Orthodox christianity, do they have the archangels and the saints?

Question

Can you tell me the difference between orthodox church and the armenian church and the catholic church.I need this for my thesis, please help.Thank you.

Answer 1

The Orthodox Church is in fact all the Eastern Orthodox Churches: such as the Orthodox Coptic, Greek, Russian, Romanian etc. They were originally part of the universal church before they spilt from the church of the west in 1054. The result of this was that the west became the Catholic Church, and Eastern Churches became The Orthodox Church.

In doctrine, the two Churches are the most accurate of all Christian Churches, as they are the Church Christ directly established. Their teachings are almost similar in every way. There are some differences on certain issues, but in general, they have the same core doctrine. So yes, both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches believe in saints and angels, in the Most Holy Mother of God, The Virgin Mary, whose virginity is everlasting. Both Churches have valid priesthood, and sacraments!

If I am not mistaken, they Armenian Church is an Orthodox Church, and so even though rites and styles of worship, language and prayer are different, it has the same beliefs as the universal Orthodox Church.

I can go into much more greater detail about the differences between the Orthodox and Catholic Church, if you would like- email me and I’ll be glad to help.

As for the previous answer, I must indicate that churches such as the Nestorian are not Orthodox Churcheses as they are a heretical movement. As for the Maronites, they are in communion with Rome, and are therefore Catholic. With all due respect for the previous answer, it cotains many, many inaccuracies. Please do not take it as a final answer, and check the points in it.

For the time being, I will ask everyone who reads this to say a small prayer for the unity of the Church. This week is dedicated for the unity of the Church...

May God all mighty- The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost, forgive us our ignorance, our rudeness, our horrible daring to divide Christ among us like this, and our sins, the sins we have committed by dividing the body of Christ- his church, his believers into many parts. May He forgive us for the shameful separation. May we soon, return to being the one body of Christ on earth, as one community of believers, sharing one true identical faith, with many beautiful diverse traditions. With the prayers of the Most Holy Mother of God, St Rita patron of Impossible causes, and all the Saints and Angels of God, we ask this through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Answer 2

The Armenian Church is Momophysite. They are essentially identical to the Orthodox Church, except they believe that Jesus had one nature (compared to the Orthodox belief in two natures). Even this difference is superficial, and really reflects a difference in the definition of the term "nature." Orthodox and Armenian Christians both believe in archangels and saints.

There are many theological differences between the Orthodox/Armenian Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. It would take quite a bit of space to outline those differences here.

I'll try to put together a summary...

Oriental, or Eastern Christianity includes the Eastern Orthodox Churches (all of which are independent of one another), the Nestorians, the Monophysites, Melkites, Maronites, Malabarians, Uniates, Old Calendarists, and Genuine Orthodox. They have superficial differences in doctrine and practice, but hold to the same core understanding of the faith. Orthodox Churches, in general, see salvation as a coporate phenomenon. They believe that Jesus died and then rose from the dead, and that the Church is the Body of Christ, united to Jesus through the sacraments. By participating in the sacraments and keeping the commandments, human beings become a part of the Church, and are raised from the dead with Christ. Most Orthodox Christians reject the idea of substitutionary atonement. They do not believe that human beings are born guilty of the sin of Adam, and they do not believe that Jesus died on the cross to atone for original sin. Rather, they believe that human beings inherit death from Adam, and that death causes the inclination to sin. Through the sacraments Christians attain ontological union with God, overcome death, and so are gradually liberated from the inclination to sin. The final judgement of God will be when God reveals his glory to the world. Those who are united to God (or "glorified") will experience eternal heaven, but those who are not united to God will experience eternal torment from his divine presence. Orthodox theology is apophatic. Theologians believe that God is transcendent - we cannot say what God is, but only what he is not. Orthodox mysticism seeks to still all conscious thought in order to approach God through unknowing. This is also called 'negative theology.' The Orthodox concept of God depends on the Holy Trinity, and Orthodox Christians are strictly Trinitarian. All theological concepts in Orthodoxy are derived from an understanding of the Holy Trinity.

The Orthodox Church broke away from the Armenian Church in late antiquity, but the two groups remained in close contact.

I'm no expert on Roman Catholicism; you will have to look that up. But Roman Catholics do believe in Original Sin, and that Jesus died to atone for the guilt of the sin of Adam. They believe that hell consists of created fire. Rather than the uncreated glory of God, the fires of the Roman Catholic hell were prepared for the punishment of the wicked.