Interesting Addition

[simchat_torah]

Erwin,

This is an interesting addition to the forums. I'm sure that majority of debate will come from Catholic vs. Orthodox as they dispute to who's the original ;-)

Typically, from my personal experience anyway, I've seen that protestants accept Orthodoxy while rejecting Catholocism. (this does not express my personal beliefs, just what I've seen)
I think that the papal structure is what really defines a chasm with protestants and that makes it easier to deny Catholics from a protestant prospective.

This forum should be quite interesting as I'm sure much early christian history will be discussed.

Shalom!
Yafet.

 

[pax]

I actually love the Orthodox Churches. I'm not interested in converting or anything, but they have a rich liturgical and devotional history. I especially like the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

 

[nyj]

Today at 02:38 PM simchat_torah said this in Post #1 (http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?postid=673394#post673394)

Typically, from my personal experience anyway, I've seen that protestants accept Orthodoxy while rejecting Catholocism.

I know, which is quite odd because for the most part, aside from a few differences, Orthodoxy and Catholicism are much more similiar (if not identical) than Orthodoxy is to Protestantism. Mary's Perpetual Virginity, her Assumption into Heaven, the Real Presence, Confession of Sins are all beliefs held by by Catholic and Orthodox and pose a serious problem for many Protestant denominations.

I think that the papal structure is what really defines a chasm with protestants and that makes it easier to deny Catholics from a protestant prospective.

Yet the Orthodox have a similar structure. Metropolitans oversee each Orthodox Church. To the Orthodox these Metropolitans see the Pope as an equal. Also, what Protestants seem to reject the most about the Pope is Papal Infallibility, but the Orthodox also believe in infallibility. To them, the pronouncements of the Ecumenical Councils are infallible. Also, they do hold (I believe) that certain writings of Early Church Fathers are infallible in their pronouncements as well.

 

[nyj]

Today at 02:58 PM pax said this in Post #2 (http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?postid=673435#post673435)

I'm not interested in converting or anything, but they have a rich liturgical and devotional history. I especially like the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

Pax, you do know that some Eastern Rite (Byzantine Rite for example) churches also celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. The Eastern Rite parish in our archdiocese has the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom every other week.

 

[pax]

Today at 03:42 PM nyj said this in Post #4

Pax, you do know that some Eastern Rite (Byzantine Rite for example) churches also celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. The Eastern Rite parish in our archdiocese has the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom every other week.

I did realize that there were Eastern Catholic Churches that celebrate the Eastern liturgies, but the odds of finding one anywhere near my area are not all that great. 

 

[nyj]

Today at 04:03 PM pax said this in Post #5 (http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?postid=673563#post673563)

I did realize that there were Eastern Catholic Churches that celebrate the Eastern liturgies, but the odds of finding one anywhere near my area are not all that great.

You in Michigan Pax?

http://www.crosslink.net/~hrycak/ch_indx/us-mi.html

 

[pax]

Thanks for the link. I actually live in the Upper Peninsula of MI. I checked and it looked like the closest Eastern Catholic Church is about 3-5 hours away in Wisconsin. There is an Eastern Orthodox Church in my town, however, and I think it would be interesting to attend a Divine Liturgy some day (of course, I couldn't receive Communion).

 

[brewmama]

Hello everyone! Just as I make my break from here, after tiring of the constant Prot vs Catholic arguments and the ultra liberal goings on in GA, they come up with this! I guess God is nudging me.

I agree that Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism have a lot of similarities, and usually we are lumped together with the Catholic Church by the Protestants. I'm not so sure about the infallibility claim however. The rule is that any doctrine must be believed by everyone at all times, so some councils or rulings by bishops have been rejected by the laity due to the innovation of it. I can look up some examples, I don't know them off the top of my head. This forbids putting in new doctrine by the very nature of it, which is why women priests and homosexuality will never be allowed.
I know that the Church Fathers are not considered infallible either. Augustine is not even considered a saint in the eastern church (just "blessed") but evidently he is in Western Rite, since there is a "St. Augustine Orthodox Church" in Denver.