Differences Between Orthodox and Catholics As Explained to a Muslim

Introduction to the Subject and Main Themes

Folks, as always, the highpoint of the missionary endeavor in these humble pages is when I get e-mails from readers who make me think and reply prayerfully and thoughtfully. I derive great joy when I do this because I know that the answer will help not only the reader in question, but also all the readers of this blog.

Due to the extent and nature of the questions in the e-mail, this will probably be a multipart post. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to participate at any time by leaving your comments. This is the original e-mail from “Nasreen”:

I am a Muslim from Pakistan and a student of Demography in Egypt.

Here I met some colleagues from Georgia, Moldova, and Armenia and some from Egypt also. Here, for the first time I discovered that there are some serious differences among different branches of Christianity, as one of my colleagues entered in one of the churches and said this is not my church. In my country I cannot enter in a catholic church, and if I want to enter, I need permission from the father of "my Church'. I said to her that God is the same everywhere so can pray in this church also, but she said no she cannot.

Being a Muslim I can pray anywhere: at home, at office, at school, indoor or outdoor, by roadside, in a park, in my mosque, in any other sect's mosque as Allah is present everywhere and He listens from everywhere and anytime(5 times is compulsory besides that one can consult Allah whenever one needs to). So if a Christian believes in God, He will remain same God in every church.

Pray is a matter of connection between human and God. One can connect to God from any place. And I think he/she can offer his/her prayers in any of the churches. If God's image is painted differently in a church, does it mean that He has also changed, and he will not listen to your prayers from this church.

(Please dont take me wrong, I respect all religions, I don’t mean to insult yours but it is very surprising for me.)

Earlier I knew that there are Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox, but I did not know that they are so different that they can not enter in each others' church. Also I found that there is Armenian Church, there is Coptic Church (only found in Egypt)that are different from these three (maybe I am wrong in this classification as none of us are very good in English and some time cannot explain fully what we mean to say).

It is very surprising and interesting for me, so I searched on Google and found your article on 12 differences between Catholic and Orthodox.

But I could not understand it fully. Partially because English is not my first language and partially because I do not have the background knowledge that a Christian would have.

I would like to know more about how they are different from one another. But in the easiest language.

I do not mean to argue, but want to know just for my curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

Nasreen – I’m going to take the liberty of call you by your first name, no disrespect intended, and you may also call me by my first name, Theo – I see two principal general questions on your letter.

Your ask very good questions. Your first question is in itself threefold: it is a question about the differences between churches in Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Egypt; it is also a question about the belief among members of these churches that they can’t pray in churches belonging to other nationalities. Finally, it is a question about the propriety of praying to God in any place.

Your second general question has to do with the origin and nature of divisions in Christianity, and why is it that we seem to have a large Church (Catholic), a number of national Churches (Orthodox, mostly, like those in Moldova and Georgia, or “Oriental Orthodox” like the one in Egypt) and a broad movement (Protestantism) divided into multiplicity of denominations, churches, sects, and cults.

The answer to the question “why is Christianity divided?” has an easy overall answer: sin and human weakness. Although we all know and accept that answer, for members of the Catholic, Orthodox, etc., the other secondary differences are important enough that we are unable to break bread and drink from the chalice together – in the Mass, the Divine Liturgy, or “The Lord’s Supper,” the churches’ highest act of worship – until these differences are resolved and the divisions healed. We need to reconcile ourselves before we worship again together.

The second general question then is one that will take longer to explain because it touches upon the teachings that the different churches have about the nature of Revelation, of God, the saving work of Jesus Christ, communion between Christians, our call to service, and the role of human authority. Some of these will be difficult for Christians to grasp fully, so I expect that it’ll be even more difficult for a Muslim to grasp.

I also think that the Muslim world also presents many interesting parallels with Christianity, and that many of these parallels can be used as analogues to the Christian world. The division between Sunni and Shi’a Islam, and also between Islam’s different schools, like the Ishmaili, Wahabi, and Sufi comes to mind. In my explanations to you I will draw on these similarities between Christian and Islamic sectarianism to frame my answers, and if I can frame a Christian theological answer in Islamic terms I will also do so.

My answers are going to take a little bit of time to formulate. I've never "translated" the differences between Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants to a Muslim before! But I think it’ll be fun and that we will all learn a lot in the process.

I will start by answering your first general question, the one about the differences between churches in Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Egypt; about the belief among members of these churches that they can’t pray in churches belonging to other nationalities, and about the propriety of praying to God in any place at any time. I will do this on the next post, which I will complete later in the week.

Continue on to Part II