Do Americans realize the Eastern Orthodox church is as old as the Catholic, but with

The vast majority of Protestant groups arose as a revolt against the Catholics ... but the Eastern Orthodox was already there (it and Catholicism used to be the same thing.) Why didn't Luther, Calvin and pals just hook up with Constantinople?

I know that the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Chuch use to be one Church, then they split with the schism.

The Greek Orthodox Church is a very old church.

Maybe something about icons? Who knows. Many Americans do know about the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Does it really matter and would it change anything?

What unites us all is Jesus Christ, and what He accomplished on the cross. That is all that really matters... the "good news" that the world needs to know.

They didn't "hook up" because God gave a revelation to them in his word. He gave them a new wineskin and showed them a new way that the others had not seen.

"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall sprout; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. " - Isaiah 43:19

We're actually older- The Aposltes were in Jerusalem and Anticoh before Rome. The reason that the reformers did not become Orhtodox is because they viewed the world with Roman eyes and as such felt either the true Church was Rome or the one they were creating. I am an Orthodox convert with a deal of exposure to Protestantism the attitudes are- Orthodox we ask "What have we always done" Catholics "What dose the Pope want us to do" and Protestants "What do we want to do-now we can't have traditions"
this last one is incompatible with the Orthdoox mindset.

Orthodoxy is a split from Catholicism, true, but its minuscule representation in the U.S. means its not generally in the media.

As far as "crimes", you should know that the Orthodox Church in medieval times waged its fair share of battles, in particular against the Turks, Selaucids, and Moors. It was in many ways similar to the Roman Empire, only that it survived a few more centuries. It, too, had its violent religious purges of those deemed heretical. Come to think of it, so did the early Lutherans and Calvinists.

One might even go so far as to say that the crimes more reflected the times than the character of the institution.

In any event, Protestantism wasn't just taking Christianity as it was and removing the Pope. If it were, there would be on Protestant denomination. Rather, these groups splintered off and fought against one another, disagreeing on every point of doctrine.

Their theology was (and is) at least partially incompatible with the Orthodox churches, as is their liturgy, leadership structure and language. Moreover, European Protestants would have vast distances to travel to link up with Constantinople, something that wasn't feasible at the time.

*Is Catholic*

First there is no such animal as the Eastern Orthdox Church. There the Russian Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church and many others, but they are not united as one Church.

Did you know that there are also Greek Catholic Churches? It depends on the way you look at things if you consider the Greek Orthdox Church to be the one that was broken away from, or the one that broke away.

Luther, Calvin, etc. tried to hook up with the Russian Orthodox. The Orthodox took one look at their theology and told them no you do not hold to the faith that has been handed down to us.

You should know in 1600's that the Greek Orthodox Church had become quite reduced due to Byzantium being destroyed by the Muslim invaders. The Russian Orthodox Church was the dominant Orthodox Church.