. I mean, that's how Paul started that church. And he wrote these two letters, first and second Thessalonians to them. And he told them. I mean, if you were a parishioner there. He was there 18 months teaching every day.

[Ange]

Right.

[Father Josiah]

Can you imagine being his students, his disciples, listening to St. Paul tell stories of his conversion and how to become a Christian. And then he left you two letters, one with five chapters, one with three chapters. Do you think those two letters contain everything St. Paul told you?

[Ange]

Yeah.

[Father Josiah]

He was your pastor for 18 months. He told you tons of things. He taught you how to love God and how to serve God in great detail. If, when he died, if, when he was martyred in Rome, you forgot everything he had taught you over 18 months and only followed his two letters Bible only. You would have greatly reduced the amount of apostolic instruction that he gave you. Nobody did that. So for the Orthodox, we love the Scriptures. Are you kidding me? We love the Scriptures. The greatest Bible teachers in the history of the Church are Saints. I quoted St. John Chrysostom to you earlier. He's the greatest preacher in the history of the world. His sermons are collected and read. For that sin, he died in 407. For the last 1600 plus years, we've been reading his sermons east and West. They're translated into every language, comparable in the Greek language only to St. Augustine's writings in the Latin West. As far as size, he knew the Bible. He literally memorized the entire Bible while living in a cave for six years in which all he did is read the Scriptures and memorize them during the day and at night, pray. He never even laid down once in six years. He tied himself to a wall to sleep, to stay awake, to read, to

[Ange]

study it for six years.

[Father Josiah]

Six years.

[Ange]

When did he sleep?

[Father Josiah]

He slept like for an hour, but only upright.

[Ari]

That's kind of how I felt. This past three years. I feel like I've tied myself to a wall.

[Ange]

I've been studying.

[Ari]

I'm not kidding.

[Father Josiah]

Wow, that's ser. That's serious business. But my point is that no one listened. He quoted from memory in his corpus of writings. He quoted the New Testament 11,000 times and the Old Testament 7,000 times in his written sermons that we have all from memory. He preached an hour in the liturgy. An hour. And when he stopped, the people booed universally. Please don't stop. This is how incredible this man is. No one can suggest that the Orthodox Church doesn't love and revere the Scriptures. It was our bishop who sifted, you know, the Bible didn't fall like a package on Christmas Day from heaven. The Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit, written by the apostles, but discerned by the Church. There were many different documents that claimed to be by the apostles that were false. And then there were other things written by important men that were very edifying, but they weren't Scripture, they weren't inspired, they weren't infallible. And it was the Church fathers that established.

[Ange]

Guys, I think one of the biggest lies is that we're supposed to have it all together as Christians. But the truth is a lot of us are still hurting, still processing, still trying to figure things out. And the missing piece is such a beautiful reminder that Jesus didn't just come to save us. He came to give us peace in the middle of everything. Thank you Jesus. If you've been feeling overwhelmed or just not like yourself lately, this could really meet you where you are. Go check out the Missing Piece by Tim Ross. Available everywhere, including audiobook. We cannot wait for you to read this.

[Grand Canyon University Advertiser]

Girls Gone Bible is proud to be sponsored by Grand Canyon University, an affordable, private, non profit Christian university based in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. They say higher education is outdated, irrelevant. GCU doesn't settle for the status quo, they shatter it. Grand Canyon University is one of the largest universities in the country. Country. At gcu, academically rigorous industry driven programs are built to move at the speed of relevance with practical skills, career readiness and opportunity for every learner. As of December 2025, GCU offered 380 programs overall, including 153 degree programs, 180 emphasis and 56 certificate programs. GCU believes education shouldn't be a privilege, but an affordable path forward for all. Grounded in Christian truth, GCU works to empower the next generation to lead with integrity, integrity, serve with purpose and help transform their communities. Building a future that matters. GCU is Purpose Driven education. Take action. Find your purpose at gcu. Private Christian, affordable, non profit. Visit gcu Edu to learn more.

