Orthodoxy and Baptistism: attitude and opinion about religion, the main differences from the Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy. How historical myths appeared

In 395, the Roman Empire fell to the onslaught of barbarians. As a result of this, the once powerful state fell apart into several independent entities, one of which was Byzantium. Despite the fact that the Christian Church continued to remain united for more than six centuries, the development of its eastern and western parts followed different paths, which predetermined their further rupture.

Separation of two related churches

In 1054, the Christian Church, which had existed for a thousand years by that time, split into two branches, one of which was the Western Roman Catholic Church, and the other was the Eastern Orthodox Church, with its center in Constantinople. Accordingly, the teaching itself, based on Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, received two independent directions - Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

The formal schism was the result of a long process that included both theological disputes and attempts by the popes to subjugate the Eastern churches. Nevertheless, Orthodoxy is the full result of the development of the general Christian doctrine, which began in apostolic times. She considers the entire sacred history from the giving of the New Testament by Jesus Christ to the moment of the Great Schism as her own.

Literary sources containing the basics of religious doctrine

The essence of Orthodoxy comes down to the confession of the apostolic faith, the foundations of which are set out in the Holy Scriptures - the books of the Old and New Testaments, as well as in the Holy Tradition, which includes the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, the works of the church fathers and the lives of saints. This should also include liturgical traditions that determine the order of church services, the performance of all kinds of rituals and sacraments that Orthodoxy includes.

Prayers and chants for the most part are texts taken from the patristic heritage. These include those included in church services and those intended for cell (home) reading.

The truth of Orthodox teaching

According to the conviction of apologists (followers and preachers) of this doctrine, Orthodoxy is the only true form of confession of the Divine teaching given to people by Jesus Christ and which received further development thanks to his closest disciples - the holy apostles.

In contrast, according to Orthodox theologians, other Christian denominations - Catholicism and Protestantism with all their branches - are nothing more than heresies. It is appropriate to note that the word “Orthodoxy” itself is a translation from Greek, where it literally sounds like “correct glorification.” We are talking, of course, about glorifying the Lord God.

Like all Christianity, Orthodoxy formulates its teachings in accordance with the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils, of which there have been seven in the entire history of the church. The only problem is that some of them are recognized by all confessions (varieties of Christian churches), while others are recognized by only one or two. For this reason, the Creeds - statements of the main provisions of the doctrine - sound different for everyone. This, in particular, was one of the reasons why Orthodoxy and Catholicism took different historical paths.

Document expressing the fundamentals of faith

Orthodoxy is a doctrine, the main provisions of which were formulated by two Ecumenical Councils - the Nicene Council, held in 325, and the Constantinople Council, in 381. The document they adopted was called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and contains a formula that has been preserved in its original form to this day. It should be noted that it is this formula that mainly separates Orthodoxy and Catholicism, since the followers of the Western Church accepted this formula in a slightly modified form.

The Orthodox Creed consists of twelve members - sections, each of which succinctly, but at the same time succinctly and exhaustively sets out the dogma accepted by the church on a particular issue of doctrine.

The essence of the doctrine of God and the Holy Trinity

The first member of the Creed is dedicated to salvation through faith in the One God the Father, who created heaven and earth, as well as the entire visible and invisible world. The second and together with the eighth confess the equality of all members of the Holy Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, point to their consubstantiality and, as a consequence, to the same worship of each of them. The equality of all three hypostases is one of the main dogmas professed by Orthodoxy. Prayers to the Most Holy Trinity are always addressed equally to all of Her hypostases.

Doctrine of the Son of God

The subsequent members of the Creed, from the second to the seventh, are dedicated to Jesus Christ - the Son of God. In accordance with Orthodox dogma, He is characterized by a dual nature - Divine and human, and both of its parts are combined in Him not together, but at the same time and not separately.

According to Orthodox teaching, Jesus Christ was not created, but born of God the Father before the beginning of time. It should be noted that in this statement, Orthodoxy and Catholicism disagree and take irreconcilable positions. He acquired his earthly essence by becoming incarnate as a result of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary through the mediation of the Holy Spirit.

