Comparing and Contrasting Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism

[Sola1517]

What does the Eastern Orthodox Church believe?

What does the Roman Catholic Church believe?

I believe (I may be wrong) the Protestant churches believe the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation
Sola Scriptura- The belief that Scripture is the rule of faith, not creed.
Sola Fide- The belief that faith justifies the individual, not works.
Sola Christus- The belief in the substitutionary atonement of Christ in place of the sinner.
Sola Gratia- The belief that salvation is a work of God's grace alone, not human assistance.
Soli Deo Gloria- The belief that one should live under the lordship of God alone.

Five Solas | Theopedia

My hope is that we can come to appreciate each other's differences and understand each other better as we are all one in Christ Jesus.

 

[tstor]

My hope is that we can come to appreciate each other's differences and understand each other better as we are all one in Christ Jesus.

Not so sure about that one.

 

[Sola1517]

Not so sure about that one.

Well gosh, 1500 years of tradition from the other two churches and we just got it right 500 years ago.

 

[tstor]

Well gosh, 1500 years of tradition from the other two churches and we just got it right 500 years ago.

Do you think Luther was the first?

 

[Sola1517]

Do you think Luther was the first?

The first what?

Do you think God allowed the church to fall away from what Jesus taught?

 

[tstor]

The first what?

Do you think God allowed the church to fall away from what Jesus taught?

I believe there have been true believers throughout all ages of the church. That does not mean they were the majority. In fact, they are even a minority today. Churches fall away, absolutely. Many of our historic churches have been lost to the world.

 

[Sola1517]

I believe there have been true believers throughout all ages of the church. That does not mean they were the majority. In fact, they are even a minority today. Churches fall away, absolutely. Many of our historic churches have been lost to the world.

So give me an example of a person who was a true believer from church history.

 

[HawgWyld]

So give me an example of a person who was a true believer from church history.

I'll mention two right quick -- Peter and Paul. Hard to argue against the "true believer" label for those two...

 

[tstor]

So give me an example of a person who was a true believer from church history.

Well, I can name church fathers that I believe were more in line with the true faith than others. I cannot say whether they were true believers or not for obvious reasons. To name a few that I would say Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Augustine, etc.

 

[frienden thalord]

So give me an example of a person who was a true believer from church history.

research the waldensians, lollards
research the Anabaptist movement.
though not all followed the pure movement
for sadly munsters group picked up arms...
bad seeds in every group.
here is something most don't know.
Constantine..............most know he was not really a christain.
but what most don't know is
he had the true christains who refused to conform to his huge church state as one
KILLED..............
yes true believers even way back then that knew
paganism and christanity ought never mix
were persecuted . Most, few know this.
now...........you did ask. so please don't anyone report me .

 

[frienden thalord]

whoever said peter, paul......man you all hit it right on.
the Anabaptists were very clear the church needed to return to these early roots.
here are a few more names...........jude, james, timothy, though we don't hear
anything from him.
onesimus , again we don't know much about him, only his name as an example.
the ones who truly followed Christ.
not to mention..........I truly believe, and am happy not havin mans recognition.
but rather am scorn for my love of truth.
even today their are others , scattered here and their .
Praiese the LORD my peoples , conform not to this world
be ye TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your minds. Follow CHRIST
and read the bible. I love you all, so I encourage all..........

 

[frienden thalord]

John lets not forget him...........beautiful letters of truth they left us .
bask in the ambience of truth my peoples...
and raise the roof in prayer and song to GOD
and say with me , BY grace we shall endure in the LORD
and we will not fear man , nor what he can do.
WE shall serve OUR LORD and HE alone is worthy of all praise.....
SING it my peoples o the LORD sing with me............and sing it well.

 

[frienden thalord]

Testified records from the underground vaults of the inner Vatican tell the truth about Constantine and his family. Constantinus Maximus was NOT really “Christianized” for he still worshipped the sun god “Sol” (Roman name for Nimrod) even until his death in 337 AD. He also had been ordering the killing of the true believers who were hiding in the mountains to survive, and to protect the Word of God.

oh, here is an example of true beleivers from way back being persecuted.
though sorry I don't know their names.
this says a lot . DONT IT.

 

[frienden thalord]

The first what?

