Note: In CRBC's midweek meetings we are currently doing a series on "World Religions" and at present are looking at Christian denominations. Last Wednesday (4.10.24) our topic was Eastern Orthodoxy. Here are my notes:Introduction:
The Eastern Orthodox Church (EOC), also called the Orthodox
Catholic Church (OCC), was distinguished from the Western Church by the Great
Schism of AD 1054.
Though we may speak of them as one “church,” they are, in
fact, a collection of various national churches (Russian, Ukrainian, Greek,
Bulgarian, Romanian, etc.) united by
similar doctrines and practices.
The EOC was greatly affected by the rise of Islam, and
especially by the fall of Constantinople in Ad 1453.
In Russia and Eastern Europe, they were also greatly affected
by the rise of communism (especially in Russia from 1917-1990).
There has been a major resurgence of the EOC in Russia and
Eastern Europe since the collapse of communism.
It is estimated that there are now c. 230 million baptized
members of the various EO churches.
It is often pointed out that the EOC never experienced
anything like the Protestant Reformation which took place in the West, and some
have suggested it has been less affected by modern Enlightenment values than
has the Western Church (both RCC and Protestant).
The EOC in the US has been a relatively small presence up to
the twentieth century, attributable primarily to migration of persons from EO
countries (e.g. Russians, Greeks, Egyptian Copts, etc.). EO are estimated to be
less than 0.5% of the population in the US.
There is, however, anecdotal evidence of conversion growth of
the EOC in recent years, especially among younger men who are attracted to the
traditional beliefs and practices of the EOC. There have also been a number of
former Protestants and evangelicals who have gone over to Constantinople.
They include:
Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan (a Slovak Lutheran) converted
in 1988.
Frank Schaeffer, son of Francis Schaeffer, converted in 1990
and wrote about his conversion in Dancing
Alone: The Quest for Orthodox Faith in the Age of False Religion (1994).
Rod
Dreher, a conservative political journalist and Editor-at-large for the American
Conservative, raised a Methodist, converted to RCC in 1993 and the EOC in
2006. He is the author of The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in
a Post-Christian Nation (2017).
Hank Hanegraaffe, A Dutch Reformed evangelical, the “Bible
Answer Man” and head of the apologetic ministry Christian Research Institute
(CRI) converted in 2017.
There are also now a growing number of online advocates for the
EOC known as “Ortho-bros.”
On the other hand, some have made this move later to regret
it.
An example can be found in Joshua Schooping’s book Disillusioned:
Why I Left the Eastern Orthodox Priesthood (2022). Read my review here.
Ten Beliefs of the EOC and a Protestant Response and prooftexts:
1.
The EOC denies the concept of the invisible church. The church only
exists as a visible institution. Since there is “no salvation outside the
church,” those who are outside the EOC cannot claim to be Christians.
Response: Not only is the church found in visible local
churches, but there is also an invisible church composed of all genuine
believers. Salvation does not come by baptism or by church membership but by
faith in Christ.
Prooftexts: 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, 27; 2 Corinthians 5:17;
Ephesians 2:8-10.
2.
The EOC claims that it alone exists as a church which embodies universal
unity in its beliefs and practices.
Response: The EOC does not, in fact, possess outward unity,
given that several of its national church organizations are not in agreement
with one another (e.g., the conflict between the bishop of Constantinople and
the bishop of Moscow). True unity does not come about by institutional unity
but by a common faith in Christ. Absolute unity will only come at the end of
the ages when Christ returns in glory, and the saints enter the glorified state.
Prooftexts: Mark 9:38-41; John 10:16; 17:20-23;1 Corinthians
11:19; Revelation 7:9-10.
3.
Like the RCC the EOC looks to its bishops and to tradition as its chief
authority over Scripture. It holds that the church chose the Scriptures.
Response: Christ alone is the Head of the church. The highest
authority for doctrine and life is Scripture (Sola Scriptura). The church did
not choose Scripture, but only recognized its nature and authority (i.e.,
Scripture chose the church.).
Prooftexts: Colossians 1:18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter
1:19-21; 3:15-16.
4.
Though the EOC affirms the first seven ecumenical church councils, it has
not produced its own confessions of faith which might clarify and articulate its
doctrines and practices. Rather than reasonably articulated doctrine, the EOC
tends to focus on mysticism.
Response: We must be prepared to give an answer for the hope
that is within us. Our experiences must be regulated by Scripture.
Prooftexts: Luke 16:31; John 10:35; 1 Peter 3:15.
5.
The EOC places great emphasis upon the spiritual uses of icons and
religious objects. It refers to the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Second Council
of Nicaea) (AD 787) as “the triumph of orthodoxy.”
Response: God alone is the only lawful object of our worship
and devotion. Religious images and objects are not sanctioned by Scripture and
misdirect our focus and attention.
Proofexts: Exodus 20:3-6; John 3:30; Acts 17:22-25;
Colossians 2:23; 3:16.
6.
Like the RCC the EOC places great emphasis on devotion to Mary.
Response: Mary was an important early disciple of the Lord
Jesus Christ, but she was an ordinary sinner saved by grace. Devotion should be
given to no one other than God himself.
Prooftexts: Exodus 20:3; Matthew 12:46-50; John 3:30; Acts
4:12; Romans 3:23; 1 Timothy 2:5.
7.
As with the RCC, the EOC also accepts OT books which are outside the
Jewish/Protestant OT canon. Unlike the RCC (Trent) and Protestant churches
(WCF) it has no authoritative declaration of the canon of Scripture.
Response: The Apocrypha are a collection of uninspired
writings and are not received as Scripture.
Prooftexts: Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Romans 3:1-2; Revelation
22:18-19.
8.
The EOC accepts the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the OT) rather
than the Hebrew text of the OT as authoritative.
Response: God’s Word was immediately inspired and written in
the OT in Hebrew not Greek. It has been preserved by God. Translations are
useful to the degree that they reflect the originals.
Prooftexts: Nehemiah 8:4-8; Matthew 5:17-18.
9.
The EOC ecclesiological structure based on national churches tends to
place emphasis on ethnicity/nationality rather than faith in Christ as the
standard for inclusion in the church (i.e., phyletism or ethnophyletism).
Response: Inclusion in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ
comes about by grace through faith, not according to one’s familial, national,
ethnic, social, or gender status.
Prooftexts: Galatians 3:27-29; Colossians 3:9-11.
10.
The EOC practices not only infant baptism but also infant communion.
Response: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances that
are established for believers alone who are part of local churches. Since
infants are not mature enough to articulate faith or to be recognized as
regenerate members of the church they cannot be baptized or receive the Lord’s
Supper.
Prooftexts: Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:37; 1 Corinthians 11:23-33.
JTR
