Found this today.
I offer it as evidence that Orthodox Polemicists are quite wrong when they say that an essential characteristic of Protestantism is the tendency to divide and schism. This is the brush with which they like to tar the Continuing Anglican Church and I find it ironic how the latter are trying to unite after political division with a measure of success while the Orthodox Church is riddled with political divisions and do not allow a common doctrine to keep them together.
Fr Robert Hart would say that there are Two One True Churches. Perhaps there are now three!
I suppose with Brexit and various other referenda for independence, we are very much beginning to see the fracture of civilization along the political definition of morals and justice. We see this happening here especially illustrates the divisions in orthodoxy along political lines.
Given that the division of the Church of England from Rome happened for political reasons, and indeed that a case could be argued that the Great Schism of 1054 was political in nature, that this kills any argument that political schisms destroy orthodoxy. If both Moscow and Constantinople remain Orthodox, then so must Orthodox Anglicanism and the Constantinople.
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2 comments:
I haven't commented on this subject on my blog. I once considered Orthodoxy and the western in the late 1980's. I saw the effect of it all on my good friend in Oxford Dr Ray Winch. I am dismayed and horrified how the two big Patriarchates are breaking communion over the Ukrainian Church. The subservience of Orthodox Churches to the State (Russia, etc.) is nothing new, and Vladimir Soloviev wrote beautifully on the subject. I have come to believe in the separation of Church and State and the freedom of the Church to pursue her spiritual mission and lay politics aside.
Indeed, civilization is breaking up, and our beloved country is of its own volition on Death Row, the date with the electric chair being the end of March 2019. May we be spared from that scourge and from the descent into the hell of football hooligans and "paki-bashers"! The Roman Catholic Church is going the same way.
I no longer listen to those who proselytise for their "true churches". It doesn't interest me. There has always been bullying and harassing, but all that becomes worse with the internet. We have to be ourselves and continue doing what we believe to be right - and let others look after themselves.
Thank you for this post I can't tell you how many years I've spent torturing myself with Eastern and Western polemics about how they are the only true church in the entire world. Infact, I've been on both sides of the spectrum where I left Protestantism for Catholicism and then Catholicism for the Eastern Orthodox. What I've learned over years being involved in both traditions is that they both have internal divisions and schisms as any other churches they just don't want to see it nor admit to it.
I agree with the separation of church and state that was another eye opener that I saw in both traditions how corruption from the state infiltrated the church and vice versa on how people used their positions either in the church or state for political favors and gains.
I now see these polemics from both traditions as bullying and harassment especially to target those who are either naive or dissatisfied with their church to lure them to believe that there is a true and perfect church with a pristine history going all the way back to the apostles. While there may be some truths to their claims it's not full truth and it's not the full picture for history goes to show that it's more often controversial, messy, and complicated but never pristine
My advice to anyone who is curious or searching either the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Church is to save your sanity and realize there is no such thing as a perfect and pristine church as they make it out to be because take it from me who did both you will be disappointed.
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