Chapter 10
Tradition, Tradition: The Catholic and Orthodox Churches
In This Chapter
Discovering how the Christian Church emerged from its Jewish roots
Seeing the split between the Eastern and Western Churches
Knowing the uniqueness of the Catholic Church
Understanding what’s distinct about the Orthodox Church
In the well-known musical Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye is a Russian peasant in pre-revolutionary Russia who belts out the memorable song “Tradition,” emphasizing the importance of tradition as a guide for his family’s life. Although tradition means something far different for them, Catholic and Orthodox Christians may as easily join alongside Tevye and sing the same tune. That’s because tradition is all-important to Catholicism and Orthodoxy; it’s a defining characteristic of these two parts of the Christian Church. In fact, they hold tradition so dearly that they place it on the same lofty plane as the Bible in terms of divine authority.
In this chapter, you explore the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and discover how tradition plays out in their beliefs. You also find out what’s unique about Catholics and unique about Orthodox Christians and how they distinguish themselves from each other and others within the Christian faith.
Transferring from a Nation to a Church
During Old Testament times, Judaism was something like a state religion — it was a religion of the Jews, by the Jews, and for the Jews. Occasionally, non-Jewish people converted to the faith, but the vast majority of worshipers of the One True God, whom they called “Yahweh,” were born and bred Hebrews. The Old Testament itself backs up this Jewish orientation with its emphasis on Israel’s history, on prophecy directly related to the nation of Israel, and on talk of a coming Jewish messiah to save the nation. Yet, in spite of the priority it places on “God’s chosen people,” the Old Testament provides hints that God’s future plans involved reaching out to the Gentiles (non-Jews), as well.
Although Jesus died for the sins of both Jews and Gentiles, his ministry focused primarily on the Jews. Jesus made it clear that he came first for the Jews, then for the Gentiles. He wasn’t saying that the Jews deserved salvation more than the Gentiles. Instead, God, in his mercy, gave his chosen people the first focus, so that they could branch and share the news of the coming Messiah. Quite naturally, then, all the twelve disciples that he selected were Jewish, and their early activities concentrated on getting Jews to believe in Jesus as the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. During these early years, the Christian Church was still centered geographically in Jerusalem and had almost exclusively Jewish leadership. So it probably doesn’t surprise you to hear that Romans saw the Christian faith as an offshoot version of Judaism. And, in reality, that’s exactly what Christianity was — a branching of Judaism; the first Christians were Jews who saw Jesus as the fulfillment of their faith, while the rest of the Jews rejected Jesus as Messiah and maintained their Jewish faith.
The close connection between the two faiths began to change, however, around A.D. 70. In what’s known as the Fall of Jerusalem, Rome cracked down on Jewish rebels who were trying to throw the Romans out of the Holy Land and, in the process, burnt the entire city of Jerusalem to the ground. Not only did this event cause major changes in Jewish religious life, but it also impacted the Christian Church. Because Jerusalem could no longer be the Church’s home base, the Body of Christ began spreading throughout the Mediterranean region in Italy and parts of Asia Minor. Gentile leadership became increasingly important as Christianity stretched out geographically and increased in size during this time. As a result, even by the early second century, Christianity took on its own distinct identity apart from Judaism.
Following the deaths of the apostles: The apostolic Church
In this day and age, start-up companies follow a common pattern as they move from small enterprises in back lots to major corporations on Wall Street. A common scenario goes something like this: A start-up begins humbly with a small team of workers working around the clock in an old factory building. The founders, besides running the company, get their hands dirty and contribute like everyone else. The company is small enough that it has little organizational structure. The sole objective of everyone in the company is identical — get the product to market and start getting customers. Yet, after the start-up company has success and begins to grow, change is inevitable. The founders begin to play a less hands-on role, and they form an organizational chart.
In many ways, the Christian Church experienced a similar phenomenon during its early years. People usually call the first sixty years of the Church’s life the apostolic Church, indicating the key leadership that the apostles held during their lifetimes. The apostles headed up the teaching and missionary activities of the Church and were the ultimate authority in Church matters, given their direct relationship with Jesus Christ. However, as the original apostles passed away one by one, Church leaders knew that in order to keep growing and remain viable, they needed to put certain building blocks in place to ensure consistency and stability going forward. These included
Bishop leadership: The Church’s organizational structure during the first century was dynamic and practical. Apostles led the Church as a whole, while leaders in the local churches were known as bishops (overseers or shepherds of the Church), elders (spiritual leaders, particularly strong in teaching the Word of God), or deacons (responsible for supporting the ministry of elders and other spiritual leaders). However, over the years, a more formal bishop-led structure of the Church as a whole started to develop that was quite different from the way the early Church and Jewish synagogues were organized. A handful of bishops provided leadership as the Church grew throughout the Mediterranean region, each one providing overall leadership for a given geographical area.
Creeds: In order to emphasize correct and unified teaching for all Christians during this era, Church leaders developed creeds — simple statements of belief — as important elements of Church worship. Creeds proved to be a stabilizing factor, ensuring the integrity of what the Church and its local congregations believed.
One of the most popular creeds for Catholics and Protestants is the Apostle’s Creed (see the sidebar “The Apostle’s Creed” in this chapter), which has its roots in the first-century Church. However, the one universally accepted creed for Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians is the Nicean Creed (usually referred to by Orthodox believers as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed).
New Testament canon: The apostolic Church based its teaching and doctrine on the spoken testimony of the apostles themselves. However, as Chapter 6 discusses, it became clear that someone needed to write down this oral doctrine, both to reach other Christians outside of Palestine and to speak to future generations. Therefore, various Christians transferred the apostles’ spoken words to a written account that people today call the New Testament. As the written Word of God, the New Testament enabled the Church to have a solid foundation on which to base its principles. Although much of the canon was set as early as the second century, it took until A.D. 397 for a concrete list of New Testament books to be officially approved.
