To EO converts

[Dracula Girl]

If you converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, why did you convert to that and not to Catholicism?

Thank you.

[furay]

The Pope.

[Dracula Girl]

The Pope.

Maybe I should ask people to state in one or two sentences each reason.

*Also, this is simply a question thread for my own edification, not a debate thread. I could see that happening by asking for a slightly longer reason.

[One Bad Pig]

The filioque was the first distinguishing feature (along with the pope) that I became aware of between the two groups, and after studying the issue I came to agree with the Orthodox position. This was well before I had any intentions of converting. The manner of promulgating the filioque, clerical celibacy, the need for Reformation, and the demonstrated lack of church discipline the recent child abuse scandals all contributed to pushing me away from Roman Catholicism.

[mostlyharmless]

If you converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, why did you convert to that and not to Catholicism?

Thank you.

I had no background in either and was quite open to converting to either. It was a very hard decision for me that I felt like I was making without enough solid facts. Intuitively the Orthodox approach to spirituality and theology makes sense to me when I read Orthodox writers. From a historical point of view I tend to find the Orthodox arguments against a universal papacy and the east west split to be slightly stronger. And theologically I disagree with the filoque in the sense it was used when added to the creed.

I do think there are some quite strong arguments for the RCC position which is why it was very hard for me.

Blessings

[Jawa Man]

For me, the issue centered on the historical presence of a belief. The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox today, even though they have been in schism for ~1500 years, still maintain almost the same beliefs, especially on the issues where the Eastern Orthodox disagree with the Catholics. The fact that two communions historically hostile to each other end up agreeing today gives a lot of weight to the idea that Orthodox theology is simply not an innovation. On the other hand, the same cannot be said for Catholic beliefs based on the same standard.