[Ange]

All right guys, starting something new is honestly terrifying. Whether it's a business, a creative project, a podcast, there are always a million questions in your head like. Like what if nobody cares? What if I fail? What if I'm not actually qualified to do this? And honestly, when we started ggb, there were so many moments where we felt so overwhelmed trying to figure everything out. The branding, the logistics, the scheduling, the content, all of it. And that's why we love Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and honestly makes starting something feel way less intimidating. They give you hundreds of templates to help build a beautiful online store that actually matches your brand. They have AI tools that can help write product descriptions, headlines, and even help enhance product photography. And one thing we really love is that everything is in one place. Inventory, payments, analytics, shipping, marketing. So you're not trying to judge 10 different websites to run your businesses. They also help you get the word out with easy email and social media campaigns. And if you ever get stuck, they have 24. 7 customer support, which honestly makes such a difference when you're building something new. And of course that iconic purple shop pay button. The best it makes checkout so easy and helps less carts get abandoned. Guys, it's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today. Sign up for $1 per month trial today with shopify.com GGB go to shopify.com GGB that's shopify.com GGB what is authentic and what isn't?

[Father Josiah]

They had four categories. This is divine scripture, this is good, but not scripture.

[Ange]

Would like the Book of Enoch be in that second category?

[Father Josiah]

The Book of Enoch, it's the one

[Ange]

thing that new believers kind of always bring up for some reason is the Book of Enoch.

[Father Josiah]

People talk a lot about that text. In particular, it would either be in that second category or the third category, which is mixed. So there's inspired, infallible, there's good but not infallible. There's mixed. Therefore be very careful. And then there's heretical. And all of those. It was our bishops under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit because the church, as I mentioned to you earlier, you can't separate the church from Jesus leadership. He promised, he said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I found out as a Protestant, I really had this concept that something was wrong until the Protestant Reformation. And then the Protestant Reformers fixed. Yeah, or we Northos don't believe that. If that's true, then how can you have that promise of Jesus being true? I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. If you want to say that at any one time the faith was lost to the church or wasn't in its wholeness, then how was that not the gates of hell prevailing? We don't think that. And the church fathers don't think that. We think that the church is always preserved by Christ and you can leave the church. Heresy can arise. Somebody can become a heretic. Just like a body, a physical body can be diseased. But you have to, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that disease is cut off. We throw the heretics out. St. Paul says that reject a heretic after a second or third warning. So the preservation of the church is something that we think is basic, based upon Jesus promises. That doesn't mean the church is perfect, but it means Jesus will preserve the church and the faith in integrity until his second coming. We believe that. So we don't think. We think all believers today should be able to trace their lineage back to the church. And if you can't, that's a problem. And that's what happened to me is I couldn't. The way I was believing and the way I was worshiping, I knew I could trace it back to 1588, but I couldn't trace it back to the apostles. And that bothered me. That really bothered me. That doesn't mean that it was all wrong. The vast majority of what I believed as a Presbyterian was absolutely true, and it was Orthodox. But there were portions that were not right in my judgment and in the Church's judgment, in the Orthodox Church's judgment. And I was asked this question by someone. He said, look, how many heresies do you have to believe to be a heresy?

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

And I thought, well, I think one. Just one. And I felt. I felt that I had a couple.

[Ange]

So the reason why. One of the reasons why this conversation is so important to me, I have been. The past few months, I've just. First, I went on a journey with communion. I went on a journey with the Eucharist. That kind of opened me up.

[Father Josiah]

What does that mean?