As a result of all these developments throughout the critical early days, the Church was able to keep heresy (false teaching that seriously undermines all of Christianity) out of official doctrine and keep congregations spreading throughout the region, united in one faith.
The Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there, he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Expanding and governing as a single Christian Church
The Church grew explosively during the first hundred years after Christ’s ascension into heaven. One factor that proved extremely helpful for the budding Christian Church was the political and economic stability of the Roman Empire. Although persecutions were pretty common, this environment nonetheless enabled Christian missionaries, such as the Apostle Paul and his mates, to easily move throughout the region and spread the gospel (except for those inconvenient times when they were in jail). They spoke the Good News of Jesus Christ to a Gentile population that was sick of the dead-end pagan gods of the Roman Empire and was eager to follow a religion of hope, joy, and salvation. The Church’s rapid growth was also due in part to the fact that the early Christians practiced what they preached. They didn’t wear WWJD bracelets or put Got Jesus? bumper stickers on their donkeys, but they lived out their faith by caring for the poor and helpless, sharing material resources with each other, and reaching out to their neighbors. The early second-century Church scholar Tertullian wrote that the pagan neighbors remarked in amazement, “See how they love one another.”
However, Christianity’s rapid growth proved unsettling to Roman authorities, who saw Christianity as a much different religion compared to Judaism. On one hand, Judaism was a self-contained body of believers. The Jews didn’t reach out to others much, so Rome was content to let them be so long as they didn’t rebel against Roman authority. Christians, on the other hand, were a bothersome bunch of folks. They were always seeking to evangelize others throughout Rome, refusing to honor Caesar as Lord and to worship the Roman gods. Seen as a thorn in the mighty empire’s side, Christians during the first three centuries after Christ’s ascension periodically fell under intense persecution by the Roman emperors.
All of this changed in the early fourth century, when the Emperor Constantine came to power. Constantine saw Christianity as a potentially unifying force that could bring together and stabilize his empire, which was rapidly decaying and becoming increasingly fragmented. Because of Constantine, the Christian Church, for better or worse, moved from being persecuted to being prestigious. The Church gradually became more involved in the state and with politics, an idea that was a fundamental part of the Church for more than a millennium until the idea of the separation of Church and state started taking shape. This dominance of Christianity throughout Europe and the marriage between Church and state is commonly known as Christendom .
Martyrs: Dying for their faith
Throughout history, Christians have been persecuted, tortured, and executed for their faith. A Christian who goes through this persecution on behalf of Jesus Christ is known as a martyr (derived from the Greek word meaning “witness”). The Book of Acts (Chapter 7) records a man named Stephen as the first Christian martyr — he was stoned to death by religious leaders because of his testimony about Jesus as the Messiah. Although most martyrs aren’t mentioned in the Bible, Church tradition says that all the original apostles (except John) died martyr’s deaths:
Andrew was crucified in Archaia in A.D. 80.
Bartholomew was whipped, crucified, and beheaded in Armenia.
James the Son of Alphaeus was either beaten to death or was crucified.
As recorded in Acts 12:2, James the Son of Zebedee was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa in A.D. 43.
Judas (not Iscariot, who was the one who betrayed Jesus) was either clubbed to death or crucified.
Matthew was speared to death in Nadabah, Ethiopia in A.D. 60.
Philip was stoned and crucified in Phrygia.
According to early Church fathers Tertullian and Origen, Simon Peter was crucified upside down at his request, feeling unworthy of being crucified in the same way as Jesus was.
Simon Zelotes was crucified in Britain in A.D. 74.
Thomas was speared to death in Calamina, India.
Matthias was stoned to death and beheaded by the Jews in Jerusalem.
Martyrdom continued in the early Church during the first three centuries of its existence as Christians were persecuted intensely by the Roman Empire (see the “Expanding and governing as a single Christian Church” section). Christian persecution has occurred off-and-on throughout history and occurs even in this day and age. The best-known book available on Christian martyrs is the classic Foxe’s Christian Martyrs of the World (Barbour and Company, 1989), written by a 16th-century man named John Foxe. The book is a compilation of the stories of Christian martyrs, from the apostles through Foxe’s lifetime.
While Christians in the West enjoy religious liberty, an estimated 200 million Christians living in non-Western countries — such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Iran — face the threat of persecution (prison, torture, or even death) because of their faith. Groups within the Church have set aside a specific day of prayer, called the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, to pray for persecuted Christians. For more information, check out www.idop.org.
The Great Separation: Western and Eastern Churches go their own ways
Although the Church was united during the first centuries of its existence, geography defined two distinct parts. The Western Church was centered in Rome and in the surrounding Mediterranean region. The Eastern Church gravitated around Greece and Asia Minor. Although they worked under the umbrella of a universal Church, strains between Western and Eastern Christianity came to a boil in the 11th century.
In 1054, a representative of the bishop of Rome traveled to Constantinople to deliver an official document from the leader of the Western Church (Pope Leo IX) to the leadership of the Eastern Church. The message was plain and simple — the Eastern Church was excommunicated (excluded from the Church because of conduct judged as offensive to God) from the Western Church. He placed the paper on the altar of the main church in Constantinople and walked out. Seeing what was occurring, a deacon ran out to catch the pope’s representative and pleaded for him to take back the document. He refused, the decree dropped, and the document was left as litter in the street. This event was the starting point of what has become known as the Great Schism of 1054 in which the Western and Eastern parts of the unified Church split up (see Figure 10-1). The Western Church assumed the name “Roman Catholic” (conveying their belief that they were the “universal” Church), while the Eastern Church named themselves the “Orthodox” Church (depicting their belief that they’re the Christian Church providing the “right teaching”).
