Eastern Orthodox Q&A

Ask away

Suppose a Protestant had all the same beliefs as an Eastern Orthodox, yet did not attend an Orthodox church, would they be considered part of the One True Church? 

What does it take to be part of the "True" Church?

We know where the Church is but not where it isn't. 

If a person held all the beliefs as an Eastern Orthodox that would include a belief in a visible Church and the need to be in communion with your local bishop.

Yes, because they were often writing at the same time as the Apostles or were their disciples.

So, you're Catholic? Then why does it say Eastern Orthodox? 0_o

Are there Western Orthodox?

So, the Church is not a group of believers in Christ?

If you don't mind me answering,

Catholic as in universal not as in Roman Catholic.

No. They would be more likely be classified as Roman Catholics. There are others types of orthodox such as Greek or Polish, et cetera.

I do mind actually  

There are actually Western Rite Orthodox who have a Western Liturgy and services but are not in communion with Rome and are instead in communion with the Orthodox Sees. 

I do not believe in an invisible church.

What's the difference between Western and Eastern?

What does the "Eastern" even mean?

What does "Orthodox" mean?

Well the West is obviously more European, in the Roman Catholic church this means Rome obviously, Spain and Germany were and are also big influences on them. With the Eastern Church it's more about, historically, Jerusalem, Egypt, Syria, and Byzantium. Eventually spreading into Eastern Europe. So the term Eastern is largely geographical but obviously that has cultural differences which come out in the flavor of Roman Catholic vs Eastern Orthodox. Orthodox means adhering to what is true.

What do you think is the best argument/reason for being an Eastern Orthodox rather than a Roman Catholic?

What do you think is the best argument/reason for being a Roman Catholic rather than an Eastern Orthodox? And how would you respond to that argument/reason?

I think the pope is the best reason for being EO rather than RC. I think the overreaches of the pope is a reason a lot of liturgically minded Christians stay where they are while not knowing about Orthodoxy. 

The best reason for being RC is the unity of RC, their numbers, and the ministries and resources available to them. The response, those things don't make up for theological wrongness.

Could you respond to Jehoshaphat's argument against the Eastern Orthodox?

Jehoshaphat wrote:The best reason to be Catholic is Tradition. It is the Church founded by Christ not just some person in the 1400s.

Jehoshaphat wrote:Although I wouldn't say the EO started there own Church rather the EO and RC split from each other over certain doctrinal disagreements and largely political reasons. Also I believe the RCC is correct on the issue we disagree on, mainly the role of the pope which I see clearly laid out in scripture and early church history.

That's not really an argument against Orthodoxy since we have Tradition too. 

As for the pope, I think we can see from history that his authority hasn't always been accepted and is in fact a more recent development. 

The Fourth Canon of the First Ecummenical Council says bishops are only to be appointed locally, how does that fit with the claim of universal jurisdiction by the Bishop of Rome? 

Saint Meletius of Antioch presided over the Second Ecummenical Council even though he was not in communion with Rome, how is that possible if communion with Rome is what unites the Church? 

The Fourth Ecummenical Council was called against the express wishes of the Bishop of Rome, how can that be? 

The Fifth Ecummenical Council met to condeme the writings known as The Three Chapters, an action opposed by the Pope at the time. The Council went ahead and condemned them anyway and threatened to excommunicate the Pope, only then did he recant and claim that demons had led him astray. This brings up a whole host of questions but mostly, how could the Council excommunicate the Pope if the Pope is the head of the Church?

Do you believe in faith healing?

Not as strongly as some of the charismatic denominations but we do practice anointing the sick with holy oil and of course we believe in miraculous healing but we don't eschew modern medicine or doctors.

Is there a charismatic renewal in the Orthodox church?

Yes, there was a very small movement toward that but they were quickly excommunicated.

Why were they excommunicated?

All I know is that they were excommunicated, I read that they had been doing stuff like open communion. I don't know anything beyond that.

How does excommunicating work at an EO church? Is the person not allowed to visit the church anymore or just refused communion?

They're not allowed to take communion anymore.

Are EO's allowed to use different translations at church or do they all have to use the same Bible? Does anyone take a Bible to church? Is there one always there for the Priest? Is the Bible ever read out of at all? Or is everything chanted? Do you ever have a time of discussion of what the verses are saying or does the Priest just tell you?

There's no one EO translation, is there one Anabaptist or Mennonite translation? 

We don't usually take a Bible to church, there is a Bible that the priest uses and there are readings from it every service, in fact all of our services are about 80% quoting Scripture. 

We don't have a discussion time during service but there several book clubs, discussion groups, and Bible studies at the parish.

Are youth groups, home churches, and small groups wrong/bad? Would/do EO's ever have them? Do Protestants emphasize home churches too much?