Orthodox understanding of Christ's sacrifice

Fundamental element Orthodox teaching is faith in atoning sacrifice Jesus Christ, which he offered on the cross for the sake of the salvation of all people. Despite the fact that all of Christianity speaks about it, Orthodoxy understands this act in a slightly different way.

As the recognized fathers of the Eastern Church teach, Jesus Christ, having accepted human nature, damaged by the original sin of Adam and Eve, and embodying in it everything inherent in people, except their sinfulness, with his torment he cleansed it and delivered it from the curse. By his subsequent resurrection from the dead, He set an example of how, cleansed from sin and reborn, human nature able to withstand death.

Having thus become the first person to gain immortality, Jesus Christ opened a path for people by following which they could avoid eternal death. Its stages are faith, repentance and participation in the performance of the Divine sacraments, the main of which is the communion of the flesh and blood of the Lord, which has since taken place during the liturgy. Having tasted the bread and wine converted into the body and blood of the Lord, a believer perceives part of His nature (hence the name of the rite - communion), and inherits after his earthly death eternal life in the sky.

Also in this part, the ascension of Jesus Christ and His second coming are declared, after which the Kingdom of God, prepared for all professing Orthodoxy, will triumph on earth. This must happen unexpectedly, since only the One God knows about specific dates.

One of the contradictions between the Eastern and Western Churches

The eighth article of the Creed is entirely dedicated to the life-giving Holy Spirit, who comes only from God the Father. This dogma also caused theological disputes with representatives of Catholicism. In their opinion, the Holy Spirit is exuded equally by God the Father and God the Son.

Discussions have been going on for many centuries, but the Eastern Church and Russian Orthodoxy in particular, they take an unchanged position on this issue, dictated by the dogma adopted at the two Ecumenical Councils, discussed above.

About the Heavenly Church

The ninth clause talks about the fact that the Church, established by God, is in its essence one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Some clarification is required here. IN in this case We are not talking about an earthly administrative-religious organization created by people and in charge of conducting divine services and performing the sacraments, but about a Heavenly one, expressed in the spiritual unity of all true followers of Christ’s teaching. It was created by God, and since for Him the world is not divided into the living and the dead, its members are equally those who are alive today and those who have long completed their earthly journey.

The Heavenly Church is one, since God Himself is one. It is holy because it was sanctified by its Creator, and it is called apostolic because its first servants were the disciples of Jesus Christ - the holy apostles, whose succession in the priesthood is passed on from generation to generation until the present day.

Baptism is the path to the Church of Christ

According to the eighth member, one can join the Church of Christ, and therefore inherit eternal life, only by undergoing the rite of Holy Baptism, the prototype of which was revealed by Jesus Christ himself, once immersed in the waters of the Jordan. It is generally accepted that the grace of the other five established sacraments is also implied here. The eleventh and twelfth members, completing the Creed, declare the resurrection of all deceased Orthodox Christians, and their eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

All of the above commandments of Orthodoxy, adopted as religious dogmas, were finally approved at the Second Ecumenical Council in 381 and, in order to avoid distortion of the doctrine, remain unchanged to this day.

These days on Globe More than 226 million people profess Orthodoxy. With such a wide coverage of believers, the teaching of the Eastern Church is inferior to Catholicism in the number of its followers, but superior to Protestantism.

The Ecumenical (universal, embracing the whole world) Orthodox Church, traditionally headed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, is divided into local, or, as they are otherwise called, autocephalous churches. Their influence is limited to the boundaries of any one state or province.

Orthodoxy came to Rus' in 988 thanks to the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, who with his rays banished the darkness of paganism. Nowadays, despite the formal separation of religion from the state, proclaimed almost a century ago, its followers are the overwhelming number of believers in our country, and it is on it that the basis of the spiritual life of the people is built.

The Day of Orthodoxy, which supplanted the Night of Unbelief

The religious life of the country, revived after decades of national atheism, is gaining strength every year. Today the church has at its disposal all the achievements of modern technical progress. To promote Orthodoxy, not only printed publications are used, but also various media resources, among which the Internet occupies an important place. One example of its use to improve the religious education of citizens is the creation of such portals as “Orthodoxy and Peace”, “Predaniye.ru”, etc.