[Ange]

So I just. I went through kind of a hard situation about six months ago, and I leaned heavily into. I just felt like I developed and received, like, a revelation of the body and blood of Jesus as a means for healing. Right. I needed deep healing. And I began to take communion every single day at my house. And so I just went on a journey where the body and blood of Jesus Christ, it just. It just became of, like, utmost value in. In my heart and in my life. And that led me to then. And I also want to talk about the Reformation. But then that led me to. I started watching a bunch of videos on the Eucharist, on Orthodoxy, on Catholicism. And then I. A few months ago, me and one of my best friends, we actually went to the Catholic Church. And I really wanted to take the Eucharist. I've been taking Communion at Mass my whole life, but I haven't been doing it the right way. I. I didn't know that you had to be caught up on in your confession. So I went to the Catholic Church. A few months ago, I did confession with a priest. Priest. I went and took the Eucharist. And so I've been on this little journey. I love the Eucharist. And I. I believe that Communion is not just symbolic. And that's a huge conversation amongst Protestants saying that the Eucharist is simply symbolic and it does not go beyond that. Talk to us about the Eucharist, because I don't believe it's just symbolic. Do I believe that there's, like an elemental change, transubstantiation? I don't know yet. My heart is so open, so open. You take it over.

[Father Josiah]

Jesus gave us an incredible discourse, a detailed discourse on the Eucharist it's actually in John, the Gospel of John, chapter six. The entire chapter is the most beautiful description of the Eucharist itself. He says, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life. And then he reverses it, just in case it wasn't clear. Whoever does not eat my flesh and does not drink my blood has no life in him. He means life, eternal life. He doesn't mean biological life. Right? The scriptures talk about biological life. What's called vios. We get biology from that. And also the life of the soul. Seeking is the word. But then there is the most important life, which is Christ's life, which is eternal life. Aionia Zoe. It's called in the New Testament, when he says, you have no life, he's talking about his life, eternal life, the life that conquers death, that holds you in existence forever with him in communion. And he connects it all the way towards eating and drinking his flesh and blood. The disciples were scandalized when they heard this. And there was a huge group. He was giving the sermon to a massive group of people. And the scriptures say St. John were talking courts. Because of this teaching, many stopped following him. They literally. And then Jesus looked at the apostles and he said, are you leaving too? He didn't say, oh, wait, you're misunderstanding me. It's symbolic. Why would you be leaving me? I just meant it to be symbolic. No, no, it wasn't symbolic. And it scandalized. What are you talking about? Eating your blood, eating your flesh and drinking your blood. You're crazy. This is what the people were thinking. They left him and the apostles were scandalized. And Jesus said, are you leaving too? And Peter looked at him, he said, lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. That reality, that incredible reality came into existence in the New Testament church. After the day of Pentecost, the church began to worship in our Christian way, which was a fulfillment of the Old Testament. The Old Testament had a type of the Eucharist and a type of all the sacraments, actually. But they all came into fulfillment into the New Testament. Fulfillment after the day of Pentecost. And we set up the churches. And the church from the beginning, beginning was dedicated to the Scriptures and to the Eucharist and to the apostles teaching the breaking of bread. The Eucharist was called in Acts 2:42. It's an incredible text. And then Paul describes it again in a really shocking way in his correspondence with the church in Corinth. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, Paul describes a worship service and he was describing how that church had some problems. Some of their parishioners were ill prepared for the liturgy and they were coming to worship, which was a very powerful experience. He says in chapter 14 that the worship service of the church at that time was so powerful that if an unbeliever came in, he was cut to the quick. He fell on his face in the midst of the church and declared, God is certainly in your midst. That's how palpable the presence of God in the liturgy. By the way, that's exactly what happened to me when I went to the Orthodox Church. I was just describing to you today I have hundreds and hundreds of people trying to become Orthodox in my parish. I have 350 people receiving catechism right now from the outside. And if you ask them like as I have, what's the main thing, it's they visit the church and they feel the presence of God and they're like, I can't leave. And they see us all receiving Holy Communion. They're just completely blown away.

[Ari]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

So Paul describes, after describing that impact of the liturgy, he says in chapter 11, he said some were coming, coming without preparation to Holy Communion. Some were even coming drunk.

