Which Religious System is Better/Worse?

Two ugly stepsisters...which is worse?

In my military career, I got to observe both, and there is very little difference as far as their relations with evangelicals--neither has any use for us!

I recall attending a Russian Orthodox baptism in San Antonio, Texas, in 1980; it was very strange. The ceiling in the church had a gigantic painting of Jesus' head and shoulders, and there was a nasty scowl on his face; the painting is in every EO church, I am told, it is called "the pantokrator." There was lots of incence, the ceremony went on forever, and they immersed the poor baby three times in a brass laver full of what had to be cold water, judging from the fussing of the kid.

Having said that, the EO has married priests, and the RC has a far worse record of murderous persecution against free churches, so I guess the RCs get the nod for worst, but the score is close.

 

Haven't observed one or both to be that critical towards the other. Seems like a waste of time instead of sharing the Gospel.

 

the lesser of the two evils is the Eastern

 

I don't think one is necessarily better or worse than the other. Western Catholicism tends to get more historic press, probably because of the influence of the old Holy Roman Empire. It's like asking which of my two brothers I liked more. I wouldn't be able to answer.

 

Like several other posters, I find slightly less to abominate in Eastern Orthodoxy than in Roman Catholicism. For one thing, EOC is somewhat less centralized, i.e. closer to congregational autonomy, than RCC. And, as someone else noted, the EOC have many married priests (though typically only celibate bishops!). Still, there's such diversity in both systems, and the choice of criteria to emphasize is so subjective and for that matter so fluctuating, that the exercise may not be worth the effort.

BTW, "Pantokrator" simply means "Almighty", not a title that a Baptist ought to object to seeing applied to Christ. Iconic representations of Christ Pantocrator frequently depict our Lord at his transfiguration, which might account for what you took to be a weird facial expression; or maybe you're just not used to conventional iconic depictions of any human faces. I wonder, Major B, if the particular picture you refer to is the one pictured at this webpage (click)?

Haruo