17 June 2023
The early churches left the Hebraic outlook and slipped quickly into a worldly path. Their activities took on the same methods and means as the human political context in which they lived. At the long tail end of political wrangling and nit-picking over how to define the answer to questions that should not have been asked in the first place, the big shots in charge of the Latin and Greek churches declared each other in contempt of God's anointed.
If you look it up online, you get a date of about 1054 AD for the formal break between East and West. However, it is widely noted that this was just the last straw in a long series of disputes that pushed them farther and farther apart.
Among the issues was whether or not the communion bread should be unleavened like Hebrew matzo (Latin), or more like regular bread (Greek). However, it would appear the real kicker was the Roman prelate claiming universal superiority to all others, instead of one of five historical prelates (the Pentarchy) that were roughly equal in authority. On the way to this, Rome and Byzantium two closed down churches belonging to the rival prelate in their districts.
Worse, the whole thing was complicated by warfare that threatened the Roman church, but which war was not really aimed at the church. However, after the two excommunicated each other, there were some rather pointed military efforts. These invasions hardened their resolve against each other, because they were expeditions sent by the prelates against each other's domains. At least one of these actions was part of the Crusades. On top of that, each side sent competing representatives to claim authority in parts of the Crusader States in the Levant.
There is one funny part: The average Christian in both realms at that time were mostly oblivious to this whole fracas. And another odd thing is that, officially, neither today considers the other really heretical, just in rebellion against proper ecclesiastical authority. It's all about the politics.
Naturally I reject both of them, along with the Reformation and later institutional church bodies. But I have no quarrel and no crusade to shut them down or hinder their normal operations. They have nothing to do with the gospel message of Christ, as they are simply another element of the human political scene. In due time both will die of starvation, with members draining away. Because they are both part of the political landscape and entangled in this world's ways, they are subject to the vagaries of human social winds.
Look at the way the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox churches are in conflict as a reflection of the military war between the civil governments of each country. The churches are used as political and military bargaining chips, because they both are entwined with their respective governments and cultures.
Then again, here in America, the various national branches of Orthodox Christian religion are actually somewhat resurgent. A significant number of well-known evangelicals of various stripes have converted to one brand or another of Orthodox church. Meanwhile, evangelical organizations are shrinking. Oddly enough, only the faux evangelical churches are growing. That's the corporate-like church franchises that are nothing more than entertainment houses with a religious spin. This is just a reflection of how politicized things have become.
One more thing: If you have never been part of the Catholic or Orthodox churches, you may be surprised at their attitude about the source of truth. Catholics in particular hold the doctrine that the Bible is not the Word of God, but is the Word of the Church. They claim to have created the Bible and it remains subject to their institutional will.
Orthodox writings tend be rather muddy on this topic, but they act the same as Catholics do. Both reject the doctrine of sola scriptura and are utterly certain that they have inherited the full authority of Jesus' Apostles, so you aren't allowed to argue with them on anything. It's a rather circular argument that admits no grounds for criticism.
That's the end of this series. Feel free to keep asking my take on various things.
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