The Ignorant Orthodox Church Examined
Apprentice Austin
November 5, 2014
Background
Desirous of learning from a Master, Austin, through his own free will, has agreed to apprentice with yours truly. Apprentice Austin's initial research will clarify what the Orthodox Church knows concerning various aspects regarding Christianity and Jesus Christ.
Part the First
What year was Jesus born and what year was the Crucifixion?
Unfortunately, the Greek church did not use the calendar created by Dionysus Exiguus (Denny to his friends) in the sixth century, reintroduced in the 16th century and is now in universal use. The Eastern Church has historically (from 691 AD to 1728 AD) used the Anno Mundi (AM, Year of the world) dating. The creation of the world is dated to 5509 BC and the year 7000 AM coincided with the year 1492 AD. The tradition of the Nativity being dated from between 5197 and 5199 AM and the Crucifixion dated from between 5228 and 5231 AM reflects the influence of the western or Roman Anno Domini calendar. Therefore, the Orthodox church has no independent tradition regarding either the year of birth or year of death of Jesus Christ.
Part the Second
Who is saved and who is damned?
The Greek church is in rare agreement with the Roman church regarding the ultimate fate of individuals: It is left to the Mercy of God or, for the more cynically minded, we don't know. However, certain modern groups of Christians propose that individuals can know that they are saved. This knowledge comes from certain New Testament passages that escaped the notice of the Western and Eastern Churches for over 1,500 years. It would seem that the hundreds of Church Fathers and commentators on Scripture were less astute than one German monk. Once again, the Orthodox church knows nothing regarding what we consider today an important aspect of Christianity, that is, guaranteed salvation of the faithful and guaranteed damnation of the heterodox.
Part the Third
Which books constitute the Old and New Testaments of the Bible?
Fortunately, the Greek church does acknowledge which books are in both testaments. In the Jerusalem Synod of 1672, the Eastern church clearly declares which books of the Bible are part of Orthodox tradition. The Greek church reaffirms the books used by the Western church and these books, not surprisingly, include the Apocrypha. Unfortunately, the synod is not an ecumenical council and, therefore, their decrees are not dogmatic. We sympathize with the Orthodox church's awkward position: The Bible has authority, but the tradition of the Bible dates from only the 17th century.
Part the Fourth
Do individuals have an immortal soul?
Once again, we are again confronted with the ignorance of the Orthodox church, as she has no knowledge or tradition of an immortal soul. This is all the more surprising since Plato (c 427 BC-c 347 BC) clearly teaches the idea or concept of an immortal soul a thousand years before the first ecumenical council of Nicaea. The Roman Catholic dogma of an immortal soul dates from the fifth Lateran council which was held from 1512 through 1517. It is surprising to this researcher that the majority of modern Protestants have accepted the Roman dogma of the immortal soul without question.
Conclusion
It only now that I can understand Master's (somewhat) obsession with the Greek Church. This association of 14 equal churches claims to the original and one true Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church, but when we inquire into the basics of Christianity, we are confronted with unsatisfactory answers. These inadequate responses fall into one of two categories: 1. "We don't know" are the answers regarding specifics of Christ's life, who is saved and the nature of the soul or 2. "It is tradition" regarding specifics of Christ's life and inquiries concerning the Bible.
The possibility that modern Christians know, without any doubt, more about Christianity than the long established Greek church knows about Christianity introduces doubt in this apprentice's mind concerning the validity of the modern Christian's grasp of Christian theology. We are not accusing the Eastern churches of prevarication, since they hold no dogmatic positions concerning our four inquiries and, therefore, "We don't know" and "It is tradition" are honest, if not discouraging, answers.
We leave the Gentle Reader with an appropriate quote for the ignorant Orthodox Church:
Desirous of learning from a Master, Austin, through his own free will, has agreed to apprentice with yours truly. Apprentice Austin's initial research will clarify what the Orthodox Church knows concerning various aspects regarding Christianity and Jesus Christ.
Part the First
What year was Jesus born and what year was the Crucifixion?
Unfortunately, the Greek church did not use the calendar created by Dionysus Exiguus (Denny to his friends) in the sixth century, reintroduced in the 16th century and is now in universal use. The Eastern Church has historically (from 691 AD to 1728 AD) used the Anno Mundi (AM, Year of the world) dating. The creation of the world is dated to 5509 BC and the year 7000 AM coincided with the year 1492 AD. The tradition of the Nativity being dated from between 5197 and 5199 AM and the Crucifixion dated from between 5228 and 5231 AM reflects the influence of the western or Roman Anno Domini calendar. Therefore, the Orthodox church has no independent tradition regarding either the year of birth or year of death of Jesus Christ.
Part the Second
Who is saved and who is damned?
The Greek church is in rare agreement with the Roman church regarding the ultimate fate of individuals: It is left to the Mercy of God or, for the more cynically minded, we don't know. However, certain modern groups of Christians propose that individuals can know that they are saved. This knowledge comes from certain New Testament passages that escaped the notice of the Western and Eastern Churches for over 1,500 years. It would seem that the hundreds of Church Fathers and commentators on Scripture were less astute than one German monk. Once again, the Orthodox church knows nothing regarding what we consider today an important aspect of Christianity, that is, guaranteed salvation of the faithful and guaranteed damnation of the heterodox.
Part the Third
Which books constitute the Old and New Testaments of the Bible?
Fortunately, the Greek church does acknowledge which books are in both testaments. In the Jerusalem Synod of 1672, the Eastern church clearly declares which books of the Bible are part of Orthodox tradition. The Greek church reaffirms the books used by the Western church and these books, not surprisingly, include the Apocrypha. Unfortunately, the synod is not an ecumenical council and, therefore, their decrees are not dogmatic. We sympathize with the Orthodox church's awkward position: The Bible has authority, but the tradition of the Bible dates from only the 17th century.
Part the Fourth
Do individuals have an immortal soul?
Once again, we are again confronted with the ignorance of the Orthodox church, as she has no knowledge or tradition of an immortal soul. This is all the more surprising since Plato (c 427 BC-c 347 BC) clearly teaches the idea or concept of an immortal soul a thousand years before the first ecumenical council of Nicaea. The Roman Catholic dogma of an immortal soul dates from the fifth Lateran council which was held from 1512 through 1517. It is surprising to this researcher that the majority of modern Protestants have accepted the Roman dogma of the immortal soul without question.
Conclusion
It only now that I can understand Master's (somewhat) obsession with the Greek Church. This association of 14 equal churches claims to the original and one true Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church, but when we inquire into the basics of Christianity, we are confronted with unsatisfactory answers. These inadequate responses fall into one of two categories: 1. "We don't know" are the answers regarding specifics of Christ's life, who is saved and the nature of the soul or 2. "It is tradition" regarding specifics of Christ's life and inquiries concerning the Bible.
The possibility that modern Christians know, without any doubt, more about Christianity than the long established Greek church knows about Christianity introduces doubt in this apprentice's mind concerning the validity of the modern Christian's grasp of Christian theology. We are not accusing the Eastern churches of prevarication, since they hold no dogmatic positions concerning our four inquiries and, therefore, "We don't know" and "It is tradition" are honest, if not discouraging, answers.
We leave the Gentle Reader with an appropriate quote for the ignorant Orthodox Church:
"I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did.
I said I didn't know."
Mark Twain
I said I didn't know."
Mark Twain