Christian Orthodoxy

Although it has no central authority, the doctrine America. The autonomous churches are those of the
of Orthodox Christianity is based on holy tradi- Sinai, Finland, Japan, China, and Ukraine.
tion, especially the tradition established by the The Oriental Orthodox churches are those that
seven ecumenical councils that were held during may be traced to disputes over the Third and Fourth
the fourth through eighth centuries CE. The East- Ecumenical Councils. The Assyrian Church of the
ern Orthodox Church initiated its separation East, sometimes erroneously referred to as “Nesto-
from the Roman Catholic Church of the West in rian,” is generally regarded as having not recognized
the ninth century, and its theology differs from the Third Council. Those churches generally regarded
that of the Western denominations. as having rejected the Fourth Council are the Arme-
nian, Coptic (Egyptian), and Ethiopian churches, and

T he Orthodox Church is a communion of

independent Eastern churches organized geo-
graphically, usually by country. Together they consti-
the Syrian churches of Antioch and India.

heological Authority
tute the second-largest Christian denomination after
the Roman Catholic Church. Orthodoxy sees itself While Western Christians dispute whether the proper
as the one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church sources of theological authority are the Bible alone
founded by Jesus Christ. or the Bible together with the tradition of the church,
Orthodox Christianity understands there to be one
Eastern and Oriental source, holy tradition. This tradition is rooted first
Orthodox Churches of all in the Bible, and then in the seven ecumeni-
cal councils (including what is commonly called the
Most Orthodox churches belong to the Eastern Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, or Symbol of
Orthodox family of churches, with a smaller num- Faith, completed in 381 CE), and in later councils,
ber belonging to the Oriental Orthodox family. the writings of the church fathers, the liturgy, the
In Eastern Orthodoxy, the churches are classified as canons of ecumenical and local councils, and the
either autocephalous (completely self-governing) or holy icons.
autonomous (mostly self-governing, but dependent When it comes to the formulation of church dogma,
upon a mother church). First among the autocepha- however, the Eastern Orthodox churches accept the
lous churches are the four ancient patriarchates that validity of the first seven ecumenical councils. These
remain Orthodox; they are, in order of seniority, the meetings of bishops in the first eight centuries of the
churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and church’s history, all convened to settle theological
Jerusalem. These are joined by the eleven autocepha- disputes within the Church, are considered the most
lous churches of Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, authoritative expressions of Christian doctrine. The
Georgia, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania, the Czech First Council of Nicaea (325 CE) affirmed the human-
Republic, and Slovakia, and the Orthodox Church in ity and divinity of Christ and composed the first two-

538
 CHRISTIAN ORTHODOXY • 539

he Great Schism

The break between East and West, between the

Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic
Church, is often dated to 1054 CE, but the history is
more complex. The Great Schism was the result of
an estrangement between the East and the West that
developed over several centuries due to differences in
culture, politics, and language, as well as theology.
The chief theological controversies that exacerbated
the estrangement and led ultimately to a break in
communion had to do with the authority of the
Roman pope and a change in the Nicene-Constanti-
nopolitan Creed. Both issues led to the so-called Pho-
tian Schism of the ninth century and to the mutual
excommunications that occurred in 1054.
The five centers of the church in the fi rst mil-
lennium CE, the so-called Pentarchy, were Rome,
Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
Rome, as the first capital of the empire and as the
traditional location of the death of two Apostles,
Peter and Paul, was honored by being accorded pri-
A page from Miroslav’s Gospel (c. 1180) an macy. In the East, the proximity of the patriarchal
illuminated manuscript resulting from the fusion of
sees to one another functioned like a system of checks
Western (Italian) and Eastern (Byzantine) elements.
The text is now housed at the National Museum of and balances, allowing the East to maintain the pol-
Serbia in Belgrade. ity of autocephalous churches in communion with
one another. But Rome was alone in the West, and
over time the office of the pope began asserting more
thirds of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. The and more authority, even to the point of claiming
First Council of Constantinople (381 CE) affirmed the jurisdiction over the Eastern churches. The proclama-
divinity of the Holy Spirit and added the final third tion of papal infallibility in the nineteenth century
of the Creed. The Council of Ephesus (431 CE) af- added a further obstacle to reunification.
firmed the unity of Christ and declared his mother, The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed declares
the Virgin Mary, to be Theotokos (“birthgiver of that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father.”
God”). The Council of Chalcedon (451 CE) defined Beginning in Spain in the sixth century, however,
the human and divine natures of Christ, as opposed some Western Christians began adding a word
to the “one nature” doctrine of the Monophysites. The (Filioque) to the Latin translation of the Creed that
Second Council of Constantinople (553 CE) continued results in the declaration that the Spirit proceeds
the work of Chalcedon. The Third Council of Con- “from the Father and the Son.” Despite efforts to add
stantinople (680–681 CE) condemned the Monothelite this word to the creed at Rome, it was not officially
(“one-will”) heresy, affirming that Christ has two wills added to the text until 1054 CE. The Filioque issue is
(divine and human). The Second Council of Nicaea really twofold. On the one hand, there is a possible
(787 CE) condemned the iconoclasts (“icon breakers”) dogmatic dispute. If by Filioque the West means that
and upheld the proper veneration of icons. the existence of the Holy Spirit has two sources (the
540 • BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD HISTORY

