Orthodoxy and Christianity: What's the Difference?

Disagreements

Even at first glance, significant differences between Catholics and Orthodox can be observed in many things:

priests' clothing;

order of cults;

view of the church;

method of melting the Cross;

accompanying sound of liturgies.

Orthodox priests do not shave their beards.

What differentiates Orthodoxy from Christianity from other religions is the Eastern style of worship. The Orthodox Church has preserved the Eastern tradition of sensuality, there are no musical instruments in cults, it is customary to light candles and burn incense, and make the sign of the cross with your fingers from right to left and make a hand.

Orthodox Christians believe that their church has its origins in the crucifixion and Resurrection of the Savior. The Baptism of Rus' took place in 988, a Byzantine tradition that continues to this day.

A brief excursion into history

Christianity during the Edict of Milan by the Roman Emperor Constantine on religious tolerance (313) was relatively unified. No, of course, truth-seekers-heresiarchs have always existed, but at that time the number of their followers was insignificant. The first schism occurred at the third Ecumenical Council, held in the city of Ephesus in 431. Then some Christians did not accept the dogmas established at the council and decided to “go a different way.” This is how the Assyrian Church appeared, and 20 years later at the Council of Chalcedon there was a division again: those who disagreed later received the name “Ancient Eastern Churches”.

And finally, another 700 years later - the Great Schism, which took place in 1054. The Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople anathematize each other, and this date is considered the point of division between Eastern and Western Christianity. The Western one was called Catholicism, the Eastern one - Orthodoxy. The reasons for the Great Schism were political rather than religious: the Byzantine Empire considered itself the heir of Rome and claimed to be the unifier of all Christian lands, but Rome did not agree with this. Political disagreements gradually, from the time of the division of the united Roman Empire into Western and Eastern (395), accumulated, transforming into religious and dogmatic differences, until an official break occurred.

Later, the Catholic Church experienced the Reformation, which gave rise to a new direction in Christianity - Protestantism. The Orthodox Church has maintained relative unity. Today the following position exists: the Roman Catholic Church is a single organism governed from a common center - the Vatican. There are several Orthodox churches, the largest of which is the Russian one, and among most of them there is Eucharistic communion - mutual recognition and the possibility of celebrating joint liturgies. As for Protestants, this is the most variegated direction of Christianity, consisting of a large number of independent denominations of varying numbers and varying degrees of recognition by other Christian movements and each other.

Basic provisions of Orthodoxy

God the Son and Holy Spirit;

The Holy Spirit is God the Father;

Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God the Father;

The Son of God took on the form of a man;

the resurrection of truth, as the second coming of Christ;

the head of the church is Jesus Christ, not the patriarch;

baptism frees a person from his sins;

the believer will be saved and find eternal life.

An Orthodox Christian believes that after the death of his soul he will find eternal salvation. The entire life of believers is devoted to serving God and fulfilling the commandments. Trials are perceived without whining and even with joy, since despondency and muttering are considered a mortal sin

A Christian is a person who recognizes the death and resurrection of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and believes in the existence and life of eternal life. However, Christianity is not homogeneous in its structure and is divided into many different denominations. Orthodoxy and Catholicism are Christian leaders on the basis of which other confessions and movements were formed.

The word “Orthodoxy”, “Orthodox”, which is not found in any of the books of the Bible, neither in the Old Testament, nor in the New Testament. But this concept is found in the “Slavic-Aryan Vedas”:

“We are Orthodox because he rules us and glorifies us. We, of course, know that our gods rule the clear world, and praise rules the clear world, where our great and great Ancestors live. We are Slavs because we glorify our pure heart, the bright rooms of the Ancient Gods and our ancestors..."

It turns out that Orthodoxy has nothing to do with the Christian church, since it arose long before the advent of Christianity. This is a very ancient Slavic culture that arose millions of years ago.

In Russia, the Orthodox Church is a branch of the Old Believers; in Europe, many more different movements and attitudes have formed, under the general name of Protestants. The bloody massacre of heretics has been a thing of the past for centuries. In the modern world, peace and harmony reign among all Christian denominations, but differences in religious services and dogmas remain.

