The Catholic Defender: With Catholic Convert William Hensworth's Podcast with guest Apologist Erick Ybarra Differences Between Catholicism And Eastern Orthodoxy

https://deepertruthdon.podbean.com/e/differences-between-catholicism-and-eastern-orthodoxy/

Apologist Erick Ybarra joins William Hensworth to discuss the differences between Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.  The main issues covered are the papacy and the filioque.

Faithand reason The Catholic church places reason at a much higher level in the spiritual life of the Christian than the Orthodox Church. Pope John Paul II calls faith and reason “two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth”. He goes on to say:

God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know Himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.

Liturgical revision At one time, liturgical worship in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches looked almost identical.

But throughout the last 70-80 years, the Catholic church has seen significant changes in its liturgical life.

The Second Vatican Council introduced many contemporary revisions to the normal worship life of the average Catholic.

The structure and language of the mass changed, along with other parts of their worship lives.

The Orthodox Church has never have experienced anything like this.

Certainly both the Eastern and Western Church experienced liturgical change over the centuries, but typically those changes were very slow.

If there were reforms, they were subtle things.

It was nothing anywhere near what Catholics experienced in the late 1960’s and the early 70’s.

For the Orthodox Christian, there’s very little difference between the spiritual lives of the early Christians and our spiritual lives today.

The question instead becomes how much we actually participate in what is the normal Orthodox Christian life.

Papal Supremacy is the teaching that the Pope of Rome has immediate, supreme, universal jurisdiction over every Christian. In effect, he is the physical head of the Church. No one, not even an ecumenical council, can supposedly overturn the ruling of a pope. Rejection of this dogma endangers your salvation. In other words, if you do not submit to the pope, you will not be saved (Pastor aeternus, Vatican I, 1870).

This teaching stems from a certain view of Saint Peter. The Roman church claims the bishop of Rome is Peter’s sole successor, because Peter allegedly – there is very little evidence of this – served as bishop there and received the “keys” to the Kingdom of heaven to “bind” and “loose” (Matt. 16:19). Interestingly, the rest of the Apostles receive these same keys to bind and loose in John 20:23, and the Lord Himself says He is the One with the “keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1:18).

The Orthodox certainly acknowledge that Peter occupied a special place among the Apostles as the first among equals. But we do not acknowledge any claims of supremacy, because these claims have no basis in Scripture or in the writings of the Fathers.

Papal infallibility teaches that the pope cannot err in questions of faith and morals when speaking ex cathedra (“from the throne”; this does not make the pope sinless or perfect).

This dogma did not exist prior to the First Vatican Council (1870), which defines it as follows: “This see of St. Peter always remains unblemished by any error, in accordance with the divine promise of our Lord and Savior to the prince of his disciples” (Pastor aeternus; emphasis added).

It goes on to say that when the Roman pontiff speaks ex cathedra, “he possesses […] that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy.” This “divine promise” refers to Luke 22:32, in which Christ tells Simon Peter that his faith would not fail. In other words, the Holy Spirit protects the pope from teaching heresy.

While Catholicism uses Luke 22:32 as justification for papal infallibility, the Orthodox do not.

The Filioque The filioque (Latin: “and the Son”), is an addition to the Nicene Creed.

This phrase changes the nature of the Holy Spirit’s procession, stating that He proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son, rather than from the Father only.

Rome officially declared this doctrine at the Second Council of Lyons.

We also see similar language in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church (246).

Despite Rome’s official position, many Catholics argue that the filioque refers to the Spirit’s temporal mission, not His eternal procession. The Orthodox can agree with this approach, though we ultimately reject the way the filioque was inserted into the Creed.

It goes without saying, but the Orthodox do not share Rome’s official position here.

Absolute Divine Simplicity Catholicism claims the essence of God (who He is in Himself) is identical to the attributes of God (what is said about Him).

Absolute divine simplicity classifies God philosophically as a “substance,” and it insists that God’s oneness is an undifferentiated singularity, with no facets, aspects, or distinctions. This makes the Catholic version of God far less approachable or near to us, because He is only Himself. We cannot experience Him in any tangible, realistic way.

The Orthodox teaches that God is both unknowable essence and knowable energies,ergies, God is still Himself, We will never know Him in His essence, but we can know Him through His energies, most particularly Grace.

Created Grace Because of Catholicism’s doctrine of absolute divine simplicity, problems arise in the understanding of both the presence of God in the believer and the effects that occur because of His presence.

Unlike the Orthodox, who believe grace is uncreated, Catholics believe grace is both uncreated and created.

Catholic theology teaches both uncreated grace (God) and created grace, which, when granted or conferred upon the believer, gives him “merit”. In other words, created grace is an effect. It is only understood by analogy to God’s work, and is therefore not really grace at all. Instead it is another way of describing the state of the believer under the influence of God’s uncreated grace.

In Orthodox doctrine, divine grace is uncreated and therefore represents God Himself – His energies. The believer is sanctified through synergy with God and His energies. If the grace the believer experiences is simply an “effect,” then he remains separate from God. Naturally, true communion with God is impossible if we remain separate from Him.

The Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception (IC) is a Catholic dogma that says the Theotokos was conceived without the stain of original sin (per St. Augustine).

This, therefore, is what made it possible for her to assent to Christ’s Incarnation. While the Orthodox agree Mary’s womb was sanctified to prepare for Christ, we believe this took place at the Annunciation.

In the eyes of the Orthodox, this dogma actually demeans the Theotokos. There is no victory without an adversary.”

Purgatory The final difference between the Orthodox and Catholic churches is about what happens when we die.

According to Catholicism, the “saved” go to purgatory when they depart this life.

In the most basic terms, purgatory is a place of temporal punishment, which allows those who “die in God’s grace and friendship” to “achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (CCC, 1030). In other words, even after you are saved and God has forgiven your sins, after death you must still make satisfaction for them.

The Orthodox Church does not believe in purgatory. Within the Orthodox theological paradigm, there is either forgiveness or punishment, not both.