An Ecumenical Council requires the presence of the Pope or his legate, and must be attended by the Church of the East as well as the West. In addition to that, they have to profess the same faith. Thus, it is not possible for the Eastern Orthodox, or the Roman Catholic Church to call an Ecumenical Council at the present moment -- although Roman Catholics claim to have had more such councils simply because the Orthodox were invited.
The Orthodox Church was not just 'lucky' not to need 'central authority' as the author speculates -- the Eastern Church never had central authority. The Patriarch of the West, on the other hand, always ruled his Patriarchate as a central authority. The undivided Church had five Patriarch, four of whom were Eastern. Western Church never knew more than one patriarch at one time.
Could it be that the Orthodox just 'do it better' by following in the Apostolic tradition of equality among bishops and fraternal consensus?
As for the author's rambling about St. Augustine -- he apparently does not understand that individual fathers do not make pronouncements for the Church. The Ecumenical Councils do. St. Augustine was free to speculate, but the Church does not have to accept it as something carved in stone. His work was unknown to the East for over 1,000 years. Some of it is in agreement with the teachings of the East and some of it (i.e. "original sin") is rejected.
The Orthodox are not bashing Western Christianity, as this person asserts. We can read your theology. We find it unrecognizable in some cases, because the undivided Church knew not of some of the innovations added after the Schism.
The problem the Orthodox see with Western theology is best described by Prof. Alexander Kalimoros in his The River of Fire, which I highly recommend for reading by the non-Orthodox:
We find this foreign and distant. The Western concept of God is alien to the East
What is salvation for Western theology? Is it not salvation from the wrath of God?...Do you see, then, that Western theology teaches that our real danger and our real enemy is our Creator and God? Salvation, for Westerners, is to be saved from the hands of God!
The divide goes along the juridical concepts of God prevalent in the West, and as such nothing even close to the Church as it was established by the patristic tradition.
Western Christians thought about God’s justice in the same way also; God, the infinite Being, was infinitely insulted by Adam’s disobedience. He decided that the guilt of Adam’s disobedience descended equally to all His children, and that all were to be sentenced to death for Adam’s sin, which they did not commit. God’s justice for Westerners operated like a vendetta. Not only the man who insulted you, but also all his family must die. And what was tragic for men, to the point of hopelessness, was that no man, nor even all humanity, could appease God’s insulted dignity, even if all men in history were to be sacrificed. God’s dignity could be saved only if He could punish someone of the same dignity as He. So in order to save both God’s dignity and mankind, there was no other solution than the incarnation of His Son, so that a man of godly dignity could be sacrificed to save God’s honor.
Finally, the author says
“The Church is a house with a hundred gates,” wrote Chesterton; “and no two men enter at exactly the same angle.” Finally, I can only rely upon my reason, my intuitions, my feelings, my faith, under the grace and mercy of God
Well that betrays his Anglican roots, no doubt -- and Protestant mind; when it comes to truth, we trust ourselves. Adam is alive and well!
Unfortunately, I now have to leave for a busy day and half -- though I hope to check in tonight.
*** The "God" of the West is an offended and angry God, ... What is salvation for Western theology? Is it not salvation from the wrath of God?...***
kosta50, though much of the material in your quoted text seems to evidence an misunderstanding of (at least) Protestant theology, do you not see in the Scriptures this concept of "salvation" being ultimately salvation from the wrath of God?
Romans 5:9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Ephesians 5:6
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience
Colossians 3:6
For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
and especially...
1 Thessalonians 1:10
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
What is salvation for Western theology? Is it not salvation from the wrath of God?...Do you see, then, that Western theology teaches that our real danger and our real enemy is our Creator and God? Salvation, for Westerners, is to be saved from the hands of God!
It is this aspect of the "Western" God that Luther revolted against as well.
See my post #17 with respect to Luther and Orthodoxy. That post over-simplifies a lot on that subject, which is a long story indeed. Luther only knew the Orthodox Church from reading, not as a living community. And he also started from 16th century Roman Catholic terminology and presupositions. Thus he could only get so far.
Kosta, you ought to read this passage from the article again:
"More to the point here, though, it has made intelligent interpretations of Western Christian theology (which are so very necessary) apparently almost impossible for Orthodox thinkers. Neo-patristic Orthodox scholarship has usually gone hand in hand with some of the most excruciatingly inaccurate treatments of Western theologians that one could imagine—which, quite apart form the harm they do to the collective acuity of Orthodox Christians, can become a source of considerable embarrassment when they fall into the hands of Western scholars who actually know something of the figures that Orthodox scholars choose to caluminiate. When one repairs to modern Orthodox texts, one is almost certain to encounter some wild mischaracterization of one or another Western author; and four figures enjoy a special eminence in Orthodox polemics: Augustine, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and John of the Cross."
His point is perfectly illustrated by the commentary you have posted e.g.:
"The "God" of the West is an offended and angry God, full of wrath for the disobedience of men, who desires in His destructive passion to torment all humanity unto eternity for their sins, unless He receives an infinite satisfaction for His offended pride.
What is salvation for Western theology? Is it not salvation from the wrath of God?...Do you see, then, that Western theology teaches that our real danger and our real enemy is our Creator and God? Salvation, for Westerners, is to be saved from the hands of God!"
This nonsense is so off the wall that there are probably no Protestants or Catholics that would recognize this as bearing any resemblance whatsoever to "Western theology". It is a gross misrepresentation of St. Augustine and all the Western fathers, and it comes across, from our perspective, as something at the level of a Jack Chick comic.
If this is where you guys get your information on Western theology then no wonder we are incomprehensible to you. If you really want to understand what the West believes then I recommend that you read the Fathers and the Saints in their own words and not have them filtered for you by someone who seems to be writing from a basis of ethnic bigotry rather than rational objectivity.
You've just disqualified First Constantinople.
Don't forget the Just War Augstine concept, something that our Church has always rejected.