Eastern Orthodox Church

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The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world. It has between 225 and 300 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago. It is composed of numerous but theologically unified autocephalous ecclesial bodies, each shepherded by a synod of independent bishops whose duty, among other things, is to preserve and teach the Apostolic and patristic traditions and related Church practices. All Orthodox bishops trace their lineage back to one of the twelve Apostles through the process of apostolic succession.

Eastern Orthodoxy traces its history back to the Hellenized eastern portion of the Roman Empire, especially Constantinople (now Istanbul). It shares the first ecumenical councils, concerning the Trinity and the Nicene Creed, with nearly all other Christians. After Rome fell, East and West grew more separate. Meanwhile, internal schisms and the advance of Islam reduced Eastern Orthodox territory. The faith spread to the Slavs to the north, where the Russian Orthodox Church became powerful. Monks became political forces independent from the emperor. Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism split definitively in 1054. Two reunifications on paper were rejected by the Eastern Orthodox people. Constantinople fell first to Western crusaders and later to the Turks. Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches are now the most powerful.

Along with nearly all Christians, the Eastern Orthodox uphold the eternal Trinity with the Son having two distinct and complete natures: one divine and one human. They use the Nicene Creed as endorsed at the First Council of Constantinople (381),[1] as did the Latins, until the Third Council of Toledo (589) added the controversial filioque. They perform the same rites and sacraments, but with some differences in theology and many differences in practice. Their Bible is close to those of the West, especially the Catholic Vulgate, notably without the Comma Johanneum. Eastern Orthodox icons reflect an ancient opposition to statuary. Eastern Orthodox Churches are almost all members of the World Council of Churches, which includes most Protestants, but not Roman Catholics.

 
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Nomenclature

Members of the Eastern Orthodox Church usually refer to themselves as simply Orthodox. Eastern is a term often applied in the Western World for the sake of clarity. Almost from the very beginning Christians referred to the Church as the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church". Today, in addition to the Orthodox Church, a number of other Christian churches lay claim to this title (The Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and others); however, the Eastern Orthodox Church sees these other churches as break-away groups, with the Assyrians and Orientals breaking away from the church after the first few centuries and the Roman Catholics in the 11th century (see: East-West Schism). The Eastern Orthodox Church is also sometimes called the "Orthodox Catholic Church"[2], but this is not in widespread general use due to possible confusion with the Roman Catholic Church or other separate groups using this name. The term "Catholic" is referenced within Orthodoxy in English primarily in the Symbol of Faith ([1]), and is rendered in other languages, such as Russian, with a word quite distinct from the English word "Catholic" (Russian соборная - "that which is gathered together, complete, Country's like Serbia, Greece, Armenia and other Christian country's universal"[3]).[4]

The term “Orthodox” translates from the Greek to mean “Correctly Believing” or "Correctly Glorifying God" (from the adjective orthos = correct, right & the verb dokeo,-o = I see, I believe or the noun doxa = glory) and was adopted by the Church in order to distinguish itself from what was becoming a larger and larger body of non-orthodox Christian denominations. What unites the Orthodox is theology, although there are variations in style depending on country of origin and/or local custom. These local customs are referred to as differences in “Typica” and are accepted by church leaders since they are not perceived to conflict theologically with basic Orthodox teachings. Thus it is that many Orthodox Churches adopt a national title (e.g. Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, etc.) and this title serves to distinguish which language, which bishops, and which typica is followed by that particular congregation. Members of the Church are free to associate with any congregation regardless of typical differences though most members tend to gravitate to whichever group makes them feel most comfortable. Differences in praxis tend to be slight; they involve such things as the order in which a particular set of hymns are sung or what time a particular service is performed. In general, an Orthodox Christian could travel the globe and feel familiar with the services performed on Sunday even if he did not know the language.

Several other ancient Churches in Eastern Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa also use the term Orthodox, but are distinct from the Eastern Orthodox Church as described in this article.

Organization and leadership

The Orthodox Church considers Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church and the Church to be His body. Thus, despite widely held popular belief outside the Orthodox cultures, there is no one bishop at the head of the Orthodox Church; references to the Patriarch of Constantinople, as a leader equivalent or comparable to a pope in the Roman Church are mistaken. It is believed that authority and the grace of God is directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and clergy through the laying on of hands—a practice started by the apostles, and that this unbroken historical and physical link is an essential element of the true church (Acts 8:17, 1 Tim 4:14, Heb 6:2). Each bishop has a territory (see) over which he governs. His main duty is to make sure the traditions and practices of the Church are preserved. Bishops are equal in authority and cannot interfere in the jurisdiction of another bishop. Administratively, these bishops and their territories are organized into various autocephalous groups or synods of bishops who gather together at least twice a year to discuss the state of affairs within their respective sees. While bishops and their autocephalous synods have the ability to administer guidance in individual cases, their actions do not usually set precedents that affect the entire Church.