Work with children is also taking on a wide scale these days, especially relevant in view of the fact that few of them have the opportunity to become familiar with the fundamentals of faith in the family. This situation is explained by the fact that parents who grew up in the Soviet and post-Soviet period were themselves raised, as a rule, as atheists, and do not even have basic concepts about faith.

To educate the younger generation in the spirit of Orthodoxy, in addition to traditional activities Sunday schools are also used to organize all kinds of events. These include children's holidays that are gaining popularity, such as “Orthodoxy Day”, “Light of the Christmas Star”, etc. All this allows us to hope that soon the faith of our fathers will regain its former power in Russia and become the basis of spirituality. the unity of its people.

When creating the world, the Great Creator endowed man with a unique gift - freedom. Man was created in the image and likeness of God, and freedom is precisely his God-like property.

The Perfect Person creates an imperfect being, but endows him with this greatest gift. The Lord knew that by taking advantage of this gift, a person would fall away from Him, but he still left the right to choose. Did God regret that he rewarded man with this “overwhelming” burden? Nothing like this! This is evidenced by all further sacred history, which is literally permeated with evidence of Divine trust.

“When the water of the global flood returned again to the borders of the shores...” The Lord gives humanity another chance, again, trusting and not taking away freedom. Abraham had freedom of choice, because he might not have followed the Lord into the space of death (what a feat for ancient man was to leave my native place!). Wasn't in God's plan and kings for the holy people - but when the Jews, following the example of the pagans, decided to have a king for themselves, the Lord did not interfere with this (a reminder, by the way, to Orthodox monarchists who shout at the top of their lungs about the divinely established monarchical system). And these are just a few examples from Scripture.

And finally, the greatest example of freedom, love and trust is the Gospel. God ultimately trusts people with his own Son, whom they... crucified.

And yet, from more than two thousand years of experience in church life, we know: God not only did not take away, but even added to us freedom. And the Apostle Paul, who was once a strict zealot of the Law, and then became a man of the spirit, wrote beautifully about this.

From Judaism, which was very picky about external rituals, Christianity grew, which, with its attitude to personal freedom, sharply contrasts with other religious systems. The Church has preserved a unique gift - respect for human dignity. And her relationship to the image and likeness of the Almighty cannot be different!

But freedom in the Christian understanding is not at all what the modern world is shouting about. Freedom for Christians is, ultimately, freedom from sinful passions, freedom to contemplate the Divine. A modern man, who boasts of his imaginary freedom, in fact, is often a slave to a lot of things, when the soul is bound by the chains of passions and the shackles of sins, and the likenesses of God are trampled into the dirt.

True freedom comes when a person joins the Holy Spirit, having gone through the paths of repentance and purification. As the same Apostle Paul aptly said: “The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17). True freedom cannot be achieved without the Holy Spirit!

Freedom of spirit is a heavy burden

But how is freedom revealed in the Church of Christ in practical terms? Firstly, minimum quantity fixed rules. Only the fundamentals of faith, the so-called dogmas (the most important of which are listed in the Creed) are strictly defined and unchangeable in the Church. Even Holy Bible and then in different time differed both in later insertions and in the presence or absence of certain books in the biblical code. (For example, the Apocalypse was not accepted by the Eastern Church for a very long time, and Synodal Bible does not know the Fourth Book of Maccabees, which was included in the most ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint).

One of the greatest Athonite ascetics, Gregory Sinaite, defining the boundaries of church institutions, remarked: “To purely confess the Trinity in God and the two in Christ - in this I see the limit of Orthodoxy.”

But for the practice of salvation, Christianity offers a lot of everything: ascetic rules, prohibitions, compulsions and actions that serve only one thing - to bring a person closer to God. All this is not imposed in full as something obligatory, but is offered for voluntary and individual perception.

The main thing is not the external order, but the Lord God, but without much that the Church has accumulated in its experience, it can be extremely difficult to reach the heavenly chambers. However, all these accumulations are not a goal, but a means, and if the means in a given and specific case does not help (and it cannot be universal!), which means that you need to change something in your spiritual life, and not walk in a “vicious circle” from year to year.

Not everyone has heard through the centuries the words that “He has given us the ability to be ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, because the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). And if they do hear, then, probably, this burden is heavy - to walk before the Lord in freedom of spirit. Maturity, a responsible approach, prudence, knowledge of the fundamentals of faith, respect and love for one's neighbor are required.

