WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? 2

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Session 2: Conversations about Faith

► Christianity is based on certain ground rules which dictate its methodology, its source of knowledge, and its expression.

► These grounds rules can be rather different between the Catholics, Orthodox and the Protestants, and have led to the Christian faith being embodied differently.

1. Rules for Preservation of the Faith

► Catholic: Scripture and Tradition

 Dei Verbum (Latin: "The Word of God"): There exists a close connection and communication between sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture.

 Sacred Scripture is the word of God consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit. To the successors of the apostles, sacred Tradition hands on in its full purity God’s word, which was entrusted to the Apostles by Christ and the Holy Spirit.

 Sacred or apostolic Tradition consists of the teachings that the Apostles passed on orally through their preaching. These teachings largely (perhaps entirely) overlap with those contained in Scripture, but the mode of their transmission is different.

 The Catholic Old Testament has 46 books, and New Testament 27 books.

► Orthodox: Tradition (which includes Scripture)

 The focus of the Orthodox faith is the handing down of the Tradition (paradosis, Greek: “giving over”) which has been passed down from one generation of believers to another since the time of the Apostles.

 Tradition is a gift of the Holy Spirit which allows the Church to preserve Apostolic truth unadulterated, unbroken, and unaltered. It is the living experience of the people of God.

 Tradition includes Scriptures, the Church Fathers, the major Councils, the Creeds of the Church, the later Councils, the Divine Liturgy, the Canons of the Church, Christian Art (Iconography and Architecture).

 The Orthodox Old Testament has 51 books, and New Testament 27 books.

► Protestants: Scripture alone

 The Bible as God's written word is self-authenticating, clear to the rational reader, its own interpreter ("Scripture interprets Scripture"), and sufficient of itself to be the final authority of Christian doctrine.

 The Bible is the only rule of faith (Sola scriptura). It contains all instruction necessary for salvation.

 The Protestant Old Testament has 39 books, and New Testament 27 books.

2. Rules for Correctness of the Faith

► West: Emphasises orthodoxy

 Orthodoxy refers to accurate belief conforming to an authoritative tenet.

 The potential weakness of orthodoxy is that its adherents cognitively embrace a belief system which does not necessarily translate into action/lifestyle. It may just remain head knowledge indefinitely.

► East: Emphasises orthopraxy (although they are called the Orthodox Church!)

 Orthopraxy refers to accuracy in practice and adherence to prescribed religious obligations, including ritual style, interpersonal acts, and obedience to religious laws.

 The Eastern Church emphasises that a correct practice of the faith leads to a correct understanding of the substance of the faith.

 The potential weakness of orthopraxy is that its adherents begin to practise a form of behaviourism without necessarily understanding the beliefs underlying it.

► In the final analysis, the two are not entirely different.

3. Rules for Propagating the Faith

► West: Propositional / Cognitive

 Truth refers to a set of “objectively determined” beliefs which can be systematically described.

 The Western Church’s evangelisation activity thrives on proclamation of the gospel to peoples of different cultures and in different lands (missionary zeal).

► East: Relational / Experiential

 External criteria of truth are lacking; for Orthodox Christians seek the living experience of truth accessible in the communion of saints.

 In evangelisation, the approach usually taken is “come and see”. The seeker is usually required to spend time immersing himself in the experience of the local Orthodox community.

 There is also little/no deliberate effort to “go and preach” (cognitive), because the emphasis is “come and see” (experiential).

4. Rules for Articulating the Faith

► West: Cataphatic / Positive Theology

 Via positiva (Latin) or kataphatic (Greek)

 Kataphatic theology is positive theology, describing what and who God is. It is the use of positive terminology.

 It assumes that we can know something about God as He truly is. It assumes that because God has revealed Himself, we can describe God truly as He is.

► East: Apophatic / Negative Theology

 Via negativa (Latin) or apophatic (Greek: "negating")

 Apophatic theology is negative theology; it describes who and what God is not. All descriptions about what God is will be ultimately false.

 Apophatic theology assumes much more mystery about God. Oftentimes, it assumes that we cannot know God as He truly is.

► The best practitioners of each kind of theology recognise the shortcomings and attempt to alleviate the dangers.

Appendix: On the Bible

At the time the Christian Bible was being formed, a Greek translation of Jewish Scripture, the Septuagint, was in common use and Christians adopted it as the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. However, around 100 A.D., Jewish rabbis revised their Scripture and established an official canon of Judaism which excluded some portions of the Greek Septuagint. The material excluded was a group of 15 late Jewish books, written during the period 170 B.C. to 70 A.D., that were not found in Hebrew versions of the Jewish Scripture. Christians did not follow the revisions of Judaism and continued to use the text of the Septuagint.

Protestant reformers in the 1500s decided to follow the official canon of Judaism for the Old Testament rather than the Septuagint, and the excluded material was placed in a separate section of the Bible called the Apocrypha. Protestant Bibles included the Apocrypha (known by the Catholics as the Deuterocanonicals) until the mid 1800s, but it was eventually dropped from most Protestant editions.

The Deuterocanonical books (found in Catholic and Orthodox versions of the Bible) were a problem for Jews living after the time of Christ, since they often very clearly prophesy concerning Jesus, and indicate His divinity. Some of the books were also problematic for both the Jews and the Protestants because they refer to the special role of Mary in the economy of salvation. Also, a scriptural reference to praying for the dead is found in a Deuterocanonical book, i.e. Maccabees.

The Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches continue to base their Old Testament on the Septuagint. The result is that these versions of the Bible have more Old Testament books than Protestant versions. Catholic Old Testaments include 1st and 2nd Maccabees, Baruch, Tobit, Judith, The Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), additions to Esther, and Susanna and Bel and the Dragon which are included in Daniel. Orthodox Old Testaments include these plus 1st and 2nd Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151 and 3rd Maccabees.

The Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox New Testaments are identical.