Catholic and Orthodox |
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The words, "Catholic" and "Orthodox" are often used to denote certain types of Church such as Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox. In reality, to use the words in this way is to use them too restrictively. Each of these words has its own distinct theological meaning and it is sad that the words have been "hijacked". It is especially sad because many people have been brought up to think in terms of Catholic versus Protestant. This is a false concept since all true Protestant and Orthodox Churches are Catholic and both Catholic and Protestant Churches can rightfully lay claim to the title "Orthodox". CatholicThe word "Catholic" means "General" or "Universal". It was originally applied to the Church to show that it was the true Church that Jesus founded and that it was true to the doctrines taught by the Apostles. This distinguished the true Church from the emerging heretical churches and sects. The Catholic faith came to be summed up in three major Creeds of which the earliest was the Apostles' Creed. All Churches which can subscribe to these three Creeds can be said to be Catholic.When, eventually, the Eastern and Western branches of the Church parted company in 1054, the western Church called itself Catholic and the Eastern part took the title "Orthodox". At the Reformation which again split the Western Church, those who continued to follow the traditions of the Roman Church became known as "Roman Catholic" while the others were termed "Protestant". The Church of England claims to be a fusion of Catholic and Protestant with those at the "Roman" end of the spectrum being known as "Anglo Catholic". OrthodoxOrthodox may be defined as "holding the correct, or true, set of beliefs". This means that for a Church to claim to be orthodox simply means that it holds the doctrines originally laid down by Jesus and taught by the Apostles and established by the Church authorities. It is, of course, the last of those clauses which can be the divisive factor for there is far more disagreement on how to interpret the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles than there are on what the teachings actually are. If, however, we appeal to the primitive doctrines of the Church which are to be found in the Bible and which are summed up in the Apostles' Creed, we can define Eastern, Roman and Protestant Churches as all holding orthodox belief. |