A person's growth in spirit and truth need not be accompanied by the suppression of all his personal aspirations. Despite this, in modern Russian church reality, freedom is often equated almost with sin. Absolutely Christian concepts such as “personal freedom”, “ civil rights”, “gender equality”, “freedom of speech”, are interpreted as ideological sabotage by the enemies of the Church and the state. Along with the mention of these terms, certain church (and more often para-church) media publish photographs of gay pride parades, naked feminists with axes, and pedophiles. As if fundamental civil rights, growing from the depths of Christianity, are limited only by these negative phenomena!

But the times are not far off when we were promised to be shown the “last priest” on TV, and open confession of faith meant the path of martyrdom or confession. Yes, somehow everything was forgotten...

“To help the repentant”

Freedom of speech began to interfere with us. We somehow began to reject freedom in general both in ideology and in the construction of personal spiritual growth. The lives of many of our brothers and sisters are tied by the chains of various instructions, many of which have no basis in the Holy Scriptures and in the Holy Tradition. It was about these cases that Christ spoke many times: “He answered and said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3), “but in vain they worship Me, teaching doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9), “And he said unto them, Is it good that ye cast aside the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition?” (Mark 7:9), “making void the word of God by your tradition which ye have established; and you do many similar things” (Mark 7:13).

This can be clearly demonstrated by some of the brochures from the series “To Help the Repentant”, after reading which a Christian risks falling into one of the most terrible sins - despondency. This is understandable, because how can you not be discouraged when you get the impression that your whole life is pure sin and darkness? To what is gleaned from the brochures, the advice of the local young priest is added, and even the old woman in the temple whispers something “to help” - and as a result, the person feels like a kind of Prometheus, chained to the rock of life.

Of course, not everything in our country is based on Scripture. There is also Tradition. But our Tradition is sacred. And this is not a beautiful epithet: the word “sacred” suggests that tradition is sanctified in the Church by the action of the Holy Spirit. But there is something completely different: certain traditions and ideas that also have a right to exist, but in no way should be perceived as something super-obligatory, eternal and unshakable.

How to determine where is the Sacred and where is just tradition? Very simple. After all, there is only one Author of Scripture and Tradition - the Holy Spirit. Means, Sacred Tradition must always be consistent with, or at least not contradict, Scripture.

“Adherents of severity” and their stranglehold

As an example, let’s take the statement that spouses should abstain from intimacy during Lent. What does Scripture say about this? And the Scripture says the following: “Do not deviate from each other, except by agreement, for a time, to practice fasting and prayer, and [then] be together again, so that Satan does not tempt you with your intemperance. However, I said this as permission, and not as a command” (1 Cor. 7:5).

An ideal example of a Christian attitude towards the individual: everything is put in its place, and the maximum degree of freedom is given. But already in the early Church there were adherents of the “hard line”. It was for them that two great fathers of the Church (4th canon of Dionysius and 13th canon of Timothy of Alexandria) made an extended commentary, confirming the freedom of choice of spouses in this difficult issue. In monuments ancient Russian literature- “Teaching of Novgorod Archbishop Elijah (John) (March 13, 1166)” and “Questions of Kirik” - the practice of mandatory and forced renunciation of married life in Lent is strongly condemned.

But soon other winds blew, and to this day some clergy in private and public conversations categorically forbid their family flock from touching each other during Lent. Several years ago, one learned monk, who spoke to the press with an Open Secret that there are no such prohibitions, was subjected to such a barrage of censures that he was forced to justify himself and “soften the form of his statements.” This is how “adherents of rigor” hold on to human traditions - with a stranglehold.

In general, the entire intimate sphere of married life is fertile ground for all kinds of speculation and prejudice. There is a full range of everything here: “sinful positions and types of intimacy.” (This is in “bed with a candle” to the legal spouses! Talmudists stand aside and nervously bite their elbows...) And “the sinful use of condoms and other non-abortive means of birth control.” (Give birth and give birth, forgetting that we give birth not into biomass, but into the Kingdom of Heaven or into eternal destruction. And that in addition to giving birth, it is also necessary to raise a person as a worthy member of the Church and society. Like many priests, I I know examples of child abandonment in large families).

