09-01-2014, 08:43 AM
Greetings in the name of Our Lord,
I am a member of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil and a student of Theology. Due to all the persecution that has sadly been going on in the Middle East, I began to research on some of the churches that were being persecuted. I knew about the existence of the Churches of the East but I didn't know much about them beyond the fact that they had broken with the West in the 5th century. I have to say that, as I recently began to research more, I am very much surprised at how deep and rich the history of the Church of the East is. It was largely unknown to me that Christianity had developed and thrived out of the Roman Empire from such an early age. Although I knew about the existence of Christianity in the East, I guess I have always implicitly assumed that all of the significant development and growth was always happening in the West, in the context of the Roman Empire. Now, I see that this was definitely not the case and that a parallel development was going on in the East, in the Persian Empire which was as rich and significant.
As I was researching, I messaged the "Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East" page on Facebook to ask questions and they referred me to this Forum. I have begun to look around and read some of the threads. I have seen a post by Paul Younan referring to another Forum, <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.assyrianchurch.com/forum/">http://www.assyrianchurch.com/forum/</a><!-- m -->, but it seems to be no longer active, so I'm going to post some of my questions here (since I have seen that others have been doing so). I hope Paul and others can help me out here and I apologize if some of these questions show a lack of basic understanding. <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->
1) Are the Churches of the East divided into different denominations like the Protestants? Or does it have a unified hierarchical structure? I kind of got the impression that there were different denominations from what I saw on Wikipedia.
2) As a Presbyterian, I hold to the Apostolic, the Nicene, the Athanasian and the Chalcedonian Creeds. As far as I understand it, the Church of the East only subscribes to the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds. Or do they subscribe to the Athanasian Creed as well? Regarding the Chalcedonian Creed, although the Church of the East does not officially subscribe to it, would it be accurate to say that you guys accept the substance of what the Creed states without using the same terminology? In terms of the Creed itself, without considering the history behind it, could a member of the Church of the East agree with it completely?
3) What does the Church of the East believe regarding the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper? I would assume that our Western terminology would not be used (such as transubstantiation or consubstantiation or spiritual presence), but would the Church of the East hold to a view similar to one of these? Does the Church of the East believe that Christ is physically present in the Lord's Supper or only spiritually? Does the bread and the wine remain physically bread and wine or is there some kind of transformation like in Roman Catholicism?
4) How does the Church of the East view the Ten Commandments of the Law? As a Presbyterian, I believe that the ceremonial laws given by Moses were shadows of the person and work of Christ and, therefore, that they have been fulfilled by Him in is coming. On the other hand, we see the moral laws as forever binding because they reflect the character and holiness of God. We see the Ten Commandments as a as a summary of all this moral law and, therefore, as foundation for all Christian ethics, although we believe only Christ has obeyed them perfectly.
5) What is the place of Scripture in the Church of the East? Does it believe all dogmas of the Church can be derived from Scripture (either explicitly or implicitly) or does it hold that there are some dogmas that is not in any way contained in Scripture but must nevertheless be held to?
6) I have read that the Church of the East does not hold to the doctrine of original sin. I have to say that this was to me the most surprising aspect of what I have seen so far from the theology of the Church of the East. Or do you use another terminology and don't refer to it as original sin? If not, how does the Church of the East account for what the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans states, that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23)?
7) As a Presbyterian, we hold that praying to departed saints is a sin against the first commandment of the Decalogue because we believe prayer is only supposed to be directed to God, and that making images of God or worshiping saints through images of God are sins against the second commandment. Does the Church of the East have similar views regarding prayer to dead saints or worship of God or saints through images? How does it differ from the Roman Catholic view?
8 ) Do you know what is the relationship between the Church of the East and Protestant Churches are in the Middle East in the misdt of the conflicts?
I hope I haven't made this too long! <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->
I am a member of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil and a student of Theology. Due to all the persecution that has sadly been going on in the Middle East, I began to research on some of the churches that were being persecuted. I knew about the existence of the Churches of the East but I didn't know much about them beyond the fact that they had broken with the West in the 5th century. I have to say that, as I recently began to research more, I am very much surprised at how deep and rich the history of the Church of the East is. It was largely unknown to me that Christianity had developed and thrived out of the Roman Empire from such an early age. Although I knew about the existence of Christianity in the East, I guess I have always implicitly assumed that all of the significant development and growth was always happening in the West, in the context of the Roman Empire. Now, I see that this was definitely not the case and that a parallel development was going on in the East, in the Persian Empire which was as rich and significant.
As I was researching, I messaged the "Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East" page on Facebook to ask questions and they referred me to this Forum. I have begun to look around and read some of the threads. I have seen a post by Paul Younan referring to another Forum, <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.assyrianchurch.com/forum/">http://www.assyrianchurch.com/forum/</a><!-- m -->, but it seems to be no longer active, so I'm going to post some of my questions here (since I have seen that others have been doing so). I hope Paul and others can help me out here and I apologize if some of these questions show a lack of basic understanding. <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->
1) Are the Churches of the East divided into different denominations like the Protestants? Or does it have a unified hierarchical structure? I kind of got the impression that there were different denominations from what I saw on Wikipedia.
2) As a Presbyterian, I hold to the Apostolic, the Nicene, the Athanasian and the Chalcedonian Creeds. As far as I understand it, the Church of the East only subscribes to the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds. Or do they subscribe to the Athanasian Creed as well? Regarding the Chalcedonian Creed, although the Church of the East does not officially subscribe to it, would it be accurate to say that you guys accept the substance of what the Creed states without using the same terminology? In terms of the Creed itself, without considering the history behind it, could a member of the Church of the East agree with it completely?
3) What does the Church of the East believe regarding the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper? I would assume that our Western terminology would not be used (such as transubstantiation or consubstantiation or spiritual presence), but would the Church of the East hold to a view similar to one of these? Does the Church of the East believe that Christ is physically present in the Lord's Supper or only spiritually? Does the bread and the wine remain physically bread and wine or is there some kind of transformation like in Roman Catholicism?
4) How does the Church of the East view the Ten Commandments of the Law? As a Presbyterian, I believe that the ceremonial laws given by Moses were shadows of the person and work of Christ and, therefore, that they have been fulfilled by Him in is coming. On the other hand, we see the moral laws as forever binding because they reflect the character and holiness of God. We see the Ten Commandments as a as a summary of all this moral law and, therefore, as foundation for all Christian ethics, although we believe only Christ has obeyed them perfectly.
5) What is the place of Scripture in the Church of the East? Does it believe all dogmas of the Church can be derived from Scripture (either explicitly or implicitly) or does it hold that there are some dogmas that is not in any way contained in Scripture but must nevertheless be held to?
6) I have read that the Church of the East does not hold to the doctrine of original sin. I have to say that this was to me the most surprising aspect of what I have seen so far from the theology of the Church of the East. Or do you use another terminology and don't refer to it as original sin? If not, how does the Church of the East account for what the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans states, that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23)?
7) As a Presbyterian, we hold that praying to departed saints is a sin against the first commandment of the Decalogue because we believe prayer is only supposed to be directed to God, and that making images of God or worshiping saints through images of God are sins against the second commandment. Does the Church of the East have similar views regarding prayer to dead saints or worship of God or saints through images? How does it differ from the Roman Catholic view?
8 ) Do you know what is the relationship between the Church of the East and Protestant Churches are in the Middle East in the misdt of the conflicts?
I hope I haven't made this too long! <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->