theological transaction. Thus it is the Church’s wor-

ship, especially its eucharistic liturgy, that is the locus
of theology, and not the classroom or the library. The
theologian is not the academic but the one “who prays
truly,” in the words of Evagrios of Pontus (c. 346–399
CE). Orthodox theology is therefore best understood

as doxological in character.
The Orthodox Church celebrates at least seven
mysteries or sacraments: baptism, chrismation (con-
firmation), Eucharist, repentance (confession), mar-
riage, anointing of the sick (unction), and ordination.
The principal forms for celebrating the Eucharist are
the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (used most
of the year), the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil (used ten
times annually), the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
(used on weekdays during Lent and the first part of
Holy Week), and the Divine Liturgy of St. James (tra-
ditionally used on the feast of St. James of Jerusalem,
Clergymen of the Eastern Orthodox Church. From but there is a growing use of this liturgy on other days
Costumes of All Nations: 123 Plates, Containing over during the year). While refraining from speculation
1500 Coloured Costume Pictures by the First Munich
as to the metaphysics of eucharistic presence, Ortho-
Artists. London: Grevel and Co., 1913.
doxy believes strongly in the real presence of Christ’s
body and blood.
The Church year begins 1 September and includes
Father and the Son), then the East sees the resulting the pre-Nativity fast (Advent); Nativity (Christmas);
subordination of the Spirit to the Son as heresy. If Theophany (Epiphany); Great Lent; Pascha (Easter);
the West means something else, however, such as the Pentecost; and the additional fasts preceding the feast
position of St. Maximos the Confessor (580–662 CE) of the Apostles Peter and Paul (29 June) and the Dor-
that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and through mition (Assumption) of the Theotokos (15 August).
(dia) the Son, then a resolution of the theological The Twelve Great Feasts of the Church are the Nativ-
difference is possible. On the other hand, the East ity of the Theotokos (8 September); the Exaltation of
clearly believes that no one autocephalous church the Cross (14 September); the Nativity of Christ (25
has the authority to change the Creed, which was December); Theophany (6 January); the Meeting of
the product of two ecumenical councils. So even if Our Lord (2 February); the Annunciation (25 March);
there is a dogmatic resolution, the Orthodox position the Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday);
would still require the elimination of Filioque from the Ascension; the Day of Pentecost; the Transfigura-
the Creed. tion (6 August); and the Dormition (Assumption) of
the Theotokos (15 August). Most Orthodox churches
A Liturgical heology reckon these dates according to the Julian calendar,
although since the beginning of the early twentieth
The etymology of the term Orthodox is twofold, century, a number have adopted the secular Grego-
having the meaning of either “right belief,” “right rian calendar for fi xed dates. The Paschal cycle of
glory,” or both. This is suggestive of Orthodoxy’s movable feasts is still reckoned according to the Julian
fundamental assumption that worship is the primary calendar.
 CHRISTIAN ORTHODOXY • 541

Vstriecha krestnago khoda

na prazdnik Vsiekh Sviatykh
(Procession for the Feast of
All Saints) 1945.