If during confession the priest “bites” into the topic intimate life confessor, in his spiritual, and sometimes in mental health one has to doubt it.

But one more aspect must be borne in mind: through tugging the strings of the secret and intimate aspects of a person’s life, one can obtain a certain access code for manipulating and controlling him - a Pharisaic technique as old as the world, which has nothing to do with the teachings of Christ.

A fashionable sentence for an Orthodox woman

Sometimes our freedom is “pinched” in small ways...

Thus, one famous archpriest and preacher recently began to take away bread from the hosts of the “Fashionable Sentence” program and came to grips with the issues modern fashion. Here, of course, he is far from being a pioneer: there is a well-known theme - women should look like this, men should look like this, and children should look exactly like this, and preferably, walk in order.

Some of their personal stereotypes, ideas, projections and even deep-seated complexes and desires are pushed through under the guise of church regulations. Where neither Christ, nor the apostles, nor the apostolic men intervened, some modern preachers are bending over backwards. They will give advice on all occasions, and in the end they will even say who will be saved and who will not (I'm not kidding!), making decisions for the Lord God. It is truly said: “And the word of the Lord became unto them: commandment upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, so that they go and fall backward, and are broken, and are caught in a snare.” and they will be caught” (Isa. 28:13-14).

In conclusion, I would like to say once again that Christianity is not a chain of endless prohibitions and suppressions. This is a religion of free and voluntary ascent to God. The Lord does not force anyone, does not bend anyone over his knee, but wants “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).

“Stand fast therefore in the freedom which Christ has given us, and do not be subjected again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). Let us, brothers and sisters, carefully and deeply study our faith, pray with zeal, without losing prudence and common sense, respecting and appreciating each individual, for the individual is the image and likeness of God.

Portal "Orthodoxy and Peace" andindependent service "Sreda" conduct a series of discussions about parish life. Every week - new topic! We will ask everything current issues different priests. If you want to talk about the pain points of Orthodoxy, your experience or vision of problems, write to the editor at [email protected].

After the Feast of the Assurance of Thomas, where we saw the closest disciples of Christ gathered together and - after the reappearance of the Teacher - united by faith in His rising from the dead, the Church pays tribute to those who were much less visible. These are the secret followers of Jesus Joseph and Nicodemus, as well as the women now known to us as the myrrh-bearers.

Let us return to the events of the Passion of the Lord. On that day only one of the Twelve stood at the cross of his Master; the other, on the contrary, renounced Him, the third completely became a traitor. The rest fled. But this is not what the myrrh-bearers and Joseph and Nicodemus did.

Were they afraid? Men - definitely. But Joseph overcomes his fear, goes to Pilate, asks for the body of the executed criminal. Nicodemus joins him, and they remove the Teacher’s body from the cross.

Were the myrrh-bearers afraid? We don’t know this for sure, but I think – no, they weren’t afraid. The worst thing in their lives had already happened - and it didn’t matter what happened next. “Further,” in those days, is a meaningless word. The sun set and darkness fell.

But Christ’s disciples, contrary to what would seem to be common sense, strive to properly prepare for the last journey the One whom they loved. All these incense will not help the dead - but they do not reason, but follow the dictates of the heart.

That day they did not have time to do everything that was required according to Jewish custom, and so, as soon as the Sabbath day ended, they again rushed to the tomb. And they receive a reward: the risen Christ appears to them.

It is difficult for us to imagine their joy and jubilation - for this we need to experience what they experienced. However, it is worth at least mentally realizing: their feat (which they themselves would never have called that word) and the reward received for it (which none of them considered themselves worthy of) - all this would have been impossible and unnecessary if not for one thing: their love for Christ.

It would seem that all this is obvious and there is no need to talk about the same thing for the hundred and first time. But the Gospel is a book for all times, and it was given to us not only so that we could learn historical facts, but also so that we can try on what we read about.

What are we like as believers? church people? Yes, everything seems to be fine with us. We go to church, pray, fast, confess, receive communion, take our children to Sunday school, sometimes even read the Gospel - everything is fine. We try to convert unbelieving relatives - and sometimes we succeed. We go on pilgrimages to holy places, and in times of danger we are ready to defend our shrines. We know that without God we cannot reach the threshold, and therefore we strive to sanctify our entire lives, we do not miss the opportunity to fall to the source of grace.

