Undoing a Catholic and an Orthodox Christian Feud

There's an anecdote about twins still in their mother's womb. They argued about who should come out first. One of the embryos complained "I'm the most beautiful; I should be born first."

"Maybe you are beautiful," responded the other, "but I'm the strongest; I should ooze out first."

The pair pushed and shoved in their mother's uterus until their umbilical cords broke. The mother miscarried and both fetuses perished.

Divisiveness is a scoundrel who can't leave without being pushed and who won't leave without being forced. He is the star in his own drama.

How many times have Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians seen his film in the theater of Christian dispute?

Pope John Paul II has waged war against divisions within Christianity in hopes of hastening a curtain call to these stains on divine memory. We wish him well. Selfishness, theology, self-righteousness and conceit are the emcees that have broadcast disunity among Christian communities for centuries.

But the Pope took a welcomed step in his battle. He recently returned the bones of John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzen to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians. These honored ancient leaders' graves were looted from Constantinople, today known as Istanbul in Turkey, in 1204 by Catholic marauders during the Fourth Crusade.

In 1054, from Constantinople and beyond to Rome and beyond, division immigrated to Christianity. The Eastern Orthodox Church broke with the Catholic Church because the two branches of Catholicism differed over rites, the wording of prayers, the use of unleavened bread in the Catholic Eucharist, territory, church calendar and other matters.

Pope Paul speeded up his quest after Orthodox leaders accused Rome of trying to evangelize Eastern believers, especially in the Ukraine and Romania. To assure the Orthodox Church Rome had no intention of stealing Orthodox believers, the Pontiff offered to return the bones.

Matthew 5:23-24 says "If you offer your gift at the altar and there remember someone has something against you, leave your gift before the altar. First, go and reconcile yourself to that person, then come and offer your gift."

Despite the embargoes Catholics and Protestants have established between each other and within their own borders, we hope Christians worldwide will look downrange from their own hills and someday migrate toward the plains of unity, using this episode between Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians as an example.

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To contact James Strong, please send an email to: linwood_jl@yahoo.com.

MORE RESOURCES:

Religion today - The Associated Press

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Religion news in brief - The Associated Press

Atheists refuse to sit in the back of the bus - Examiner.com

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Scientologists Defend Travolta and Their Religion - Examiner.com

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Religion Blog: The deification of Tim Tebow? - Florida Times-Union

Atheists Annoyed by Inaugural Oath - Washington Post

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5i-0fd=Rurl=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/post/2009/01/61016814/1cid=1287081671ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNGsWN9qzNr6kbEmG3IcKomwRsHV8Aimg src=http://nt1.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=UaVjntb2LjEJimgurl=blogs.usatoday.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/01/07/oath1xblog200.jpg width=60 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2USA Today/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-0fd=Rurl=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2009/01/atheists_annoyed_by_inaugural.htmlcid=1287081671ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNGs0-i2Gce_Ium9gZiSF65RqbmjHgAtheists Annoyed by Inaugural Oath/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWashington Post,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobrJan 6, 2009/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b is the principle that the #39;First Amendment mandates governmental neutrality between breligion/b and breligion/b, and between breligion/b and nonreligion. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-1fd=Rurl=http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/atheists_inaugural_oath/2009/01/08/169119.htmlcid=1287081671ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNG7BNNBxDsbGgOe67YBQaIohqluLwAtheists: Remove ā€So Help Me Godā€™ From Inaugural Oath/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNewsMax.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-2fd=Rurl=http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-01-07-God-oath_N.htmcid=1287081671ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNHUaUBTMDqPKjbWeFXb4Gy_eAEs5ANo proof Washington said #39;so help me God#39; will Obama?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrUSA Today/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-3fd=Rurl=http://www.postchronicle.com/commentary/article_212197917.shtmlcid=1287081671ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNGGERfaBZjbk-U_pxZ0BxROI1RxjgLaura Ingraham v. Michael Newdow On Public God Reference/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrPost Chronicle/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-4fd=Rurl=http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcontributors/mkuligowski_20090106.htmlcid=1287081671ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNF83Ycpc3dk-lEu0RaU5L5c0LierQnobrOpinion Editorials/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-5fd=Rurl=http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20090106/OPINION/901060320cid=1287081671ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNEKzK6V2ByO0NEBPxtJPIMx48nJ_gnobrThe Daily Advertiser/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1287081671hl=ennobrall 30 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

True Religion to Present at 11th Annual ICR XChange Conference - WELT ONLINE

US university to examine impact of religion on global human rights - Ecumenical News International

Burris, Race, Religion, And The Senate - Huffington Post

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Link between Religion and Terror - Seattle Post Intelligencer

