Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism

Bob Crowley

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I had a bit of a bee in my bonnet about Russian Orthodox Church attitudes to other Christian churches, so I was doing a bit of reading on the net. I came across the following Pew Research item, which was instructive. I'm Catholic incidentally.

Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century

While the Russian Orthodox establishment is not particularly welcoming of competitive Christian churches in its home territory, the fact is that overall the Orthodox Church is declining relative both to absolute world and christian populations. Understandably enough since they endured the brunt of Soviet persecution, they don't feel kindly towards well funded interlopers who didn't bear that cross to anywhere near the same extent.

Part of the reason Orthodoxy hasn't expanded much is that it is mainly confined to the Eurasian landmass, whereas Western European explorers and colonists exported Catholicism and Protestantism centuries ago to Africa, Asia, America, Australia and the Pacific.

Yet oddly enough there is a strong Orthodox presence in Ethiopia. How that came about I don't know.

It seems that both Catholicism and Protestantism are growing, but not in the West - in Africa and Asia in particular. US Catholicism is being affected by Latin immigration (although US Protestants are trying to reverse the trend in Latin America).

Meanwhile Christendom remains as divided as ever.
 
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Bob Crowley

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GodsGrace101

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The article is rather long and I can't read it.

I'll just say that the Orthodox church, from those I know personally, tends not to evangelize or draw persons to their church.

In many ways they are like the Catholic in that many that attend this denomination do not really know what their doctrines are. Again, I say this from personal experience and it may not be true generally.

The reason I like both the Catholic and Orthodox church, however, is that they seem to be united in doctrine (teachings) unlike the Protestant denominations that don't seem to be able to agree on basic doctrine.

I must say, however, that between priests there is some disagreement as to some doctrine. But it seems to stay there.
 
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Pioneer3mm

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I had a bit of a bee in my bonnet about Russian Orthodox Church attitudes to other Christian churches, so I was doing a bit of reading on the net. I came across the following Pew Research item, which was instructive. I'm Catholic incidentally.

Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century

While the Russian Orthodox establishment is not particularly welcoming of competitive Christian churches in its home territory, the fact is that overall the Orthodox Church is declining relative both to absolute world and christian populations. Understandably enough since they endured the brunt of Soviet persecution, they don't feel kindly towards well funded interlopers who didn't bear that cross to anywhere near the same extent.

Part of the reason Orthodoxy hasn't expanded much is that it is mainly confined to the Eurasian landmass, whereas Western European explorers and colonists exported Catholicism and Protestantism centuries ago to Africa, Asia, America, Australia and the Pacific.

Yet oddly enough there is a strong Orthodox presence in Ethiopia. How that came about I don't know.

It seems that both Catholicism and Protestantism are growing, but not in the West - in Africa and Asia in particular. US Catholicism is being affected by Latin immigration (although US Protestants are trying to reverse the trend in Latin America).

Meanwhile Christendom remains as divided as ever.
I had a bit of a bee in my bonnet about Russian Orthodox Church attitudes to other Christian churches, so I was doing a bit of reading on the net. I came across the following Pew Research item, which was instructive. I'm Catholic incidentally.

Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century

While the Russian Orthodox establishment is not particularly welcoming of competitive Christian churches in its home territory, the fact is that overall the Orthodox Church is declining relative both to absolute world and christian populations. Understandably enough since they endured the brunt of Soviet persecution, they don't feel kindly towards well funded interlopers who didn't bear that cross to anywhere near the same extent.

Part of the reason Orthodoxy hasn't expanded much is that it is mainly confined to the Eurasian landmass, whereas Western European explorers and colonists exported Catholicism and Protestantism centuries ago to Africa, Asia, America, Australia and the Pacific.

Yet oddly enough there is a strong Orthodox presence in Ethiopia. How that came about I don't know.

It seems that both Catholicism and Protestantism are growing, but not in the West - in Africa and Asia in particular. US Catholicism is being affected by Latin immigration (although US Protestants are trying to reverse the trend in Latin America).

Meanwhile Christendom remains as divided as ever.
Interesting post / comment..
---
Good point..about Orthodox Christianity in Russia & Ethiopia.
- I was in Russia & Ethiopia...some time ago.
 
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LaSorcia

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Yet oddly enough there is a strong Orthodox presence in Ethiopia. How that came about I don't know.
The story of how the Orthodox church came to be in Ethiopia is in the Bible- Acts 8:26-40. Isn't that cool!
 
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~Anastasia~

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Huge huge huge topic.

Actually our (Orthodox) parish and many I know are growing quickly with converts from Protestantism and Catholicism.

Yet sometimes the younger generation is often lost in older Orthodox (immigrant) communities, particularly where the language is that of the older generation and the younger doesn’t understand it.

As far as levels of spirituality (from the article), just a question like “do you pray daily?” can mean different things to Orthodox vs Protestants. As a Protestant, my answer would have been that I pray multiple times every day, so that’s a yes. However, in talking with my SF, I have normal daily prayers that if I do not pray those morning and evening prayers, my answer would be that I am failing to pray (in an Orthodox sense) even though I might say prayers often throughout the day. (And that’s a whole other conversation - the prayers are not legalistic but it is tied to why some populations are more rigorous in their practice of spirituality than others.)

