Dr Paul Allen

Until 1054, there was simply the Church. No Eastern Orthodox Church, no Roman Catholic Church, no Reformation, and no denominations. There were just two large branches of the same tree: the church in the West and the church in the East. But in 1054, the tension between the two came to a head in what is now known as the Great Schism—a split between the two that has yet to be mended. The result was two broad strands of Christianity: the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. One should see the Roman Catholic Church not so much as a church but an empire. That might help you understand their use of an army, disregard for the Bible, brutal and deadly power group. Here are nine facts about the Eastern Orthodox Church. 1. They split from the West for several reasons On a basic level (whole books are written on these matters), the divisions between the East and West boiled down to doctrine, culture, and authority. Though the schism is complex and any simple explanat...

“I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28). While in prison, John the Baptist experienced doubts about Jesus. Remember, this happened before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit , and John did not have the kinds of “spiritual reserves” that believers enjoyed after Pentecost . He sent his own followers to ask Jesus if He really was the promised Messiah . Jesus replied that they should tell John that “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor” (Luke 7:22). After John’s disciples had left, Jesus began to praise John as the greatest of the Old Testament prophets . He told the crowd that John was in fact “more than a prophet,” because he was the promised forerunner of the Messiah (Luke 7:26–27). Then Jesus stated, “among those born of women there is no one greater th...

Eastern Orthodoxy, the smallest of Christianity’s three major branches and perhaps the least-known by other Christians, has its geographic roots in the Middle East , where the faith began. As it spread, Orthodox Christianity developed regional variations, although most share similar beliefs and practices. Today, it remains dominant in Greece, Russia, and Romania (among other countries) and is the most common form of Christianity in Muslim-majority countries like Egypt and Turkey. Due to cultural and political differences, the Eastern Orthodox Church quickly developed differences with the Western form that became the Roman Catholic Church . It tended to be more contemplative; the Western church was more pragmatic. Although very much integrated into political life, especially during the Byzantine period, Eastern Christianity did not develop the Roman Church’s secular power. In fact, emperors tended to have influence over the running of the church, whereas the reverse was true in Ro...

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One of the most enduring elements of the Bible and the Judaeo-Christian worldview within Western culture is the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. Even if one can’t recite them all, most people have seen the fiery finger of God etch the commandments into two stone tablets as Moses—for many of us, Charlton Heston—watches in awe. It seems to go without saying that the list of the Ten Commandments is something that Judaism and Christianity have always agreed upon. Well, that is not exactly true. Historically speaking, Jews and Christians—and even denominations within Christianity—have disagreed on exactly how the Ten Commandments should be listed and expressed. In fact, how to precisely spell out the commandments was an issue of considerable importance during the Protestant Reformation . The difference concerns how many commands are to be found in the first six verses and last two...

In June 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples can marry in all 50 states, setting off a flurry of reaction by Christians and virtually everyone else on social media and beyond. Ed Stetzer wrote a helpful background post to the shift in opinion that led to the decision and included links to a number of other leading articles in his post . The social media reaction ranged from surprising to predictable to disappointing to occasionally refreshing. I write from the perspective of a pastor of an evangelical church in a country where same sex-marriage has been the law of the land for a decade. That does not mean I hold any uniquely deep wisdom, but it does mean we’ve had a decade to process and pray over the issue. I hope what I offer can help. It’s my perspective. My fingers tremble at the keyboard because my goal is to help in the midst of a dialogue that seems far more divisive than it is uniting or constructive. There will be many who disagree with me, I’m sure, bu...

Reviewed version of Eastern Orthodoxy in Europe (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The author, Daniel Clendenin, writes to introduce Western Christians to the mysterious world of Eastern Orthodoxy . He describes his approach as “not uncritical, but … nonpolemical.” Translation? He takes a rather friendly view of Eastern Orthodoxy, lumping it together with Protestantism and Roman Catholicism as “three siblings of the same family.” Given that foundational caution, however, the book can be a helpful introduction to Eastern Orthodoxy. The first two chapters list reasons why Western Christians ought to study the Eastern church and provide a brief sketch of Eastern church history. The next four chapters are the heart of the book, each one focusing on a main area of Eastern theology and tradition that Western Christians often find to be strange. The first is the apophatic approach to knowing God , which derides logic and rational analysis and exalts unknowable mystery. The second is icons, ...

English: Izbište-Eastern Orthodox Church Српски / Srpski: Православна Црква у Избишту (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The late Richard Weaver hated the title of his book Ideas Have Consequences . That is unfortunate, because the title is outstanding and carries a wealth of theology in three simple words. Ideas have very pointed consequences, and one of the best illustrations of this is the profound differences that have developed between the Western church and the Eastern church. Those differences are not merely “ doctrinal ,” but reveal two completely different mindsets, two different paradigms. Some years ago, some colleagues had occasion to criticize aspects of the Eastern Orthodox Church in print. Aside from all the expected disagreements and the back-and-forthing that goes on after such things, a remarkable thing became apparent in the exchanges we had—the Eastern Orthodox do not really know how to argue. By way of contrast, historic Protestants have deep and abiding differences...

Quadruple combination opened to the Book of Isaiah - note the cross references between Biblical and Latter-day Saint scripture in the footnotes (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Many profess a general belief in the  infallibility  of Scripture without belief in its  inerrancy . We canreject the sub-biblical understanding of the Bible for five reasons: 1. The  infallible but not inerrant  idea is historically unfounded and a recent invention. It is true that there are theologians who limit the scope of Biblical infallibility .  Theologians like I. Howard Marshall limit the scope of infallibility to the Bible’s  revelation of Christ.  Still, Evangelicals generally use the term in its  historic sense  of “unable to err.” Justin Taylor  rightly states, “The word  inerrant  means that something, usually a text, is ‘without error.’ The word  infallible —in its lexical meaning, though not necessarily in theologica...