>>515606001
>Each individual's interpretation is valid
Some people’s interpretations are more valid than others. Those who dedicated their entire life to it, have a far deeper grasp than some ordinary person who has picked up a Bible for the first time and is filled with various biases which may lead to erroneous interpretations. Someone who spent three decades at Mount Athos will be in a more Christ-like state than Joe Schmoe from the suburbs of Dallas who works as a used car salesman.
>priests may work as educated guides
This has always been the traditional Christian stance, where priests advise the laity and the bishops advise the priests. Your quip about intermediaries is more originates from a counter-reformation idea which was a reaction against the no intermediaries idea.
Yet simultaneously, the orthodox priest has been bestowed various spiritual powers (sacraments) from Christ himself, through an unbroken chain of apostolic succession, and these are rather necessary support structures if one wishes to grasp the full mystery of Christianity.
>good deeds
The orthodox position is that neither good deeds nor faith alone can bring salvation. Technically, only faith is needed, but in practice, good deeds and faith are connected at the hip. Faith alone leads to self-delusion because it sets you up with a mentality of “hurr durr I’m all set since I believe. I dont have to do anything.”
Now, the real question is what innovations did Rome invent? Because this is what Protestants were reacting against. What happened was instead of correcting the errors of the Roman Church, it introduced more errors in doctrine.