The huffy events that took place in 1054 were really only the final straw that broke the camel’s back. In fact, the Christian Church throughout the centuries struggled with differences between the Western and Eastern divisions. I explain these differences in this section.
Western Christians are from Mars; Eastern Christians are from Venus
Western Christians (Catholics, Protestants) and Eastern Christians (Orthodox) don’t just disagree on certain issues — they have a different way of thinking. For example, Catholics and Protestants may go head-to-head on issues, but the two groups think the same way; they just disagree on the answers. In contrast, Orthodox Christians often sound like they’re on a totally different page from Catholics and Protestants.
To illustrate, suppose you have two roommates in college — Pi Guy, a computer science geek, and Aris Totle, a philosophy major. Pi always looks at issues logically, while Aris always takes discussions to an abstract level. So, when you talk about whether or not to order a pizza at 12 a.m., Pi calculates the exact cost and exact minute that the delivery guy will knock on the door. In contrast, Aris speculates on whether the desire for a midnight pizza is really a metaphor for the call for help that the three of you sense in the darkness of the world. Pi and Aris think differently from each other, which can lead to problems unless they’re very careful.
As a result, Orthodox believers sometimes look upon Catholicism or Protestantism as being too simplistic, while Catholics and Protestants look at the beliefs of the Orthodox Church with glazed-over eyes.
Cultural and philosophical differences
When North American companies first started going to Japan after World War II to sell their products, they faced many cultural barriers that they hadn’t expected. A business practice or custom that was acceptable in America or Europe was simply unheard of in Japan, and vice versa. Businesspeople learned many painful lessons, and companies finally began to experience success when people on both American and Japanese sides understood each other’s cultural nuances and worked together in spite of the differences.
A similar culture clash has always existed between the Western and Eastern Churches, from the early centuries of the Church to the present day. (See also the “Western Christians are from Mars; Eastern Christians are from Venus” sidebar, in this chapter.) The Western Church spoke Latin and was greatly influenced by Rome and its Latin culture. The Eastern Church spoke Greek and was largely influenced by Greece and its culture. While the Western Church valued thinking logically and practically, the Eastern Church embraced mystery and the exercise of exploring abstract issues of the faith. For example, the Western Church saw creeds as the way to end arguments and explicitly define the Christian faith. In contrast, the Eastern Church tended to think of creeds as launching points for diving even deeper into these theological areas and starting further discussion.
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Figure 10-1: A historical look at how the Christian Church developed and divided. |
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Theological differences
Subtle theological differences also developed between both parts of the Church, but two issues in particular proved touchy for centuries and were principal factors that led to the Great Schism of 1054:
Wording of the Nicean Creed: In A.D. 589, a Church council added the Latin word filioque (meaning “and from the Son”) to the Nicean Creed (see Chapter 7 for the full text) so that the creed now said that “the Holy Spirit . . . who proceeds from the Father and from the Son. . . .” The Western Church rapidly accepted this change, while the Eastern Church vehemently protested its inclusion, viewing the tweak as invalid and reckless. As you see in the section “Divine Revelation through Tradition,” later in this chapter, the Eastern Church considers creeds as much the Word of God as the Bible itself, so any changes they make to the creeds are a huge deal.
Authority of the pope: For centuries, a group of bishops led the Church, heading up geographical areas such as Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople. From the very beginning, Christians displayed a general willingness to give preference to the bishop of Rome (the pope) in terms of leadership, calling him Primus inter Pares, or “first among equals.” Over the years, however, the bishop of Rome assumed stronger leadership as the Western Church paid less attention to the “among equals” part. The East became frustrated when the bishop of Rome began acting as sole authority, making decisions without discussion with the Eastern bishops. Ultimately, the Eastern Church refused to accept the bishop of Rome’s claim to be the supreme authority of the Church.
Decision-making differences
Christians in the East and West even differed in how they reached decisions. In the Eastern churches, decision making was a collaborative process, involving participation by the laity (the non-clergy congregation). Western churches reached decisions through the clergy (ordained ministers) alone and through those in higher positions of the Church hierarchy.
“Yo ho, yo ho, the monastic life’s for me”
Both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have a monastic tradition, meaning some of these Christians take a vow to forsake the world and live solely for God. (Monasticism comes from the Greek word monachos, meaning “to live alone.”) Men who take this vow are monks, and women who do so are nuns. Catholic monasticism focuses on communal life, in which a group of monks (or nuns) live, pray, and work together. Although Orthodox monks (and nuns) live together in monasteries, Orthodox monasticism embraces the ideal of living alone with God as one’s only companion. Both Catholic and Orthodox monks and nuns often return to secular communities for Christian service as a way to demonstrate Christian perfection.
Catholics also have a tradition of religious brothers (or friars) and religious sisters. Religious brothers and sisters are members of one of the mendicant orders, which means they live on the voluntary offerings of faithful Catholics. They take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience within a religious community. Brothers live in friaries and sisters live in convents, and traditionally they work in humility and poverty among poor people in cities. They also have governing rules and guidelines that are quite distinct from those of monks and nuns. Check out Catholicism For Dummies, by Rev. John Trigilio, Jr. and Rev. Kenneth Brighenti (Wiley), for more.
Political and geographical differences
Although the West and East were parts of the same Roman Empire during the early centuries, the political environment became more and more splintered as time went on, making geographical differences harder to deal with. What’s more, after Islam spread into places geographically in-between where the Eastern and Western Churches dwelled in the seventh and eighth centuries, travel and communication became more challenging due to the hostile Muslim territory. As a result, the Western and Eastern Churches found it harder and harder to resolve theological disputes.