Orthodox Christianity is a Church that preserves intact the truth revealed to the apostles of Jesus Christ, dating back to the time of the Resurrection of the Savior, without changing the teaching of the faith of the apostles. The canonical point of view, Christianity and Orthodoxy are synonymous.

Orthodoxy is one of the currents of Christianity, along with Catholicism and Protestantism. It emerged as a result of the split of the Christian Church in 1054 in the east and west.

There are basic features of Christianity that are taken from each movement, such as: belief in One God, the doctrine of a divine man awaiting the Second Coming and resurrection from the dead, and so on.

However, each branch of Christianity has distinct and cultic practices

In fact, can we consider Orthodoxy and Christianity to be different things: one is part of the other. Simply put, Orthodoxy is Christianity, but not all Christians have Orthodoxy.

Orthodoxy is Christianity

If we return to the origins of Christianity, then it was the true, pure and true truth, brought to earth for the salvation of people to Christ the Savior; it is kept in all the purity and integrity of the true teaching of Christ about faith and piety (that is, life by faith),

And only over time, from the true faith, which is now called Orthodoxy, branches began to emerge: Catholicism, Protestantism and others

Some heresies and schisms that threatened to undermine from within and save for people the power of Christ in the area, imitating the truth of lies.

To expose and condemn these heresies, false teachings and schisms, the guardians of the Divine Truth, the successors of the Apostles, the Bishops began to come to Councils - local and Ecumenical, in order for the universal “bribes of the mind” to understand and enlighten once and for all the mandatory and unchangeable teaching of the Church for all Christians. So, here is the true Christian faith - the right faith, in contrast to heresies and sects, which is also “Christian” in itself, and was renamed “Orthodox”.

Orthodoxy, in contrast to Catholic and Protestant Christianity, is characterized by the magnificent decoration and clothing of priests, as well as the wearing of priests; the degree of worship varies;
Orthodox Christians place the cross from right to left, the papal assembly is the opposite;
Catholic Christians church services are accompanied by the sound of an organ, unlike Orthodoxy, where you can only listen to singing without music.

Orthodox ministers, unlike other religions in Christendom, are excellent. During an Orthodox service, candles are lit by the priest. He's not used to playing music. The members of the fingers were baptized, gathered into a thumb in twos, and currently in threes). Orthodox crosses are placed from right to left and placed on the belt.

Orthodox Christians believe that their church originates from the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Rus' became Christian in 988; baptism truly belongs to the spiritual tradition of Byzantium.

The Christian tradition preaches the eternal salvation of souls after the death of the body. Throughout their earthly life, believers must serve God and conduct their behavior in accordance with His commandments. Orthodox Christians did not mutter about trials or even joy for them. Despair is considered one of the deadly sins.

Christians are followers of the Christian religion, belonging to any conventional Christianity of Orthodoxy, Catholicism or Protestantism with its various SECT often sectarian nature. Orthodox Christians, a worldview consistent with the ethnic heritage of the tradition associated with the Orthodox Church.

Pseudo-Christian teachings

Since the 16th century, a large number of diverse sects have been formed among Protestants, which, of course, call themselves not sects, but Churches. Gradually, some of them move very far from traditional Christianity, considering, however, only themselves as bearers of divine truth. Interestingly, in Catholicism and Orthodoxy there are very few such sects in comparison with Protestantism. Some of the pseudo-Christian teachings have a fairly large number of adherents, such as Mormons - about 15 million people.

The largest and most famous pseudo-Christian religious organizations are:

Mormons (15 million);
Jehovah's Witnesses (8 million);
Moon Unification Church (7 million).

The remaining pseudo-Christian cults are much smaller in number and their distribution is either highly localized or limited to certain social groups. An example of the first is some local Protestant or Orthodox Old Believers sects, while a classic example of the second case is groups of followers of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (theosophists), consisting mainly of representatives of the intelligentsia. Of course, they all consider only themselves to be true Christians, denying this right to others, including Orthodox Christians.

