ABOUT EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY

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ABOUT EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY

Eastern Orthodoxy is not just another Christian denomination. It is original Christianity—the faith of the Apostles and the Early Church. That statement is not just wishful, unfounded Orthodox propaganda. Consult any encyclopedia or handbook of religion and you’ll find that it’s common knowledge:

Eastern Orthodoxy has its origin in the early Christianity of the eastern Mediterranean…it is marked by a sense of continuity, of embodying the ancient in the modern world, of being “living antiquity.”—A New Handbook of Living Religions.

Their presence in the countries where the Christian gospel was first preached highlights the continuity of Orthodoxy with the Church of the apostles and early Christians…All the Orthodox churches are united in upholding the Christian faith as it was taught by the Church before the division between Eastern and Western Christians.—The Encyclopedia of World Faiths.

Many Christians in the Western world today are totally unaware of “the division between Eastern and Western Christians” that occurred in 1054 AD, in that lamentable event history remembers as the Great Schism. At that time, the bishop (or pope) of Rome declared himself the single ruling head of the entire Church. During the first millennium of its existence, the Church had been guided and governed by councils of bishops, following the governmental structure established by the Apostles at the first Church council in Jerusalem (see Acts 15). While some bishops held higher ranks of honor (in particular, the bishops of the five great Patriarchates: Constantinople, Rome, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch), all bishops had equal authority. In major Church decisions, every bishop—whether from a great city or a tiny, insignificant town—had one vote.

In 1054, the Roman pope excommunicated those bishops who would not yield to his self-proclaimed authority. Bishops in the Latin West aligned themselves with the Pope; bishops in the Greek East joined together in resistance. Thus, the One, Holy, Apostolic and Catholic Church became the Roman Catholic Church in the West, and the Orthodox Church (meaning “right worship” or “right glory”) in the East.

Since the Great Schism, Orthodoxy has preserved the Christian faith as it was practiced across the first Christian millennium. By contrast, starting with the claim of papal primacy, the Roman Church continued to adopt new doctrines and practices unknown to the original Church—like purgatory, and indulgences.

But the rift created by Rome was just the beginning of Christian division in the West. The Anglican separation in Britain came next. In the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation further split the Church. The thousands of denominations spawned since have rendered the Christian West a shattered, pulverized landscape. Many new doctrines have come on the scene; many beliefs and practices foundational to original Christianity have disappeared.

The condition of Christianity in the West represents a flagrant and inexcusable violation of St. Paul’s command:

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (1 Corinthians 1:10, italics mine).

The first Christians worked hard to maintain this unity, against great temptations and obstacles. And for good reason. They understood that unity is the identifying mark of true Christianity. A person could not claim to be a Christian—could not claim salvation—while at the same time standing at doctrinal odds with other Christians. Hear these sobering words of St. Cyprian of Carthage (third century):

And does anyone believe that this unity which comes from the divine strength…can be divided in the Church, and can be separated by the parting asunder of opposing wills? He who does not hold this unity does not hold God’s law, does not hold the faith of the Father and the Son, does not hold life and salvation (On the Unity of the Church, 6, italics mine).