Are the Orthodox Catholic?

[CopticChristian]

From-http://orthodoxwiki.org/One_Holy_Catholic_and_Apostolic_Church

Catholicity is sometimes confused with universality — the idea that the Christian faith is for all men. However, the word was originally used to denote the true Church among a growing horde of heretics who had removed elements from the faith which they disliked, refashioning Christian belief to their pleasure. Catholicity is a qualitative mark: the quality of the whole faith handed down from the apostles.​

Seeing that Rome calls itself the Catholic church,could it be that the Orthodox are not really Catholic(having the quality of the whole faith) because they dont accept or have removed from their faith teachings ,beliefs and dogmas of the “Catholic” Church of Rome?

You are incorrect in your premise. The idea of Catholicity stems from the fact that the Church, the mystery hidden for all ages was the means by which God would now reconcile the world to Himself. Paul makes that point in the letter to the Romans. The Old Covenant died, Romans 7. God is universal and impartial. God is God of the Jew and Gentile. The Body of Christ is the means by which not just Jews but Gentiles would be fellow hiers and children of God.

Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

25Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

Paul goes on to say that the gospel has been spread to all nations bearing fruit.

5For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; 6Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:

Ignatius of Antioch in his letter to the Smyrneans stated:

Wherever the bishop appears let the congregation be present;
just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.

The Church was Catholic prior to the Schsism of the Orthodox and was Catholic. Those Churches remain Catholic. The deposit of Faith remains in both.

You should rethink your question and clarify where you got your ideas.

 

[CopticChristian]

Honestly, this question is very provocative, and I wonder if there could be anything gained from discussing it. The Orthodox would say that we contain the fullness of the Christian faith within our Church; the Catholics would disagree and say that they possess the fullness of the Christian faith, while the Orthodox do not. Is there really any point to discussing it further? Things will only get unnecessarily nasty beyond stating the simple fact that the two parties are in disagreement, because any discussion will ultimately degrade into trying to prove that somebody’s Church is lacking in the fullness of the Christian faith.

If you view my posting, I ask you to revisit the question. The premise and statements are innacurate causing the discussion to be confused. The poster should reexamine and redifine terms. The question implies poor catechesis and understanding of Christian History and knowledge of Christianity.

 

[CopticChristian]

From-http://orthodoxwiki.org/One_Holy_Catholic_and_Apostolic_Church

Catholicity is sometimes confused with universality — the idea that the Christian faith is for all men. However, the word was originally used to denote the true Church among a growing horde of heretics who had removed elements from the faith which they disliked, refashioning Christian belief to their pleasure. Catholicity is a qualitative mark: the quality of the whole faith handed down from the apostles.​

Seeing that Rome calls itself the Catholic church,could it be that the Orthodox are not really Catholic(having the quality of the whole faith) because they dont accept or have removed from their faith teachings ,beliefs and dogmas of the “Catholic” Church of Rome?

Paul the Apostle. For clarification which Church do you attend and what Christianity do you espouse. What was your formation. Any and all of these questions would help understanding of your question.

 

[Paul_theApostle]

Paul the Apostle. For clarification which Church do you attend and what Christianity do you espouse. What was your formation. Any and all of these questions would help understanding of your question.

I was just asking if Catholics themselves see the Orthodox Churches as possessing the ‘Fullness’ or ‘Wholeness’ of the Faith,

which is what i read the word ‘Catholic’ means

I dont know,do the Orthodox reject some of the Roman Catholic Churches doctrines/beliefs etc?

And if so, does that mean they are lacking certain beliefs or rejecting certain truths which the Catholic Church sees necessary for one to possess the “wholeness” of faith?,and which is necessary for any Christian or Christian Church to actually be, or be called truly ‘Catholic’ ?

I read elsewhere lately that the Catholic Church believes both East and West believe the same things though,and its just expressed differently,

i know the Orthodox dont believe Catholic belief is truly 'orthodox" ,but i know Rome is confident that its own beliefs ARE ‘orthodox’

So would it be right to say that Rome believes that the Orthodox beliefs are truly ‘Orthodox’ and that they believe the same things as the Catholics,which we could, and would then say that the Orthodox Churches ARE truly “Catholic”?