So, everything is fine with us: we go to church and pray to God. But wait. After all, this was the case ten, twenty, and twenty-five centuries ago. Pious Jews also went to the temple and prayed to God. They also read the Scriptures

they also made pilgrimages.

Moreover: after all, today’s Jews, Muslims, and pagans also pray - and, perhaps, by their faith they receive what they ask for.

How are we different from them? Because we are Orthodox? Because we “rightly glorify God” - and therefore we have hope of salvation, while everyone else will burn in hell? If this is so, then, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, we are the most unfortunate people on earth.

For in vain Christ came, died and rose again: nothing has changed in our lives. We still love those who love us, we still pray to “our” God, we are still confident in the chosenness of our people.

Are we Orthodox? Fine! We will continue to satisfy our religious needs, we will attack with righteous anger those who question this right of ours. Let us dream of Holy Russia, which itself, thanks to mysterious genetic processes, guarantees us our Orthodoxy and rootedness in tradition. Good luck.

But something doesn't add up here. And the point is not even in theology, but in simple school grammar. If “Orthodox” is an adjective, then where is the noun? The bakery is a shop, the greengrocer is a shop, the main course is a dish. What about Orthodox?

Yes, there is such a word: Christian. For some of us, this word is almost a curse: we are Orthodox, and Christians are heretics: Catholics and Protestants.

But there is no escape: if you are Orthodox, then you are a Christian. And this word, which we dislike so much, is formed from another word that we easily mutter during prayer, but it should be more precious to us than all others. - Christ!

Yes, this is Christ - God who became man. It was He who cruelly denounced the Pharisees - zealots of traditions, keepers of the traditions of the elders, “nationalists in the good sense of the word.” It was He who proclaimed the principle: the Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath. It was He who did not favor those who build tombs for the prophets. It was He who commanded His disciples to love their enemies. It was He, crucified on the cross, beaten and bloodied, showered with ridicule and mockery, who prayed for His executioners and judges to the Father: “Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing!”

And all of this makes us very uncomfortable. Simply put, it's uncomfortable. This Man is ruining our whole life - so comfortable, so organized, so splendid. Why did He come? Why all this suffering? Why such outrageous submission? Why all this Tolstoyanism? After all, he himself said: My Father can even now provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels! And I didn’t use it! And - unreasonable, irresponsible, unpedagogical! - allowed a terrible sin and blasphemy to occur, which has never happened and, fortunately, will never happen again in world history: deicide!

(However, Dostoevsky is absolutely right: at any moment in human history, Christ is doomed to death. And if He had come in our time, He would have been crucified with the same inevitability as two thousand years ago. Because, as the then high priest rightly noted, “ It is better for one person to die than for the whole people to perish.”)

So, this Man - this was His decision - died. However, having died, He rose again. And having resurrected, He completely politically incorrectly stepped on death, defeated the devil, devastated hell - in short, deprived all our enemies of their strength. There are no longer any barriers between man and God - except our own passions and sins, and even those Christ nailed to the Cross. And we are called to respond to the sacrificial love of Christ - to respond with love for Him and, no less important, with love for those others - friends and enemies, believers and unbelievers - for whom He also died.

We know all this (at least in theory). And those who stood at the Cross, sympathizing with the suffering Teacher, those who removed His body from the Cross, those who buried Him, did not know any of this (and if they did know, they could not comprehend it). But they didn’t need to know anything: knowledge was replaced by love. And this was love not for tradition, not for religion, not for national shrines, not for the abstract to almighty God- they loved the mocked and murdered Jesus of Nazareth, in whom they saw the Son of God.

And to their love, to their loyalty, they received an answer that surpassed all understanding:

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Christianity has many faces. IN modern world it is represented by three generally recognized movements - Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as numerous movements that do not belong to any of the above. There are serious differences between these branches of the same religion. The Orthodox consider Catholics and Protestants to be heterodox groups of people, that is, those who glorify God in a different way. However, they do not view them as completely devoid of grace. But Orthodox Christians do not recognize sectarian organizations that position themselves as Christian but are only indirectly related to Christianity.

Who are Christians and Orthodox?

