In this book we will study our family in the faith. Going through its pages will be a lot like attending a family reunion. We will be getting to know some strange cousins in whose presence we might initially feel a bit uncomfortable. We will wonder what our connection is to these folks. In the end, though, as we look at the various branches of Christianity, we will come to see that we share one Father, one Lord and Savior, and one Holy Spirit—we are family. And if we take the time to listen to our family, we will come to know God, and ourselves, a bit better.
In this book we will learn about church history, theology, and Christian spirituality, seeing what it is that makes each branch of our Christian family unique. The aim of this book is not to critique the various churches and traditions we will study. Neither is it to compare and contrast them. Instead my aim is to help you learn from your brothers and sisters of other denominations so that your faith might be enriched and that we might be more authentic and effective disciples of Jesus Christ.
Please keep in mind that this is not an academic study, and I am not a church historian. I am a pastor, seeking to introduce people to a subject about which I care passionately. As a result, my descriptions of the various Christian denominations and faith traditions may not be as accurate or complete as those you would encounter in a seminary class or textbook. Rather than comprehensiveness, my aim has been to capture something of the unique personality of each of these groups, engaging your imagination and inspiring you, I would hope, to further reading on your own. To that end, I have included a list of books you can read for follow-up study, along with a brief description of each.
You might want to know a little more about my place in this family of faith, since I will be walking with you through this reunion. I am a member of the United Methodist Church, and I will readily admit that it is the Methodists I would be most tempted to sit with in our imaginary reunion. But I am very close to the Catholics as well. My father and his family were Roman Catholic; my mother was from a conservative Protestant background. I was baptized a Catholic. My Catholic grandmother was among the most-pivotal spiritual influences of my early childhood. My first Bible was one she gave our family. She taught me to pray the Our Father and the Rosary, and she took me to Mass whenever she could. My faith was also shaped by my mother and her conservative Christian faith which shared many characteristics with the Baptist traditions. My godfather is a leader in the Greek Orthodox Church. I came to a personal faith in Christ in a Pentecostal church. And in college, after reading the stories of John Wesley, I became a United Methodist. At college my daughter occasionally worships in an Episcopal church. And I have several good friends who are Presbyterians.
My point is that each of these traditions we will study together has shaped my life and faith. I have worshiped in each of the churches described in this book and have learned and grown from my exposure to each of them. All of which is to say that I am personally indebted to several different faith traditions, and it is out of that appreciation for these other Christians that I write this book.
You will see that I have presented the various Christian traditions in roughly the order in which they developed, to help readers trace the growth of the Christian family tree. One exception is the chapter on Methodism, which, as a United Methodist pastor, I have chosen to present last, even though it is not the newest of the traditions.
Having said that, however, I want to be clear that the focus in this book is not to convince you that United Methodists are better Christians than others. I am hoping that all of us, of whatever denomination, can learn from one another and, by listening to others, can become more-faithful Christians. My aim in each of these chapters is to help us learn from the traditions we are studying and to allow each of them to deepen our own faith and our experience of God.
Walk with me, then, through this reunion of our most extraordinary and interesting family.
C HAPTER 1
ORTHODOXY:
MYSTERY, LITURGY,
AND TRADITION
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. . . .
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. . . .
All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-10, 13-16; 12:1-2)
In the Beginning:
From Jesus to Christianity to Orthodoxy
We will begin the study of our Christian family by looking at the church that claims to be the oldest child: the Orthodox church. But first we will want to gain a little perspective by tracing some of our ancient family tree.
Christianity, of course, began within Judaism, making the Jews an important part of our family. Our Scriptures, worship patterns, and organizational structure were in large part shaped by Judaism. Then, as Christianity began to develop and incorporate more and more non-Jews, it became increasingly distinct from Judaism. At this stage, in the first centuries of the Christian faith, Jesus' followers were not Orthodox or Roman Catholic. They were known as Nazarenes, or followers of Jesus of Nazareth; as followers of "the Way"; or simply as "Christians," followers of Jesus Christ.
In the ensuing centuries, arguments over theology and practice led to great conflict within the church, whose leaders called together bishops from throughout the world to hash out the essentials of the faith we share. That meeting took place in AD 325 in the city of Nicaea, and the resulting statement of faith is called the Nicene Creed. (The creed as we know it today includes significant additions made at a subsequent council in 381 at Constantinople, and for this reason it is occasionally called the Nicene-Constant in opolitan Creed.) Despite this unity of belief, there were great differences between Christians in the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire. These differences, more cultural, philosophical, and political than theological, were in fact tearing the empire apart.
Emperor Constantine, who had reunited the empire, appointed his sons to rule after his death. One, ruling