Dear Standing Up,
You state with immense confidence that:
And again, neither OO or EO agrees with your statement.
This was what I stated:
To describe that a 'new' is, again, to fall into the belief that the date something is declared dogma is when it was first known; this is not so. Neither is it the case that that which is declared dogma is actually new. The idea of Papal infallibility and the Marian dogma had been around for many centuries. Rome likes to define things; the East likes to maintain that somethings cannot be defined and is content that they should be believed by those who believe them, caring only to pronounce on error.
And again, neither OO or EO agrees with your statement.
Now, if you can show me where either my own Church or the EO Church has said that the date at which a dogma is declared is the date at which it originated I would be most surprised.
As it happens, we have no problem with the idea of the Bishop of Rome holding a primacy of honour; one of the reasons we disagree with the RCC is that it has sought to do something we do not do in the East, that is to define it dogmatically. The same is true with the Blessed Theotokos. We see no reason to make dogmatic which none of us have questioned; mind you, had we had to put up with people casting slurs on St, Mary, we too might have been driven to declare her sinless; as it is, we see no need to make a dogma out of what every Orthodox Christian believes.
This is not my view, it is that of my Church. We do not, of course, hold what our Catholic friends hold on Original Sin, so we would express ourselves in quite a different manner. But if you ask an Orthodox Christian two simple questions:
- do you believe that the Blessed Theotokos was without sin?
- do you believe that she was ever-Virgin
we would all say 'yes'. There is a unanimity on such things you will not find in Protestantism
You keep telling me you started a thread on the issue of the Church, tradition and the canon; no doubt, but does that stop you answering a question you have consistently evaded here?
Your view that the Sub Tuum represents a rejected practice is just that - your view. Thekla has dissented and you offer no evidence showing it was rejected.
Lastly, let's go back to something else. Personally Anglian, personally, do you think Jesus Christ was a created being?
I could use the 'SU' defence and say I've commented on this in other threads, but in the decreasingly optimistic hope you will actually answer my one question as I have answered you numerous ones, I will answer it here too.
The man we call Jesus the Christ was born of the Virgin and made man; she gave birth to the Word Incarnate, who is coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, whose essence He shares. Thus, as the Church teaches, He was 100% man and 100% divine with no mixture of the two natures, not even for the twinkling of an eye.
I am surprised you ask, since this is what the Nicene Creed has taught us. But, of course, that was not the point at which the Church decided to believe this - it was the point at which the Church found itself having to declare what all had taken for granted, because a group of men claimed to know better than tradition.
Would that be a familiar story to you
peace,
Anglian