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

They were coming drunk. And he said, for this reason, a number among you are sick and some have died because they took the Eucharist without any reverence at all. They're intoxicated and they're going to go receive Holy Communion. This is how powerful. Now, if it's just symbolic, how does that happen? How does that happen? And the church has never believed that this, forgive me, it's called heresy. Doesn't matter how many pastors teach it. It's not the teaching of the church. It never has been the teaching of the Church. The Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus given to us to conquer death and to give us life and to nourish us in a one flesh union. You know, husbands and wives, we have their union, their physical union, making love to your wife and its fruitfulness in childbearing. That one flesh union is, is an earthly way of closeness. But we have, we Christians have a one flesh union with Christ himself, which is what the Eucharist is. After we receive Holy Communion, we say this beautiful prayer in which we ask the Lord to go through all of our mind and all of our body into our very core. We ask him to fill our bones and all aspects of our life with Himself. And we basically lift communion to communion. That's basically how we, we live.

[Ange]

Two questions. One, a million questions. Actually, one. Do you think that. And so was it the Protestant Reformation that changed the Eucharist being the true body and blood and making it symbolic? And is that because they wanted to offend less people, or is it because it's easier for us to understand that way?

[Father Josiah]

Well, you have to know that the Protestant Reformation wasn't a singular thing. The Protestant Reformation had many different branches. Some of them hated each other and they literally fought each other to the death. Zwingli and the Anabaptists fought with the Lutherans, literally. Zwingli, at 31 years of age, one of the major Protestant reformers was killed in battle. Religious conflict in battle. So there were. We have to be careful when we talk about Protestants in general because there's a very large umbrella under which that word Protestant is. Right. You have more traditional Anglicans and Lutherans on side. And then you would have. What I would say is a lot of well meaning megachurch people today who are really very extreme Anabaptists, they don't actually believe the sacraments do anything. They think that you're born again when you say a prayer. They think it's completely disassociated from baptism. That is not the teaching of the church. Jesus was very clear when he was talking to Nicodemus. This is John, chapter three. To be born again is to be born of water. Water and the Spirit. The megachurch pastors have removed water from the equation. They think the Holy Spirit comes into you because when you pray and ask Jesus to be your savior, which is a beautiful thing, I ask them. I ask him every day.

[Ange]

Me too.

[Father Josiah]

Not just yesterday, not just a long time ago. Lord, save me today. That doesn't mean I'm nervous. And I don't think he loves me or he's not in me or I'm not baptized. No, no, I'm not. So don't get the wrong idea. But I want to love him more. I still have parts of me that need redeeming dark spots. I need him to light up. I need him to save me. And I need him to save me now. And I need him to save me in the future as well. The salvation, though, begins the relationship. As soon as I started calling on his name, and even when I was little, I had a relationship with him. But baptism is the culmination, the formal beginning. And when you're baptized, you get married. You get married to him and it washes away your sins. Sins. St. Peter says this is 1st Peter 3. So no mega church pastor can be mad at me for quoting this. Get mad at St. Peter. He says four words, baptism now saves you.

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

Okay. It's not a symbol. It's not just something you do on the outside. And when you start thinking that. Of course, I know many Protestants who come to the Orthodox Church who've been baptized numerous times. That's completely forbidden. It's completely impossible. Impossible.

[Ari]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

There is no such thing. You don't get born again numerous times. If you're born, you're born, then you live.

[Ari]

And is the. Or is Greek Orthodox. You get baptized later in life rather than in Catholicism, where you do it as a baby.

[Father Josiah]

No. Well, it depends. It really depends who you are. So people who are coming to the church are received by baptism and then their children are baptized around 40 days old. The reason that we do that is in the Old Testament, Abraham was circumcised. Circumcision was an Old Testament type of baptism. St. Paul says this in Colossians 2, circumcision was the mark that you belong to God, just like baptism is. And God asked Abraham to do that as adults. So when Abraham was converted, he got circumcised. It hurt because he was a grown man, but Isaac, he circumcised on day eight. And so that paradigm, St. Paul says, is a paradigm we follow. So converts who are old get baptized as adults, but then their children around the 40th day are baptized and they have their own godparents.