Christians – followers of the Christian faith, belonging to any Christian movement - Orthodoxy, Catholicism or Protestantism with its various denominations, often of a sectarian nature.
Orthodox– Christians whose worldview corresponds to the ethnocultural tradition associated with the Orthodox Church.

Comparison of Christians and Orthodox

What is the difference between Christians and Orthodox?
Orthodoxy is an established faith that has its own dogmas, values, and centuries-old history. What is often passed off as Christianity is something that in fact is not. For example, the White Brotherhood movement, active in Kyiv in the early 90s of the last century.
The Orthodox consider their main goal to be the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, their own salvation and the salvation of their neighbors from the spiritual slavery of passions. World Christianity at its congresses declares salvation in a purely material plane - from poverty, disease, war, drugs, etc., which is external piety.
For an Orthodox Christian, the spiritual holiness of a person is important. Evidence of this is the saints canonized by the Orthodox Church, who demonstrated the Christian ideal with their lives. In Christianity as a whole, the spiritual and sensual prevail over the spiritual.
Orthodox Christians consider themselves co-workers with God in the cause own salvation. In world Christianity, in particular in Protestantism, a person is likened to a pillar that should not do anything, because Christ accomplished the work of salvation for him on Calvary.
The basis of the doctrine of world Christianity is the Holy Scripture - recording Divine Revelation. It teaches you how to live. Orthodox Christians, like Catholics, believe that Scripture was isolated from Holy Tradition, which clarifies the forms of this life and is also an unconditional authority. Protestant movements rejected this claim.
Summary of the Basics Christian faith given in the Creed. For the Orthodox, this is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Catholics introduced into the formulation of the Symbol the concept of filioque, according to which the Holy Spirit proceeds from both God the Father and God the Son. Protestants do not deny the Nicene Creed, but the Ancient, Apostolic Creed is considered generally accepted among them.
Orthodox Christians especially venerate the Mother of God. They believe that she had no personal sin, but was not without original sin, like all people. After the ascension, the Mother of God bodily ascended to heaven. However, there is no dogma about this. Catholics believe that the Mother of God was also deprived of original sin. One of the dogmas catholic faith- dogma about the bodily ascension to heaven of the Virgin Mary. Protestants and numerous sectarians do not have a cult of the Mother of God.

TheDifference.ru determined that the difference between Christians and Orthodox Christians is as follows:

Orthodox Christianity is contained in the dogmas of the Church. Not all movements that position themselves as Christians are, in fact, Christians.
For Orthodox Christians, internal piety is the basis right life. For modern Christianity in the bulk of it, outward piety is much more important.
Orthodox Christians try to achieve spiritual holiness. Christianity in general emphasizes spirituality and sensuality. This is clearly seen in the speeches of Orthodox and other Christian preachers.
An Orthodox person is a co-worker with God in the matter of his own salvation. Catholics take the same position. All other representatives Christendom We are convinced that a person’s moral achievement is not important for salvation. Salvation has already been accomplished at Calvary.
The basis of the faith of an Orthodox person is the Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, as for Catholics. Protestants rejected the Traditions. Many sectarian Christian movements also distort Scripture.
A statement of the fundamentals of faith for the Orthodox is given in the Nicene Creed. Catholics added the concept of filioque to the Symbol. Most Protestants accept the ancient Apostles' Creed. Many others have no particular creed.
Only Orthodox and Catholics venerate the Mother of God. Other Christians do not have her cult.

The question of how Christians differ from Orthodox Christians does not confront people who understand the history of religion or simply general history. After all, it already contains the initially incorrect statement that Orthodox Christians are not Christians. Where did this formulation of the problem come from? Let's take a closer look.

A brief excursion into history

Christianity during the Edict of Milan by the Roman Emperor Constantine on religious tolerance (313) was relatively unified. No, of course, truth-seekers-heresiarchs have always existed, but at that time the number of their followers was insignificant. The first schism occurred at the third Ecumenical Council, held in the city of Ephesus in 431. Then some Christians did not accept the dogmas established at the council and decided to “go a different way.” This is how the Assyrian Church appeared, and 20 years later at the Council of Chalcedon there was a division again: those who disagreed later received the name “Ancient Eastern Churches”.