To summarize, we can say that the difference between Orthodox and Christians is a phenomenon of approximately the same order as the difference between trees and plants, cows and herbivores, or the Volga region from Russia. Orthodoxy is part of modern Christianity. It lives, develops and prospers. And, in general, it has always been the spiritual core that saved our country in the most difficult years. And we must not forget about this.

Comparison of Christians and Orthodox

Orthodoxy has proven faith, with its dogmas, its values, its thousand-year history. According to Christianity, it is often given that there is, in fact, no such thing. For example, the White Brotherhood movement, active in Kyiv in the early 90s of the last century. For Orthodox Christians, their main thinking is fulfilling the commandments of the Gospel, their own salvation and the salvation of their spiritual neighbor from the enslavement of passions. The legacy of Christianity at its congresses announces salvation in a purely material sense - from poverty - disease, war, drugs, etc., which is external piety.

For the Orthodox, the spiritual meaning of human holiness. The proof of this is the saints, the Orthodox Church, the life of the Christian ideal. In Christianity, in general, the mind and feelings are higher than the spiritual. Orthodox Christians consider themselves to be God's companions in the work of their salvation. In Christianity, especially in Protestantism, a person is like a column that does not have to do anything, because for him he performed a saving work on Calvary of Christ.

The basis of the doctrine of the world faith of Christianity is the Holy Scripture - the Scripture of Divine Revelation. She teaches us how to live. Orthodox Christians, like Catholics, believe that Scripture is distinguished from a sacred tradition that explains a way of life and is also an undisputed authority. Protestant churches of the movement rejected this claim.

A summary of the fundamentals of the Christian faith is given in the Creed. For the Orthodox, this is a symbol of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan faith. Catholics have in the text a symbol of the concept of the son, according to which the Holy Spirit is from God the Father and God the Son. Protestants do not reject the Nicene Creed, but what they have accepted is considered the ancient Apostolic Creed.

Orthodox Christians especially honor the Mother of God. They believe that he had no personal sin, but he was not without original sin, like all people. After the Ascension of the Mother of God, he ascended to heaven. However, there is no dogma. Catholics believe that the Mother of God lacks original sin. One of the dogmas of the Catholic faith is the dogma of the bodily Assumption into heaven of the Virgin Mary. Protestants and numerous sectarians do not worship the Mother of God.

Orthodox Christianity is embodied in church dogmas. Not all movements that call themselves Christians are actually Christians. For Orthodox Christians, inner piety is the basis of a righteous life. For modern Christianity in its masses, external piety is much more important.

Orthodox Christians strive for spiritual holiness. Christianity in general, focusing on spirituality and sensuality. This is clearly seen in the example of Orthodox and other Christian preachers.

The Orthodox is an ally of God in his own salvation. Catholics also take the same position. Other representatives of the Christian world are convinced that salvation is not a moral achievement of man. Salvation was accomplished at Calvary. The basis of a person's faith is the Holy Scripture and sacred tradition, as for Catholics. Protestants rejected tradition. Many Christian sectarians of the movement also distort writing.

A summary of the fundamentals of the Orthodox faith is given in the Nicaea Creed. Catholics added the concept of filioque to the symbol. Most Protestants accept the ancient creed of the Apostles. Many others have no sense of faith. Only Orthodox and Catholics venerate the Mother of God. There are no other Christians of his cult.

Christian Catholicism differs from Orthodox Christianity in its approaches to the celebration of worship and worship. In the Roman Catholic Church tradition, the head of the church is the Pope, and not Jesus Christ, as in Orthodoxy.

Catholic differences from the Christian faith, from the Christian Orthodox Church:

Pobeda.Ru

The word "Christianity" has the word "Christ" at its root. But what does it mean? This means that the center of Christianity is God - our Lord Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is one and only God, and not three Gods, without any “partners.” God Himself manifested (came) Himself on earth in order to take on all human nature, all our damage, all the distortion that befell Adam, and then all his descendants due to the falling away from God. Therefore, Jesus Christ really united in Himself the true God and the true man. And this is extremely important for our true salvation.

