God is one, God is love - these statements are familiar to us from childhood. Why, then, is the Church of God divided into Catholic and Orthodox? And within each direction there are many more denominations? All questions have their own historical and religious answers. We will get acquainted with some now.
History of catholicism
It is clear that a Catholic is a person who professes Christianity in his branch, called Catholicism. The name goes back to Latin and ancient Roman roots and is translated as “corresponding to everything”, “consonant to everything”, “conciliar”. That is universal. The meaning of the name emphasizes that the Catholic is a believer belonging to that religious movement, the founder of which was Jesus Christ himself. When it originated and spread across the Earth, its followers considered each other as spiritual brothers and sisters. Then there was one contrast: the Christian is a non-Christian (pagan, faithful, etc.).
The homeland of denominations is considered the western part of the Ancient Roman Empire. It was there that the words themselves appeared: Catholicism, Catholic. This trend was formed throughout the first millennium. In this period, the symbols of faith and spiritual texts, chants and services were one for all who worship Christ and the Trinity. And only around 1054 was the Eastern year, with a center in Constantinople, and the Catholic proper, the Western, with Rome as its center. Since then, it has become believed that the Catholic is not just a Christian, but an adherent of precisely the western religious tradition.
Reasons for the split
How to explain the reasons for the discord that has become so deep and irreconcilable? After all, what is interesting: for a long time after the split, both Churches continued to call themselves catholic (the same as “Catholic”), that is, universal, universal. The Greek-Byzantine branch, as a spiritual platform, is based on the "Revelations" of John the Theologian, and the Roman branch - "On the Epistle to the Hebrews." The former is characterized by asceticism, moral quest, "life of the soul." For the second - the formation of iron discipline, strict hierarchy, the concentration of power in the hands of priests of higher ranks. Differences in the interpretation of many dogmas, rites, church government and other important areas of church life have become the watershed that divorced Catholicism and Orthodoxy on different sides. Thus, if before the split the meaning of the word Catholic was equal to the concept of “Christian,” then after it it began to indicate the western direction of religion.
Catholicism and Reformation
Over time, the Catholic clergy so departed from those norms that the Bible affirmed and preached, that this served as the basis for the organization within the Church of such a direction as Protestantism. The spiritual and ideological basis of it was the teaching of Martin Luther and his supporters. The Reformation gave rise to Calvinism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism and other Protestant denominations. Thus, Lutherans are Catholics, or, in other words, evangelical Christians who were opposed to the church actively intervening in worldly affairs, so that papal prelates go hand in hand with secular authority. Trade in indulgences, the advantages of the Roman Church over the East, the abolition of monasticism - this is not a complete list of those phenomena that were actively criticized by the followers of the Great Reformer. In their faith, Lutherans rely on the Holy Trinity, especially worshiping Jesus, recognizing his divine-human nature. Their main criterion of faith is the Bible. A distinctive feature of Lutheranism, like other Protestant movements, is a critical approach to various theological books and authorities.
To the question of the unity of the Church
However, in the light of the materials under consideration, it is still not completely clear: are Catholics Orthodox or not? This question is asked by many who are not too deeply versed in theology and all sorts of religious subtleties. Answering it is both simple and difficult at the same time. As already mentioned above, initially - yes. While the Church was One Christian, everyone who entered it prayed the same way, and they worshiped God according to one regulation, and shared the rituals. But even after the separation, each - both Catholic and Orthodox - consider themselves the main successors of the heritage of Christ.
Inter-church relations
At the same time, they respect each other with sufficient respect. Thus, Decree II of the Vatican Council notes that those who accept Christ as their God, believe in him and are baptized, are considered Catholics as brothers in faith. Orthodox Churches also have their own documents, which also confirm that Catholicism is a phenomenon whose nature is related to the nature of Orthodoxy. And the differences in dogmatic postulates are not so fundamental that both Churches are at enmity with each other. On the contrary, relations between them should be built in such a way as to serve the common cause together.