A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy
ings on purgatory; the immaculate conception and
the bodily ascension of the Theotokos [“mother of
God”]; all these are rejected by the Orthodox. In addition
there are other doctrinal, ecclesiastical, and
administrative differences. The Greek Church recognizes
only a primacy of honor to the Bishop of Rome,
to the Bishop of Constantinople and then to other
church leaders for historical reasons. . . . In the matter
of the ecumenical dialogue the Orthodox Church
would have no hesitation to accept the bishop of
Rome as the primus inter pares, the first among
equals. But she would yield no other ground on this
important subject.
Eastern Orthodoxy is not monolithic but consists of
autocephalous (self-governing) national churches that
have mutual fellowship under the patriarch of
Constantinople. It is the dominant religion of Greece,
Romania, Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro). It is strong in other Slavic
countries, and it has ancient churches in the Middle East.
In the West, its adherents are primarily people whose ethnic
origins are in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
In addition, several ancient churches are generally
classified with Eastern Orthodoxy even though they operate
independently. On one side are the Monophysites,
notably the Coptic Church in Egypt, the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church (also called Coptic), and the Armenian
Apostolic Church. They reject the Council of Chaldecon
(451), believing that Christ has only one nature (primarily
divine) instead of two complete natures (human and
divine) in one person. On the other side are the
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