Viewing the split today
After the split in 1054, the Churches made some initial attempts to reunify, but these were always unpopular in the Eastern churches and didn’t go anywhere. Then, when the Western-led Crusades (medieval military campaigns that the Western Church undertook to reclaim the Holy Land from Muslims) occurred years following the split, these campaigns only served to reinforce the separation, as Eastern churches viewed the Western Crusaders as aggressors.
After a certain point, both sides gave up trying to restore a single unified Church and went their separate ways. The Eastern Church remained largely isolated from the rest of the Christian Church for nearly a thousand years. While the Eastern Church expanded into Russia and parts of Eastern Europe, Western Christianity, mainly through the work of Catholic and Protestant missionaries, spread throughout all the continents of the world and emerged as mainstream Christianity.
Because of its isolation, the Orthodox Church is the one arm of Christianity that remains most mysterious to many Catholics and Protestants today, particularly Protestants. However, recently, Catholics and Orthodox Christians have made attempts to resolve their historical problems through an ongoing dialogue that started in the 1960s and continued during the period of Pope John Paul II’s reign.
The Catholic Church: From Rome to a Parish Near You
The Catholic Church, or Roman Catholic Church, is the single largest branch of the Christian faith in the world, with over one billion members. The Catholic Church has churches spread throughout the continents, all of which fall under the authority of the pope, who resides in the Vatican, in the heart of Rome, Italy.
One of the foundations of the Catholic Church is what it calls the Four Marks of the Church: unity within the diversity of its members; holiness as the visible Body of Christ; universality as a worldwide Church; and apostolic continuity to connect today’s Church with the original apostles. Together, these principles form the nucleus of the Catholic Church. However, within this broad foundation, there are specific identifiable beliefs that make a Catholic distinct from other Christian believers. I tell you about these in the next section.
Understanding what it means to be Catholic
All Christians believe that the Bible is God’s revelation to humans, but, unlike Protestant Christians, Catholic Christians believe that God revealed his ultimate and sovereign Word in more ways than just the Bible.
Catholics believe that God reveals his truth through
The Bible, or the written Word of God
Sacred Tradition, or the unwritten (or spoken) Word of God
Catholics define Sacred Tradition as a set of beliefs that, although the Bible doesn’t mention them, Christians have consistently believed for centuries, and Catholics therefore consider them to be authoritative. The Catholic Church says that Sacred Tradition fills the practical purpose of knowing what to believe and how to act in a changing world. Because the Bible doesn’t speak to every issue that comes up, Catholics say that Sacred Tradition helps fill in the cracks to clarify God’s Word on all matters.
Catholics consider creeds, such as the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicean Creed, the most important part of Sacred Tradition. Other parts of Sacred Tradition include
Beliefs surrounding the Virgin Mary: Catholic tradition says that Mary was always a virgin, had no other earthly children, and went directly to heaven when she died. (To find out how Catholics believe her after-death situation differed from most Christians, read about purgatory in Chapter 9.)
Role of the sacraments in salvation: The sacraments are the vehicle that God uses to dispense his saving grace. As a result, sacraments are required in order for a person to receive salvation (though not all seven sacraments, such as marriage, are required). Turn back to Chapter 8 for more on sacraments.
Changing nature of the Eucharist: During the Eucharist, the elements are transformed into the literal body and blood of Christ (known as transubstantiation). The bread and wine still appear physically the same, but their nature changes.
These are examples of a type of belief called a dogma, a revealed truth that the Catholic Church formally defined either through the Vincentian canon (what has always been believed by Christians at all times) or when the pope speaks ex cathedra (see the “Revering the pope as supreme leader” section later in this chapter).
Although Catholics hold to the foundational Christian beliefs discussed throughout this book, in this section, I discuss a core set of dogmas that are uniquely Catholic. These include
Leadership of the pope
Apostolic succession
Nature of the sacraments
Adoration of Mary
Praying to Mary and the saints
Purgatory
Apocrypha as scripture
Precepts to live by
Revering the pope as supreme leader
The Orthodox Church has a group of bishops that provide shared leadership, and the Protestant Church has more leaders than you can shake a stick at. However, the Catholic Church distinctively has a single leader in charge — the pope. (Check out Chapter 11 for a discussion on why the pope and other Catholic leaders are always men.)
The pope is technically the bishop of Rome, but he has authority over all of the Catholic Church. He resides in Vatican City, which is an independent nation located in the heart of Rome, Italy. Since the early days of the Church, Rome has always played a special role in Church leadership. During that time, Rome was the political and economic center of the world, much like New York, Washington D.C., and Tokyo are today. Added to that, the Roman church was large, vibrant, and faithful to the apostles’ teaching. As a result of all these factors, the Roman church exerted an enormous amount of respect and influence within the Church as a whole. Other regions recognized this special role and considered the bishop of Rome “first among equals” (see the “Theological differences” section earlier in this chapter).
The bishop of Rome was influential in the early centuries, but he didn’t show authority until the fifth century, when Leo held the office. Leo was the first bishop of Rome to call himself “pope,” though at the time, the Greek word papas and the Latin word papa were both used for many different church leaders. Over the years, however, Christians used the term more and more exclusively for the bishop of Rome, especially after the Great Schism in 1054 (refer to the section, “The Great Separation: Western and Eastern Churches go their own ways,” earlier in this chapter).
Catholics believe Jesus himself established the papacy — the Church’s supreme authority — with the apostle Peter when he said, “On this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). In other words, Jesus is foreshadowing that Peter would take a leadership role in establishing the Church after Jesus ascended into heaven. However, Catholics interpret this verse to mean not Peter personally, but the office of Peter, because he was head of the apostles. Because of this interpretation and because, by the second century, the Church considered Peter a father of the church in Rome, Catholics declared that all future officeholders of the bishop of Rome share that same leadership role.
