Greetings and Blessings to my Orthodox brothers and sisters. I have come here seeking a greater understanding of the Eastern Orthodox faith, specifically Greek Orthodox. I am not considering converting and lack the knowledge to engage in debate, but I have a very favorable opinion of the Orthodox faith and simply want to understand it better.
I believe that better understanding the Orthodox faith will help me understand my own faith better, and also understand why it is so mind-bogglingly difficult to improve relations between our two churchs.
I understand that the defining moment for the Orthodox/Catholic split was the addition of the filioque to the creed. I'm told that the pope basically put it in there without consulting anyone. But, it also sounds like the differences were already growing, and this might have been a long time coming anyway.
Is rejection of the filioque considered pivotal for the Eastern Orthodox, or was it more so the issue that the pope did this without consulting anyone else? I am trying to understand whether the filioque was, in and of itself, a major theological tenet that drove the Orthodox and Catholic Churches apart, or if the differing theologies regarding the filioque arose from the historical significance of that moment? I have gotten a very wide range of responses as to whether the filioque is really of paramount importance to the Eastern Orthodox.
What other factors lead up to the split, aside from the filioque?