And finally, another 700 years later - the Great Schism, which took place in 1054. The Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople anathematize each other, and this date is considered the point of division between Eastern and Western Christianity. The Western one was called Catholicism, the Eastern one - Orthodoxy. The causes of the Great Schism were political rather than religious: Byzantine Empire considered herself the heir of Rome and claimed the role of the unifier of all Christian lands, but in Rome they did not agree with this. Political disagreements gradually, from the time of the division of the united Roman Empire into Western and Eastern (395), accumulated, transforming into religious and dogmatic differences, until an official break occurred.

Later, the Catholic Church experienced the Reformation, which gave rise to a new direction in Christianity - Protestantism. The Orthodox Church has maintained relative unity. Today the following position exists: the Roman Catholic Church is a single organism governed by general center- Vatican. There are several Orthodox churches, the largest of which is the Russian one, and among most of them there is Eucharistic communion - mutual recognition and the possibility of celebrating joint liturgies. As for Protestants, this is the most variegated direction of Christianity, consisting of large quantity independent denominations of varying numbers and varying degrees of recognition by other Christian denominations and each other.

The difference between Orthodoxy and other areas of Christianity

The question - what is the difference between Orthodox and Christians - is initially incorrect, since Orthodoxy is one of the main branches of the general Christian tree. How do Orthodox Christians differ from Christians of other denominations? It seems that many will agree that the laity (that is, persons who do not have church education and rank) are unlikely to be able to clearly explain what the essence of the differences is. Religion in everyday life plays rather the role of a marker that allows us to separate “us” from “strangers”.

As for theological differences, they will not tell an inexperienced person anything. For example, according to Catholic doctrine, the Holy Spirit is the love between God the Father and God the Son, and in Orthodoxy the Holy Spirit is interpreted as the common energy of the Holy Trinity. Agree, such nuances are understandable and interesting to few people. Where higher value have political differences, such as, for example, the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope in matters of faith. Naturally, the acceptance of this dogma automatically subordinates all who accept it to the Pope.

Protestantism, which appeared and strengthened in the 16th century, denies many postulates catholic church. And although theologically Catholics have more in common with the Orthodox, mentally they are closer to Protestants, since both of these religions often exist among the same people. There are Catholic Germans and Protestant Germans (of various denominations), Catholic French and Protestant French (Huguenots). And in the historical fate of the Christian European peoples, regardless of religion, there is much in common, which over time smoothed out confessional conflicts. Although, during the height of passions, Protestants declared: “Better a turban than a tiara,” thus recognizing that they were more tolerant of Muslims than Catholics, and the climax of the confrontation was the famous St. Bartholomew’s Night.

Protestantism has lost its protest meaning over time. The notorious Protestant “business ethics” is perceived by many not as a religious ideology, but as a guide to doing business. Therefore, to most representatives of this religion, Orthodoxy seems something wild: of course, there is no practical benefit from it! Modern Protestants seem to have no idea about the sacred meaning of religion.

Pseudo-Christian teachings

Since the 16th century, a large number of diverse sects have been formed among Protestants, which, of course, call themselves not sects, but Churches. Gradually, some of them move very far from traditional Christianity, considering, however, only themselves as bearers of divine truth. Interestingly, in Catholicism and Orthodoxy there are very few such sects in comparison with Protestantism. Some of the pseudo-Christian teachings are quite big number adherents, such as the Mormons - about 15 million people.

The largest and most famous pseudo-Christian religious organizations are:

• Mormons (15 million);
• Jehovah's Witnesses (8 million);
• Moon Unification Church (7 million).

The remaining pseudo-Christian cults are much smaller in number and their distribution is either highly localized or limited to certain social groups. An example of the first is some local Protestant or Orthodox Old Believers sects, while a classic example of the second case is groups of followers of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Theosophists), consisting mainly of representatives of the intelligentsia. Of course, they all consider only themselves to be true Christians, denying this right to others, including Orthodox Christians.

To summarize, we can say that the difference between Orthodox and Christians is a phenomenon of approximately the same order as the difference between trees and plants, cows and herbivores, or the Volga region from Russia. Orthodoxy is part of modern Christianity. It lives, develops and prospers. And, in general, it has always been the spiritual core that saved our country in the most difficult years. And we must not forget about this.