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.swvatoday.com/comments/recitation_on_religion/news/4322/cid=1287945681ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNGTqzCv7ra3ACnB6-eFiAYdmY-dcAimg src=http://nt1.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=kZ8B-lNI1_gJimgurl=swvatoday.com/images/uploads/bm-islam-107.jpg width=62 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Southwest Virginia Today/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/muslimperspectives/archives/158797.asp%3Ffrom%3Dblog_last3cid=1287945681ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNFMPWHP6GbjN2LxTdum_LR5JVRAuwLink between bReligion/b and Terror/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSeattle Post Intelligencernbsp;-/font nobr22 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b and they know that religiously, it is considered a wrong, the most common way to counter conscience is to misuse another part of breligion/b to justify it. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-1fd=Rurl=http://www.swvatoday.com/comments/recitation_on_religion/news/4322/cid=1287945681ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNGTqzCv7ra3ACnB6-eFiAYdmY-dcARecitation on breligion/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSouthwest Virginia Today/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-2fd=Rurl=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199009/muslim-ragecid=1287945681ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNHI3L5yT_GO9kyEjLs9ySxmJnSZGgThe Roots of Muslim Rage/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAtlantic Online/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-3fd=Rurl=http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp%3Fid%3D155917cid=1287945681ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNEdWdo0Ogybbsauv9Kusiec2Q8l2AState and breligion/b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe News International/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-4fd=Rurl=http://www.webnewswire.com/node/447929cid=1287945681ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNHd7o0twbAJRu-dCL0z0V3XAee6lAnobrWebnewswire.com/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-5fd=Rurl=http://www.sahilonline.org/english/news.php%3FcatID%3Dcoastalnews%26nid%3D4394cid=1287945681ei=M0pmSf7EHYzK8ASG-NDyBAusg=AFQjCNFrBjyKTPngWXr8904LIHTTJ0XOFQnobrSahilOnline/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1287945681hl=ennobrall 14 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Religion - Google News

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What in the world could I have possibly learned about Christianity from "That 70's Show"? I'm sure that's what everyone is thinking right about now.Well today I was watching it and the episode was about the family going to church and generally their take on religion.

The Holy Spirit is our Teacher
Now that we know God and Jesus want to release Their knowledge direct to us from Their throne room in heaven - how is this knowledge actually transmitted to us? This will now bring us into the next set of Scripture verses.These next three verses will tell us that this knowledge is given to the Holy Spirit - and then the Holy Spirit, who is already living on the inside of us, will be the one to transmit all of this knowledge to us! The Holy Spirit will thus become your personal guide and personal teacher in this life.

The 7 Seal Judgements
These next 3 articles are going to be extremely HARD HITTING. I am not going to pull any punches on what will be discussed in these articles.

Dante and Hell
DANTE: - Dante Alighieri is the tour guide of Hell. In fact you could say he is the creator of Hell if you did not understand he was directed and encouraged as others were being forced to write and create all manner of graven images and religious icons or treatises to support Hell, Satan and the whole dogma of 'sins and demons'.

The Rapture: A Twinkling of an Eye
A father savagely murders his nine children. A stay at home mother drowns her five children in a bathtub.

As The Storm Clouds Gather
Revelation 20:8-20:9Jesus warned us of a time of great tribulation, as was never seen by man and never again will be seen. There are storm clouds gathering around us if we are willing to see.

Hope and Restoration in the Valley
The bible tells a story about the prophet Ezekiel who envisioned a valley full of dry bones. God led Ezekiel back and forth in the midst of this valley, surrounded by dry bones.

Doctors of the Air
We met at a Saturday afternoon fund-raising and promotional rally sponsored by a para-church organization. His calling card introduced him impressively.

Can Jewish Americans Still Have Devout Catholic Friends?
America is dividing again. Jewish Americans are finding it hard to discuss issues with devout Catholics who go with the flow and support the new Pope, Benedict XVI a former Hitler Youth.

Believing
It is written in Proverbs 14:2 There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death. It is also written in Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Women as Catholic Priests: The Time for Change is Now
In ancient Rome, the cradle of democracy, women had no rights. Their place was in the home under the custody and control of the master of the house, which would often be the husband or father.

Following Instructions To The Letter
The dictionary explains wisdom as having good judgement, understanding, comprehension and intelligence. It also explains wise as being perceptive, intelligent, and knowledgeable.

Saved From Religion
"Religion is the fashionable substitute for belief." - Oscar WildeA recently released study by The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, found that the number of adults who say they subscribe to no religion jumped from 14.

Religion has Served Its Usefulness for Mankind
As the world becomes closer and closer together, there seems to be a problem with the World's religions. It is time to close them down.

No Ishmaels Please
I want to say a word about faith. Recent events in my own life have driven home just how easy it is to loose sight of what we say we believe.