One heart, two minds?

[Agabus]

Though I realize I am asking a broad question — just how much does Eastern Catholic theology differ from Latin Catholicism?

Do Eastern Catholics read the CCC and just nod along — yep, yep, yep, but we cross ourselves right to left — or do they differ on some points?

I ask because I am very interested in Orthodoxy, but I’m nowhere near an Orthodox parish. There are, however, plenty of Latin parishes, and — frankly — communion with Rome has a definite appeal to me.

Am I just wanting to have my cake and eat it too?

 

[JMJ_coder]

In the essence of the faith, we differ not one iota. In our expression of that same faith, quite a bit.

 

[Aramis]

Though I realize I am asking a broad question — just how much does Eastern Catholic theology differ from Latin Catholicism?

Do Eastern Catholics read the CCC and just nod along — yep, yep, yep, but we cross ourselves right to left — or do they differ on some points?

I ask because I am very interested in Orthodoxy, but I’m nowhere near an Orthodox parish. There are, however, plenty of Latin parishes, and — frankly — communion with Rome has a definite appeal to me.

Am I just wanting to have my cake and eat it too?

The theology differs quit significantly on a few points, and a little bit on a lot of points.

Most notable is the nature of purgatory. No sense of fire, no indulgences. State, clearly not place.

The nature of original sin is emphasized differently. In Roman theology, it’s the culpability, the condemnation to hell; in Eastern Theology, it is the emphasis on the introduction of natural death.

The Dogmas of the church are universal. The Theology differs a bit.

 

[Genesis315]

I know some Eastern Catholics (a Melkite and a Copt to be exact) who actually appreciate how the CCC often presents the Eastern explanations of many issues alongside the Latin ones. You’ll notice the Eastern liturgies cited in the footnotes as well as many Eastern Fathers (and of course the Councils that took place in the East). But, it probably is true that the breakdown of Latin and Eastern theology is weighted more to the Latins just as there are more Latins in the Church than Easterners.

 

[Alethiaphile]

The Dogmas of the church are universal. The Theology differs a bit.

I really don’t understand how dogmas can be separated from theology. It seems to me that a specific theology underlies any given dogma.

 

[Formosus]

Because the Dogmas are not tied to a specific theology. The dogma , of say the Dormition, is present in both western theology as the assumption and in the eastern theologies as Dormition. Or the Western understanding of Purgatory vs. the Eastern understanding of some sort of purification or sanctification after death related to Theosis.