The Differences Between Eastern and Western Theology.

[Scott Hutchinson]

Ok you scholars on AFF, help out your friend here.
What are the differences between Eastern and Western theology ?

[Jekyll]

Ooooohhhh good thread...

Not enough time to contribute at present, but I look forward to where this will go.

[Praxeas]

Same here...no time. BTW I used to have an online aquintance that was an Orthodox priest.....and an Ex-UPC minister. Never said a bad thing about us too. He said some illuminating things regarding baptism, salvation and the western mind. In their thinking they just don't entertain the questions of who is saved or not. You should get baptized. It is important for salvation. God is sovergn though and only knows who was saved or not without being baptized. Also had an anabaptist friend that held the same sentiments.

[Scott Hutchinson]

Ok how about this question, what is the difference Hebraic Christian Theology and Augustian theology ?

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Scott Hutchinson

Ok you scholars on AFF, help out your friend here.
What are the differences between Eastern and Western theology ?

I thought it was the use of icons, the date of Easter, and the filoque clause.

[LordChocolate]

Eastern
Western

[ManOfWord]

From my limited experience,I have found that one difference is that we in West put more stock in academic learning from the standpoint of classes, tests etc. In the East, they put more stock in learning from an experiential standpoint. i.e. we would say that someone is a progressing disciple due to the completion of a set of classes. They (in the East) would say that someone is a progressing disciple due to level of experience they have attained.

I know this is an oversimplification, but it has been explained to me this way before and I can see the validity in it to a degree.

(BTW, Scott, thanks for the voicemail!)

[pelathais]

In the 8th century, a Byzantine archbishop named Photius circulated a letter denouncing the "errors" of the Western Church. As someone else has already pointed out, the key to this was the filioque phrase which stated that the Holy Ghost "proceeds from the Father and the Son..." Since the use of the phrase arose in the West and without consulting the Eastern Churches, the Eastern Church denounced it (you may insert your own "it ain't smoke if it don't come out of our chimney" phrase here).

Photius' list of complaints included: (to jog my memory I found this page)

1. That the Western church erroneously fasted on the Sabbath or seventh day of the week.

2. That in the first week of lent it wrongfully permitted the use of milk and of food prepared from milk

3. That contrary to scripture it prohibited priests from marrying, and separated from their wives such as were married when they took orders.

4. That it uncanonically authorized bishops only to anoint baptized persons with the holy chrism (holy oil made with olive oil and balsam), withholding that authority from presbyters.

5. That it had sacrilegiously interpolated the filioque in the creed of the Council of Constantinople and held the heretical doctrine of the procession of the Holy Ghost from the son and from the father.

Later, the Western prohibition of beards on the clergy was added to the list of differences. Also, the Liturgical calendar is different and the method for dating Easter is different. Taking MOW's statements about a different approach to theology, this list seems almost trivial; however there really was a whole different way in which the East and the West looked at almost everything.

Add to that the fact that the Eastern Churches have suffered horrible genocides over the years. An estimated 15 million Assyrian Christians (Nestorians) lived in and around Northern Iraq until the ravages of Tamerlane's ghazi ('holy warriors' who spread Islam). Today there are fewer than 300,000 Assyrians.

The Armenian genocides are well known today. Tens of millions perished over the centuries and more than 2 million during and after the First World War.

The Syrian Church also suffered. This was the region that included Antioch where the disciples were first called Christians. Today, many of the Syrian Christians follow the Western rite as Syrian Catholics (partly a relic of the Crusader States?) but most follow the Eastern Orthodox traditions.

Since much of the East falls under the pale of Islam, some things about the fabled Muslim religious tolerance are worth mentioning. In any place that Sharia (Islamic Law) is practiced, no Christian churches are ever to be built. Further, no repairs can be made to existing structures. This means that all maintenance work is officially illegal. Also, no music or bells are to be heard outside the confines of the Christian structure. It is my understanding that this along with the prohibitions against religious processions is relaxed from time to time.

The other large Eastern Churches are in Europe and Russia. They follow the same basic rites as all other Eastern Churches. In fact, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Russian Orthodox Church declared Moscow to be "the Third Rome."