If u want to know what Churches ive been to or where i go ,perhaps u could talk to me privately.sorry

God bless

 

[CopticChristian]

I was just asking if Catholics themselves see the Orthodox Churches as possessing the ‘Fullness’ or ‘Wholeness’ of the Faith,

which is what i read the word ‘Catholic’ means

I dont know,do the Orthodox reject some of the Roman Catholic Churches doctrines/beliefs etc?

And if so, does that mean they are lacking certain beliefs or rejecting certain truths which the Catholic Church sees necessary for one to possess the “wholeness” of faith?,and which is necessary for any Christian or Christian Church to actually be, or be called truly ‘Catholic’ ?

I read elsewhere lately that the Catholic Church believes both East and West believe the same things though,and its just expressed differently,

i know the Orthodox dont believe Catholic belief is truly 'orthodox" ,but i know Rome is confident that its own beliefs ARE ‘orthodox’

So would it be right to say that Rome believes that the Orthodox beliefs are truly ‘Orthodox’ and that they believe the same things as the Catholics,which we could and woud say then that the Orthodox Churches ARE truly “Catholic”?

If u want to know what Churches ive been to or where i go ,perhaps u could talk to me privately.sorry

God bless

The OHCAC and The Orthodox Church are spoken of as Sister Churches if you read the documents. If you read the Orthodox documents concerning the OHCAC you will find things like “the Latins” when referring to the OHCAC. They sometimes speak of what is written in Greek. Concerning controversy you sometimes see “in the Greek we see” “The latin does not conform to the greek” or "those that spoke on behalf of the latins did not speak “greek”. There is a difference in understanding based on language. You can understand that Greek was spoken in the world prior to Latin.

I like to think of the Orthodox this way. The Orthodox represent a snapshot in time of the deposit of faith when there was unity prior to the schism. The OHCAC has developed doctrine that may not be defined in the Orthodox but is not inconsistent with the Orthodox deposit of Faith.

For instance Purgatory, non existent in the Orhthodox however when you read what they say about death and the next life their beliefs do not contradict Purgatory. They refer to Purgatory as a Latin doctrine.

When you consider Mary in the Latin Church the definitions are not contrary to the Orhtodox. They are brief in their belief “Theotokos” is what you will find and is not contradictory to the Latin doctrines.

These Churches share the Eucharist and that is the unifying element. Christ is the Eucharist from which the deposit of Faith flows. Your lack of understanding led to what I believe were controversial questions and that is why I asked for clarification of the question and where you worship as an means of understanding how you might get to the question you posed.

You may find it interesting to search the Orthodox websites for what they believe and then search for Orthodox Purgatory and the like.

 

[CopticChristian]

I was just asking if Catholics themselves see the Orthodox Churches as possessing the ‘Fullness’ or ‘Wholeness’ of the Faith,

which is what i read the word ‘Catholic’ means

I dont know,do the Orthodox reject some of the Roman Catholic Churches doctrines/beliefs etc?

And if so, does that mean they are lacking certain beliefs or rejecting certain truths which the Catholic Church sees necessary for one to possess the “wholeness” of faith?,and which is necessary for any Christian or Christian Church to actually be, or be called truly ‘Catholic’ ?

I read elsewhere lately that the Catholic Church believes both East and West believe the same things though,and its just expressed differently,

i know the Orthodox dont believe Catholic belief is truly 'orthodox" ,but i know Rome is confident that its own beliefs ARE ‘orthodox’

So would it be right to say that Rome believes that the Orthodox beliefs are truly ‘Orthodox’ and that they believe the same things as the Catholics,which we could, and would then say that the Orthodox Churches ARE truly “Catholic”?

If u want to know what Churches ive been to or where i go ,perhaps u could talk to me privately.sorry

God bless

I was just asking if Catholics themselves see the Orthodox Churches as possessing the ‘Fullness’ or ‘Wholeness’ of the Faith,

Yes.