Pinging also some Orthodox who are most knowledgeable and well-spoken.
And one more...
I'm in the middle of writing a grant proposal, so I'm not up for long posts, even though I keep an eye on FR.
rogermellie, you would do well to visit www.romanity.org . Fr. John Romanides' views are not universally accepted among the Orthodox, but reading him gives a sense of how radically different both Christian doctrine and Church history (or for that matter European history!) look from the East.