[Ange]

I was going to ask about, because I'm trying to, because we don't have that much more time and I have a million and five questions. Would you say that Orthodoxy is maybe more intellectual? By the way, when I ask questions, I'm like, so open hearted. And sometimes when I ask questions, I'm simply asking from the Protestant's perspective the things that they want to know.

[Father Josiah]

Of course.

[Ange]

But this is a question for myself because I have spent the past five years in hyper charismatic spaces. I believe heavily in the gifts of this Holy Spirit. And, and first I want to ask you, would you say that Orthodoxy is maybe more of an intellectual approach to faith? Whereas at times, and this could be a complaint of mine and a lot of people in the Protestant church, in like charismatic spaces, there's maybe a hyper emotionalism, like we rely so much on feelings and rely so much on, like, the Lord is there if you get slain in the Spirit, the Lord is there if you're bawling your eyes out, out.

[Father Josiah]

No, no, I wouldn't say that. Orthodoxy is an intellectual, is for the intellectuals and forgive me, I know a lot about Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement. It's a lot of beautiful things about it. Actually, I have a friend, he's gone to be with the Lord now. His name was Father Michael Harper, but he, as an Anglican, was a major charismatic leader international. And he converted as an older man at like 65 to holy orthodoxy and became an Orthodox Christian and then wrote an incredible book about his journey to become Orthodox. So I even have friends who were very, very influential charismatic teachers. The charismatic movement is tame compared to the life of the normal Orthodox Christian.

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

I don't think there's. I don't think there's anything in the. The charismatic movement that even appropriates, even close to kind of just the normal orthodox way.

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

I mean, the church, the proof of the pudding, the proof of the grace of God is in what it produces. And the greatest witness that Jesus is alive and that his grace can even conquer our sins. And death is the production of wholeness. Whole healed people. That's who we call saints.

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

People who are so close to him that even their enemies, they love and death is welcomed. We produced the church. If you came into my parish, it's gorgeous.

[Ange]

We're gonna come visit. I can't wait.

[Father Josiah]

You're gonna go nuts. I know I shouldn't say one I should say, but when you come in, you'll see painted on the wall. The entire church is painted. Actually, we invested millions of dollars to paint. There's a scheme of iconography that Orthodox churches follow that reveal the life of Jesus and his miracles in paint.

[Ange]

So beautiful.

[Father Josiah]

So that if you can't actually read, which is the vast majority of Christians for all time, we're not literate. And you could read the whole life by looking. And you'll find. And when you come in, you're going to see full length people, different historical figures. Men, hundreds of them. Men on the right side, women on the left side. These are all people from every century. We made sure that we painted Saints from all 20 centuries from every land, defied death, overcame their fears, and loved Christ in the way that he loved us, which is unto death. Jesus said unto. No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friend. And to be able to have a closeness with Jesus so intense that you actually embrace death for his sake rather than in any way betray him. This is so much more impressive than speaking in tongues or getting a prophecy. I mean, I'm not saying anything's wrong with that.

[Ari]

Yeah, let's talk about it.

[Father Josiah]

It's minor compared to what's happened. And the greatest number of those martyrs actually is the 20th century century we have produced. The church isn't like stilted. I mean, people sometimes look, we wish I could live like in the first centuries. No, you don't. You don't live now. Live in the time that Jesus put you in and live the way they lived in the first century. Really. We have this incredible saint. He made me think of him when you mentioned the Eucharist. His name's Saint Ignatius.

[Ange]

He was actually love Ignatius.

[Father Josiah]

Do you know about St. Ignatius?

[Ange]

I know Ignatius.