Certain conditions must be fulfilled for the pronouncement to be ex cathedra; not all papal pronouncements reach this level.
A second type of pronouncement is known as a papal encyclical (coming from the Latin word for “circular”), in which papal letters that define or clarify the Catholic Church’s position on contemporary issues, such as Humanae Vitae on abortion and birth control, circulate around the world.
Personal prayer assistants
You’ve heard of personal digital assistants (PDAs) before, but Catholic and Orthodox Christians also make use of what I call PPAs — personal prayer assistants, or physical objects that assist in prayer. They use two primary objects:
Rosary: Certainly the most well-known is the Catholic rosary, which is a string of beads a person uses to help himself recite a series of prayers while meditating on a specific Mystery (which refers to a specific aspect or event in the life of Jesus or Mary). The standard rosary consists of five decades (groups of ten) of small beads on which to pray the Hail Mary, separated from each other by a small chain and a large bead on which to Pray the Our Father (or the Lord’s Prayer). One begins the rosary by praying the Apostle’s Creed on the cross at the end of the Rosary, followed by an Our Father, Glory Be (a specific prayer beginning with “Glory be to the Father”), and three Hail Marys (a specific prayer starting with “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you”). Pope John Paul II added a new set of Mysteries to the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries currently used with the Rosary. This addition is known as the Luminous Mysteries, and the set focuses on the public ministries of Jesus. This is the first change to the Rosary since medieval times.
Prayer rope: Orthodox Christians use a prayer rope to help them concentrate in saying the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” An Orthodox prayer rope has 33, 50, or 100 knots, with beads between every 10 or 25 knots. The person praying then uses the knots as a way to measure the number of times they’ve repeated the prayer in a sitting.
Succeeding the apostles with bishops
All Christians believe that the apostles founded the Church. However, they disagree considerably over how that apostleship carried on after the original apostles left the scene. Catholics believe in apostolic succession, the idea that bishops are the anointed (authorized) successors of the original apostles and are set apart to lead the Church. This belief helps justify the Catholic claim that Sacred Tradition carries equal weight to the words written by the original apostles in the New Testament because successive bishops maintain that direct connection to the original apostles.
Seeing the sacraments as necessary for salvation
The formal definition and nature of the sacraments are distinguishing characteristics of Catholicism. As I discuss in Chapter 8, a sacrament is a physical act that expresses an inner transformation. While Protestants believe that sacraments are the outward expression that you do after you’ve changed on the inside, Catholics believe that sacraments are the “change agents” in a Christian’s life and the way that God uses to hand out his saving grace. As a result, sacraments aren’t just recommended or important to a Catholic, they’re an integral part of receiving God’s saving grace. This view is often called the high view of sacraments.
Catholics believe that the seven sacraments represent the major stages of spiritual development in a normal Christian’s life. These include
Baptism: The sacrament of birth
Confirmation: The “sequel” to baptism; the sacrament of coming of age
Holy Eucharist: The sacrament for spiritual nourishment
Penance: The sacrament for the confession of sins
Marriage: The sacrament for establishing a family (not essential)
Holy Orders: The sacrament for becoming a member of the clergy (not essential)
Anointing of the Sick: The sacrament for the sick or dying
Orthodoxy has a high view of sacraments as well, but the Orthodox Church doesn’t define the exact set of sacraments or their role in salvation as precisely as Catholics do.
The sacramental system developed gradually during medieval times. Catholicism says that Jesus Christ ordained the Church to serve as mediator for the sacraments, thus becoming a crucial part of a Christian’s spiritual life. Check out Chapter 8 for a full discussion on sacraments and Chapter 13 for more on the integral role of the Church in a Christian’s life.
Adoring Mary, the mother of Jesus
Jesus’ mother holds a special place in the hearts of Catholics. Although Catholics insist that they don’t worship Mary, they do express affection and adoration (often called veneration ) to her. Given the intimate relationship between a mother and child, the Catholic Church believes that the same relationship can and should be expressed between the mother of Jesus Christ and each Christian.
Taking cue from Luke 1:48 (“All generations will call me blessed”), Catholics refer to the mother of Jesus as the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since the fifth century, Christians have referred to Mary as the Mother of God. Catholics explain that this term doesn’t mean that she’s actually the mom of the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — see Chapter 7), but instead is a reference to the divine nature of Jesus as God in the flesh. Catholics also refer to her as the Mother of the Church.
In conjunction with adoration for Mary, Catholic Sacred Tradition says that she was always a virgin, both before and after the birth of Jesus. In fact, although the Bible speaks of Jesus having a brother James (Matthew 13:55), Catholics say that the word for brother actually means “relative” or “cousin.” Sacred Tradition also claims that Mary didn’t die a physical death, but went directly to heaven as an encouragement to the rest of humanity, a preview of what’s to come for other Christians.
Praying to the Virgin Mary and the saints
Catholics embrace the idea of praying to Mary and saints in heaven. When they do so, they’re asking Mary and the saints to pray with them and for them. (In contrast, Protestants don’t see Mary and saints as intermediaries between humans and God; they see Jesus as the only true mediator.) Roman Catholics believe that Mary, in particular, is a special intercessor, having a special, unique relationship with Jesus Christ.
Stopping in purgatory on the way to heaven
Catholics believe that most Christians don’t immediately go to heaven when they die. Although people who die for their faith (called martyrs ) are exempt, they believe every other Christian goes to purgatory, an intermediate place where a soul goes for purification before entering heaven.
Catholics believe that God uses purgatory to cleanse the after-effects of sin from a person’s soul. After that person is cleansed, he or she is able to enter heaven. Each person stays in purgatory based on how moral and holy he or she was while on earth. Catholics also believe in praying for people in purgatory to shorten their stay there and speed up the cleansing process.
