What's the difference between protestant and orthodox?

Question

i remember being interested in the orthodox opinion of christianity awhile ago, and now i'm interested again. however, instead of me researching, i'm going to ask the less reliable community of yahoo! answers. i'm american that way.

hey...i didn't say i didn't want a reliable answer. i just don't expect a good one. although, i did expect better than what i've seen so far. all i want is someone to research these two ideas deeply and explain it to me in a convenient response. is that too much to ask?

Answer 1

Christian protestant churches teach Scripture. The bible is the authority.
Orthodox churches teach some Scripture, but much like the Catholic church, they teach traditions as well.
The Orthodox make a big thing about Mary and their Icons as well.

Answer 2

The Catholic Church split around the 11th century, producing the orthodox churches.

Orthodox churches tend to be nationalized versions of the original Roman Catholic church, with valid mass and sacraments, apostolic origin and successions, and a sharing of most or all of the truths of the original faith.

Due to the schism, the orthodox do not recognize the authority of the Roman pope.

In the U.S. the orthodox churches are rather rare, but represented in most regions.

For the whole truth and the greatest convenience, as well as the largest amount of practical faith resources, the Roman Catholic Church is usually the best choice for those living in the United States.

Answer 3

When Christianity first started, it was in the countries ruled by the Roman Empire.

The first christian emperor was Constantine who moved the capital of the empire to Constantinople (now known as Instanbul) in what is now Turkey. After this there was a split in the empire between Constantinople and Rome. There was a loose federation of the church with patriachs in both cities.

Later. there was a split in the Christian church for a number of reasons including the patriach of Rome claiming authority over Constantinople. The Romans became Catholics and the Constantinople church became Orthodox. This led to a split in Europe on geographic lines. The eastern church (Greece, Serbia, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria etc) were orthodox and the west (Italy, france, germany spain etc) Catholic.

There was a later split from the Catholic church to create the protestant churches. The most famous of these were Martin Luther who creared the Lutheran church and Henry VIII who created the Anglican church or church of england.

Answer 4

First you need to understand that there are three major sects or branches of Christians which are as follows:

1. Catholics. Example people practising this sect is people in the Vatican City near Italy.

2. Protestants. Example is majority of people in USA and England.

3. Orthodox. Example: the Christians Arabs in Egypt.

The main difference of Protestants and the Orthodox are in the understanding and interpretation of the religious teachings. There are also sub-sects in Orthodox.

There is one sub-sect of Orthodox Christians in the middle east which believe that there is only one God and Jesus is only a messenger of God.

Answer 5

A friend of mine who is Orthodox and used to be a Charismatic Christian (protestant) says he likes the Orthodox church because it is "Liturgical"--because it is very much like the Catholic Church and the Episcopalian church in that it has a lot of forms and ceremonies, rituals and a priesthood--whereas many protestant churches believe "there is one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus. You have to be careful though because many mainline denominational protestant churches are not what they were 100 years ago and are now "Ecumenical" to the point of being new age where "anything goes" as long as it "sounds 'Spiritual' whether it be Hinduism or Taoism or whatever--just don't make waves, we don't want to offend anybody. So for your comparison I would use one of the newer Bible-believing non denominational 'body of believers' like Calvary Chapel for a protestant set of doctrines to compare with Orthodox belief. I know my friend believes in praying to the Saints, stations of the Cross, Holy Communion where the elements literally become the blood and body of Christ, he believes, like most Catholics that Mary is Deity herself and to be prayed to, and that confession of sins to a priest is the way to be absolved from sin.
Most protestants do not believe in a priesthood as such, believe that Mary, although a virgin at Jesus' birth went on to have other children by Joseph, and although she is to be honored, she is not to be made equal with God or Jesus, or to be prayed to, and same with the saints. Sins are to be confessed directly to Christ. Icons, such an important part of Orthodox tradition, are thought by protestants to be a form of idolatry if prayed to. Protestants don't believe in Purgatory or buying or earning indulgences, nor for praying for the dead.. Protestants do not believe in the Pope as God's infallible spokesperson on Earth today.

Answer 6

The main difference is that Protestant is spelled differently than Orthodox.

Answer 7

Since you admit to not wanting a reliable answer , I will say only that you should be less american and more studious.

Answer 8

One follows men the other follows the word of God.
2Tim 3:16

Answer 9

Start here:
http://www.liturgica.com/html/litPLitCalvin.jsp?hostname=liturgica

You'll find the best answers here:
http://www.orthodox.net/articles/orthodox-mind.html