Eastern Orthodox vs Protestant: what's the difference?

Eastern Orthodox churches and the Protestant churches quoted here both confess that Jesus is true God and true man. The differences their texts name are Holy Tradition beside Scripture, how a person is justified, honor to Mary and the saints, icons, and the filioque. This page quotes those texts. It does not decide.

Key points

• The Orthodox Church in America catechism (2) says “the Bible holds the first place” in Holy Tradition, and that Tradition “is the very life of the Church itself.”
• Westminster Confession 1.6 (4) says the whole counsel of God is set down in Scripture or deduced from it, “unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”
• Article VI (8) of the Church of England says Holy Scripture “containeth all things necessary to salvation.”
• The Baptist Faith and Message, Article I (7) calls Scripture “the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.”
• Augsburg Confession IV (5) says people “are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith.” Rev. George Mastrantonis (1) says salvation “depends on the standard of ‘faith which worketh by love.’”
• Augsburg XXI (6) says “Scripture sets before us the one Christ as the Mediator” and “He is to be prayed to.” The Orthodox essay says Mary is highly honored and does not print a prayer addressed to her.
• Matthew 28:19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Matthew 28:19 · King James Version (13): “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

The same Christ

John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James Version (9): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Westminster 2.3 (4) says “there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost,” and that “the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.” Mastrantonis, on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (1) site, says the Spirit “proceeds from the Father only” and that the Orthodox Church “does not use the phrase filioque.” What does the Eastern Orthodox Church believe? and What do Protestants believe? stay on each side’s fuller account. Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic sets the same filioque sentence beside the Catechism.

Mastrantonis says the Orthodox Church “has never created or added officially any new teaching after the Great Schism” and “continues on the original road.” The Protestant confessions below treat Scripture as the standard by which later church teaching is tried.

Scripture and Tradition

The OCA page on Tradition (2):

Among the elements which make up the Holy Tradition of the Church, the Bible holds the first place. Next comes the Church’s liturgical life and its prayer, then its dogmatic decisions and the acts of its approved churchly councils, the writings of the church fathers, the lives of the saints, the canon laws, and finally the iconographic tradition.

It says Tradition “is not at all limited to what is written.” Mastrantonis says the Scriptures and Sacred Apostolic Tradition “are the divine Sources” the Church accepted “as being the only depository for these truths.”

Westminster 1.1 (4) says it pleased the Lord “to commit the same wholly unto writing,” “those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.” Westminster 1.6 (4):

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.

Article VI (8): “Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.”

The Baptist Faith and Message (7) says the Bible “is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.” How was the Bible canon decided, and what is the Apocrypha? quotes Westminster on the books called Apocrypha. This page does not repeat that list.

Justification

Ephesians 2:8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Ephesians 2:8 · King James Version (11): “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Romans 3:28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.Romans 3:28 · King James Version (14): “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” James 2:24Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.James 2:24 · King James Version (15): “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” Galatians 5:6For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.Galatians 5:6 · King James Version (10): “but faith which worketh by love.”

Augsburg IV (5):

Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight.

Westminster 11.1 (4) says God justifies “not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous,” “by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them.” Westminster 11.2 (4) says faith “is the alone instrument of justification,” and that this faith “is no dead faith, but worketh by love.”

Mastrantonis says “the justification and salvation of man depends on the standard of ‘faith which worketh by love’ (Gal. 5:6).” He says the Church fought the claim “that the human soul is totally corrupted and man’s salvation is God’s work alone, predestining man to salvation or to perdition (Augustine).” That sentence is his essay, not an ecumenical synod. What is Calvinism? quotes the Westminster Confession and the Canons of Dort on that claim.

Mary, the saints, and icons

1 Timothy 2:5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;1 Timothy 2:5 · King James Version (12): “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

Augsburg XXI (6) says, “Scripture sets before us the one Christ as the Mediator, Atoning Sacrifice, High Priest, and Intercessor. He is to be prayed to.” What do Christians believe about Mary? quotes the rest of that article, including the sentence that the Scriptures do not teach calling on the saints, beside the Catechism and an Orthodox clergy answer. The Mastrantonis essay fetched here says Mary “is highly honored” and “does not teach either her immaculate conception or her bodily assumption.” It does not print a prayer addressed to her.

The OCA page on icons (3) says icons “are not just human pictures or visual aids to contemplation and prayer” and “are spiritually necessary because ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’” That page is a catechism chapter, not a synod. A Protestant confession’s paragraph on images was not in the Westminster, Augsburg, Articles, or Baptist Faith and Message passages fetched for this article. The Orthodox sentence stands as that church’s account.

Comparison

Frequently asked questions

Are Orthodox Christians Protestant?

The texts above do not call the Eastern Orthodox churches Protestant. Mastrantonis rejects additions after the Great Schism. Westminster, the Augsburg Confession, the Articles of Religion, and the Baptist Faith and Message treat Scripture as the rule those later questions are tried by. On this site both are Trinitarian Christianity. Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and Baptist are denomination shelves. Catholic vs Protestant is the other comparison.

Do Orthodox Christians use only the Bible?

The OCA catechism says the Bible holds the first place and that Tradition is not limited to what is written. Westminster 1.6 says nothing is to be added to Scripture by traditions of men. Both sentences are on this page.

Do Orthodox and Protestant churches pray to Mary?

What do Christians believe about Mary? quotes an Orthodox clergy answer and Augsburg XXI. The Mastrantonis essay says Mary is highly honored and does not contain a prayer addressed to her.

The churches on this site

• Eastern Orthodox
• Lutheran
• Reformed
• Anglican
• Baptist
• Christianity
• What does the Eastern Orthodox Church believe?
• What do Protestants believe?
• Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic
• Common arguments