Initially, Christianity was not divided into denominations. But from the very beginning, it decisively and uncompromisingly began to free itself from any distortions of faith and spirit that appeared in the form of schisms and heresies. Therefore, the various false currents that arose (withered branches) always quickly fell away from it. In 1054, the Roman Catholic Church separated from the Universal Church. The main reasons for this schism were the desire of the Roman high priests for absolute power and dogmatic deviations from the purity of the Church's doctrine. Among them, the most important is the change in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed by inserting the filioque (the procession of the Holy Spirit not only from the Father, but also from the Son). This grossly violates the theology of the Holy Trinity, which is a special form of blasphemy. The temptation of the filioque lies, first of all, in the fact that in this way the dogma of the Holy Trinity is distorted, a certain hint of a binary appears: the Holy Spirit loses its independent significance as a hypostasis (personality) and becomes dependent, subordinate to the Father and the Son. Preserving the hypostatic distinction of the Persons of the Holy Trinity is possible only within the framework of Orthodox theology, which strengthens this distinction by two special methods of origin - the birth of the Son and the procession of the Holy Spirit, which is in no way diminished in comparison with Him.

Another difference in Catholic doctrine is that, according to it, it is not so much a person who changes his attitude towards God after original sin, but rather God who changes His attitude towards him. According to Orthodox doctrine, it is not God who moves away from man, but it is man who leaves in the footsteps of the prodigal son to a distant land; it is not God who posits the Old Testament enmity between Himself and the human race, but it is man who rejects the unchanging love of God. According to St. John Chrysostom: “It is not God who is at enmity against us, but we are against Him. God never quarrels." In Catholicism, a certain image of the Old Testament God-Judge, enmity against man for his sin, developed.

This distorted image of an angry God inevitably changed man’s attitude towards him; it aroused fear in his soul instead of a desire to become like Him. Man tried to soften the wrath of God, to appease His immutable justice with satisfaction for sins. It turns out that only by his good deeds can he gain God’s favor; by the measure of good deeds a person actively participates in his own salvation. This is where the phenomenon of indulgence appears, that is, the forgiveness of sins or the reduction of punishment for them due to the merits of the Savior and the good deeds of the Mother of God and the saints, which they have in abundance, so that they can “share” them with ordinary people.

Here it is necessary to clarify what “sin” is. Sin is a special form of spiritual illness when a person voluntarily falls away from the source of life - God. Such a falling away occurs due to the violation of God’s commandments, that is, the voluntary commission of one or another evil by a person. The consequences of such an act fall on the person who committed it.

Indulgences are given to living people and free them from the obligation to bring satisfaction and perform penance for known sins; indulgences are also given to the dead, and their period of torment in purgatory is shortened. (According to Catholic doctrine, purgatory is a place between heaven and hell, where the souls of the dead are located, who did not have time to bring God satisfaction for their sins on earth. Here, depending on the importance and number of sins, the souls of the dead suffer various torments and with these torments they pay for the crimes committed on earth, but not yet paid for sins.)

Indulgences, at the mercy of the pope, can be given out freely or for some pious deeds - travel to holy places, for useful social events, for some merits and donations in favor of the pope. The profitability of indulgences led to their development and to the search for new reasons for granting them. Not without the influence of a financial motive, the theory of indulgences itself was developed - their preachers were guided by openly monetary interests.

In contrast to Catholicism, Orthodoxy is entirely focused on healing the soul, and not on earning bliss and paradise or legal forgiveness. The Monk Simeon the New Theologian points out: “Careful fulfillment of the commandments of Christ teaches a person (that is, reveals to a person) his weaknesses.” Let us pay attention to what is emphasized by the Monk Simeon: fulfilling the commandments does not make a person a miracle worker, a prophet, a teacher, not worthy of any rewards, gifts, supernatural powers (and this is the main consequence of the “fulfillment” of the commandments in all other religions and even its goal), but leads man to something completely different - to ensure that man sees the deepest damage of the human being, for the sake of healing of which God the Word became incarnate. Without knowledge of this, a person is, in principle, incapable of either a correct spiritual life or acceptance of Christ the Savior.

