Orthodox and Protestant: What's the Difference?

I · Common ground

What we share

A Baptist and an Orthodox Christian disagree on plenty, and they still say much of the same creed. These are the convictions that hold across almost every Protestant church and the Orthodox Church alike.

SourcesHopko, The Orthodox Faith; Augsburg Confession, arts. I and III; Westminster Confession, chs. 1–2 and 8; Baptist Faith and Message 2000, arts. I–II and VII; Erickson, SVTQ 41 (1997)

II · History

How it happened

The Reformation was a Western event. It began five centuries after East and West had parted, and the Orthodox met it from the outside, by letter. Watch the Western line divide again.

1. 33
   PentecostThe Holy Spirit descends on the apostles in Jerusalem. Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants all trace themselves back to this day.
2. 325
   The Council of NicaeaThe council confesses the Son "of one essence with the Father". The Creed it began is said in all three branches of this tree.
3. 787
   The Seventh CouncilThe second Council of Nicaea defends the veneration of icons. Orthodox and Catholics receive it. Protestant churches don't count it as binding, and the Reformed would later clear images out of their churches.
4. 1054
   East and West partRome and Constantinople divide. Everything else in this story happens in the Latin West. That part is told in Orthodox vs Catholic.
5. 1517
   Luther's Ninety-five ThesesIn Wittenberg, the Augustinian friar Martin Luther protests the sale of indulgences. Within a few years he is teaching that sinners are justified by faith alone and that Scripture stands above popes and councils. At the Diet of Worms in 1521 he refuses to recant.
6. 1525
   Baptism as adultsIn Zurich, where Ulrich Zwingli has led a reform since 1519, some of his followers baptize each other as believing adults. These Anabaptists, from whom the Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites descend, begin the tradition of baptizing only those who profess faith.
7. 1530
   The Augsburg ConfessionLutheran princes present their confession of faith to Emperor Charles V. It is still the defining Lutheran statement, and it is the text that would later be sent to Constantinople.
8. 1534
   The Church of EnglandHenry VIII's Act of Supremacy makes the king head of the Church in England. Under Edward VI, Archbishop Cranmer and Elizabeth I it takes a Protestant shape, with the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-nine Articles.
9. 1536
   Calvin's InstitutesJohn Calvin publishes the Institutes of the Christian Religion and soon leads the church in Geneva. His teaching shapes the Reformed and Presbyterian churches more than anyone else's.
10. 1575
    Tübingen writes to ConstantinopleLutheran theologians send the Augsburg Confession, in Greek, to Patriarch Jeremias II, hoping for an ally against Rome. His three replies, in 1576, 1579 and 1581, agree on some points and differ on faith and works, the sacraments, the saints, and above all on reading Scripture with the Fathers. He closes: "Go your own way, and do not send us further letters on doctrine but only letters written for the sake of friendship."
11. 1672
    The Synod of JerusalemA Calvinist confession printed in Geneva in 1629 under the name of Patriarch Cyril Lucaris causes a storm. Patriarch Dositheus's synod at Bethlehem answers it point by point, affirming seven Mysteries, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the longer Old Testament, and rejecting justification by faith alone.
12. 1738
    A heart "strangely warmed"At a meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, the Anglican priest John Wesley feels his heart "strangely warmed". The Methodist movement and the revivals that follow shape much of English-speaking Protestantism.
13. 1906
    Azusa StreetA revival in Los Angeles, led by William Seymour, building on Charles Parham's teaching from 1901, becomes the cradle of worldwide Pentecostalism, with its stress on baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Pentecostal and charismatic churches are now among the fastest growing in the world.
14. 1987
    A whole movement becomes OrthodoxSeventeen congregations of the Evangelical Orthodox Church, about 2,000 former evangelicals led by Peter Gillquist, are received into the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America. Many have taken the same road since.

SourcesNicaea II (787); Ninety-five Theses; Anabaptism; Augsburg Confession; Acts of Supremacy; Calvin, Institutes; OCA, Jeremias II and the Lutherans; “Lutherans Write the Patriarch”, Pravoslavie.ru; Synod of Jerusalem (1672); John Wesley; Azusa Street Revival; Peter Gillquist

III · Authority

The Bible and who reads it

This is where most of the other differences begin. Both sides hold the Bible to be God's word. They differ on where it stands and who has the last word on what it means.

For Protestants, the Bible alone is the final judge of every teaching. The Westminster Confession names "the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture" as the "supreme judge" in all controversies of religion, and the Baptist Faith and Message calls it "the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried." That doesn't mean ignoring the past: Lutherans and Anglicans say the ancient creeds and quote the Fathers often. They simply hold all of it answerable to Scripture.

For the Orthodox, Scripture is the treasure at the centre of Holy Tradition, the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church. The apostles handed on the faith by preaching before a word of the New Testament was written, and it was the Church that recognized which books belong in the Bible: St. Athanasius first listed the 27 books of the New Testament in 367. So the Orthodox read Scripture with the Fathers, the councils and the Liturgy, as one whole.

“Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.”2 Thessalonians 2:15

Both sides face the same question: when sincere Christians read the Bible differently, who decides? Protestants answer with Scripture interpreting Scripture, under the Holy Spirit. The Orthodox answer with the same Spirit, speaking through the agreement of the Fathers and councils. It was exactly this point on which the letters between Tübingen and Constantinople came to an end.

SourcesWestminster Confession 1.10; Baptist Faith and Message 2000, art. I; St. Athanasius, Letter 39 (367); Luther's canon; Thirty-nine Articles, art. VI; Confession of Dositheus, decree 2 and question 3; OCA, Jeremias II and the Lutherans

IV · Salvation

What it means to be saved

Both say we are saved by God's grace in Christ, and received by faith. The difference lies in the picture each one paints, and in how faith, works and the sacraments fit together.

• Faith and works"You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (James 2:24). Protestants read James as describing what living faith looks like; Luther himself found the letter hard to fit with Paul. The Orthodox read Paul and James as one teaching: a faith that works through love (Galatians 5:6). Both agree that no one can earn salvation.
• Being sure of salvationMany evangelicals speak of knowing they are saved from the moment of faith, and Reformed churches and most Baptists teach that true believers will persevere to the end. Lutherans, Methodists and other Arminians hold that saving faith can be lost. The Orthodox speak with hope and humility: I have been saved (Ephesians 2:8), I am being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18), and I will be saved if I endure to the end (Matthew 10:22).
• Sin and free willLutheran, Reformed, Anglican and Methodist confessions all teach that original sin brings guilt as well as corruption, and that without grace the will cannot turn to God. The Reformed say the Fall touched every part of human nature and stress God's choice of the elect, while Methodists teach that God's grace goes before us and frees the will to respond. The Orthodox usually speak of ancestral sin: from Adam we inherit death and a wounded nature, and we bear the guilt only of our own sins. Our weakened free will, moved and helped by grace, can still answer God's call.
• Where they meetNeither teaches purgatory or a treasury of merit, the late medieval teachings that set off the Reformation, and the indulgence controversy never arose in the East. In 1998 the official Lutheran–Orthodox commission issued a joint statement, Salvation: Grace, Justification and Synergy, on how the two pictures relate.

SourcesAugsburg Confession, arts. IV and XX; Westminster Confession, chs. 3, 9, 11 and 17; Methodist Articles of Religion, arts. VIII–XII; St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54; Confession of Dositheus, decrees 3, 9, 13–14; Luther on James; Lutheran World Federation, Lutheran–Orthodox dialogue

V · The family

Meet the Protestant families

"Protestant" covers churches that differ from each other a great deal. Here are the main families, roughly in the order they appeared, and the point where each one stands closest to Orthodoxy. Many Anglicans, for their part, prefer not to be called Protestant at all.

SourcesAugsburg Confession; Lutheran Mariology (Formula of Concord, SD VIII.24); Thirty-nine Articles, art. XXV; Westminster Confession, chs. 3, 28–29; Anabaptism; Baptists; Baptist Faith and Message 2000, art. VII; Methodist Articles of Religion, arts. XVI–XVIII; Assemblies of God, Statement of Fundamental Truths, §§6–8; Nondenominational Christianity; Ted A. Campbell, John Wesley and Christian Antiquity (1991)

VI · Where they differ

The key differences

Each difference below sets the two side by side. Since Protestant churches vary, the Protestant column gives the most common view and names the main exceptions. This is an Orthodox website, and we've tried to describe Protestants as they describe themselves.

VII · If that's you

Protestant and curious?

Many people come to Orthodoxy after years in a Protestant church, often by way of reading the early Church. If that's you, here's what to expect.

• What will feel familiarScripture everywhere. The Liturgy is woven from Bible verses, the Psalms are sung at every service, the Epistle and Gospel are read every Sunday, and Christ is at the centre of it all.
• What will feel newIcons, incense, standing, the sign of the cross, and the honour given to Mary. Give it time, and ask why. Every one of these has a reason you can trace to the early Church.
• Read the early ChurchMany converts start with the letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch, written around 107 on the way to his martyrdom, the Didache, and St. Athanasius's On the Incarnation.
• Talk to a priestYour questions are welcome, the hard ones included. There is no pressure, and you can visit for as long as you like before deciding anything.
• How reception worksThere's a season as a catechumen, often several months to a year. Christians already baptized with water in the name of the Holy Trinity are usually received by Chrismation, though some parishes and jurisdictions baptize. Your priest and bishop decide.

Ready for the next step? Read what to expect at your first Divine Liturgy, see how to become Orthodox, or look up any word you hear in the Orthodox glossary.

