>>696820
>>696821
I had this conversation with my dad once, who grew up in the Orthodox Church. My dad converted to Catholicism in his college years as he was living in the American south where orthodoxy wasn’t really an option. He very recently converted back to Orthodoxy, and is trying to get the rest of our family to join him (I might convert and join). I asked why Orthodox churches are covered in gold and incense, when they could spend that money on charity and have a simpler church. My dad can be a serious man when talking about religion, and he said to me “the Orthodox teach that the church must be beautiful because GOD is beautiful, and when you ask why the money was spent on the church you are acting like the apostle who asked why the ointment wasn’t sold and given to the poor.” I always remember that analogy every time I see this complaint about Christian churches being too rich or glamorous.