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To: Forest Keeper; kawaii; annalex; Kolokotronis
My understanding of Orthodoxy is that what you believe today is exactly what you have always and everywhere believed. This would prohibit councils from overruling prior ones. Is this incorrect?

Doctrines can be expanded, not retracted. The Nicene Creed was completed over a period that spanned two Ecumenical Councils. These changes are not intended to nullify the previous, but are in response to emergence of new heresies. The belief is the same. The extent of definition is not.

The Church never retracted a doctrine. Defined it more fully, expressing the same belief in greater details, yes. Retracted, no. Some beliefs people have are not official Church doctrines, such as "Limbo" in the Catholic tradition, or the "Toll-Houses" in the Russian tradition.

If someone unfamiliar with Christianity were to ask you Who is Jesus Christ, you could simply answer "Our Lord and Savior" without going into more elaborate details.

In response to additional questions, your answer would expand depending on how involved you need to get. But your original definition must not be interpreted as your full knowledge of Who Christ is; neither should your expanded answers be interpreted as "learning as you go" but only as more fuller definitions of what you know, as required in the situation.

537 posted on 03/14/2007 6:42:40 AM PDT by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: kosta50; kawaii; annalex; Kolokotronis; Quix
The Church never retracted a doctrine. Defined it more fully, expressing the same belief in greater details, yes. Retracted, no. Some beliefs people have are not official Church doctrines, such as "Limbo" in the Catholic tradition, or the "Toll-Houses" in the Russian tradition.

In Kolo's last post on this, he mentioned dogmas, and I thought he meant as distinguished from doctrines. In descending order, I think that Catholics go from dogma to doctrine to discipline, and I thought it is the same in Orthodoxy. So, I believe I may be a little confused on the terms. In Catholicism, I thought that dogma was in stone, but that doctrine and discipline could be changed. Is this different in Orthodoxy? Also, is everything in the seven councils considered dogma, or did they also include doctrine or discipline?

579 posted on 03/14/2007 11:41:36 PM PDT by Forest Keeper
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