Differences between Orthodox, and Catholics, (and Protestants) as Explained to a Muslim – Part III – The End

Continued from Part II.

Greetings Nasreen and all. I must confess that I am dissatisfied with Part II. It came out too long and perhaps too complicated, and I didn’t get to the point until the very end after several paragraphs of background. I myself wanted to display some of the back-story to make the answers more understandable. I hope that I didn’t throw you off.

I’m going to make it up to you by writing a shorter conclusion to this series. Every paragraph should contain a little bit of the answer you’re seeking about the general differences between the Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants. Entire books have been written about this, so my answer will have to be a summary answer. Here we go.

Most Christians hold to core beliefs that are often expressed by means of two creeds: the Apostles’ Creed, and the Nicene Creed, particularly those referring to the nature of God and of God in Jesus Christ, and the redemptive life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. The beliefs held in common by most also include the existence of a Church and a final Messianic manifestation at the end of time, in which God in Christ will judge all the living and the dead and a new creation take place, free from evil, sin, pain, and death. Within the manifold manifestations of Christianity there are a few that would deny or attenuate these core beliefs, but these are minor denominations, sects, and even cults. These denominations, cults, and sects stand outside the confines of historical Christianity and their historical contribution to understanding and living a Christian life has been marginal at best.

Protestantism, in general terms, is a movement that holds, among other things, that the Bible – the “Book” which is rather a small library or collection of books – composed of the Hebrew Holy Books and the New Testament written in Greek, is the sole rule of faith, morals, and discipline for the entire Church. As such, the Protestant forefathers “protested” against what they saw as the Catholic Church “pretension” of being the sole authoritative interpreter of the Bible. Protestant leaders, however, have never solved the “interpretation problem” effectively, because doing so would require them to formulate hermeneutical approaches that would be, by definition, outside of the Bible. As a consequence, Protestantism has become a fertile ground for division on grounds of different understandings of the Bible. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, there are "over 33,000 denominations in 238 countries," having increased in number from 8,196 in 1970. Every year there is a net increase of around 270 to 300 denominations. In a sense, the existence of over 33,000 denominations could be equated to at least 33,000 ways of interpreting the Bible. These differences in biblical interpretation triggers the divisions we see in Protestantism today.

Orthodox (including the Oriental Orthodox such as the previously mentioned churches in Egypt and Armenia) and Catholic Christians beg to differ from the Protestants. We posit the existence of a “hermeneutical key” handed down in the Church to everyone, by means of an “apostolic succession” of bishops from the time of the Apostles of Jesus to date. In fact, more than a “key,” what has been handed down is the revelatory “continuum” from which the Scriptures themselves sprung. This key was, and continues to be, presented in the celebration of the Mass, the Divine Liturgy, which are the principal worship celebrations of these communities. We hold also to the interpretations of Scripture binding upon the whole Church formulated when all the bishops of the Church meet in Ecumenical Councils. These are the highest expressions of the faith of the Church and all together are called Tradition. This Tradition of the Church is similar to how Muslims conceptualize hadith (الحديث), and Sunna (سنة). We say that Christian Tradition is, in a way, the hadith and sunna of the Apostles as handed down in our liturgy, sacraments, and prayer and as declared in the Ecumenical Councils of the Church. Protestants either reject this notion of Tradition or give it a very secondary importance. Yet, they constantly have to reinvent a proprietary notion of Tradition, however stunted, every time they form a new denomination!

Despite the allegiance to Tradition we Catholics and Orthodox share, we differ in one very important respect: We Catholics consider the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, as the unique Successor of Peter, Jesus’ principal apostle, who shares in his power to rule and shepherd the entire Church in a line of unbroken succession starting with Peter and leading to today’s Pope, Benedict XVI, who is an immediate Successor to Peter as “supreme pastor”. Communion with the Pope is important, we say, because only through him intercommunion between the bishops and therefore, between the Churches takes place. We say too that the Pope’s unique role derives from the unique role that Our Lord himself granted to Peter personally and to his successors in the guidance and governance of the Church (Matthew 16:17-21, or here in Arabic).

Orthodox will say that Catholics misunderstand or misconstrue the meaning of the commission that Christ gave to Peter as a power given to one single individual when, in fact, it is a power shared by all the Bishops of the Church as successors of all the Apostles, including Peter. This disagreement lies at the root of our division, because the Orthodox will not accept any theological or disciplinary ruling or development – and there have been many – having its sole source in the Pope of Rome, particularly since the formal start of our division, usually dated to the year 1054 AD, and even earlier in the case of the Oriental Orthodox. Both sides have made important appeals to the Tradition held in common by both Catholics and Orthodox to justify their positions regarding the existence, scope, powers and prerogatives of a “’Petrine” or “Papal” office in the Church. The matter has remained under intense discussion for almost 1,000 years, accreting along the way a history of mutual distrust, sometimes actual hatred, misunderstanding, and, sadly, armed conflict. For Protestants who hold to the Bible as the sole rule of faith and discipline of the Church, the normative character of Tradition and of an ecclesiastical, hierarchy in historical succession to the Apostles as proposed by Catholics and Orthodox constitute an extra biblical development and therefore, of secondary religious importance. But Protestants will readily agree with the Orthodox that no single man may be considered a “universal pastor” of the Church, as Catholic Christians hold.

And in much summarized paragraphs I end my presentation to you about the differences between Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians. I hope it all made sense to you. Feel free to ask me any questions. This post finishes the series. Assalaamu aleikum (السلام عليكم), Nasreen.

- Read Part II of this series.
- Read Part I of this series.