Chapter 9 dives fully into the issue of purgatory and provides a discussion from both the Catholic and Protestant views.
Including the Apocrypha as scripture
Although all Christians agree on the books that compose the Bible’s New Testament, Catholics say that a group of Jewish books called the Apocrypha (or deutero-canonical books) is also the written Word of God. As a result, they add these books to the Old Testament.
Although the Catholic Church didn’t officially recognize the Apocrypha until the 16th century (after the Protestant Reformation), this section of the Bible is an important part of Catholic theology. In particular, 2 Maccabees 12:43–46 is the backup verse the Church uses to support the doctrine of purgatory.
See Chapter 6 for more discussion on the Apocrypha, including the Catholic reasons for and the Protestant reasons against its inclusion in the Bible.
Crossing your heart
The Sign of the Cross is closely associated with Catholics, but the practice actually has its roots in the second-century Church before it divided. Christians developed the sign as a practical way to identify with each other during times of intense Roman persecution and as a spiritual reminder of the power of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. The sign starts by touching your forehead with the fingers of your right hand, bringing the hand down to your heart, touching the left shoulder and then bringing the hand across the chest to the right shoulder. This action depicts the image of the cross. Christians often say, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” as they make the sign. Catholics often use the Sign of the Cross during various parts of the liturgy and when they partake of the sacraments. Orthodox Christians also use a Sign of the Cross, but it goes from right shoulder to left shoulder.
Following a code of conduct
The Catholic Church places a great emphasis on following the eternal law of God , which it divides into three categories:
Divine positive: Explicitly defined by God, namely the Ten Commandments
Natural moral: Unwritten laws known by all people through reason and conscience
Human positive: Coming from either the government (laws of one’s country) or Church (the Canon law)
The Canon law is considered the supreme law of the Church and provides detailed rules covering all aspects of Church life. In fact, in the latest revision, the 1983 Code of Canon Law contains 1,752 laws. Because not every Catholic (except for lawyers, perhaps) can remember all those laws, the Catholic Church narrowed down the practical applications of Canon law into six precepts. Along with obeying the Ten Commandments, Catholics must follow the following six rules in order to be considered a “good” Catholic:
Attend Mass every Sunday and on holy days of obligation, such as Christmas (December 25), Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15), and All Saints Day (November 1)
Confess your sins to a priest when needed (sometimes weekly, but at least once annually)
Partake of the Eucharist (the Lord’s Supper) regularly, at least during Easter in observance of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection
Fast on designated days — abstain from eating one meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and from eating meat on Fridays during Lent (see Chapter 19)
Follow the marriage laws of the Catholic Church, as defined in the Code of Canon Law. For example, Catholics must be married in a Catholic Church before two witnesses by a clergyman (unless special circumstances apply), marry someone who’s never been married before or who has an annulled marriage, and prepare for their marriage 9–12 months in advance by meeting with a priest or a deacon
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Vatican II: Catholicism in the modern era
During Vatican II, or the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic congress of bishops convened periodically from 1962–65. Pope John XXIII opened the council, and Pope Paul VI closed it. The council developed 16 documents that restate traditional Catholic teaching and offer extensive teaching on contemporary social issues. Earlier Catholic councils dealt primarily with doctrinal issues, but Vatican II was unique in that it focused its attention on pastoral issues to spark the spiritual life and growth of the Church.
Vatican II initiated several practical changes within the Church. For example:
Mass could now be celebrated in the local language (or vernacular) of the particular church rather than in Latin to encourage the laity to participate fully in the Mass.
Many Catholics now have the option to periodically receive both the consecrated bread and wine, whereas before Vatican II, they only received the consecrated bread (commonly called the host).
Prior to Vatican II, Catholics were required to abstain from eating meat, eggs, cheese, or other dairy products during Lent. Vatican II relaxed this obligation so that Catholics instead abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday of Lent and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
The laity were encouraged to increase their participation in church life, including in Bible studies and social action groups.
Examining the Catholic Church structure
Unlike the more distributed authority of the Protestant and Orthodox Churches, the worldwide Catholic Church — from the smallest parish to the largest cathedral — is under a single authority: the pope (see the “Revering the pope as supreme leader” section earlier in this chapter). That arguably makes the Catholic Church the single most widespread and distributed “top-down” organizational structure on the planet. In order to make sure this huge organization maintains unity, a hierarchy exists.
Catholics are divided into three overlapping groups:
Clergy:
Ordained (consecrated or officially dedicated) and authorized to say Mass and carry out the sacraments. Priests and bishops, for example, are part of the clergy.
Laity: Not ordained or authorized to carry out the sacraments. Normal, everyday Catholics are considered part of the laity.
Religious: A special group consisting of monks, nuns, and friars. The consecrated religious can be either clergy or laity, depending on the particular order (a special group of clergy within the Church). The Jesuits, for example, require monks to be clergy.
Second, the members of the clergy are the primary people involved in the governing of the Church. The Church has several layers of clergy:
The pope is the bishop of Rome and supreme head of the entire Catholic Church.
Cardinals (a group of 137 worldwide) are responsible for electing the pope. Some cardinals serve in the Roman Curia and work closely with the pope to govern the Church. Other cardinals run archdioceses (large regions of parishes). Cardinals are chosen by the pope, who selects a candidate from the College of Bishops (which includes all Catholic bishops, who I discuss in the next bullet).
Bishops are responsible for running local dioceses (administrative regions of the Catholic Church that contain local parishes). Because the Catholic Church considers him a successor to the original apostles, a bishop has considerable autonomy in governing. However, the bishop regularly reports to the pope. Catholics also have a special category of bishops called archbishops, bishops who are responsible for archdioceses, which are larger dioceses that incorporate more territory or population.
