The saints of the church are authoritative in my tradition. I didn't quote St Vincent of Lerins because I expect you or anyone else to listen to him because we consider him a saint. If that were the case, I would have just said "St Vincent says x, you have to do it." I put those quotes because what he wrote was thoughtful, introspective, and came at a challenge issue from multiple angles in a way that makes a lot of sense. I don't think you need to think he is a saint to consider the value in what he wrote. And, as far as I can tell, you haven't actually voiced any objection to what he said.
Quote:
Please cite the Biblical verses that say that unity in the faith is found through Baptism and the Eucharist
I already referenced the scriptures above. I quoted John 17:21-23, Ephesians 4:4-6, 1 Corinthians 10:17, and Romans 12:5. That's not really exhaustive, but the most direct and unarguable one is that St Paul says quite clearly "
because there is one loaf, we are united into one Body." That is explicitly about the Eucharist. As for baptism, one baptism because there is only one baptism into Christ Jesus. St Paul says with regard to unity (which is where this began) that we find it in the Spirit in the bond of peace, one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. The Body is Christ's body, we are members of it. That body is animated by the Holy Spirit. Unity is achieved in that same Spirit. That body has one faith, one baptism, and one God.
Just like you cannot become an Israelite without circumcision and cannot eat the Passover without being circumcised, you cannot become a Christian without baptism and cannot eat the Eucharist (the New Passover) without being baptized.
Quote:
What do you consider the Ecumenical councils? Do the EO and the RCC agree on the dispositive/authoritative councils? What about modern councils? Do you consider the work of the conservative Protestants in the early 20th Century that established the "fundamentals of the faith" to be an ecumenical council?
We recognize seven ecumenical councils. The EO and Roman church agree on the seven before the schism. There is an eighth that got contentious after the schism. After the schism Rome held councils without the East which we do not agree are ecumenical.
Not sure what you mean by modern councils. And no, I don't consider the councils of the 20th century from people who are outside of my faith - removed by over a thousand years of schism - with no input from my faith - to be ecumenical in any sense or meaning of the word.
Quote:
Do you agree with those fundamentals? If not, which ones do you disagree with and why?
I don't know what they are, so I don't know if I agree with them or not.
Quote:
A bunch of words which convey little meaning
Which words don't you understand?
Quote:
Of course we all have to agree to the fundamentals of the faith, otherwise one is not even a Christian. But from my perspective, the EO and the RCC have added a lot of baggage to the fundamentals. That baggage may not be dogma, but you refuse to "have communion" with us, which is the essence of divisiveness.
Yeah. Let's start with Baptism and the Eucharist. You don't practice baptism the way I do. You don't believe the Eucharist the way I do. You may not even accept the Nicene creed, which is THE criteria of the Christian faith and has been for 1700 years. If we can't get over that, who cares about the alleged "baggage"? What is more fundamental than Baptism and the Eucharist?
You can get rankled if you like, but again - the scriptures are clear. The "faith passed down once for all to the saints" that contains "the teaching of the Apostles, the communion in the breaking of bread, and the prayers" is the faith of the Apostles as taught by Christ and there can be no other. This is a question of fact, not opinion. The Apostles taught something. The people of their day practiced their faith in a certain way. They used certain writings as scriptures, and considered the teaching of certain people authoritative.
If your faith does not align with that, it cannot be the faith that was passed down from the Apostles.