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Alex_H
Guest
Does Eastern Orthodoxy have a history of killing those who disagree with mainstream Christian thought?
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EasterJoy
Guest
Do you mean attacks against (baptized) heretics or do you mean like the Russian pogroms?
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Alex_H
Guest
Violence against heretics.
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JurisPrudens
Guest
Well,it depends on what you mean by Inquisition.
Of course, there was A LOT of violence against heretics in The East. And they were burnt. As early as the 14th century “strigolniki” were executrd in Novgorod. The heretics were to be punished by death through burning in Russian legislation of 16-17th centuries. In late 17th century, e.g., the leaders of Old Believers, like Abbakum, were burnt.
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Alex_H
Guest
Wow, I had never heard of them before. After doing some quick research, I have found a few books mentioning them – mostly that they were formed in reaction to clerical abuses like simony. Here is a 16th century picture of them being executed:
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Casilda
Guest
Old Believers
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Genesis315
Guest
In addition to what others have mentioned, there are things like the Massacre of the Latins:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Latins
I’ll add that the Justinian Code, which lasted longer in the East than the West, prescribed death for heretics. That’s basically where this practice originates for both sides.
I don’t say this to bash our separated brethren, but simply to show we are all tainted by original sin and we all have our historical problems. I don’t think these events can be used to prove one side is better than the other or whatnot.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Latins
I’ll add that the Justinian Code, which lasted longer in the East than the West, prescribed death for heretics. That’s basically where this practice originates for both sides.
I don’t say this to bash our separated brethren, but simply to show we are all tainted by original sin and we all have our historical problems. I don’t think these events can be used to prove one side is better than the other or whatnot.
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Alex_H
Guest
I myself am struggling between choosing Orthodoxy or Catholicism. Jesus says “by their fruits you will know them” (referring to false prophets) and so I was wondering if maybe there was a church that wasn’t as bloody. I know Catholics persecuted protestants…and protestants, when in power, attacked Catholics. I had never heard of Orthodox attacking anyone.
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SyroMalankara
Guest
Well, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Churches, and Eastern Catholics of the Oriental Tradition don’t have a history of attacking others (at least, not since the 2nd to 4th Centuries) - we do have a history of attacking within our own Churches for perceived (often times, minor) differences.
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JurisPrudens
Guest
There were stages in societal development when the societies could not exist without ideological uniformity. I think, this is still the case to some extent.
As concerns the “fruits”, as far as I can see, the fruits of the schism were largely divisions and struggles between the East and the West, as well as further schisms in the East, where minor ritual controversies might become a ground for something barely short of Civil war. It’s the same in modern Orthodoxy, with the churches tending to split along ethnic lines.
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phil19034
Guest
When reading these things, it’s important to understand the context and to view them with a medieval brain, not a modern brain.
I recommend the following CD resources:
The Real Story of the Inquistion by Steve Weidenkopf (CD) - shop.catholic.com/catholic-cds/the-real-story-of-the-inquisition-set.html
Fire & Sword: Crusades, Inquisition, Reformation by Matthew Arnold (CD set) - lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/fire-sword-crusades-inquisition-reformation?promoCode=104130
At lecture from Dr. Thomas Madden called The Modern Scholar: Heaven or Heresy: A History of the Inquisition which can be received free for trying Amazon’s Audible service (their free trial - or if you are an Audible member) - amzn.to/1JrXtTN
God Bless!
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boomerang
Guest
If you are looking for a church that isn’t full of sinners, you’re not going to find one. Even the so-called “peaceful” Buddhists go on rampages periodically. If you are just going to judge on good fruits only, you can’t beat the Catholic Church. It’s the only church that has truly evangelized the whole world, besides being the biggest source of charity, the largest educator, and the biggest health care provider.
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GKC
Guest
For the Inquisition(s), as always, I recommend Peters’ INQUISITION and Kamen’s THE SPANISH INQUISITION, for that one in particular. Books, require reading.
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Vaseljen
Guest
Heretics in Russia were persecuted by secular authority, the Orthodox Church never took part in secular courts that actually condemned them.
The only punishment Orthodox Church always and only used is excommunication from the Church - Holy Communion. The Church’s clergy did not take part in any inquisition nor the Church had inquisition. Actually the Patriarchs in Orthodox countries often called on secular authority to end death sentence practice, because only God has right to take away life.
During world war 2, in Yugoslavia, Roman-Catholic friars were in charge of biggest death camp, Jasenovac, where 700 000 People were slaughtered, mostly Orthodox, and some Jews. Many saved themselves by converting to Roman-Catholicism, so that is some sort of inquisition too. But that was mostly because of nationalism, Roman-Catholic Croats hate Serbian Orthodox, but there are no real differences between those two Slavic tribes, they speak same language, so Croats insisted on religion difference, that is the only difference they could find, so they abused it, to create hate.
The only punishment Orthodox Church always and only used is excommunication from the Church - Holy Communion. The Church’s clergy did not take part in any inquisition nor the Church had inquisition. Actually the Patriarchs in Orthodox countries often called on secular authority to end death sentence practice, because only God has right to take away life.
During world war 2, in Yugoslavia, Roman-Catholic friars were in charge of biggest death camp, Jasenovac, where 700 000 People were slaughtered, mostly Orthodox, and some Jews. Many saved themselves by converting to Roman-Catholicism, so that is some sort of inquisition too. But that was mostly because of nationalism, Roman-Catholic Croats hate Serbian Orthodox, but there are no real differences between those two Slavic tribes, they speak same language, so Croats insisted on religion difference, that is the only difference they could find, so they abused it, to create hate.
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