Now, speaking for myself here, when I learned about Eastern Orthodoxy I was actually thrilled because it meant that I had the opportunity to learn about a faith that I had NO IDEA even existed! I was taught, much like most of the western world, that you’ve got Christianity, and Roman Catholicism, and that’s pretty much it! You know, some pentacostles speaking tongues over here and of course you’ve got the mormons, but who here has ever heard of “Eastern Orthodoxy?”
Turns out, it’s a lot more common over in the mediterranean and Asia Minor, and a little bit in Northern Africa, where it is a consolidation of about 13 Churches with no central institution, but share in the same general understanding and belief system about the nature of the Christian Faith!
Turns out, this Faith actually came about during what is called “The Great Schism” of 1054, which was actually the BIRTH of Roman Catholicism as well! Who’da thunk it?!
There was many reasons for this Schism, including a language barrier that couldn’t be reconciled, but beyond that, one of the biggest reasons was the Filioque Debate.
It was in this debate that Christians fought over whether the “Holy Spirit” (Of the Holy Trinity) came from “The Father” AND “The Son”, or JUST from the Father.
In the end, Rome believed that the Holy Spirit came from the Father and Son, and the Eastern Orthodoxy believed that both emerged from the Father.
In other news, I just put together the Script for the Mormonism video, and THEY believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are 3 individual immaculate beings with physical bodies who create and rule the universe from a heaven that we cannot perceive. But we’re not focusing on that right now :P
In the end, Eastern Orthodoxy is a lot more centered around the “Mysteries” and “Mysticism” of the Christian Faith, where as Catholicism is more about the Political aspect of the Faith. The resurrection of Christ, and victory over even Death is the greatest mystery to them… which is remeniscient of the Ancient Egyptian and Pagan mystery schools from up to 4000 years before the time of Christ.
Finally, Icons are a huge part of the Eastern Orthodox church, focusing on very stylized images of Christ, Mary, and the Saints, not as a thing to worship, but to respect and venerate what they represent.
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