Posted on 01/29/2016 7:16:13 AM PST by NRx
Bingo.
The first small fissure leading to the Great Schism was the election of Pope Gregory I, the first Bishop of Rome who was NOT bilingual Latin/Greek.
A couple of thoughts come to mind. One time years ago the abbess of the monastery outside my maternal village asked my wife, “What is the difference between The Church in the West and The Church in the East?” She replied, “In the West The Church says ‘Do this or you will go to hell.” In the East, The Church says ‘Do this and you will become like God.”
My grandmother used to tell me that Orthodoxy isn’t a “religion” or a denomination like in the West. It is life itself for us. It defines who we are. It is the lens through which we interpret the world.
How does the reason behind the schism make the west more prone to further division and the east more prone to want to be holy as He is holy?
At least in part, having hierarchs who were essentially secular rulers created a mindset in the West which was and is antithetical to that in the East where there has always been, at least until very recently, a society ruled by an emperor of one sort or another. The Church didn't need to rule. In a system like that, Christians from patriarchs on down can embrace the concept of dying to the self so that the eye of the soul, the nous, becomes clear and man can experience the uncreated energies of God. Creation is transformed, returning in however small a scale, to its pre Fall state and we reach a state of theosis.
The Western pyramidal hierarchy prevented this one the one hand, and gave birth to the Protestant Reformation on the other.
Why does the Holy Spirit proceed only from the Father? Because that is the formulation used in the only place it is mentioned in scripture?
Jn 15: 26 `And when the Comforter may come, whom I will send to you from the Father — the Spirit of truth, who from the Father doth come forth, he will testify of me;
“Why does the Holy Spirit proceed only from the Father? Because that is the formulation used in the only place it is mentioned in scripture?”
I suppose only God knows the answer to that one, Padre. Of course, the 2nd Ecumenical Council added the phrase about the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father (only) to the Nicene Creed. That in and of itself is enough for me and all other Orthodox so far as I know. The filioque clause was never approved by any council accepted in the East. The problem which the filioque raises is that it denigrates the monarchy of the Father. Is that heresy? Some Orthodox certainly thought and think so. And if it is, its embrace by the West could explain at least in part what has happened in the West since the Great Schism. Personally, I don’t think it is even approaching a primary cause. I’m with BXVI; the Greek version is normative, dogmatic and is the one which should be used in catechesis. The filioque is almost a Western example of theologumenon, a pious, non-dogmatic, widely held belief. But certainly both BXVI and I could be wrong.
Here is a link to a very Orthodox speech given many years ago by a noted Greek theologian, John Kalomiros. It lays out an Orthodox view of what happened to Christinaity and why. It’s worth the read:
http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/the-river-of-fire-kalomiros/
The “Farewell Discourse” (John 14 - 16) is clear that the Spirit proceeds from the Father at the intercession of the Son.
The historic Gospel pericope for the Day of Pentecost in the West was John 14:15:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth” (NRSV)
This passage was relegated to one Eastertide Sunday every third year in the “reforms” brought about by Vatican II.
The change was unfortunate because its frequent use in the Pauline Missal’s Lectionary (and it various Protestant derivatives) served to keep burning a small ember of concience that there just might be something unscriptural about the Filioque.
Serious question and not a gotcha, since I obviously have no history in this...How do you see possible that denigrating the monarchy of the Father could lead to a penchant for splitting into denominations, as happened in the West?
“How do you see possible that denigrating the monarchy of the Father could lead to a penchant for splitting into denominations, as happened in the West?”
If the filioque is heresy, then the innovative dogmatizing of it could mean “anything goes”. The creation of dogma should be limited at best. Let me give you an example. The Latin Church has for all intents and purposes made it dogma that the use of artificial birth control near the ultimate “mortal” sin. We see evidence of that everyday here on FR. And yet Roman Catholics violate that rule to a level at least equal to that of Protestants. The Roman Catholic “Laos tou Theou”, People of God, have never accepted that “dogma”. Despite that, it continues to be taught, complete with dire threats, which has lead people not towards God, but away from Him. “Do this or you will go to hell”. This makes it easy to take the next steps into “anything goes” YOPIOS and your own “church”. Around here, for the past 20 years or so, little protestant type churches have been springing up all over town, this in a town which had, aside from the Lutherans (whom we always looked at as sort of German Orthodox!), maybe 8 protestants in it when I was a kid! These congregations are all full of ex Latins and more than half of the Latin parishes here have closed during the same 20 years.
People refuse to live by a “rule” they or their forebears had no say about. Remember, in the East, the Laos tou Theou are the guardians of The Faith, not the hierarchs! Unless we give our Great Axios, no dogma! That hasn’t been true in the West since before the Great Schism and the results a plain to see.
Met. John Zizioulas has some thoughts on the Filioque controversy which can be found in section G here...
http://oodegr.co/english/dogmatiki1/perieh.htm
See how old I’ve become?! I completely forgot Met. John’s piece!
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