The Orthodox understanding of salvation comes from the idea of God, who immeasurably surpasses in His goodness human concepts of inevitable retribution and does not require satisfaction for sin. The source of punishment for sins committed is the consequence of destructive contact with evil, to which a person exposes himself in sinful falling away from God. In Orthodoxy, a person’s real state is revealed—a state of deepest damage and fall. Only in the consciousness of this weakness does a person develop spiritual strength; through self-knowledge the Lord enters into a person, and then the person actually acquires this strength: “Even if the sky falls on me, my soul will not tremble,” said Abba Agathon. What is promised to man? Saint John Chrysostom says: “God promises to lead us not into paradise, but into heaven itself, and he does not proclaim the Kingdom of Paradise, but the Kingdom of Heaven.” The Monk Macarius of Egypt writes: “The crowns and diadems that Christians will receive are not creations.” It is not something created that a renewed person receives, he receives God Himself! Deification is the name of our ideal. It is the closest unity of man with God, it is the fullness of the revelation of the human personality, it is that state of man when he truly becomes the son of God, God by grace. What a colossal difference between Orthodoxy and other religions!

Understanding salvation as satisfaction by deeds of good for sins distorts the relationship between God and man, for it comes from the desire for mutual benefit. God and man enter into a kind of transaction, devoid of moral relation to each other.

The Roman Catholic Church also maintains the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. This dogma is based on the idea that, according to V.N. Lossky, “in order to incarnate and become a “perfect man,” the Divine Word needed a perfect nature, not contaminated by sin.” To do this, it was necessary to assign to the Mother of our Lord non-involvement in the original sin we inherit. Therefore, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception establishes that, despite the natural image of her birth, the Blessed Virgin, by a special gift of grace from above, was already in a perfect and sinless state from her mother’s womb. First of all, the Immaculate Conception breaks the natural connection of the Virgin Mary with the human race and, moreover, directly contradicts the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church, which testifies to the death of the Blessed Virgin, and sanctified this event on the Feast of the Assumption. Since death is a direct consequence of original sin, for “by one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin” (Rom. 5:12), the death of the Most Holy Theotokos testifies to Her participation in original sin.

The Roman Church, like the Orthodox Church, preserved all seven sacraments, but in almost each of them changes appeared, which, as a rule, developed after the division of the Churches.

Protestant denominations separated from Roman Catholicism in the 15th century during the Reformation. This separation led to the loss of the main features of churchness by the Protestant confessions, and, from the Orthodox point of view, none of them can be considered the Church and their sacraments do not have the power of grace. Spiritual influence is replaced by emotional, sensual and rational experiences. Protestantism itself very soon divided into separate branches, each of which reflects the historical features of the development of the Reformation in the countries of medieval Europe. The understanding of salvation in the Catholic faith, in which man satisfied the justice of God with his good deeds, was, according to Luther, the greatest blasphemy, for instead of the Lord, man believed salvation in his own effort and belittled the merit of the Redeemer. The Reformation took up arms against this teaching with all its might and established faith turned directly to Christ as the only condition for salvation. Luther, with his characteristic categoricalness, opposed faith to the ritualism of Catholicism - as the ultimate expression of the deep disposition of the human soul. At the same time, Protestant rituals turned into a kind of theatrical performances - simple, convenient and outwardly understandable. Thus, there is no need to make any spiritual or physical efforts to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven; you just need to believe, and a person is automatically saved.

Now let's talk about Judaism. The faith that modern Jews profess is not the one that was given to the Israelites through Moses and the Prophets, and which they professed before the coming of the Messiah, but the one that they themselves invented, deviating from the true spirit of Moses and the Prophets, and which they now adhere to the coming of the promised Messiah, unrecognized by them. The doctrine of the Old Testament is truly revealed by God and is a preparatory step to Christianity, and the New Jewish doctrine is the fruit of human invention (the so-called rabbinic Judaism).

This new faith is set forth in the Talmud. In it, along with truths borrowed from the Bible, there are so many oddities, absurdities, and contradictions that it becomes incredible how people could invent such things, and how others can recognize such ugly concepts as sacred and irrefutable truths, without abandoning common sense.

