in my opinion their both “the one true religion” sorry other religious affiliates i like Greek traditions it would be great if we could work out our differences
Posted on May 16, 2012.
in my opinion their both “the one true religion” sorry other religious affiliates i like Greek traditions it would be great if we could work out our differences
Pope Benedict has given an unbelievably generous and liberal terms for reunion. As I recall it allows Orthodox to keep their creedal formulations in existence in the year 1000 thereabouts. It does look closer than ever and it would be wonderful.
Yes. The differences are small. Both are branches of original Christianity.
My suggestion for the unity of Christians is to return to the teachings of the Fathers of the Church, common to both Catholics and the Orthodox.
Cheers,
Bruce
NO!
Orthodox aren’t Catholics. Eastern churches are different from the Romans. We have our own art, music and customs. No rejoining, full stop!
In a perfect world, yes, they should be united as one. As it is, in the real world, neither side is willing to budge very much on the major issue of the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome. Other than that, the mindset and believe structure are nearly identical.
Yes and I think the Anglo Catholics* should be included along with those other independent branches of the Church Catholic that have maintained orthodoxy.
Most of the splits are maintained over matters surrounding the role of the Bishop of Rome. The Eastern Churches and the Anglo Catholics will not accept the role of Pope in it’s current form. They argue that the office of Peter is one of being first among equals, a uniting figure. However they argue that the Pope was never considered to be able to unilaterally declare anything which must be upheld in the early church, and should return to that.
I think Bruce has hit the nail on the head when he says we need to go back to the common beliefs of the first 1000 years of Christianity. I think there would be a mass re-union if the innovations of the past thousand years were put aside, and we went back to the faith as determined by the seven ecumenical councils of the first millennium.
This would of course remove the requirement of celibacy on the Priesthood in the Roman rite. It would also remove required belief in such things as the Immaculate Conception, and of course as earlier touched on it would remove Papal infallibility.
Really there should be no obstacle to reforming under the doctrines defied in the first seven councils, as in reality there can have been no others that are truly valid as full ecumenical councils after the schism in the 11th century.
*Please don’t rant at me about how Anglican orders aren’t valid, I will only point out that the reason used to declare them invalid if applied properly also renders Roman Catholic Orders invalid. Also don’t rant about how the Anglicans broke off through the immorality of Henry VIII, as there is plenty in the history of the Roman Church and Eastern Churches which paints a moral picture that is just as bad.
ROTFL! Anybody notice the Orthodox person arguing most vehemently against reunification is a part of the LGBT movement. I guess we all know what “cultural traditions” that he/she/all-of-the-above is most concerned about.
Yes, the Catholics and Orthodox should rejoin.
Big yes, including the anglocatholics, all the eastern catholic churches and others who may wish to join.. We should be all in ONE Holy Catholic and Apostolic
Yea it would be nice but I’m not too bothered by religion. I’m Greek and I’d always consider an Italian or Spaniard more of a brother than a slav because they are more similar to Greeks despite the difference in religion.