"Unlike rabbinic Judaism and it's related heresy Islam" +100 "Christianity is not a religion of the book" The study of God's Word is not optional for Christian saints. (Matthew 4:4, John 8:31, John 15:7). "Focused around a historic event, God revealing Himself through Christ" Yes, and saints should study The Word in order to test themselves against Scripture to ensure that they are in faith (2 Corinthians 13:5, John 8:31–32). "The Word or God is Jesus Christ" The Word *became* Flesh, but God's Word, the gospels of Christ, and the account of the founding of the church remains. Scripture is not optional dessert, it's the real meal. Jesus is tied to the word. Eat this. Drink this. Stay alive. It's not poetry, but survival. (Matthew 4:4, John 6:35) "The Divine Liturgy" I've attended Orthodox liturgies and they are very beautiful. Very little time granted towards distributing God's Word, tho. Are you and your fellows in your Bible often? "The Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition are not seperable" My feeling is that both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions overindex on "apostolic succession" as a means to justify themselves as the one true church. Scripture and the ways of the church must be passed down responsibly, and even the more ancient traditions have drifted and invented ritual and ceremony not commanded by Christ or performed by the apostles. Indeed, the Orthodox and Catholic churches are ancient, but from my research they merely represent the dominant traditions of both an Eastern and Western church of Christ. The world is distributed, not universal, yet even as traditions and churches "splinter", God's elect people are in perfect harmony in Christ. There can be no disunity in the Godhead nor in the surety of salvation and fellowship amongst God's people in His Son. Christ's bride cannot in reality be divided and saying so would make Christ a liar. (Matthew 12:25, Ephesians 4:4–6, John 17:20–23) In peace and love.