The basic law about a person’s relationship to his neighbors in Judaism is this: “every good that the law of Moses prescribes, and every evil that it prohibits a neighbor, brother, or comrade from doing, must, the Talmud explains, be understood only in relation to the Jews” (Talmud. Tract. Bava Metzia). At the same time, all other peoples are called unclean and ungodly, with whom Jews not only should not enter into any kindred ties, but can also break oaths given to a non-believer, deceive him, oppress, persecute and even kill him for his different faith, and that in general all these nations of other faiths, at the coming of the Messiah, will either be completely exterminated, or will be enslaved by the Jews, so that the very kings of the other faiths will become servants for the last of the children of Israel (Moses Mendelssohn).

As a result of this, the Jews are exclusively devoted to their rituals, so that, in the words of one of their own scholars, for the Jews faith does not exist, but only the law (i.e., rituals) exists, since the Talmud preaches that both original sin and all sins can be blotted out and destroyed through strict fulfillment of all the requirements of the ritual law.

In contrast to Jewish views, the main position of Christianity is the doctrine of the Resurrection, through which all humanity, any person, finally received the possibility of a new birth, the possibility of rebirth, restoration of that fallen image of God, the bearers of which we are. The goal of the life of an Orthodox Christian is the Kingdom of Heaven, where there will be no more illness or sorrow, but endless life in communion with God.

In other religions, namely Islam and Buddhism, the founder was none other than the preacher of a teaching new or old or long forgotten. Therefore, in all other religions, the founder does not have the exclusive significance that the Lord Jesus Christ has in Christianity. There the founder is a teacher, a messenger of God, proclaiming the path of salvation; the main thing is the teaching that he conveys from God. Therefore, the founder in other religions is always in the background in relation to the teaching he proclaims, the religion he founded. Religion would not have suffered at all if it had been proclaimed by another teacher or prophet. For example, Buddhism could easily exist if it was proven that Buddha never existed, but that there was another founder, and Islam - if someone else had turned out to be instead of Muhammad. This applies to all such religions, because the functions of their founders were only to preach their teachings to people.

In Islam, Allah is the source of both good and evil. Muslim sources say about Allah that “he is the bringer of benefit and harm”, that sometimes he “wants good for his slave, and sometimes wants evil for his slave”; that “he is the bringer of evil, he is the giver of blessings.” According to the Quran, Allah mocks those who disbelieve and increases their delusion (Quran 2:14). He “leads astray whomever He pleases, and guides whomever He pleases” (Quran 35:9). He “plans cunning” (Quran 86: 16), for “Allah is the best of all cunning people” (Quran 47: 54). “He deceives” (Quran 4: 141). He changes his will (Quran 13:39). According to Muslim concepts, to atone for the sin of superstition, a person needs to say: “O Allah! There is no good except your good, and there is no evil except your evil.”

But here are the essential signs of God according to Orthodox doctrine: omniscience, goodness, love, mercy. In Islam, a person's love for God turns into slavish fear, submission and blind devotion to fate. As for love for neighbors, the number of neighbors is limited only to the faithful, i.e. Muslims, and friends at that; in relation to non-believers, he commands to persecute them and kill them for not agreeing to accept Islam (sur.47:4); in relation to enemies and offenders - allows revenge and even murder (sur. 42:38). In addition, slavery, polygamy and concubinage are allowed (sur. 4:3; 2:224; 36:50); commanded to spread the faith by sword and violence (sur. 8:4; 9:13).

So, the main thing that is unique to Christianity and not to other religions is the assertion that God is love. He is not subject to any feelings: anger, suffering, punishment, revenge, etc. This idea is inherent in the entire Tradition of our Church. Here are at least three authoritative statements below.

Venerable Anthony the Great: “It is absurd to think that the Divine would be good or bad because of human affairs. God is good and does only good things. Harming does not harm anyone, remaining always the same.

And when we are good, we enter into communication with God because of our similarity with Him, and when we become evil, we separate from God because of our dissimilarity with Him. So to say: “God turns away from the wicked” is the same as saying: “The sun is hidden from those deprived of sight.”