[Father Josiah]

He died in like 106, 7. He was actually the little boy. The tradition says when Jesus gathered a child and put him on his lap and told the disciples, unless you become like this child, you'll never inherit the kingdom of God. The tradition says that was him as a boy. That was Ignatius. He ended up becoming the bishop of the leading city in the east, which is called Antioch in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. And he was so influential that the Roman, the pagans hated him and they literally put him in chains, walked him across the world to Rome and then murdered him in the colossal see him. And he wrote these letters. He wrote seven letters on his journey to the churches, to the major churches that he knew were going to be on the path that the. The soldiers were taking him. And he wrote them with. With one request. Don't stop me. Don't. Because they were going to pay off the. They wanted to save him. He said, don't save me. This is my dream. This

[Ange]

this podcast is sponsored by Active Skin Repair, a skin health brand that helps your skin heal using natural, non medical grade ingredients. What makes Active Skin Repair different is that it uses the same proprietary formulation trusted in hospitals. The key ingredient is hypochlorous acid, a molecule your body naturally produces when applied to the skin. It works by mimicking your immune response to cleanse, soothe irritation, reduce inflammation and support healing. Active Skin Repair can be used for just about everything. Cuts, scrapes, burns, sunburns, rashes, acne, eczema, rosacea, you name it. It's safe, nontoxic and gentle enough for all skin types, all ages and anywhere on the body or face. But what I love is that they've expanded beyond just healing sprays. Their hydrating serum for body and face is incredibly lightweight and packed with hyaluronic acid to deeply hydrate and plump the skin, leaving you with that healthy, dewy glow. It's made with high quality ingredients sourced from Italy and is EWG approved. So you know that it's both effective and clean with no heaviness or irritation and their daily hydrating mineral on screen. Also EWG Approved is one of those products you actually want to wear every day. It's super sheer hydrating and layers perfectly under makeup while still protecting your skin. Trusted by over a million customers and clinicians with thousands of five star reviews, Active Skin Repair is simple, clean skincare you can feel good about. Safe enough for everyone in your family from the youngest to the oldest. To learn more and get 20 off your order, visit activeskinrepair.com and use code GGB. You can also find Active Skin Repair on Amazon and at your local cvs.

[Father Josiah]

This is my dream. He goes, I want to become chewed by the lions so that I can become the bread of Jesus and offer my life back to Him. I want this. And then he told them, he said, he said, he called. He starts describing how much he loved the Eucharist. And he said, the Eucharist is the medicine of immortality. If you want to conquer death, you want to become made strong so that you can stick with Jesus no matter what. Take the Eucharist.

[Ari]

Wow.

[Ange]

Do you think, okay? And every again, every question we ask is with complete humility in our hearts that there's so much that we don't know and so much that you can educate us on. Do you think me taking communion at home by myself is. Do you think it's one? Is it heresy to Is there power? Is there presence in what I'm doing? Or do you believe that it's only in the church that there's any power or presence?

[Father Josiah]

Well, just like that question you asked earlier. Let me reframe it. Yeah, let me reframe it.

[Ange]

Absolutely.

[Father Josiah]

