Annalex, reading this I have realized that thanks to the Protestant presence here I can clearly see now more than before how close Orthodox and Latins are, and, mor eimportantly, how trivial, in comparison with their theoogy of a God who uses evil to His satisfaction, our differences seem. We are, but in comparatively minor details, one Church and that realization is in itself awesome. It birngs to mind St. Nikolai (Velimirovich), who asked God to bless his adversaries "for they have brought me closer to you!"
Meant to ping you to #574 as well, sorry.
"Annalex, reading this I have realized that thanks to the Protestant presence here I can clearly see now more than before how close Orthodox and Latins are, and, mor eimportantly, how trivial, in comparison with their theoogy of a God who uses evil to His satisfaction, our differences seem. We are, but in comparatively minor details, one Church and that realization is in itself awesome."
Ah, my Balkan brother, what did our Thomas Merton say? "The foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of men!"
Thank you for saying that. It has always been my deep conviction, that nothing between the East ad the West is unbridgeable in principle, and when the Holy Ghost wills it.
It is not to say that the differences are not profound as they seem today, specifically over the Filioque. But they reflect centuries of very limited exchange of thought; a reinvigorated exchange might close the gap.
Quite another issue is whether the ecumenical movement is wise for the health of the Orthodox Church given the profound cultural crisis rampant in the West. Why on earth would you want altar girls and clown masses? I think the Latin Church should move toward lower-case orthodoxy internally first and regain her balance, befor rushing headlong to embrace the East. I wouldn't have posted this half a year ago, but I came to appreciate the caution that the Russians felt toward John Paul II. I think this pontificate will be critical for ecumenism precisely because Benedict XVI shows that his concentration will be in the West. Moreover, the pastoral needs in the West are the exact opposite of the pastoral needs in the East. We need a strong centralizer and disciplinarian in Rome. But this is not a model useful for the East, where autocephaly was so beneficial in preserving the faith despite the near-loss of the Middle East and then Russia.