Vicar generals are priests who can perhaps be considered the “vice bishops,” or those second in responsibility in a diocese who often perform certain tasks in support of the bishop. These priests are sometimes given the honorary title of monsignor.
Parish priests are responsible for local parishes, which are communities of believers living in a group of neighborhoods or some other small geographical area. The parish priest is called a pastor.
The Orthodox Church: Restoring the Image of God in People
The Orthodox Church has some 140 million followers worldwide, with half of them in Russia and the Ukraine. However, this division of the Church (also called the Eastern Church) is the least known to people living in North America and other parts of the world, such as Africa and Latin America. Much of that is due to the historical fact of their isolation from mainstream Christianity for almost a millennium (refer to the section, “The Great Separation: Western and Eastern Churches go their own ways,” earlier in this chapter). However, don’t think that Orthodox Christians ever had an inferiority complex as a result. Instead, they refer to themselves as the “Mother Church of Christendom” and see Orthodoxy as uniquely preserving the true Christian faith. After the Great Schism of 1054, Eastern Christians began to refer to themselves as Orthodox, meaning “right teaching.”
Through the years, Orthodox Christians have maintained their own unique identity and have several distinguishing beliefs that set them apart from other Christians. Keep reading in this section if you want to know more.
Understanding what it means to be Orthodox
Like Catholics, Orthodox Christians believe that God speaks his truth through Sacred Tradition (sometimes referred to as Holy Tradition ), but they believe that Sacred Tradition includes the Bible. (Catholics believe that God reveals his truth through the Bible and through Sacred Tradition separately; see the section “Discovering basic Catholic beliefs,” earlier in this chapter.) From the Orthodox perspective, the Bible is an epiphenomenon (an “outward form”) of Christian Tradition. In contrast to Protestants, Orthodox Christians believe that the Bible doesn’t contain all of God’s truth. Therefore, the Orthodox Church doesn’t submit exclusively to the Bible, even if it’s the most authoritative Tradition, but submits to Sacred Tradition as a whole.
Orthodox Christians see a direct link between the apostles and the Church today. Because of this permanent connection, the Traditions that have developed in the Church throughout the ages are always in synch with the apostles’ teachings. Tradition, from the Orthodox perspective, is the life of the Church through the work of the Holy Spirit. It includes verbal and written teachings of apostles and fathers (important leaders) of the Church, sacraments, the Divine Liturgy (the liturgy used in an Orthodox worship service), creeds and conclusions of early Church councils, and even church architecture and iconography (see the “Icons: a sneak preview of heaven” section below for more on icons).
Although Eastern Orthodoxy has the same core beliefs as Catholics and Protestants concerning the Trinity, the divine nature of Jesus Christ, the inspiration of the Bible, and other beliefs that I discuss in Part II, it retains its own peculiar flavor, particularly in the following areas:
Nature of salvation
Icons
Worship
Keep reading in this section for a taste.
Contemplating the nature of salvation
The Orthodox Church views the nature of sin and restoration from a different perspective than Catholics and Protestants do. Instead of seeing it in legalistic terms, they view sin as a tarnishing of the image of God inside a person. Jesus Christ’s purpose in coming to the earth, then, was to restore the “image of God” in humans. He was able to pull this off because he was the perfect image of God (since he was God) and his death and resurrection enables Christians to restore this likeness of God within themselves.
The Orthodox Church teaches that salvation isn’t so much an individual act as it is a corporate act. A person can’t be saved unless he or she is part of the Church. Orthodox Christians believe that the whole Church will be saved together, and not simply as individuals. (Not that a disobedient person attending church can take others down; instead, that person wouldn’t be considered to be truly part of the Body of Christ.) The Divine Liturgy, discussed in the “Worshiping with the five senses” section, is the chief vehicle the Orthodox Church uses to collectively restore the image of God inside of the Body of Christ.
Focusing on icons: Getting a sneak preview of heaven
Icons are a unique part of Orthodox worship that has no real Catholic or Protestant counterpart. Icons are the Byzantine-style paintings that represent a person or story from the Bible. To the Orthodox Christian, they’re far more than just works of art, but are instead like windows looking into heaven and are an integral part of their faith. When you consider the Orthodox perspective on salvation (see the “Contemplating the nature of salvation” section, earlier in this chapter), you see that the icon paintings are the means by which they further come into union with God.
Icons are hung in the iconostasis, a wall of paintings outside of the sanctuary. Orthodox believers kiss the icons before going into a service. When Orthodox Christians focus on (or witness ) an icon, they’re not just viewing a picture, they’re expressing their faith. They believe that the icon becomes a real presence (or essence) of the person or story portrayed — so much so that they believe an icon is equivalent to the Bible as a source of revelation.
Orthodox Christians considered icons the “books for the illiterate” and began to use them back in the Middle Ages to teach the Bible and experience God’s truth in a way that everyone could understand, whether they could read or not.
By definition, an icon can’t be realistic. To Orthodox Christians, realism is the depiction of sinful humanity. Instead, an icon must be true to what’s known as a “transfigured reality” and faithful to the iconographic traditions of the Church (the same Byzantine style as they’ve always had). The Orthodox Church says that composing an icon according to your own personal preference invalidates it, much in the same way that twisting the meaning of a Bible verse to meet your whim eliminates the true revelation of God in that passage.
Orthodox Christians don’t consider icons as painted, but rather written, each stroke of the paintbrush representing a prayer by the artist. Also, an artist never signs (or takes personal credit for) an icon because it’s supposed to represent the Word of God.
Worshiping with the five senses
Celebrated each Sunday morning and on holy days, an Orthodox worship service isn’t just an event you go to; it’s an experience. In fact, when participating in an Orthodox service for the first time, a Russian prince supposedly said, “We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for on earth there is no such splendor or beauty, and we are at a loss to describe it. We know only that God dwells there among men.” To the Orthodox Church, the Divine Liturgy (or Holy Eucharist) is more than just part of the worship service — it’s the very centerpiece of what it means to be an Orthodox Christian.