Do you think God allowed the church to fall away from what Jesus taught?

Testified records from the underground vaults of the inner Vatican tell the truth about Constantine and his family. Constantinus Maximus was NOT really “Christianized” for he still worshipped the sun god “Sol” (Roman name for Nimrod) even until his death in 337 AD. He also had been ordering the killing of the true believers who were hiding in the mountains to survive, and to protect the Word of God.
by all means JESUS did not allow the true believes or church to fall away.
They ran from this newly Constantine created church.
of course as it say ssome were killed.
now I am not going to name this church , let the people figure it out.
like some through all ages did .
mennos simmons , hey, that is another name.
he started as a preist in this church whoi wont name.
he admitted that he did not read the holy scrips much at all his first year.
then due to this contradiction he saw the anabapists doing
HE was going to find out the truth.
and now here are HIS words
I began seeking and reading the scrips
it did not take LONG before I realized.....WE had been deceived.
and he did try and correct that church , whose name I wont mention.
they refused , he left and became a hunted man by that church I wont mention by name.
YES their are the names of some who did not fall away. THE LORD
OH PRAISE HIS NAME my peoples , praise him.
now lets read our bibles to make sure we are not being deceived by churches.

 

[frienden thalord]

Join with me SOLA , let us read the scrips
and let us do all to win souls...............

 

[Albion]

The first what?

Do you think God allowed the church to fall away from what Jesus taught?

Certainly. We are all fallible. Only God (and his revelation to mankind) wouldn't be. Scripture promises that the Holy Ghost will not allow the church to founder, but that doesn't mean that the people running it cannot make some mistakes now and then that require correction.

 

[FireDragon76]

The solas really were only articulated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It really can be an oversimplification of the diversity and depth of Protestant theology.

Lutherans would be considered Protestant by some, and we would definitely disagree that the Scriptures ought to be pitted against the historic creeds in determining the true catholic faith. Creeds are essential to our public confession of the faith, because we believe they are true expositions of the Scriptures.

 

[Albion]

...we would definitely disagree that the Scriptures ought to be pitted against the historic creeds in determining the true catholic faith.

That probably needed to be said in view of the wording used in the OP. Scripture doesn't have the creeds as its opposite number.

Rather, Sola Scriptura upholds the authority of God's word against church traditions, the (church's) Magisterium, the doctrinal decrees of church leaders, custom, legend, speculation, theological opinion, and so on. As you said, the creeds are either correct or incorrect solely on the basis of whether what they say accords with Scripture or not. They're not something that amends the Bible or represents another source of authority equal to the Bible.

 

[archer75]

That probably needed to be said in view of the wording used in the OP. Scripture doesn't have the creeds as its opposite number.

Rather, Sola Scriptura upholds the authority of God's word against church traditions, the (church's) Magisterium, the doctrinal decrees of church leaders, custom, legend, speculation, theological opinion, and so on. As you said, the creeds are either correct or incorrect solely on the basis of whether what they say accords with Scripture or not. They're not something that amends the Bible or represents another source of authority equal to the Bible.

The one problem with sola scriptura that irks me is that outside of scripture, there's no authority for scripture. As the EO and RC folks are fond of saying -- the Church created the NT, not the other way around.

 

[Albion]

The one problem with sola scriptura that irks me is that outside of scripture, there's no authority for scripture. As the EO and RC folks are fond of saying -- the Church created the NT, not the other way around.

But that isn't any better an argument. To say that the Church created Scripture, or the Bible, simply is a trick with words.

Sure, the church codified the books of the Bible or puts its stamp of approval upon them, but they stand on their own as either true or not. The Church didn't make some of them be God's revelation.

Leaving aside the truth or fiction in the story of Benjamin Franklin discovering electricity by flying a kite in the rain, would you say that he invented or created electricity in so doing? No! It existed before man understood it, is all. At best, that is the way it was also with the Church and the Scriptures. I say "at best" because all of the books that the church councils accepted as true were already considered to be true by the various churches of the Christian world.

And that's to say nothing of the additional fact that even the claim that it was the Papal Church that accomplished this is incorrect. There actually was no division between the Eastern and Western Christian patriarchates at that time. This was the era of the so-called "ancient church" from which all or almost all of the thousands of Christian denominations we know today are descended.