How Some Apologists Cause Major Misunderstandings

Demetrios Constantelos, in his book Understanding the Greek Orthodox Church, writes:

There are several major differences between the Orthodox and the Roman [Catholic] Churches, including the following: The primacy and infallibility of the Roman pope; the Filioque clause, that is, the teaching concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Son; the teachings on purgatory, and on the immaculate conception and the bodily assumption of the Theotokos (Mary the Godbearer). All these are rejected by the Orthodox. (Constantelos 130, emphasis added)

Here we have a concise list of differences between the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches in a book presumably written for people unfamiliar with Eastern Orthodoxy. But does this list, with the firm and decisive statement at the end, accurately represent Eastern Orthodoxy to Western Christians who may be unfamiliar with that Church? I do not think so. It is especially misleading to Protestants, who reject some of these things in quite a different sense.

Do the Eastern Orthodox really reject purgatory? the immaculate conception of Mary? Evidence shows these are not rejected by the Eastern Orthodox in an absolute, Protestant-like sense. Only with regards to papal primacy do Eastern Orthodox and Protestants really come close.

Even the East/West controversy over the Filioque seems greatly exaggerated in Constantelos' book.

That leaves... oh yes, the bodily assumption of Mary, the Theotokos. How this is a difference between Eastern Orthodox and Catholics is quite beyond me. "Reject" is a strong word for a belief with explicit, longstanding Eastern support. Indeed, the same year Constantelos' book was published, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press [Eastern Orthodox] published a volume of early patristic homilies related to the topic! (At least three of the homilies printed in the SVS book - by Sts. Germanus of Constantinople, John of Damascus, and Modestus of Jerusalem - are cited in Pope Pius XII's encyclical on the assumption of Mary, Munificentissimus Deus.)

An apologist should try to make issues clearer, not more complicated. There are differences between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches which cannot be ignored, but these should not be exaggerated or presented in a way that is misleading. I consider many Catholics guilty of the same thing. For example, some Catholic apologists have gone so far in their defense of priestly celibacy that their conclusions contradicted the actual teachings of the Catholic Church. Catholic and Eastern Orthodox apologists need to stop this kind of exaggerating and misleading. Instead, we are supposed to "foster a true dialogue of charity and truth.... a dialogue that seeks understanding and unity" in a spirit of mutual forgiveness (Common Declaration of Patriarch Bartholomew I and Pope John Paul II).

Common Declaration of Patriarch Bartholomew I and Pope John Paul II
Joint Declaration by Patriarch Athenagoras I and Pope Paul VI to Constantinople and Rome

Works Cited

Constantelos, Demetrios J. Understanding the Greek Orthodox Church. Brookline, Massachusetts: Hellenic College Press. 1998.

Daley, Brian E., trans. On the Dormition of Mary: Early Patristic Homilies. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. 1998.