In addition to the mysteries, the Church observes the term that identifies the inextricable relationship
the canonical hours of prayer: vespers, compline, between dogma and life, between the teaching of the
the midnight office, matins, the third hour, the sixth Church and one’s personal experience. In the Ortho-
hour, and the ninth hour. As in the West, these dox view, theology that is not experienced is useless,
are rarely celebrated fully outside of monasteries. and mysticism without theology is mere subjectivity.
However, most parishes celebrate Saturday night It is noteworthy that the East has given only three
vespers and/or Sunday morning matins. of its saints the title of “theologian”—St. John
the Evangelist in the first century, St. Gregory of
heological Positions Nazianzus (329–389 CE), and St. Symeon the New
Theologian (c. 949–1022 CE).
In addition to differences from Western Christianity
as to the sources of theological authority, the theol- Apophatic heology
ogy of the Orthodox East is characterized by numer-
ous theological positions, also known as theological The Orthodox tradition distinguishes between apo-
distinctives, that greatly affect its understanding phatic (negative) theology, and kataphatic (positive)
of God, humankind, and the economy of salva- theology. While each has a role within the Ortho-
tion. Because Orthodoxy did not undergo Roman dox theological tradition, the apophatic is clearly
Catholic scholasticism or the Protestant Reforma- preeminent. Following the lead of (Pseudo) Denys
tion that resulted, the East has avoided many of the the Areopagite (fifth or sixth century CE), the East
theological polarities associated with the internecine emphasizes the radical inability of human thought
struggles of the West. and language to describe God and “utterly excludes
all abstract and purely intellectual theology which
Mystical heology would adapt the mysteries of the wisdom of God
to human ways of thought” (Lossky 2002). The
For the Christian East, theology—dogmatic, moral, theological ascent to God must be apophatic.
or otherwise—must be lived. “Mystical theology” is Kataphatic theology, on the other hand, is a kind
542 • BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD HISTORY

theology generally begins with the one Being and

then proceeds to a consideration of the three Per-
sons. The value of this generalization is limited, but
it is accurate to say that the East has emphasized the
three Persons of the Trinity more radically than the
West. Perhaps the most famous Orthodox icon of all
is the Old Testament Trinity painted by the Russian
iconographer St. Andrei Rublev, c. 1410. It is a depic-
tion of the three angels who appeared to Abraham in
Genesis 18, an appearance understood by the East to
be a Theophany (“manifestation”) of the Trinity.

Original Sin

Western Christianity’s understanding of many sub-

jects, not least of them the question of Adam’s sin in
the Garden of Eden, has been greatly shaped by the
thinking of St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE).
Unfortunately, Augustine’s view of original sin was
predicated on St. Jerome’s Latin (mis-) translation of
Romans 5:12, which Jerome misunderstood to say
that all humans bear the guilt of Adam’s sin, and not
merely the consequence of that sin, which is death. To
avoid association with Augustine’s view, Orthodox
Christians generally prefer to refer to Adam’s sin as
“ancestral sin.” Christian Orthodoxy also rejects the
Calvinist notion that humankind is utterly depraved
as a result of the Fall and the resulting denial of
human freedom.
Greek Orthodox churches, like this one in Warsaw
in the early twentieth century, share distinctive he Atonement
elements of architecture, especially onion-shaped
domes topped by crosses. New York Public Library. Western Christians since the eleventh century have
largely understood the reconciliation between God
of descent in which God manifests himself within and humankind in terms associated with St. Anselm
the created order. of Canterbury (1033–1109). His “satisfaction theory”
of the Atonement seems to portray God as requiring
he Trinity satisfaction for the sins of humankind, with Christ
undergoing the required vengeance. In contrast, the
At the heart of all Orthodox worship, theology, spiri- Orthodox or “classical” theory sees the Cross as the
tuality, and life is the Holy Trinity—the Father, the victory of Christ over the forces of evil. More than
Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is commonplace tosay that, however, the Christian East understands the sal-
that Eastern theology begins with the three Persons vific work of Christ as considerably wider and more
and goes on to affirm the one Being, while Western far ranging than the Crucifixion alone. Humankind
 CHRISTIAN ORTHODOXY • 543

