Orthodox and Protestants: what is the difference?
In short: Here too we have things in common, especially the love for Christ and for Scripture, but the difference is major. Protestantism was born five hundred years ago, from a break with Rome, and based everything on Scripture alone and faith alone. Orthodoxy sees itself as the Church from the beginning, uninterrupted, with the Sacraments, the living Tradition, and the bishops coming in an unbroken line from the apostles.
The Orthodox nuance
First, honestly, what Protestants want: the Reformers reacted to real abuses in the West, wanted to put the Word of God at the center and salvation as a gift, not a payment. They are brothers who love Christ, we do not deny that. But along the way, things were lost that the Church had always had: the fullness of the Sacraments, prayer for the departed, the veneration of saints, icons — the faith of Christians long before the Reformation. And on the principle of each with their own Bible, they divided into thousands of groups, a sign that a living authority to preserve unity is missing.
The fundamental difference is one of continuity: for the Orthodox, the Church did not disappear only to be reinvented in the sixteenth century; it has flowed uninterrupted since Pentecost, with the same Sacraments and the same Spirit. That is why, when you meet a sincere Protestant, you do not act as if in a match: you recognize what is good, the love for Scripture, and gently call him towards the fullness he is already seeking, often without knowing it.
Sources
- John 17:21 (that they all may be one)
- 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (hold the traditions)
- Acts 2:42 (the life of the first community)
- The historical fact of the Reformation (16th c.)