Saint Gregory of Nyssa: “For that it is ungodly to regard the nature of God as subject to any passion of pleasure, or mercy, or anger, no one will deny this...” Saint John Chrysostom: “When you hear the words “rage” and “anger” in relation to God, then do not understand anything human by them: these are words of condescension. The deity is alien to all such things; it is said this way in order to bring the subject closer to the understanding of cruder people.”

All the holy fathers say the same thing as the Apostle James: “When tempted, no one should say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone Himself, but everyone is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust” (James 1:13-14). This is a completely new understanding of God, unique in the history of mankind. Truly, only the Revelation of God could give such a teaching about God, for we do not find this anywhere in other religions.

In Buddhism, the goal of life is to escape the endless circle of samsara - the wheel of reincarnation through the achievement of nirvana - a certain state when a person does not react to external stimuli and withdraws into himself. Buddhism, in contrast to Christianity, preaches absolute rejection of the world; his ideal is the complete destruction of the world and, above all, the destruction of personal existence, self-destruction. According to Buddhism, our entire reality is a complete illusion that must disappear. The efforts of a Buddhist are aimed not at finding the truth, but at clarifying the illusory and deceptive nature of things, actions and phenomena that make up the content of life. This shows the desire not for absolute existence, not for God, but for a decrease in the intensity of existence, for merging with absolute non-existence, with nirvana. This is not the growth of the spirit, which is the goal of Christian asceticism, it is, in the true words of Buddhism, “the cessation of the spirit.”

In accordance with this basic tendency of Buddhist ecstasy, there is an icy coldness, a real breath of death, about him. In all the arguments, there is essentially not a single word about love. But for so many worries, thoughts, dreams about “extinguishing,” about “cessation”... If the ultimate goal is deliverance from reincarnation and the complete destruction of personal existence, then virtue is reduced to the level of only a preparatory means, which at a certain stage of perfection threatens to become a hindrance on the way to the goal. Indeed, deeds accomplished in this life must be transferred to a new reincarnation. Bad deeds are not profitable: they will lead to a new incarnation with increased suffering. But good deeds also lead to a new incarnation; True, they provide “heavenly joys” but they are despicable because they are not eternal and do not save from rebirth. “No matter how great the needs and wants of others, no one should sacrifice his own salvation for them,” we find in the body of Buddhist morality. Von Schroeder (researcher of Hindu culture) says: “Again and again, on the part of Buddhism - denial; on the part of Christianity it is an affirmation. To love, suffer and, finally, live - this is the duty, this is the desire of a true Christian! Not to love, not to suffer, not to live - this is the ideal of a Buddhist. Here the deep and wide, uncrossable abyss of Buddhism and Christianity truly becomes clear.”

Rejecting the idea of the Creator and creation, and understanding the world and existence itself as only evil, one that should not be, the philosophy of Buddhism introduces evil into the absolute itself, in which an incomprehensible “vanity,” “excitement” arises, giving rise to an insignificant world that deserves only destruction.

Perhaps the most important thing that Christianity talks about and what distinguishes it from other religions and without which Christianity cannot exist is its doctrine of the Resurrection. Christianity does not simply say that the Christian soul is united with God, that the soul will experience certain states. No, it asserts that a person is a soul and a body, a single spiritual-physical being, and society is inherent not only in the soul, but in the soul and body. In a renewed person, everything changes, not only the soul, mind, feelings, but the body itself. Christianity speaks of resurrection as a fact that will follow as a result of the Resurrection of Christ. Every person of Christ cannot help but be resurrected! Christianity is a religion that is not outside of us and which we should not contemplate as some mere speculative object, considering the similarities and differences between it and other objects. Christianity is inherent in man by nature. But a person becomes a Christian only when he sees that he cannot get rid of the passions and sins that torment him. Any passion brings suffering to a person. And only when he begins the Christian life does he begin to see what sin is, what passion is, what horror it is, and he begins to see the need for God the Savior.