was separated from God by our nature, by sin, and Spiritual heology
by death; Christ overcame these obstacles through his
Incarnation (by which he assumed and therefore healed The classic text of Orthodox spirituality is The
human nature), his Crucifixion (by which he overcame Philokalia of the Neptic Fathers, a five-volume Greek
sin), and his Resurrection (by which he destroyed work edited by St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain
death and made all of humankind immortal). (1748–1809) and St. Makarios of Corinth (1731–
1805), published in 1782. The Philokalia (“love of
Soteriology the beautiful”) is a collection of writings on the life
of prayer ranging from the fourth to the fourteenth
Orthodoxy has been largely untouched by the West- centuries. It is associated with hesychastic (from the
ern disputes concerning justification and sanctifica- Greek hesychia, meaning “stillness”) spirituality and
tion, instead understanding salvation as a mater of gives special attention to the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus
theosis, or deification. Tracing the idea from biblical Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me”).
texts such as 2 Peter 1.4, the Gospel of John, and
the epistles of St. Paul, through the texts of patristic Science and Religion
witnesses such as St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 120–203
CE), St. Athanasius of Alexandria (298–373), and St. Because Orthodoxy has emphasized a spiritual episte-
Gregory Palamas (1296–1359), the Orthodox under- mology, or gnosiology, aimed at the deification of the
stand salvation as our becoming by grace what God creature rather than a totalizing narrative subjugated
is by nature. to biblical accounts, it has not been concerned with
either the astronomical debates sparked by Galileo
Grace versus Free Will in the seventeenth century or the creation–evolution
debate that began with the work of Charles Darwin
A great part of the Reformation debate with Roman in the nineteenth century but which was more
Catholicism centered on the relative roles of grace characteristic of the twentieth century.
and free will in human salvation. Some Protestants,
concerned to safeguard the efficacy of God’s grace, Allyne L. SMITH Jr.
went too far and denied human freedom. Orthodoxy St. Joseph Center
overcomes this opposition with its understanding of
See also Roman Catholicism
synergy, the biblical idea (as in 1 Corinthians 3:9)
that we are cooperators with God. Further Reading
Moral heology Baum, W., & Winkler, D. W. (2003). The Church of the East: A
concise history. London: RoutledgeCurzon.
Western moral theology, utilizing the insights of Cunningham, M. (2002). Faith in the Byzantine world. Downers
philosophical ethics, usually portrays the nature of Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
morality as a function of nature (natural law), utility Lossky, V. (2002). The mystical theology of the Eastern Church.
(various consequentialist theories), the character of Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press.
the moral agent (virtue ethics), or simply as a mat- Meyendorff, J. (1981). The Orthodox Church: Its past and its role
ter of God’s command or prohibition (voluntarism). in the world today (4th rev. ed.). Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s
While these elements play a role in the work of some Seminary Press.
Orthodox moral theologians, the patristic under- Meyendorff, J. (1996). Rome, Constantinople, Moscow: Histori-
standing characteristic of the tradition as a whole cal and theological studies. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s
sees the moral life as a function of theosis. Seminary Press.
544 • BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD HISTORY

Papadakis, A. (1994). The Christian East and the rise of the Smith, A. (2004). Eastern Orthodoxy (pacifism in). In G. Palmer-
papacy: The Church, 1071–1453 ad. Crestwood, NY: Fernandez (Ed.), The encyclopedia of religion and war. New
St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. York: Routledge.
Sherrard, P. (1995). The Greek East and the Latin West: A study in Smith, A., et al. (2000). Orthodoxy. In G. Ferngren (Ed.), The
the Christian tradition. Limni, Greece: Denise Harvey. history of science and religion in the Western tradition. New
Sherrard, P. (1996). Church, papacy, schism: A theological inquiry. York: Garland Publishing.
Limni, Greece: Denise Harvey. Ware, T. (1993). The Orthodox church (rev. ed.). New York:
Smith, A. (1998). Divine liturgy. In P. Steeves (Ed.), Modern Penguin Books.
encyclopedia of religions in Russia and Eurasia Watson, J. H. (2000). Among the Copts. Brighton, U.K.: Sussex
(Vol. 7). Gulf Breeze, FL: Academic International Press. Academic Press.