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Universal Truth eliminated religion from Spirituality a long time ago;
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Love and Believe in Our Creator;
Love and Believe in Yourself.
Only with Our Creator's Love and Peace will we be Truly Free!
The Eastern Orthodox Church is not a single church but rather a family of 13 self-governing bodies, denominated by the nation in which they are located (e.g., the Greek Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church, etc.). They are united in their understanding of the sacraments, doctrine, liturgy, and church government, but each administers its own affairs.
The head of each Orthodox church is called a "patriarch" or "metropolitan." The patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) is considered the "ecumenical," or universal, patriarch. He is the closest thing to a counterpart to the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church. Unlike the Pope, who is known as VICARIUS FILIUS DEI (the vicar of the Son of God), the bishop of Constantinople is known as PRIMUS INTER PARES (the first amongst equals). He enjoys special honor, but he has no power to interfere with the 12 other Orthodox communions.
The Orthodox Church claims to be the one true church of Christ, and seeks to trace its origin back to the original apostles through an unbroken chain of apostolic succession. Orthodox thinkers debate the spiritual status of Roman Catholics and Protestants, and a few still consider them heretics. Like Catholics and Protestants, however, Orthodox believers affirm the Trinity, the Bible as the Word of God, Jesus as God the Son, and many other Biblical doctrines. However, in doctrine, they have much more in common with Roman Catholics than they do Protestant believers.
The doctrine of justification by faith is virtually absent from the history and theology of Orthodoxy. Rather, Orthodoxy emphasizes thesis (literally, "divination"), the gradual process by which Christians become more and more like Christ. What many in the Orthodox tradition fail to understand is that ?divination? is the progressive result of salvation?not a requirement for salvation itself. Other Orthodox distinctive that are in conflict with the Bible include:
The equal authority of church tradition and Scripture
Discouragement of individuals interpreting the Bible apart from tradition
The perpetual virginity of Mary
Prayer for the dead
Baptism of infants w/o reference to individual responsibility and faith
The possibility of salvation after death
The possibility of losing salvation
While the Eastern Orthodox Church has claimed some of the church's great voices, and while there are many of the Orthodox tradition that have a genuine salvation relationship with Jesus Christ; the Orthodox church itself do not speak with a clear message that can be harmonized with the Biblical Gospel of Christ. The clarion call of the Reformers for "Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, and Christ Alone" is missing in this branch of Christendom, and that is too precious a treasure to do without.
Recommended Resource: Eastern Orthodox Christianity, 2d ed.: A Western Perspective by Daniel B. Clendenin.
Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics separated from one another in 1054. There are very few theological differences. The main difference is that the Eastern Orthodox Churches (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11329a.htm) use the Byzantine Rite (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04312d.htm) and the Roman Catholic Church use the Roman or Latin Rite.
Pope John Paul II said of the Eastern Orthodox Churches in Orientale Lumen, "A particularly close link already binds us. We have almost everything in common." (see http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_02051995_orientale-lumen_en.html )
The Filoque - the Catholics use it, the Orthodox do not.
Celibate clergy - the Catholics mandate it, the Orthodox do not mandate as long as the candidate is married before being ordained to the Holy Diaconate.
Leavened Bread at the Eucharist - the Catholics do not use it while the Orthodox use it - Jesus rose from the dead but the Catholics follow the Passover tradition of unleavened bread.
The Roman Catholic church is the only Christian church founded by our Lord Jesus and based on the solid foundation of the Rock of Peter, the Pope. The Orthodox church are schismatics. They separated from the Roman catholic church in 1054. They do not accept the divinely instituted authority of the Vicar of Christ (the Pope) , celibacy in priests, and the insertion of the ' foliage clause' in the Nicene Creed among other factors.
In the Orthodox tradition, the line in question reads "We believe in the Holy Spirit ... who proceeds from the Father", while in the Catholic tradition it reads "We believe in the Holy Spirit ... who proceeds from the Father and the Son". It is most often referred to as simply "foliage" or "the foliage." Difference of a few words but a big difference in meaning. The Catholic church would rather lose a big chunk of its followers than compromise on a few words that distort truth.
All denominations falsely claim to be church of Christ but the Roman Catholic church is the only true Bride of Christ since it is the only one that has had St.Peter as its first Pope whose direct successor is Pope Benedict XVl among other truths.
What's the difference between the Roman Catholic church and the Eastern Orthodox chur
