Eastern Orthodox Church

Angara River, Russia (photo from trekearth.com)

For my PhD dissertation research I have had contact with a couple of Orthodox priests. I am not very familiar with the Eastern Orthodox Church. I am adopted and according to a piece of paper given to my adoptive parents and now in my possession, my biological paternal family was Roman Catholic, and my biological maternal family was Eastern Orthodox. I end up being a Presbyterian. The term Orthodox or Orthodoxy is defined within Christianity as meaning a right belief, as opposed to heresy. Grenz, Guretzki, and Nordling (1999: 87). The terms are used in a narrower sense to describe the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Grenz, Guretzki and Nordling. (1999: 88).

P.D. Steeves explains that the theological dimension of the 1054 schism between the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church had to primarily do with the East's rejection of papal authority. Steeves (1996: 805). The Eastern Church viewed the papacy as having honour, but saw all bishops with correct teaching as being equally successors to Peter. Steeves (1996: 805). Earle E. Cairns writes that another difference between the two churches was that in the East marriage was allowed for those in the clergy below the rank of bishop. In the West clergy were not allowed to marry. Cairns (1981: 203). The West and East disagreed in 867 on the filioque (and from the Son in Latin) clause inserted in the Nicene Creed as the West accepted the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Son, but this was rejected by the East. Cairns (1981: 205). Although Eastern Orthodoxy holds to the Trinity it disagreed with the idea of two originating principles within the Godhead as the Holy Spirit would proceed from the Father and Son, and not just the Father. Steeves (1996: 805). Many Eastern Orthodox thinkers could accept a formulation where the Holy Spirit proceeds through the Father, or with the Son. Steeves (1996: 805).

From my perspective, within the New Testament it is very debatable to state that Peter was an apostle that had more authority than any other, in particular in light of the fact that Paul most certainly wrote more New Testament books and was a more important theological figure. Concerning marriage, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:7 that he wished all men could be like him and he admits that not all have his gift which seemingly means in context, celibacy and contentment being single. I do not see any Biblical command that all ministers of the gospel should be single. With the issue of the Trinity, Erickson explains that the Holy Spirit does subordinate himself to the Son's ministry, but this does not make him less equal as God. Erickson (1994: 338). In John 20: 22-23, Jesus had his disciples receive the Holy Spirit for their ministry. It could be in a sense stated here that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son, under the Father's authority.

CAIRNS, EARLE E. (1981) Christianity Through The Centuries, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.

ERICKSON, MILLARD. (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

GRENZ, STANLEY J. DAVID GURETZKI and CHERITH FEE NORDLING (1999) Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, Downers Grove, Ill., InterVarsity Press.

STEEVES, P.D. (1996) 'Orthodox Tradition, The' in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.

According to:

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/denominations/orthodoxy.htm

The denomination now known as Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, or the Orthodox Church began as the eastern half of Christendom, the site of the former Byzantine Empire.

Today, the highest concentration of Orthodox Christians remains in this area as well as in Russia, although Orthodoxy can be found in countries throughout the world. Approximately 225 million people worldwide are Orthodox Christians.

History of Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy as a distinct branch of Christianity arose as a result of the first major divide in Christendom occurred in the 11th century with the "Great Schism" between East and West. The separation was not sudden or unexpected, however. For centuries there had been significant religious, cultural, and political differences between the Eastern and Western churches. Religiously, the two regions had different views on topics such as the use of images (icons), the nature of the Holy Spirit, and the date on which Easter should be celebrated.

Culturally, the Greek East has always tended to be more philosophical, abstract and mystical in its thinking, whereas the Latin West tends toward a more pragmatic and legal-minded approach. (According to an old saying, "the Greeks built metaphysical systems; the Romans built roads.")

The political aspects of the split date back to the Emperor Constantine, who moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople. Upon his death, the empire was divided between his two sons, one of whom ruled the western half of the empire from Rome while the other ruled the eastern region from Constantinople.

These various factors finally came to a head in 1054 AD, when Pope Leo IX excommunicated the patriarch of Constantinople (the leader of the Eastern church). In response, the patriarch anathematized (condemned) the Pope, and the Christian church has been divided into West ("Roman Catholic") and East ("Greek Orthodox") ever since. A glimmer of hope for reconciliation came at the onset of the Crusades later that century, when the West came to the aid of the East against the Turks. But especially after the Fourth Crusade (1200-1204), in which crusaders sacked and occupied Constantinople, the only result was an increase in hostility between the two churches.

