One Church

Once in a while, a Protestant friend and I have e-mail discussions discussing our faiths. A little more than a year ago, I was speaking to her about my quest for the true faith and how I found it in Orthodoxy. In response to her claim that it was with Peter & Paul that Christianity broke off into branches, I sent her an e-mail that I cobbled together with the assistance of our Orthodox Study Bible. Basically, I disagreed with her argument and attempted to demonstrate to her the basis of Eastern Orthodoxy. Here's a snippet of her message to me:

You said you wanted to find the true/correct faith. You have in Christ Jesus. As far as the Apostolic churches. In the book of Acts, even in Paul's day they had drama cuz i think Peter the other disciple was ministering. Then some people said, "Oh we follow after Paul and the other group said we follow Peter." And the disciples are basically like: why are you saying who follows who when we all follow Christ? I think this was the start of branding the different branches of Christianity.

My response:

The Orthodox Church makes a lot of references to the Church fathers (which include some women), to our teachers of the past who contributed immensely in developing, elaborating, and disseminating the faith. Why do we place so much emphasis on Patristics, the study of early Christian writers? Because that is what the Scriptures tell us to do: “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you” (Deuteronomy 32:7).

When there was a disagreement, even among the Apostles, this is also what they did:

“Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question… And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them”(Acts 15:2, 4).

The Orthodox Church is a church of Tradition. Notice the word “Tradition” is capitalized. That is because the Church makes the distinction between “traditions” simple local customs and simple rituals and the “Tradition” that stems from both the Scriptures as well as the practice of the early Christians. “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle” (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Jesus Christ taught the faith to the Apostles, who taught it to their disciples, and so on throughout the generations. Just as previous generations passed the Bible on to us, so have they given us the Holy Tradition. Further, in Galatians 1:6-9:

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

This passage emphasizes the command to follow Tradition and warns against following those who would distort the Word of God. It is also said in spreading the Good Word, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). These verses reinforce the idea of Tradition and faith, of the need to transmit it from one to another – not independently and by one’s self.

The Bible mentions a dispute between Peter and Paul. However, the disagreement did not rise to the level of a “schism” – there was no split at this point in the Church. Peter and Paul were of the same faith and were members of the same Orthodox Church. Their differences as highlighted in the Bible simply prove that human beings are imperfect and none can claim infallibility. And when we have disagreements, it is permitted to address one another to resolve these differences. Paul simply chastised Peter: “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed” (Galatians 2:11).

And there continues to exist today one true Church. Amen!