But if your main comment was on how Russians tend to treat outsiders, yes, I understand that. I’m not Russian but I am Orthodox, and in attending at a Russian parish I was met first with suspicion, but quickly embraced after that. You’re right, there are reasons. Recent memory of the murder of almost all priests, and so on.

They were also isolated at times, due to persecution (as were Greeks) so some influence and a bit of misinformation could creep in. Often there were no priests and the grandmothers passed on the faith. There actually shouldn’t be any disagreement in doctrine, but this is one possible cause of misunderstanding that could lead to it until it is corrected. There CAN BE differences in some practice, and that shouldn’t be elevated to the level of doctrine when it was never treated that way by Christianity.

Such a huge topic. And it can go in so many directions.

God be with you all. :)
 
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Andrewn

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As an addendum to my post above, and to address my own ignorance of the topic, there's a "Christianity Today" article on the origins of the Ethiopian Orthodox church here.

Two Slave Brothers Birthed Africa’s Oldest State Church
It's interesting that in the Pew Research Center article, Oriental / Apostolic Orthodox churches are counted with Eastern / Greek Orthodox churches. Perhaps this should be the case because they are close enough. The Russian Orthodox Church belongs in the latter group.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church belongs to the former group. Actually, the word "tewahedo" means "miaphysite." They are anti-Chalcedonian.

The following article shows the number of adherent to Eastern Orthodox denominations in the USA. Note that the % of regular attendees relative to the numbers of adherents is quite small (26.4%):

Eastern Orthodoxy in North America - Wikipedia

Perhaps the rest of adherents have converted to Catholicism and Protestantism. Quite likely, actually.

I haven't found data about the numbers of Oriental Orthodox in the North America.
 
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The Liturgist

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The story of how the Orthodox church came to be in Ethiopia is in the Bible- Acts 8:26-40. Isn't that cool!

Very. And the Ethiopian Orthodox also happen to have the Ark of the Covenant in their possession.
 
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Root of Jesse

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The article is rather long and I can't read it.

I'll just say that the Orthodox church, from those I know personally, tends not to evangelize or draw persons to their church.

In many ways they are like the Catholic in that many that attend this denomination do not really know what their doctrines are. Again, I say this from personal experience and it may not be true generally.

The reason I like both the Catholic and Orthodox church, however, is that they seem to be united in doctrine (teachings) unlike the Protestant denominations that don't seem to be able to agree on basic doctrine.

I must say, however, that between priests there is some disagreement as to some doctrine. But it seems to stay there.
You're right that many Catholics don't know their doctrines, but that's not from lack of trying. Regarding disagreement to doctrine among priests, I don't see how that can be. Doctrines are to be believed by all Catholics, but some remain ignorant of those doctrine, and they generally just go along. For example, lots of Catholics don't know what the Real Presence in the Eucharist is, or the Immaculate Conception. They have heard those terms, for sure, but they don't know what they mean. But when they receive the Eucharist, they're assenting to the meaning of it.
 
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Root of Jesse

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Very. And the Ethiopian Orthodox also happen to have the Ark of the Covenant in their possession.
Got any documentation on that? From what I know, Revelation tells us that the Ark is in Heaven, in the person of Mary.
 
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GodsGrace101

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You're right that many Catholics don't know their doctrines, but that's not from lack of trying. Regarding disagreement to doctrine among priests, I don't see how that can be. Doctrines are to be believed by all Catholics, but some remain ignorant of those doctrine, and they generally just go along. For example, lots of Catholics don't know what the Real Presence in the Eucharist is, or the Immaculate Conception. They have heard those terms, for sure, but they don't know what they mean. But when they receive the Eucharist, they're assenting to the meaning of it.
Thanks for the reply.
I know that the church is trying now, but reading the bible was never made to be important and it'll take a whole generation before the importance is realized.

Regarding some doctrines, no need to get into that.
But I can if you'd like. Not all priests, or bishops, agree on everything. Some bishops are more lenient than others in accepting differing beliefs from their priests.

Catholics are supposed to pray about dogma they cannot accept, but sometimes it's never accepted.

I don't believe that a person can be lost because they do not agree with a doctrine.
 
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Root of Jesse

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Thanks for the reply.
I know that the church is trying now, but reading the bible was never made to be important and it'll take a whole generation before the importance is realized.
This simply isn't true. The truth is that, for 1500 years, books were very expensive, and a copy of the Bible was a rarity. Also, people were largely illiterate. So the common way of worship was to read Scripture to the people. Once the printing press was invented, books became cheaper, more people learned to read, and reading the Bible became more common.
Regarding some doctrines, no need to get into that.
But I can if you'd like. Not all priests, or bishops, agree on everything. Some bishops are more lenient than others in accepting differing beliefs from their priests.
I never said priests, or bishops agree on everything. Doctrine is a distinct subset of everything, and all doctrine is to be believed by all Catholics. There is another body of some beliefs of some, as I said, like relics, and the passing around of such, weeping statues, and so on. Those are not doctrines.
Catholics are supposed to pray about dogma they cannot accept, but sometimes it's never accepted.
If they have a hard time understanding it, yes. But they are supposed to believe it, regardless. For example, the doctrine of the Trinity is very difficult to understand, yet must be believed by all. Athanasius did the best job of explaining it, but still, it boggles the mind.
I don't believe that a person can be lost because they do not agree with a doctrine.
A doctrine must be believed, and is essential to the salvation of one's soul. If it is not essential, it's not a doctrine.
 
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