#neverliberal #nevermarxist
I thought this could be a neat and useful topic. I like to write about and discuss religion in order to understand it better myself and to learn more. And also, if you are looking for the most conservative Church, the Orthodox Church is surely the one. So, why not to merge conservative politics with conservative Christianity. The name Orthodox Church, or also Eastern Orthodox or Greek Orthodox, has come only for historical reasons. I myself was shocked to find out, after decades of being an Orthodox Christian, that my Church is Catholic. Until I learned what meant to be a Catholic, and that both Orthodox and Catholic Churches claim to be Orthodox - meaning of true glory/faith, and Catholic - meaning universal. So, my Orthodox Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.But still, there are so many Orthodox Christians believing being Catholic is evil, and not being aware they are also Catholics. This confusion has also come for historical reasons, because no separate Orthodox or Catholic Churches have ever been founded. Before the Great Schism, the Church was territorially organized into five Patriarchates: of Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome, and Constantinople. And in the beginning, the Patriarch of Alexandria was considered the Pope. When the cities of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria fell into Muslim hands, the only free Patriarchates that remained were the one of Rome and the one of Constantinople. The Patriarch of Rome wanted to be the Pope, but the Patriarch of Constantinople refused to recognize him that title, and so there was the Great Schism of 1054. The Patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria supported the Patriarch of Constantinople, and so they were called the Eastern Orthodox by the Church in Rome, while the Church in Rome was called the Roman Catholic by these four Churches in the east. And later, Martin Luther protested against the Pope in Rome, and so the Protestant Church emerged.The Orthodox Church is the only one that kept the original beliefs of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381, and so it is the oldest and the most conservative Church, and therefore the original Church of Jesus Christ. The central part of the Orthodox Christian faith is the Holy Communion - Eucharist. Everything we do - reading the Bible, praying, fasting, repenting and confessing our sins, forgiving others their sins, attending the Divine Liturgy - has one goal - to prepare ourselves to take the Holy Communion - the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. And only Orthodox Christians are allowed to take the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church, because one must be fully prepared to taste Jesus. With tasting Jesus, we are becoming the body and the blood of Christ ourselves, restoring the connection with our Creator that Adam has lost by his original sin.Here are few videos about Confession and Eucharist in the Orthodox Church.A tour of an Orthodox church.Orthodox Great Litany (from the Divine Liturgy). The priests are singing while saying prayers, because the angels are also constantly singing prayers to the Lord in the Heavens.Nicene Creed (Orthodox Chant) - our Symbol of Faith.
Also being Orthodox, I would like to interject two corrections to your statement above.1. the Eastern Orthodox is not Catholic, universal. St Ignatius was the first to use the word and it meant "whole" or "complete" It has the meaning that each congregation, headed by a bishop was the whole complete Body of Christ. It has a Trinitarian meaning of many are one. The universal understanding was made by the Roman Catholic Church and in the west it became the first meaning of the word. The fact is that the RCC is neither roman or catholic. By the time of the break, the western part of the empire had been lost to the Huns for several hundred of years and had not been part of the Roman Empire. Also, since the Roman Pope made himself the sole, absolute, authority and each congregation became a part of the whole, rather than a whole, it was no longer catholic either. All bishops are no longer collegiate or equal in the RCC.
The other is the break came historically in 1054, It was not that the East opposed the Pope of Rome as a Patriarch but that they did not consider him as having absolute jurisdiction instead of primacy where all the Bishops are equals, including the Patriarchs but one has the representative headship.
Hi, thank you for your comment and corrections. In the English translation, the Symbol of Faith says: "One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.", so it is Catholic, and I can't say it isn't, because the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed says it is. You are true in your explanation, and I assume that the word "Catholic" in this case means both - "whole" and "complete", that each congregation, headed by a bishop, is the whole and complete Body of Christ - and also "universal", that the Orthodox Church is general, all-inclusive, cosmic, truly representing the Christian universe. I was just playing with the fact that the Orthodox Church is also Catholic, at least in English language, and that many Orthodox Christians are not aware of it, and some also believing their Orthodox Church is nationally exclusive, which it's not.It would be a good moment to post here a brief explanation of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/the-symbol-of-faith/nicene-creedYes, absolutely.
When the Holy Spirit wants to show us his sense for humor and cheer us up a bit.