How do you view the Orthodox Church?

This is a very interesting video. I agree with a lot of what the man says, to include the dependence of mainstream Protestant doctrine on Roman Catholic doctrine.

What I found most interesting was his explanation of icons. He is right, and this does point out why iconoclastic ideology was such a sin (when imposed on churches). It erased truth because that truth was not expressed in a way that a group appreciated. I had never considered exactly why these images were used (both in the early church, the Orthodox church, and Judaism). I also did not know the differences between how the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church used images. Very good video.

 

In your opinion, and from a Reformation perspective, they got Pauline Justification right.

What is important, however, is not how they reformed doctrine in terms of Pauline Justification but how they understood Christ's justification. Here I see them as missing the mark. And they did not form a consensus. Luther did not exactly agree with Calvin on this issue (for example).

 

It depends on what we mean (or expect) by clear.

This is something I am just considering from watching the video. I did not realize many of the things the Greek Orthodox held in terms of communicating the gospel. There are very good points in the video.

For example, why is it that we believe the gospel is communicated most clearly through intellectualism? Is it because that most represents our worldview? Is explanation greater than example in communication? Is explanation greater than experience?

I do not have the answers, but these are some of the questions that need to be explored before declaring other worldviews inferior.

 

Sure it is. So is Reformed Theology (by definition, as there are competing NT theologies within Reformed Theology).

But that does not mean that the issue cannot be narrowed to worldviews.

 

I think it's safe to say that their theology, but not ecclesiology, is similar. As noted, the Orthodox do not believe that any bishop has universal jurisdiction over the entire church, as Roman Catholics do. Despite their differences, the Roman church considers Orthodox sacraments valid and recognizes the Orthodox have apostolic succession; the Orthodox, on the other hand, do not view Catholic sacraments as valid.

In a general sense, Orthodox theology is not as rationalistic as Western Christianity, either Roman Catholiciam nor most Protestant sects. You won't find the equivalent of an Aquinas, parsing sentences and slicing definitions, in Orthodoxy. Orthodox believe in transubstantiation, but by and large they simply accept that it is true and don't spend too much effort trying to define exactly how it or when it happens, which is something they don't consider important and that God hasn't told them.

The standard Bible of the Greek Orthodox is the LXX (for the Old Testament) and a Byzantine text (for the New Testament). The various ethnic Orthodox churches (Russian, etc.) have liturgies and Bibles in their own languages, which have their own translational histories. (There is no officially sanctioned translation in English, although several Bibles are used. The New King James New Testament is the text found on the American syn) The Orthodox churches have varying lists of deuterocanonical books, in general including more than the Roman church.

 

Worldviews affect theology. Always.