Moving from West to East? | Mike Horton on Office Hours
Jan.25, 2012 by
in
General
In recent decades a large number of evangelicals (and some Reformed folk) have left the evangelical faith for some version of Eastern Orthodoxy. Recently the CBS news program “60 Minutes” claimed that the Eastern Orthodox church is only unbroken tradition in Christianity. In the latest episode, Office Hours asks Mike to tackle these questions and more.
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January 25th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Wow, a patriarch of Constantinople who was a Calvinist! I had heard something about this, but it was confirmed in this show. I’m wondering, particularly in light of R. Scott Clark’s case for why some should and should not be considered a part of the Reformed tradition, should this patriarch and Eastern Orthodoxy be considered a part of Reformed tradition, at least during his life? I haven’t read Recovering the Reformed Confession, so maybe it’s answered there.
January 25th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
One more question. In their worship, do the Eastern Orthodox use instruments, and do they sing (or chant) only from the book of Psalms?
January 26th, 2012 at 12:13 am
The informal thinking is that the human voice is the only instrument created by God, and therefore, it is best to offer that instrument, and only that instrument back to God. Obviously the Jews used timbrel, strings, and flute in the Temple, but that’s how things developed over the centuries, and the musical tradition has been so effective in worship that there’s never been a push to change it.
In the Coptic (non-Chalcedonian)church, cymbals and/or a triangle are employed for many metrical hymns.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:13 pm
Well, most folks that have read the secret history of procopius don’t convert to eastern orthodoxy since Justinian is a saint in the Orthodox Church and one becomes aware of his shortcomings by reading the secret history. justinian and the other byzantine emperors may be a litle hastern not a perfection christian but I still admire justinian law against child prostution and passing the code and the hagia sophia. Also, a lot of eastern orthodox because of the crusades and the ottoman turks tend to be anti-western and anti-us and pro-greece and pro-russian-cultural difference. The religion of the byzantine empire is interesting but doesn’t make me want to become orthodox. While both Justinian and Theodora are saints in the eastern orthodox only Theodora is a saint in the oriential churches like the Jacobites since she helped him against her husband Justinian. Justinian exiled the monophysites because of the pope in the west, even if he was rough on the pope vigilius who didn’t agree with him to comdem the three chapters.
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:42 pm
Jacob Baradaeus founded the jacobite church of syria and india was helped by the epress Theodora..
February 4th, 2012 at 10:18 am
Really, Justinian had a large impact on Eastern Orthodoxy. Mary was venerate more in the east than the west in fact pope Agapetus mention that in Italy, Mary was not honored as much. Justinian and later Justin first stressed Mary being venerated. Justinian in spite of how some modern eastern orthodox views on Augustine according to classical scholar Brain Croke quoted Augustine in letters written to Pope Hormisdas from on Faith and the Trinity. A lot of modern Orthodox feel Augustine very wrong on sin and not a saint. Justinian did a lot of canon law that still influences both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic canon law. Justinian built the largest church in the world until Serville in Spain, and it was the imperial church until the Ottoman conquest in 1453. In fact many Orthodox actually want to make it a church again. Justinian is maybe responsible for the Hymn O Begotten Son in the Orthodox Communion Service. Justinian in his lifetime was view as a Saint or a Demon- Procopius, Evagrius Scholorlastus. One reason why Justinian did not become an official saint of the Eastern Orthodox until about 700, he died in 565. Granted, official saint in Eastern Orthodoxy different than Roman Catholicism. Usually a person is a saint if many people venerate them in EO or OO. Most Evangelical converts know little of Justinian with the exception of Father Justin who is the only non-Greek at St Catherines in Egypt. Father Justin is great on anicent and medieval history and converted to the Eastern Faith having already know what Byzantine emperors did to get political power.
February 4th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
I mean Justin the second.
February 4th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Justinian I mean quoted Augustine in his letters. Brian Croke is a classical scholor.