[Kolokotronis]

Aw, come on WB, you gave as good as you got on that thread. Frankly, we Orthodox were rather proud of the reasoned restraint with which the overwhelming number of our Latin cousins, yourself included, dealt with the heterodox there! :)

Truth be told, there really isn't any point in going far into a discussion with "proof texters". They simply do not believe or live the same Faith that Rome and Orthodoxy do. Even their idea of "sinlessness" is different from ours and that goes a long way to understanding why they have such a problem with the Most Holy Theotokos. Certainly there are great differences between Orthodoxy and the Holy Roman Church, but they are nothing compared to the gulf between Reformed Protestantism and its spin offs and The Church. Don't let it bother you.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

You are speaking real truth. When you use the same words with people, but you and the people you are talking to have different concepts or definitions for those words, then communcation breaks down fast.

There are people who have honest debates, but for the most part, the ones I witnessed have a lot of the same old things going round and round and round again. I think it's a sport.

[wagglebee]

Certainly there are great differences between Orthodoxy and the Holy Roman Church, but they are nothing compared to the gulf between Reformed Protestantism and its spin offs and The Church.

The differences between Roman and Orthodox Catholicism do not (in modern times) act as a hinderance to dialog and cooperation between the two, for that matter neither do the differences between Catholicism and traditional mainstream Protestantism (Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, etc.). Traditional Protestants actually have a far bigger gap between themselves and these fringe groups than they do with Catholics.

[eastsider]

It's true that there's often more jousting than dialogue. Still, for the benefit of the lurkers, it is important to me not to let the challenges go unanswered, especially the dishonest ones.