- The history of Christianity
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Separated from the West, the Orthodox churches of the East have developed their own way for more than half of Christian history. Orthodoxy here refers to the two great bodies of Christianity that use the term to characterize their theologies and liturgies: the churches of Eastern Orthodoxy and the churches that constitute the so-called Oriental Orthodox communion.
Eastern Orthodoxy
Each of the national churches of Eastern Orthodoxy is autonomous. The “ecumenical patriarch” of Constantinople is not the Eastern pope but merely the first in honour among equals in jurisdiction. Eastern Orthodoxy interprets the primacy of St. Peter and therefore that of the pope similarly, denying the right of the pope to speak and act for the entire church by himself, without a church council and without his episcopal colleagues. Because of this polity, Eastern Orthodoxy has identified itself more intimately with national cultures and with national regimes than has Roman Catholicism. Therefore, the history of church-state relations in the East has been very different from the Western development, because the church in the East has sometimes tended toward the extreme of becoming a mere instrument of national policy while the church in the West has sometimes tended toward the extreme of attempting to dominate the state. The history of ecumenical relations between Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism during the 20th century was also different from the history of Protestant–Roman Catholic relations. While keeping alive their prayer for an eventual healing of the schism with the Latin church, some of the Orthodox churches have established communion with Anglicanism and with the Old Catholic Church and have participated in the conferences and organizations of the World Council of Churches.
Doctrinal authority for Eastern Orthodoxy resides in the Scriptures, the ancient creeds, the decrees of the first seven ecumenical councils, and the traditions of the church. In addition to the issues mentioned in the discussion of Roman Catholicism above, the chief dogmatic difference between Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox thought is on the question of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and from the Son, or the Filioque.
But “Orthodoxy,” in the Eastern use of the term, means primarily not a species of doctrine but a species of worship. The Feast of Orthodoxy on the first Sunday of Lent celebrates the end of the Iconoclastic Controversy and the restoration to the churches of the icons, which are basic to Orthodox piety. In Eastern Orthodox churches (as well as in the Eastern rite churches, which have reestablished communion with Rome), the most obvious points of divergence from general Western practice are the Byzantine liturgy, the right of the clergy to marry before ordination—though bishops may not be married—and the administration to the laity of both bread and wine in the Eucharist at the same time by the method of intinction.
Oriental Orthodoxy
The other main branch of Orthodoxy is constituted by the six national churches of the Oriental Orthodox communion: the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, the Malankara (Indian) Syrian Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. With the exception of the Eritrean church, which was granted autocephaly in 1998, these churches were largely out of contact with the other main branches of Christianity from the time of the Council of Chalcedon (451), which resulted in their being branded monophysites—and hence heretics—by the Roman and Greek churches (see above Eastern controversies).
Beginning in the mid-20th century, when the Armenian and Coptic churches helped to form the World Council of Churches, the Oriental Orthodox communion—also called non-Chalcedonian churches because of their rejection of the Council of Chalcedon—engaged in ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches in hopes of resolving the ancient disputes. Increasingly frequent talks eventually resulted in historic joint declarations by the three branches of Christianity stating that the schism of 451 was largely based on a grave misunderstanding, that many of the points of dispute had been resolved, and that the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches now regarded the Oriental churches as confessing Christians in full standing. Meanwhile, the Coptic Orthodox Church expanded outside Egypt to form strong enclaves in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and South America.
Oriental Orthodox Christianity displays rich variation. Each national church is autocephalous (though the Coptic pope enjoys spiritual primacy in the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches). Each church also has its own structure, usually with a single head (though the Armenian church has two catholicoses), its own liturgy, and other distinctive practices. For example, the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches include indigenous practices in exorcism and spiritual healing. The Ethiopian and Eritrean churches also use a larger Bible, regarding as scriptural texts such as the First Book of Enoch, which most of mainstream Christianity considers pseudepigraphical. Like the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Oriental Orthodox churches uphold the Nicene Creed without the Filioque.
Matt Stefon