SourcesErickson, “The Reception of Non-Orthodox into the Orthodox Church”, SVTQ 41 (1997); St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation

VIII · Summary

Everything at a glance

Topic	Orthodox	Protestant
Final authority	Scripture, within Holy Tradition	Scripture alone
Old Testament	The Septuagint, with Wisdom, Sirach and others	The 39 books of the Hebrew canon
Salvation	Union with God by grace, with our cooperation	Justification by grace through faith alone
The Church	One visible Church, in apostolic succession	All believers, in many denominations
The Eucharist	Truly Christ's Body and Blood, every Sunday	From real presence (Lutheran) to memorial (Baptist)
Baptism	Infants and adults, by triple immersion	Infants in some churches, believers only in others
Sacraments	Seven chief Mysteries (the number is not strictly fixed)	Two sacraments (Lutherans sometimes add absolution), or two "ordinances"
Mary	Theotokos, ever-virgin, asked to pray for us	Mother of Jesus, honoured as a model of faith
The saints	Asked to pray for us	Honoured as examples
Icons	Venerated	Not venerated; religious art in some churches, little or none in others
Clergy	Bishops, priests and deacons; men only	Pastors and ministers; many ordain women
The departed	Prayed for at every Liturgy	Generally not prayed for
The Creed	Nicene, without the filioque	In liturgical churches, the Nicene Creed with the filioque and the Apostles' Creed; many evangelical churches use no creed in worship
Purgatory	Rejected by both

IX · Questions

Questions

Is the Orthodox Church just Catholicism without the pope?

No. The two have much in common, but they differ on more than the pope: the filioque in the Creed, purgatory and indulgences, how grace and original sin are understood, and many points of worship. Several of the things Protestants objected to in Rome were never taught in the East. Our guide to Orthodox vs Catholic covers it in full.

Do Orthodox Christians read the Bible?

Yes, constantly. Readings from the Epistles and Gospels are set for every day of the year, the whole Psalter is read through every week in monasteries, and the services themselves are made up largely of Scripture. Orthodox Christians are encouraged to read the Bible at home every day. In English, The Orthodox Study Bible (2008) gives a translation of the Septuagint Old Testament with notes from the Fathers.

SourcesOrthodox Study Bible; Hopko, The Orthodox Faith

Why do the Orthodox pray to Mary and the saints?

In the same way you might ask a friend at church to pray for you. "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16), and the saints in heaven are more alive than we are, since God "is not the God of the dead but of the living" (Luke 20:38). The Orthodox ask the saints for their prayers and worship God alone. Christ remains the one Mediator, and the saints pray to God through Him.

Do the Orthodox believe in "once saved, always saved"?

No. The Orthodox see salvation as a living relationship with God that a person can grow in, or walk away from. That is why the Fathers speak of salvation in the past, present and future at once, and why St. Paul says to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you" (Philippians 2:12–13).

Do the Orthodox think Protestants are saved?

The Orthodox Church doesn't pronounce on anyone's final salvation, which belongs to God alone. It teaches that the fullness of the faith and the Mysteries is found in the Orthodox Church, and it gladly recognizes the love for Christ in other Christians. As Orthodox teachers often put it: we know where the Church is, but we cannot say where it is not.

Can a Protestant take Communion at an Orthodox church?

Holy Communion is received by Orthodox Christians who have prepared for it, because it expresses full membership in one Church and one faith. Visitors stay in their place and pray, and in most parishes they're welcome to take the blessed bread (antidoron) at the end. See what to expect at your first Liturgy.

Why was there no Reformation in the Orthodox East?

The Reformation answered problems in the late medieval Western Church: the sale of indulgences, the papacy's claims, and the theology of merit and purgatory. The East had a different history. It had no doctrine of purgatory or a treasury of merit, its parish priests could be married, its services were in languages close to those the people spoke, and everyone received Communion from the chalice. In the sixteenth century much of the Orthodox world was also living under Ottoman rule.

Have well-known Protestants become Orthodox?

Many. In 1987 Peter Gillquist, a former leader of Campus Crusade for Christ, brought some 2,000 evangelicals into the Antiochian Orthodox Church. The writer Frederica Mathewes-Green, once an Episcopalian, became Orthodox in 1993. Jaroslav Pelikan, a Lutheran pastor and one of the great historians of Christian doctrine, was received into the Orthodox Church in America in 1998.

SourcesPeter Gillquist; Frederica Mathewes-Green; Jaroslav Pelikan

How does a Protestant become Orthodox?

Start by visiting a parish and talking to the priest. After a season as a catechumen you are received into the Church, usually by Chrismation if you were baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, though some jurisdictions baptize. Our guide to how to become Orthodox walks through each step.

X · Sources

Sources and further reading

Every claim on this page can be checked. Protestant teaching is cited from the churches' own confessions and statements of faith wherever possible, and Orthodox teaching from the Fathers, the councils and Orthodox writers.

Spotted an error, or something that doesn't describe your church fairly? Tell us on our Discord and we'll fix it.