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However, in the year 1054 the Bishop of Rome and the other four bishops had a break-up (the Great Schism). We Eastern Orthodox believe we are closest to the original Church (or, "most true") largely because we have changed the least since that break-up. After the Bishop of Rome became the Pope and established absolute authority over the Western ...
- Misconception #1: The Orthodox Church Is The Same as The Roman Catholic Church
- Misconception #4: You Must Be A Certain Ethnicity to Be An Orthodox Christian.
- Misconception #6: Orthodox Christians Worship idols.
- Misconception #7: Orthodox Christians Believe They Earn Their Way to Heaven
- Misconception #8: Orthodox Christians Don’T Believe in The Bible.
- Misconception #9: The Orthodox Church Is A Dead Religion
- Conclusion
Many Protestants object to the Orthodox Church because they conflate it with Roman Catholicism. While there are indeed certain similarities between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, there are far more differences between our confessions. For instance, we view Church authority differently, especially when it comes to the infallibility and sup...
This misconception is actually quite understandable; however, it is untrue. Many people have not heard about the Orthodox Church in this country. And if they have, they have more than likely seen a church affiliated with a particular ethnicity (ex. the Serbian/Russian/Greek Orthodox Church). This affiliation consequently leads people to think that ...
Someone simply taking a cursory glance at the Orthodox Church may find our spiritual practice of venerating icons, relics, and Saints a bit off-putting. Many Protestants accuse the Orthodox of idolatry, of making gods out of and worshiping the objects and people that occupy an important place in the life of the Church. However, we do not make gods ...
Another misconception many have is that Orthodoxy teaches a works-based salvation. In other words, that we can somehow earn our way to heaven. However, this is not what Orthodox Christians believe, nor has the Eastern Church ever taught this. Just as the Scripture tells us, we believe we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that ...
Because of the strong emphasis on Sola Scriptura, most Protestants falsely accuse Orthodox Christians of not believing in, respecting, or reading the Bible. More often than not, this assumption also comes from a place of ignorance, from those who have not experienced the divine services or studied the canonization of the Scriptures and their use in...
Yet another misconception about the Eastern Orthodox Church is that our faith is “dead”. Because her worship is liturgical in nature– focused on ritual prayer – many Protestants interpret Orthodoxy as a dead religion; however, they fail to see the importance of ritual in other parts of life. For instance, Americans have a ritual for graduation from...
If you have questions about how to respond to the misconceptions and objections of others, your spiritual father or any Eastern Orthodox priest would be the best resource. What other misconceptions about the Orthodox Church have you come across in conversation? Are there some of these misconceptions you once held yourself? Let us know in the commen...
The true Church, that “one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church” of the Creed, against which the gates of hell can never prevail, is thus easily identified by both the unlearned and learned, on observing which communion of bishops (Catholic or Eastern Orthodox) adheres to the successor of that Peter, on whom the entire Church was built as ...
6 days ago · Eastern Orthodoxy, one of the three major doctrinal and jurisdictional groups of Christianity. It is characterized by its continuity with the apostolic church, its liturgy, and its territorial churches. Its adherents live mainly in the Balkans, the Middle East, and former Soviet countries.
- John Meyendorff
Aug 31, 2021 · Often left out of the conversation entirely — and unfairly — is the Eastern Orthodox Church, which represents 215 million Christians worldwide and as many as 5.6 million in the United States. They are the second-largest unified Christian body after the Catholic Church. Yet this massive body of Christian believers — in the minds of a lot ...
Jan 6, 1997 · The church. To be Eastern Orthodox is, above all, to stake a bold and unapologetic theological claim as the one true church of Christ on earth, which alone has guarded right belief and true ...
It is believed that Church authority and the grace of God is directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and other clergy through the laying on of hands—a practice started by the New Testament apostles—and that this unbroken historical link is an essential element of the true church (Acts 8:17; 1 Timothy 4:14; Hebrews 6:2) The Eastern Orthodox ...
