Please forgive me, I got a little sidetracked in my previous response.
You asked about Greek and Russian Orthodox Christians.
All Orthodox Christians, whether Greeks, Russians, Palestinians, Serbians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Armenians, Chinese, Africans, Turkish, Englishmen, Spanish, French, etc. adhere to the New Testament Gospel of Christ.
There are Chinese martyrs Orthodox Christians venerate (martyred during the Boxer Rebellion); we venerate St. Moses the Ethiopian (very black-skinned); we venerate St. Patrick the Enlightener of Ireland, and many more from all countries and ethnicities.
My patron Saint Cyprian was bishop of Carthage in the middle of the 3rd century which is in northern Africa. The Blessed Augustine was bishop of Hippo in the same region. St. Athanasius the Great is a highly venerated saint in the Orthodox Church from the 3rd century and he was patriarch of Alexandria, as was St. Cyril, which is of course in Africa. St. Catherine the Great is from this African region as well.
Holy Orthodoxy is the Church of the New Testament, and no other "Church" can lay claim to that.
All one must do is simply read the New Testament with a sincere and humble heart and he will quickly learn that what Protestants teach is contrary to the Holy Gospel.
He will quickly learn that what Papists preach is contrary to the Holy Gospel.
Of course he will also learn that what Mohammedans and Jews teach is contrary to the Holy Gospel of Christ as well.
One will never find anything in the Holy Orthodox Church that contradicts the Gospel of Christ. The Holy Orthodox Church is the Church that was prophesied by the holy prophets and founded by Christ along with His holy Apostles.
Now all Orthodox Christians agree on the dogmas of the Faith. To disagree or to bring in some innovating doctrine as the Papists and Protestants have done means to be cut-off from Holy Church.
For instance, the Papists arrogantly thought that they could change the holy Symbol of Faith that all Orthodox Christians must adhere to as it was set down by the holy fathers of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils of the Church.
This would be the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, or what many shorten and call the Nicene Creed.
All Christians must adhere to this confession. If one does not confess the following articles of faith, they simply are not a Christian.
I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages : Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father, through whom all things were made.
For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.
Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried.
On the third day He rose, according to the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Of His kingdom there shall be no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets.
In one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.
I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.
This Symbol of Faith is confessed by millions of Orthodox Christians every day in their prayers and every Sunday at Church worldwide.
It makes no difference if you are a Russian or a Greek or in what language you say it in, just as long as you adhere to the articles contained therein.
The first seven articles were set down unanimously by the 318 Holy Fathers that convened from around the world at the First Ecumenical Council called by the holy and blessed Emperor Constantine the Great in Nicea, 325 A.D.
Hence the term Nicene creed.
The remaining articles were added at the Second Holy Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381 A.D.
Nothing has been added or taken away since -- by the Orthodox mind you.
The heretical Roman Popes violated the pronouncements of the Holy Ecumenical Council by altering the Creed without the consent of a later Council.
Certain Latin Popes sought to UNILATERALLY add what is known as the "filioque" clause. That the Holy Spirt proceeds from the Father (AND THE SON).
This was a direct violation of the decisions of the entire Church, guided by the Holy Spirit and set down unanimously by the Holy Fathers of the Second Council.
It was decreed by the holy fathers that only another Ecumenical Council could make alterations to the Creed.
This was thoroughly accepted by the (Orthodox) Latin Popes for centuries until some of them decided to exalt themselves above Christ and His Church and try to subjugate the entire Church to their rule.
This is eventually what led to the Great Schism between the Roman Patriarchs and the Orthodox Church.
Rome used to be an honorable and Orthodox Patriarchate. There is nothing inherently evil or bad with the word "Pope". It simply means Papa or father.
There have been many Orthodox 'Popes' or Patriarchs of Rome.
St. Clement (1st century - contemporary of the Apostles)
St. Hippolytus, (first half 3rd century)
St. Stephen (mid-3rd century)
St. Celestine (first half 5th century)
St. Leo (mid 5th century A.D.)
St. Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome (590 - 604 A.D.)
and many more...
It was during the time of St. Photios the Great, recognized and honoured as one of the Three "Pillars of Orthodoxy" in the Orthodox Church, (and greatly hated by the Roman Papists) that Papism as we know it today really began to rear its ugly head.
St. Photios went to his repose in the kingdom of God near the end of the 9th century, and he struggled against the Latin heresiarch Pope Nicholas.
Now between the the 9th century and the middle of the 11th century, there were some Orthodox Popes who maintained the Orthodox Catholic faith, and some who did not.
The severing of the Roman Papacy from Holy Church was a process, not an overnight event. You have to look at individual cases.
By 1054 A.D. the Roman Patriarchate was condemned and excommunicated from Holy Church by a council in Constantinople.
So there are no Orthodox Popes after 1054 A.D. This is when the Roman pontiffs definitively departed from the Church of Christ and hence the grace of the Holy Spirit departed from them.
They have been schismatics and heretics ever since.
There have been some notable attempts to reconcile the Latin Papists to the Orthodox Church in the last 1000 years but to no avail, because all these attempts at union were merely for political expediency and were not based upon Papal repentance with a return to an Orthodox confession.
All Orthodox Christians MUST adhere to the judgments proclaimed unanimously by the Fathers of the Seven Holy and Great Ecumenical Councils and accepted by the local churches as a whole.
The first was in Nicea in 325 A.D.
The second was in Constantinople in 381 A.D.
The third was in Ephesus in 431 A.D.
The fourth was in Chalcedon in 451 A.D.
The fifth was in Constantinople in 553 A.D.
The sixth was in Constantinople in 680 A.D.
The seventh was in Nicea in 787 A.D. |