If the church is who Jesus said it was, this is his body and the fullness of Christ on the earth. And if having a pastor of the church, a pastor that has received the tradition and passed it on is important, having a bishop, having a priest is, then certainly that doesn't mean that you can't be with Christ when you pray outside of the church. It doesn't mean that he's not going to do miracles for you, doesn't mean that he doesn't love you. But you can't turn the world into church. That's what we're trying to do by preaching the gospel. One day the whole world will be lit up by the church. The church is the light of God on the earth and we're trying to light up the darkness. One day we will. One day there won't be Anything but church. That's what heaven is. There's no single speck that's not dedicated to Christ and filled with his presence and the light of the church. But now we live in a mix. Right now, St. John writes, the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. So there's church and there's world. The goal of the church is to go into the world without becoming the world. Right? We're in the world, but we're not of the world. And Jesus set us into the world. We're trying to light it up. But there's a distinction. If you say that what you do in your closet, what you do privately in your home, is equal to what's going on in the church and making a big mistake. You can't trivialize membership in the church. It's organic. To be connected to the Church is to be connected to Jesus, living body on the earth. And that necessarily means you have a bishop. There is no such thing as being membered in the Church like Jesus wants, without having a bishop. Matter of fact, St. Ignatius says you have to know him and that your bishop should know your name. Your bishop should know your name. The bishops and the priests of the Church are Jesus, shepherd shepherds. You know, Jesus said to Peter after the resurrection. I remember Peter denied him three times after the resurrection. Jesus met Peter and he fixed him. He healed him by asking him three times, peter, do you love me? He let Peter say yes three times to heal his triple denial. And then he told Peter, if you really love me, this is what you have to do. This is how the apostles and their successors show love. He said, if you love me, feed my sheep. That's the mentality of bishops and priests. The way that we show, the way that I as a priest show love for Christ is to take care of you, to take care of the sheep. So, not so. If you don't have a priest in your life and you don't have a bishop in your life and you're not receiving the sacraments, you're missing out. You're seriously missing out. We can't trivialize that. We can't act like. But that doesn't mean that the Lord doesn't love you, that he doesn't hear your prayers, that he's not answering your prayers and working miracles in your life. If you ask, you receive, if you seek, you find. If you knock, he opens the door for you. But he always is going to take you and send you to the Church. You know, I'll use an example of Cornelius, do you remember the story in Acts 10, Cornelius is a Roman centurion. I mean, he's a very influential pagan military commander. But he was pious, and he was watching the Christians and he was watching the Jews, and. And he's like, hmm, I better start praying. So he was praying, and the text says that God listened to his prayer and sent an angel to him and said, you, prayers have been heard. Some people who, especially the more kind of wild Protestants, no offense not taken, they think, wow, I mean, look at that. He's saved. But the angel told them, you need to go and send for a man, man who's down at the house of Simon the Tanner. His name's Peter, and tell him to come, say, speak to you, because he has something very important for your salvation. So he sent his servants. They went to Peter's house. Peter was actually praying, and he was having a vision on the top of this man's house when he heard a knock on the door. And he came back down. They said, I'm from Cornelius the centurion. And an angel told them that you have to come. So he went there, and Peter prayed for him and baptized him.

[Ange]

Wow.

[Father Josiah]

And he received the Holy Spirit. I love that text because it shows one. The Lord was working in his life before he had interactions with the church, but he didn't stop there. A lot of people think, it's me and Jesus. It's me and Jesus. Well, that's great, but that's a beginning. Jesus brings you to where he lives, and where he lives is in his church. His spirit fills his church. And this in Cornelius life, he wasn't saved until he met Peter, and Peter baptized him, and he received the Holy Spirit. This is what happened. So I would just say a lot of what's going on in Christianity in America and in Protestantism is preparatory. That's how I look at it.

[Ange]

What does that mean?

[Father Josiah]

That means that people are interacting with Jesus and Jesus is interacting with them, but it's not meant to be the end. He wants you to root yourself in his historic church, which is his body. Plant yourself there, root yourself deeply, participate in the sacrament, Get a priest in your life, because it's normal. It's how we have lived for 20 centuries. Everywhere we've gone.

[Ari]

I have to ask you this. Do you guys pray to saints?

[Ange]

You girls, you knew. You knew. Look,

[Father Josiah]

the connection between the next life and this life is very intense. We often have this idea that. That what's going on here is one thing, and what's going on there is another thing. If you read the Scriptures carefully. If you read the Apocalypse, the Revelation, the last book. If you read chapter six, read chapter six, verses nine to 11. It shows the souls of these people who had given their life for Jesus, these martyrs. And they're underneath the altar in heaven. That's how close to God they are. And they're praying. They're watching us, and they are seeing that we're getting slaughtered. This is first century. We're getting slaughtered. We're getting martyred. And they're praying to Jesus and they say, lord, how long, holy and true, will you continue to allow this to happen to our brethren? Okay, so this idea that they don't see us and that they don't know us, it's complete nonsense. I'm sorry. It's complete nonsense. That's a scriptural text. And then we have, of course, 20 centuries of interaction. You know, when I was saying that the normal orthodox life, the normal orthodox Catholic life is going to dwarf any experience as a charismatic someone's had. Well, this is one of. It is the interactions with the next life. Paul says this in his Epistle to the Hebrews. He says that our worship service. This is in chapter 12. He goes, we ascend not a physical mountain, not Jerusalem's Mount Zion, a heavenly Zion, and we mingle with angels. Angels and men meet. This is in every liturgy. I've had numerous parishioners, especially young people, see angels in the liturgy and say, did you see that person standing next to you, Father? I was like, nope, I didn't. But they did not once or twice. Not once or twice. So that world sees us. So when we talk about praying to saints, 100%, we do 100%. We don't pray to saints in place of praying to Jesus. Right. Saints are only saints because they're in union with Jesus. The word saint means Holy one, Agios. A saint is someone who's united to Jesus in this life and in the next. And yeah, we do. We don't pray to saints in place of them. In place of Christ, we pray to the Holy Trinity. And we also make our supplications known to the Virgin Mary and usually our patrons. So, like, I have a patron sea. My name, who you're named after, is your patron. Sam. I'm Josiah. Josiah was love.