The Divine Liturgy is a sensory experience, including singing and chanting, burning incense, observing ritual movements of the priests and acolytes (assistants), and witnessing iconic images throughout the church. Even the architecture of an Orthodox church reinforces this experience (see the “Form follows symbolism” sidebar in this chapter). This focus on the senses isn’t just a nice touch or a pleasantry; it goes to the very heart of Orthodox beliefs — Christ’s work on the cross redeems more than just a person’s spiritual soul. Instead, the physical is also good and is in the process of being restored as well, because God manifested himself as a physical person (Jesus Christ) through the incarnation.
The order of the Divine Liturgy used in Orthodox churches today goes back to the early second century. One of the most well-known and widely used is the Divine Liturgy of St. Chrysostom. It consists of the following order:
Beginning: The priest begins with a blessing of the Kingdom of God.
Prayers of Petition: The priest prays a series of small prayers for peace, while the people respond to him in turn, “Lord, have mercy” (or Kyrie eleison).
Antiphons: The Priest, deacon, and congregation participate in Old Testament readings, with refrains that call out the Christian meaning of the text.
The Entrance: The priest enters the sanctuary with the Gospel scriptures, symbolizing the early Church practice of a priest who took the Gospel scriptures by torchlight from an underground hideaway to protect them from pagans and brought it up to the church.
Trisagion Hymn: The priest speaks a prayer emphasizing God’s holiness. Deacon and congregation respond in turn with a refrain.
Readings from the New Testament: A reader reads a section from an Epistle or the Book of Acts. Next, the priest reads a passage from the Gospels. The Orthodox Church decides which scripture should be read, and they keep these same scriptural references year after year.
Homily: The priest shares a sermon related to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Cherubic Hymn and Entry with the Holy Gifts: Procession of the unsanctified bread and wine (referred to as Species) taken from the Table of Preparation and brought to the Altar. During this proceeding, the congregation sings the Cherubic hymn, which says, “Let us put away all worldly care so that we may receive the King of all.”
Ectenia of the Oblation Prayers: The priest offers prayers of supplication (request), to which the congregation responds, “Grant this, O Lord.”
Creed: The congregation chants a short creed proclaiming the Trinity, then recites the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (see Chapter 7).
Prayer of Sanctification: The priest prays a prayer of sanctification, which is the heart of the Divine Liturgy. The priest begins with the offering of the Oblation (unconsecrated bread and wine), in which he speaks the words of Christ (“This is my body; This is my blood”) and prays for the sanctification of the Species (consecrated bread and wine). After the priest lifts the bread and wine, the congregation kneels.
Prayers of Petition: The priest prays for the spiritual health of the people, both inside and outside the church.
Lord’s Prayer: The congregation recites the Lord’s Prayer.
Breaking the Lamb: The priest raises up the newly consecrated bread (called the Lamb) and breaks it to symbolize the actual sacrifice of Jesus. The priest then pours warm water (called zeon) into the chalice (the cup used in the Eucharist) of consecrated wine. The water symbolizes the water that flowed from Jesus’ side while he was on the cross (John 19:31–34).
Prayers before Holy Communion and Partaking of the Holy Gifts: The doors of the altar are closed, and then the priest partakes of the bread and wine.
Holy Communion (Eucharist): The congregation partakes of the bread and then wine. The Orthodox Christians consider the Eucharist the very means by which they’re able to reach unity with Jesus Christ and with other Christians. See Chapter 8 for more on the Eucharist (the Lord’s Supper).
Prayers of Thanksgiving: The priest offers up prayers of thanksgiving and gratitude to God.
Dismissal Hymn: The priest prays and blesses the congregation.
Form follows symbolism
The distinctive architecture of an Orthodox church is designed symbolically. The main part of the church is called a nave (sanctuary) that symbolizes God’s dwelling place. The focal point in the nave is the altar. Separated from the rest of the church by the iconostasis (meaning icon screen), the altar contains the altar table (representing the throne of God) where the Reserved Sacrament (consecrated bread and wine) and the Book of the Gospels sit. Outside of the nave is the narthex (or vestibule) which serves as the entryway into the church. It symbolizes the preparation for entering heaven. A dome is situated on top of the church and is meant to represent heaven.
Examining the Orthodox Church structure
The Catholic Church is one huge monolithic organization, while the Protestant Church is divided into completely autonomous denominations with no overarching organized activity. The Orthodox Church has its own distinct flavor. About 15 different self-governing Orthodox Churches exist, but they’re all held together by a shared history and doctrine.
These separate Orthodox Churches are historically ethnically-driven, including the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church, and so on. Each of these Churches are headed by a patriarch (a bishop that presides over other bishops). However, most Orthodox Churches today are governed by a synod (a council of bishops and laypeople), of which the patriarch is the synod moderator.
The Patriarch of Constantinople governs the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Patriarch of Moscow heads the Russian Orthodox Church. They’re equal with the other Eastern patriarchs in Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, although special reverence (“first among equals”) is given to the Patriarch of Constant-inople, given Constantinople’s leadership role in Eastern Church history. In contrast to the Catholic Church’s view of the pope, the Orthodox Church doesn’t consider patriarchs to be infallible on doctrinal issues.
Recently, in the U.S., the Orthodox Church has made attempts to move beyond ethnic-centered Orthodox groups, producing the Orthodox Church of America, the Antiochean Orthodox Church, and the Evangelical Orthodox Church (which was established by former evangelical Protestants who sought the restoration of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church and a faith that was more closely tied to the early Church than they believed Protestantism was).