Expert: J.M.J. West - 7/30/2008

Question
I recently read The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky (it is not important to have read this book in order to answer my question.) There is a Eastern Orthodox character in the book that vehemently attacks Romans Catholicism saying that it preaches a false Jesus and breeds atheism. I had always thought the theological difference between two denominations were very minuscule, though I never do not have the best grasp of what that was. My question has three parts
1. What were the theological matters at hand such that there was a schism?
2. How have the two church evolve different in their theology since then? and
3. What theological issues exist between the two such that a) such hateful language could exist between the two at some point in time, and b) they still are unable to reconcile their differences?

Answer
Tyler,

Great questions!  This is a very tough subject, and on the whole, you are correct that there is very much in common between the East and West - they are the closest of all Christian branches (one of them, whichever is correct, being the original trunk from which all other branches broke away).

Primarily the division is over whether or not all bishops are of an entirely equal standing, or if one - the successor to Peter who received the Keys to the Kingdom (Matthew 16:16-19) - has a larger share in governing authority.  Certainly other matters

I am a convert to Catholicism, and as such I truly believe that the pope is the successor of Peter and that he shares in the special apostolic office of Peter, who was the head of the apostles.  I believe this was pretty clear both in scripture:

http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2006/03/50-new-testament-proofs-for-petrine.html

And in history in general:

http://www.catholic.com/library/church_papacy.asp

Also involved, however, were bad tempers on both sides, divisions as to whether or not the Nicene Creed could be added to (the "filioque" clause that says the holy spirit proceeds from the father "and the son".  You might find this link helpful (it is written, of course, from a Catholic perspective).

http://www.catholic.com/library/Eastern_Orthodoxy.asp

YOU WROTE
2. How have the two church evolve different in their theology since then? and

Well, the Eastern Churches have become rather split on National levels (Greek, Russian, etc.), and have not had a full Ecumenical council that I'm aware of since the split in 1054.  

The Western Church has remained one, centered naturally around Rome, but has certainly had it's fair share of problems too.  500 years after the Orthodox split, the protestant reformation hit, splintering much of Western Christianity beyond merely nationalized levels (though whether or not this is the 'fault' of Catholicism is debatable).

YOU WROTE
3. What theological issues exist between the two such that a) such hateful language could exist between the two at some point in time, and b) they still are unable to reconcile their differences?

Hateful language comes from men (and occasionally women) with tempers flared over a variety of reasons.  It is very uncharitable and lamentable, certainly.  But Christ himself said that wolves would divide the sheep.  That the church was always meant to be one is evident from the scriptures.  This is from a Handout I organized to use in my RCIA classes:
_____________________
VIII)   Key Scriptures:
a.   The Church is One:
i.   "Father I pray that they may be one, even as you and I are one" (John 17:22-23)
ii.   "If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing." (Philippians 2:2)
iii.   "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 15:5-6)
iv.   "I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:1-6)
b.   Factions and Denominations Were never in the Plan:
i.   "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” (Mark 3.24)
ii.   "I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.  For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you." (1 Cor 11:18b-19)
iii.   "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, ...and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:18-20)
iv.   "For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder." (2 Cor 12:20)
c.   Fathers know best
i.   Pope Clement of Rome - "Through countryside and city [the apostles] preached, and they appointed their earliest converts, testing them by the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers. Nor was this a novelty, for bishops and deacons had been written about a long time earlier. . . . Our apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry" (Letter to the Corinthians 42:4–5, 44:1–3 [A.D. 80]).
ii.   Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons - "As I said before, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although she is disseminated throughout the whole world, yet guarded it, as if she occupied but one house. She likewise believes these things just as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart; and harmoniously she proclaims them and teaches them and hands them down, as if she possessed but one mouth. For, while the languages of the world are diverse, nevertheless, the authority of the tradition is one and the same" (Against Heresies 1:10:2 [A.D. 189]).
"It is possible, then, for everyone in every church, who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the apostles which has been made known throughout the whole world. And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the apostles and their successors to our own times—men who neither knew nor taught anything like these heretics rave about. …
…[T]here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, that church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles.

"With this church, because of its superior origin, all churches must agree—that is, all the faithful in the whole world—and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition" (ibid. 3:3:1–2).
(This seems to damage greatly the anti-catholic claim by some that Constantine invented the Papacy since it was said a century before Constantine lived/reigned.)
iii.   Tertullian - "But if there be any [heresies] which are bold enough to plant [their origin] in the midst of the apostolic age, that they may thereby seem to have been handed down by the apostles, because they existed in the time of the apostles, we can say: Let them produce the original records of their churches; let them unfold the roll of their bishops, running down in due succession from the beginning in such a manner that [their first] bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor some one of the apostles or of apostolic men—a man, moreover, who continued steadfast with the apostles. For this is the manner in which the apostolic churches transmit their registers: as the church of Smyrna, which records that Polycarp was placed therein by John; as also the church of Rome, which makes Clement to have been ordained in like manner by Peter" (Demurrer Against the Heretics 32 [A.D. 200]).
iv.   St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo - "[T]here are many other things which most properly can keep me in [the Catholic Church’s] bosom. The unanimity of peoples and nations keeps me here. Her authority, inaugurated in miracles, nourished by hope, augmented by love, and confirmed by her age, keeps me here. The succession of priests, from the very see of the apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after his resurrection, gave the charge of feeding his sheep, up to the present episcopate, keeps me here. And last, the very name Catholic, which, not without reason, belongs to this Church alone, in the face of so many heretics, so much so that, although all heretics want to be called ‘Catholic,’ when a stranger inquires where the Catholic Church meets, none of the heretics would dare to point out his own basilica or house" (Against the Letter of Mani Called "The Foundation" 4:5 [A.D. 397]).
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That's a lot to take in, and it's just an overview.  If you have more questions, let me know, and I'll be happy to go further.

Pax Christi,

-J.M.J. West