[Ange]

Great King Love Josiah. We just preached him last week. We just preached 2nd Kings 22. The best. The best.

[Father Josiah]

He is the best. I agree with you. He's the best.

[Ange]

Do we have Saints? Is there St Ariel?

[Father Josiah]

Yes, there is.

[Ange]

What is she like?

[Ari]

There's A Saint Ariel. Yeah.

[Father Josiah]

There's a Saint Ariel. I have Ariel in my parish.

[Ari]

You're kidding.

[Father Josiah]

Yeah. You girls gonna have to figure this out.

[Ange]

Saint Andrew Angela.

[Father Josiah]

Angelos is the word for angel. So there are lots of Angelos and Angelas.

[Ange]

Oh, cool.

[Father Josiah]

I have them in my parish, too. It's a very popular name in Greek.

[Ange]

Okay, cool. I have so many questions, like, do you, like, can we talk about tongues and prophecy?

[Father Josiah]

Oh, those are all great questions.

[Ange]

We're probably gonna have to do a part two, because we have come to the end. Father Josiah. Truly. Truly. What an honor. Honor. Thank you.

[Ari]

It feels so holy, honestly, like there's such a holiness just sitting across from you. It's. It's beautiful.

[Father Josiah]

Well, I respect your incredible sincerity and your love for God.

[Ari]

Yeah.

[Father Josiah]

And I'm glad that you're seeking him and talking with people about it. What's more important than that? To know God and to love God and to let this be a part of our national conversation. This is what we should be doing.

[Ange]

Yeah. And we love our Orthodox brothers and sisters so much. We love them so much. We are truly one. We're gonna come to your church.

[Father Josiah]

I would just say. Put your seatbelt on.

[Ari]

I know.

[Ange]

Okay, last thing. Literally last thing.

[Father Josiah]

So I. I don't believe you.

[Ange]

Okay. Last thing. There's so many people. I know, people who want to be Greek Orthodox, but they become Catholic instead because they. They don't have the time or whatever to do the catechumen. And so what if. Yeah. I don't know what I'm trying to say. This is my favorite conversation. Whatever. Thank you.

[Ari]

And I really want to wear one of the lace things over my head. Do you guys do that?

[Ange]

She wants to veil.

[Ari]

I really want to veil. I have many visions of myself wearing one.

[Father Josiah]

When you come and you see all those incredible female saints I was telling you from every century.

[Ari]

Yeah.

[Father Josiah]

You're going to see. See one common characteristic.

[Ange]

They're all veiled.

[Father Josiah]

Every single one.

[Ari]

I think that's so beautiful.

[Father Josiah]

Yeah. Every single one. It's because they're. They represent God and love and holiness to us. It's an honor to be veiled.

[Ange]

Yeah. Thank you, Jesus.

[Ari]

Thank you so much for today. We honor you so much.

[Father Josiah]

Thank you for asking, because you don't know me well, otherwise I might scandalize you. But I really appreciate being able to speak. And thank you for the invitation.

[Ari]

Thank you.

[Ange]

Thank you so much. God bless you. We love you guys so much. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you. And be gracious to you. May he turn his face towards you and give you peace. Shalom. Shalom. We love you so much.