I just watched a recent episode of Shawn McCraney's Heart of the Matter show featuring Dave Bartosiewicz:
What is rather amazing is how he has now adopted the Latter-day Saint perspective on many issues as he comes closer and closer to becoming a full-fledged Eastern Orthodox--in this video, he explicitly rejects Sola Scriptura and eternal security. Furthermore, both EO and LDS reject the Penal Substitutionary theory of atonement and affirm baptismal regeneration. And yet, only until recently, Dave would have opposed LDS and EO on these matters.
Sadly, Dave also has embraced heresy, such as affirming EO teachings on religious images/icons (á la the Second Council of Nicea [AD 787]) and praying to/through Mary. Furthermore, Dave affirms the EO teaching on the Eucharist. To quote on EO theologian on this issue:
The Elements of Bread and Wine are “changed” into the Body and Blood of Christ. This sanctification of the Elements is called change, transelementation, and depends mainly on the meaning of the words of Scripture: “This is my body”, and “this is my blood”. These words of Christ do not mean “my body” is present in the Bread, and “my blood” is present in the Wine. In reality the Elements of Bread and Wine become in substance the very Body and very Blood of Christ These words of Christ signify the actual “change” of the Elements rather than the co-existence of visible and invisible parts . . . The institution of the Holy Eucharist as Sacrifice took place on the Cross. Christ is the Sacrificer and the Sacrifice, for He offered His very Body and Blood to God the Father for the remission of the sins of the world. Christ instituted Holy Eucharist as Sacrifice in the two Elements, bread and wine, presenting explicitly the mystic separation of the Body from the Blood. This institution manifests Holy Eucharist as Sacrifice, for “Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat: this is my body’. and he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for may for the forgiveness of sins’”, Mt. 26:26-28. These words of Christ were spoken in the present tense and declare that this Sacrifice is ever-present—the bloodless Crucified-sacrifice . . . This is the very belief of the Church from the very beginning and is verified by an Ecumenical Synod: “The lamb of God is placed on the Holy Table, He Who lifted the sin of the world and is offered by the officiators of God as blood sacrifice” . . . The institution of the Holy Eucharist as the remembrance of the Crucified-Sacrifice is a re-enactment of the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. However, it is not merely a reflection of the historical fact; it is a real Sacrifice inasmuch as Christ is present in the Eucharist. Both the Sacrificer and the victim is Christ Himself, on the Cross and in the Holy Eucharist. The former wrought the salvation of man; the latter, wrought man’s personal appropriation. The Sacrifice of the Eucharist is offered in remembrance of the Passion of Christ, and bears all the elements of every sacrifice: victim, sacrificer, purpose, destruction or change of what is offered. The Sacrifice in the Eucharist is a re-enactment of the Sacrifice on the Cross inasmuch as Christ is present in the Eucharist, accomplishing on earth what He accomplishes in heaven. The Eucharist brings forth the same fruits as the Cross, the source of divine Grace and all spiritual gifts. This Sacrifice, which is the propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead, is simultaneously a sacrifice of praise and intercession. (Rev. George Mastrantonis, A New-Style Catechism on the Eastern Orthodox Faith for Adults [St. Louis, Miss.: The OLogos Mission, 1969], 123-24, 127-28, 128-29; emphasis in original)
For more on the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox teachings on the Eucharist being a propitiatory sacrifice and the nature of the "Real Presence," see the listing of articles at:
If one reads my articles responding to Dave Bartosiewicz, one will see that Dave and I are now on the same theological side of the fence (e.g., Why Latter-day Saints cannot believe Evangelical Protestantism is true: A Response to Dave Bartosiewicz, Dave Bartosiewicz vs. Transformative Justification, and Refutation of Dave Bartosiewicz on justification and the atonement being forensic). It also explains why he chickened out of debating Sola Scriptura a few months ago now. Who knows; perhaps when he realises the theological problems of Eastern Orthodoxy (e.g., its Mariology; dogmatic teachings on icons; the Eucharist being a propitiatory sacrifice; the practice of infant baptism, etc) he will realise that his first big theological error was leaving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which is the Restored Gospel.
