this particular view is professed only by the Catholics themselves. Orthodox and Miaphysite Christians see the Roman Church as having split from the original Christian community, viewing themselves as the unbroken continuation.
most Protestants, meanwhile, though accepting the Western dictum of seeing the Eastern churches as schismatics, usually believe that the Latin Patriarchate has been corrupted over time or, in the case of some more radical groups, is the product of usurpation altogether.
However, my overall point still stands. The Orthodox and Miaphysite Churches, while viewing themselves as non-schismatic, still don’t make the fundamental error of viewing the Bible as the end-all, be-all document on what it means to follow a Christian tradition, that American Protestants do. They at least understand that a document, even one as important and foundational as the Bible, that comes out of a human institution, one that could produce a schism such as the Catholic Church, is probably not the sole end product which only then requires interpretation to receive divine knowledge.
It’s all good, I should have expected someone would bring that up, I just rarely deal with believers in the Orthodox Church and never the Miaphysite Church, here in the U.S., even though I used to regularly attend Orthodox mass for about a year (had a buddy who grew up in the Church and didn’t have a car).
this particular view is professed only by the Catholics themselves. Orthodox and Miaphysite Christians see the Roman Church as having split from the original Christian community, viewing themselves as the unbroken continuation.
most Protestants, meanwhile, though accepting the Western dictum of seeing the Eastern churches as schismatics, usually believe that the Latin Patriarchate has been corrupted over time or, in the case of some more radical groups, is the product of usurpation altogether.
This is very true.
However, my overall point still stands. The Orthodox and Miaphysite Churches, while viewing themselves as non-schismatic, still don’t make the fundamental error of viewing the Bible as the end-all, be-all document on what it means to follow a Christian tradition, that American Protestants do. They at least understand that a document, even one as important and foundational as the Bible, that comes out of a human institution, one that could produce a schism such as the Catholic Church, is probably not the sole end product which only then requires interpretation to receive divine knowledge.
true, true. i agree with you, just couldn’t stop myself from bringing up that particular quibble, sorry.
It’s all good, I should have expected someone would bring that up, I just rarely deal with believers in the Orthodox Church and never the Miaphysite Church, here in the U.S., even though I used to regularly attend Orthodox mass for about a year (had a buddy who grew up in the Church and didn’t have a car).