the scism - Eastern European Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholic Church

[Tantumergo]

Sorry I don't have much time to post at the moment,but for rogermellie's sake I will post a very brief assessment of the cause of the disputed doctrine and practice:

The West said "We have always believed this and done it this way".

The East said "We have always believed this and done it this way"

They were both right!

But then they went further:

The West said "At one time the whole Church throughout the world believed exactly what we believe and did it exactly the way we do it, but the East changed."

The East said "At one time the whole Church throughout the world believed exactly what we believe and did it exactly the way we do it, but the West changed."

They were both wrong!

Conclusion: two very different Traditions from the get-go as evidenced by the first early disputes about the date of Easter. It was a miracle that they remained united for 1,000 years and it will take a miracle to get them re-united. Good job both worship the Holy Trinity - only answer is to pray for said miracle.

God bless you.

Augustine.

[Kolokotronis]

You're very good, you know that? :)

[broadsword]

Brothers always have "reasons" for hating their brothers, and Cain certainly had his "reasons" for killing Abel, but Jesus prayed that we would be one.

There is no "reason" to defy Him. With Him, I grieve for this ugly split, and with Him, though probably in vain, I pray that we be one.

[TexConfederate1861]

I know, I know....but I have my reasons :)

[monkfan]

this is a vanity thread, i'm attending a seminar and conference next week on cultural divisions between eastern and western europe, and i think this issue will come up.

How did that seminar go, by the way?

[rogermellie]

the food was awful and everybody looked like a geography teacher, nobody asked my opinion on anything because i'm not towards the top of the academic food chain but i was able to stand around nodding sagely and not look like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

so thanks to all for saving me from that humiliation.

the schism did come up quite a bit in the lectures, but most people avoided the subject in seminar and general conversation (its a bit complicated!) and stuck to authortarian vs libertarian arguments.

it wasted a working day and i didn't have to talk to anyone about deadline extensions or how lonely and depressed they are about being away from home and in a world of booze and loose-moraled 18yr old girls.

my heart bleeds....