"Do the Orthodox make the same distinction between venial and mortal sin as the Catholics?"
No, not really. We do view sins on a sort of continuous spectrum, for all practical purposes. There are no categories of sins. Sin is sin, but yet some sins are more dangerous than others.
The difference is this: Catholicism (and indeed the West in general) traditionally looks on sin as something for which payment or punishment is due.
Orthodoxy looks on sin as something that injures ones soul and body, makes us spiritually sick, and puts a wall between us and God of our own making.
Obviously, while sin is sin, some kinds of sins are far more destructive to our souls than others.
Penance in the Catholic approach is a debt owed, and can be categorized and quantified and tallied -- and if not "paid up" at the time of death, that's where purgatory comes in, and indulgences, and all of that.
"Epitimia" in the Orthodox approach have a purely pedagogic function, and in those cases where a priest may bar one from communion for a period of time for a very serious sin, it is not for punishment or payment, but rather with the motivation of protecting the person from injuring himself by taking communion while in a state where one is not prepared.
No, not really. We do view sins on a sort of continuous spectrum, for all practical purposes. There are no categories of sins. Sin is sin, but yet some sins are more dangerous than others. The difference is this: Catholicism (and indeed the West in general) traditionally looks on sin as something for which payment or punishment is due.
OK, thanks. This is good for me to nail down. I absolutely do see sin as something for which payment or punishment is due (for example, Rom. 6:23). But like you, I see sin as sin (in the sense that no one is "half-sinning"), and yes, some sin is worse than other sin.
Orthodoxy looks on sin as something that injures ones soul and body, makes us spiritually sick, and puts a wall between us and God of our own making.
I agree with these words. Is it correct that you and I would agree that, as opposed to Catholicism, any one particular sin cannot cause a loss of a "saved" status? I see Protestants as believing that salvation is attained during life and that it cannot be lost through particular sin. I see Catholics as believing that salvation is attained during life and that it can be lost and regained multiple times based on sin, and forgiveness by a priest. I see Orthodoxy as believing that almost no one is really "saved" during life, and therefore a particular sin cannot cost someone what he doesn't have. Salvation comes only at the end, when theosis is reached. How's that? :)