Main differences between Christianity and the eastern Orthodox church?
can anyone please tell me the main differences between these two religions in beliefs?
thanks
x
yes, i know EO is a branch of Christianity, i didn't mean it to sound like i thought it was a different religion, i mean what are the differences between the two- "branches", there must be, otherwise they would be the same thing, i would be both Christian and Orthodox?
The Orthodox church are Christians, just like the majority, except they have the succession of the apostles. BTW, the Mormons and Lutherans do too; Rome has "Peter's keys."
FYI: In the year 536 AD, the evil Greek emperor, Justinian, declared the Roman church the head of all the churches in the world. He enforced that decree with his armies--people were murdered in the name of God yet the churches consented.
That is why God raised Islam, to punish Christians, and a full 1/3 of the Roman Empire fell to Muslims. The Bible predicted this and you can read more details at http://revelado.org/islam.htm
Your question as it stands is like asking what is the difference between fruit and apples. You need to specify two different fruits or two different christian sects to get an answer. For example: difference between Baptist and eastern Orthodox, difference between Lutheran and Orthodox.
You are both Christian and Orthodox; all Orthodox are Christians but not all Christians are Orthodox.
Orthodox Christianity is most closely related to Roman Catholicism; they were the same church for approximately the first 1000 years of Christianity. Together they were the main Christian church of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire broke into the Eastern Roman Empire (called the "Byzantine Empire" these days, though they didn't call themselves that) and the Western Roman Empire (that we commonly think of as the Roman Empire that fell to barbarians). Rome found itself as the only major Christian center in the west, while the other Christian centers, namely Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, along with the church of Crete and others, remained in the east operating without "one bishop to rule them all", just as they always had.
The main differences are the role of the Pope, who was in fact the highest authority in the west, but was recognized in the east as the "first among equals" with the rest of the bishops of Christianity.
The Nicene Creed is the common inheritance of the churches that derive from the early church. in the west, Rome added a clause to the Creed that the Orthodox do not accept as both violating church canons (rules) forbidding changes to the Creed, and as theologically unnecessary and incorrect. This the "foliage", so with the addition [and the Son], the Creed used in the west reads that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father [and the Son]".
Additional doctrinal differences, Roman Catholicism vs Eastern Orthodoxy:
Pope is infallible in doctrinal matters vs. the church is infallible in doctrinal matters
Immaculate conception of Mary vs. Mary was born a sinner like everyone else.
Purgatory vs. not
We all pray for the unity of the Church, so that these differences can be overcome.
Main differences between Christianity and the eastern Orthodox church?