In conclusion, I would like to quote from the book of our contemporary Chrysostom Selahvarzi “We will be consoled,” who went through the path of seeking God from Islam to Orthodoxy, very clearly characterizing the various religious trends that he had to encounter: “For a Muslim, the only serious source is the Koran... There there was not a word about the personal love of God for an individual or of a person for God. I realized that the Qur'an would not give me a personal connection with God. This Great Creator was more a force than a person... How can one love an impersonal God?” After some time, the Gospel falls into the hands of the narrator: “... I came across the Gospel for the first time, and, having started reading, I could not put it down... Islam and Christianity seemed to me diametrically opposed, and not complementary, as Islam claims. The resurrection of Christ became for me the key to the solution...” In search of truth, the author began to attend Pentecostal meetings. “I realized that the so-called “spirit” descending on the members of the community affects only the external, emotional aspects of their personality, and does not go beyond feelings, and even this superficial spirituality is achieved through serious psychological efforts through music, singing and loud sounds... Passed two years, and I did not meet anyone among the Pentecostals who would listen to my torment... I began to go to other Protestant churches... I met dozens of “Christians”, but not one of them saw what was happening to me. No matter who I talked to, I heard the same thing...: “That “our faith in Jesus will save us regardless of works and no matter how sinful and imperfect we are.” That “we do not need to exhaust ourselves with keeping the law or other hardships, for Jesus has atoned for our sins once and for all.” That “we must only believe in Him, and this alone will justify us.” However, in all these words, regardless of their truth or falsity, there was neither power nor spirit, and they could not reveal anything to me. Moreover, I was confused by this teaching. It seemed the opposite of what Christ teaches in the Gospel. He requires not only to believe, but also to prove one’s faith by deeds... Why do these Christians believe that Christ easily, without difficulty, “accepts into heaven” if He commanded us to be perfect, like God Himself (Matthew 5:48)?” After much mental torment, the author finds himself in the Orthodox Church. “My soul, which felt like a stranger in the most beautiful mosque, in the most magnificent Protestant or Catholic church, suddenly felt that it was home... I realized that the meeting with the Orthodox Church had truly turned my soul upside down. The pain went away and peace came in my soul. I felt alive and wanted to live. The joy of being returned, I was happy to exist.”

Used and recommended literature:

1. Vasechko V.N. Comparative theology, course of lectures, 2000 2. Gregory of Nyssa. St. – M., 1864. Part 6. 3. Dvorkin A.L. Deacon Mikhail Plotnikov, reference book “Religions and sects in modern Russia.” 4. Philokalia. Sergiev Posad, 1992. T.1. 5. Innocent of Kherson, saint. Essays. T1,2,3. – Publication of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, 2000. 6. John Chrysostom. Holy Creation. T.5. Book 1 SPb. 1899. 7. Lossky V.N. Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. "Theological Works", No. 14, p. 121. 8. Maksimov Yu.V. Christians and Muslims: dialogue about dialogue. 9. Maksimov Yu.V., Smolyar K., Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, 2005 10. Osipov A.I. What is the essence of Christianity?, course of lectures. 11. Taitskaya A.I. Encyclopedia of misconceptions. Religion. – M.: Eksmo Publishing House; Donetsk: SKIF Publishing House, 2005. 12. Khvylya-Olinter A.I., priest, candidate of legal sciences. Spiritual safety and spiritual health of a person, family, society. – M., 2008. 13. Chrysostom Selakhvarzi. “We will be comforted,” M., 2005.

Autocephaly what is in the church in simple language

The Holy Spirit also comes from the Son of God, to the same extent as from the Father; he was born of an immaculate virgin and was accepted into heaven in body and not only in soul; * Catholics venerate a large number of different Saints; * the pope, as the Supreme Hierarch of the church, considers all actions infallible; * after the death of the body, the soul is not killed, unlike Orthodox Christianity, but it turns out that they are in purgatory, where trials await them; For communion you need bread without yeast.

The fundamental difference between Catholic Christianity and Orthodoxy is the concept of atonement for sins with gifts (indulgences). Western tradition believes that Christ, the Mother of God and the saints through their actions created an inexhaustible supply of kindness, which is enough to cover all the sins of the entire Christian community. The Sanctuary of Goodness is owned by the Christian Catholic Church and is sold to sinners in the form of special ratifications, meaning homeowners receive absolution.