For centuries there had been differences in the Eastern and Western Christian religion. Both had very different views on the Holy Spirit, the use of images, how politics should become involved, dates for Easter, in fact it went on and on. No wonder they separated into Eastern and Western.
Today the Eastern Orthodox Christians are generally Greeks, Russians, Lebanese and Romanians.
Below is a brief history of the Eastern Orthodox Church, along with the beliefs and traditions of the people. I hope this gives some understanding to a very complicated and diverse part of life.
The History Of The Eastern Orthodox Church.
Because of the differences mentioned above, and the growing separation of the Roman Empire, the Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople. This caused a lot of friction, and when he died the empire was split between his sons; one of them ruled the Western side and the other the Eastern.
In 1054, the Pope fired Constantine, the leader of the Eastern church; and the people of Constantinople hated the Pope for this action. The Christian Church now became divided into East and West.
In 1965, the official firing of Constantine was removed by Pope Paul VI, and praise has been forth-coming form the Roman Catholics to the Eastern Orthodox churches ever since.
Traditions.
Wedding Crowns: The bride and groom are crowned either in a wreath of flowers or a real gold crown with red velvet jewels. To be given the crowns is a sign of victory. Both have grown in their faith and are now preparing for their marriage journey. The crowns represent sacrifice and devotion. The crowns are a symbol of self denial in the marriage and commitment to children and spouse.
Easter Sunday: On Easter Sunday, young people light a massive bonfire in a churchyard to burn Judas the man who betrayed Jesus.
Beliefs.
A: Holy Communion.
In the Catholic religion babies do not receive communion. It is thought best to leave this until a child is older so that they understand what is happening. In the Eastern Orthodox religion the first communion is given to babies, and they continue to partake in Holy Communion as they grow. The Protestant belief however does not include this practice.
B: Eastern Orthodox Christians pray to the Virgin Mary and ask her to pray for them and speak to God.
Christianity is complicated. Catholics will pray to the Virgin Mary, however they don’t use her as a ‘go between’ with God, they pray to her directly. Protestant Christians do not pray to Mary at all, they go directly to God. It is interesting to see the different levels of holiness placed upon Mary within the beliefs.
C: A person can not enter Heaven without having performed the seven sacraments on Earth.
Where as in the Protestant Christian belief a person can secure themselves a place in Heaven if they accept Jesus as their savior, in the Eastern Orthodox church there are seven sacraments to perform before securing a place. These are baptism, Holy Communion, Marriage, confession to a priest, holy orders, penance and healing. A person tries to live up to these sacraments. This is also true of the Catholic church.
D: Predestination.
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity God does not know how a person’s life will end or what their destination is. He does however know the path that is to be taken. In the West it is generally believed that God knows how things will end and thus puts us on the right path.
E: What happens after death?
It is believed that God meets with every person and decides the fate after death. The big change here from Western beliefs is that He can give temporary punishment if a person’s only sin was not performing good deeds.
Religion is very complicated. When there are so many different beliefs within one religion it is hard to understand it at all. Deep down we should find our true selves and believe in our true God, the one God who I believe exists and encompasses us all. If we really study the beliefs of others around the world, in general, I think we would notice that we are not so different.
Sources:
http://orthodoxinfo.com/
http://www.orthodox.net/articles/baptism.html