However, attempts at reconciliation have been renewed in recent years. In 1964, the Second Vatican Council issued this statement praising its Eastern counterparts:

The Catholic Church values highly the institutions of the Eastern Churches, their liturgical rites, ecclesiastical traditions, and their ordering of Christian life. For in those churches, which are distinguished by their venerable antiquity, there is clearly evident the tradition which has come from the Apostles through the Fathers and which is part of the divinely revealed, undivided heritage of the Universal Church. {2}
On December 7, 1965, the mutual excommunication of 1054 was officially removed by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras.

Organization and Religious Authority
The Orthodox Church is organized into several regional, autocephalous (governed by their own head bishops) churches. The Patriarch of Constantinople has the honor of primacy, but does not carry the same authority as the Pope does in Catholicism. Major Orthodox churches include the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Church of Alexandria, the Church of Jerusalem, and the Orthodox Church in America.

The religious authority for Orthodox Christianity is not the Pope as in Catholicism, nor the individual Christian with his Bible as in Protestantism, but the scriptures as interpreted by the seven ecumenical councils of the church.

Orthodoxy also relies heavily on the writings of early Greek fathers such as Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great. Although some Orthodox confessions of faith were produced in the 17th century as counterparts to those of the Reformation, these are regarded as having only historical significance.

Distinctive Orthodox Beliefs
As in all of Christianity, doctrine is important in Eastern Orthodoxy. Orthodox Christians attach great importance to the Bible, the conclusions of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, and right ("orthodox") belief. However, the Eastern Churches approach religious truth differently than the Western Churches. For Orthodox Christians, truth must be experienced personally. There is thus less focus on the exact definition of religious truth and more on the practical and personal experience of truth in the life of the individual and the church. Precise theological definition, when it occurs, is primarily for the purpose of excluding error.

This emphasis on personal experience of truth flows into Orthodox theology, which has a rich heritage. Especially in the first millenium of Christian history, the Eastern Church has produced significant theological and philosophical thought.

In the Western churches, both Catholic and Protestant, sin, grace, and salvation are seen primarily in legal terms. God gave humans freedom, they misused it and broke God's commandments, and now deserve punishment. God's grace results in forgiveness of the transgression and freedom from bondage and punishment.

The Eastern churches see the matter in a different way. For Orthodox theologians, humans were created in the image of God and made to participate fully in the divine life. The full communion with God that Adam and Eve enjoyed meant complete freedom and true humanity, for humans are most human when they are completely united with God.

The result of sin, then, was a blurring of the image of God and a barrier between God and man. The situation in which mankind has been ever since is an unnatural, less human state, which ends in the most unnatural aspect: death. Salvation, then, is a process not of justification or legal pardon, but of reestablishing man's communion with God. This process of repairing the unity of human and divine is sometimes called "deification." This term does not mean that humans become gods but that humans join fully with God's divine life.

The Eastern Orthodox view of the Trinity also differs somewhat from that of the Christian West. In its Christology, Orthodoxy tends to emphasize the divine, preexistent nature of Christ, whereas the West focuses more on his human nature. However, both East and West affirm Christ's full humanity and full divinity as defined by the ecumenical councils. In fact, Christ's humanity is also central to Orthodox faith, in that the divine became human so that humanity might be raised up to the divine life.

The process of being reunited to God, made possible by Christ, is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit plays a central role in Orthodox worship: the liturgy usually begins with a prayer to the Spirit and invocations made prior to sacraments are addressed to the Spirit.

It is in the view of the Holy Spirit that Orthodox theology differs from Western theology, and although the difference can seem rather techinical and abstract, it was a major contributor to the parting of East from West in the 11th century. This dispute is known as the Filioque Controversy, as it centers on the Latin word filioque ("and from the Son"), which was added to the Nicene Creed in Spain in the 6th century. The original creed proclaimed only that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father." The purpose of the addition was to reaffirm the divinity of the Son, but Eastern theologians objected both to the unilateral editing of a creed produced by an ecumenical council and to the edit itself. For Eastern Christians, both the Spirit and the Son have their origin in the Father.

Orthodox Worship and Religious Practices
Orthodox worship is highly liturgical and is central to the history and life of the church:

By its theological richness, spiritual significance, and variety, the worship of the Orthodox Church represents one of the most significant factors in this church's continuity and identity. It helps to account for the survival of Christianity during the many centuries of Muslim rule in the Middle East and the Balkans when the liturgy was the only source of religious knowledge or experience. {1}

References
"Eastern Orthodoxy." Encyclopædia Britannica (Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service, 2004).
Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches, 1964.