Well, the
Orthodox Church is "catholic" in the original meaning of
the word: "whole, complete, and universal." But centuries
before the Reformation split Western Europe between Roman Catholics
and Protestants, Orthodox Christians were resisting Latin doctrinal
innovations and the Roman Pope's attempts to become supreme over the
Church.
Before there were Protestants, before the Roman Catholic Church
began innovating, there weren't denominations; there was just the
Church. That early Church hasn't gone anywhere. It's still around,
and it's Orthodox.
That's a pretty bold claim, isn't it?
It is
a bold statement -- but when you consider that Jesus Christ promised
that he would found His Church, that His Spirit would lead her into
all truth, and that the gates of hell would not prevail against her
- then it makes sense that the community of believers, established
by Christ on the foundation of prophets and apostles, should continue
uninterrupted until He comes again.
Jesus never left room for us to believe that the Church would die
out for a thousand years, or need to be re-created from scratch. In
response to abuses in medieval western European Christianity, the
Reformers felt they had to reinvent Christianity. However many
people are dismayed at the implicit assumption that Christ's Church
has failed and must be re-established by man; instead, they've taken
Jesus at His word and begun seeking out the apostolic community that
has continued in unbroken, organic unity and faithfulness to the
present day. The Orthodox Church demonstrably is that community.
Here's
a surprising article on the origin of the division between East and
West:
The
Fundamental Difference Between The East and West
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