Concept

Eastern Christianity

Overview

Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations further east, south or north. The term does not describe a single communion or religious denomination. Eastern Christianity is a category distinguished from Western Christianity, which is composed of those Christian traditions and churches that originally were based to the west along the Mediterranian region.

Major Eastern Christian bodies include the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, along with those groups descended from the historic Church of the East (also called the Assyrian Church), as well as the Eastern Catholic Churches (which are in communion with Rome while maintaining Eastern liturgies), and the Eastern Protestant churches. Most Eastern churches do not normally refer to themselves as "Eastern", with the exception of the Assyrian Church of the East and its offshoot, the Ancient Church of the East.

The Eastern Orthodox are the largest body within Eastern Christianity with a worldwide population of 220 million, followed by the Oriental Orthodox at 60 million. The Eastern Catholic Churches consist of about 16–18 million and are a small minority within the Catholic Church. Eastern Protestant Christian churches do not form a single communion; the Ukrainian Lutheran Church claims 2,500 members and the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church claims over one million members. The Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East, descendant churches of the Assyria-based Church of the East, have a combined membership of approximately 400,000.

Historically, Eastern Christianity was centered in the Middle East and surrounding areas, where Christianity originated. However, after the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century, the term Eastern Church increasingly came to be used for the Greek Church centered in Constantinople, in contrast with the (Western) Latin Church, centered on Rome, which uses the Latin liturgical rites. The terms "Eastern" and "Western" in this regard originated with geographical divisions in Christianity mirroring the cultural divide between the Hellenistic East and the Latin West, and the political divide of 395 AD between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. Since the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, the term "Eastern Christianity" may be used in contrast with "Western Christianity", which contains not only the Latin Church but also forms of Protestantism and Independent Catholicism. Some Eastern churches have more in common historically and theologically with Western Christianity than with one another.

Because the largest church in the East is the body currently known in English as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the term "Orthodox" is often used in a similar fashion to "Eastern Christianity", to refer to specific Christian communions which includes Eastern Orthodox Church and other Orthodox Churches such as the Egyptian Oriental Orthodox Coptic church. However, most Christian denominations including the ones who don't label themselves "Orthodox", whether Eastern or Western, regard themselves as orthodox in the literal sense, meaning "following correct beliefs" as well as "catholic" (meaning "universal"), and as sharing in the Four Marks of the Church listed in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 AD): "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic" (Greek: μία, ἁγία, καθολικὴ καὶ ἀποστολικὴ ἐκκλησία).

Eastern churches (excepting the non-liturgical dissenting bodies) utilize several liturgical rites: the Alexandrian Rite, the Armenian Rite, the Byzantine Rite, the East Syriac Rite (also known as Persian or Assyrian Rite), and the West Syriac Rite (also called the Antiochian Rite).

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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12. Cease, then, to bring forward against us the authority of Cyprian in favour of repeating baptism, but cling with us to the example of Cyprian for the preservation of unity. For this question of baptism had not been as yet completely worked out, but yet the Church observed the most wholesome custom of correcting what was wrong, not repeating what was already given, even in the case of schismatics and heretics…
of Hippo Augustine, Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy
States what Eastern Christianity is; the author is tied to Eastern Christianity in the knowledge graph.
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2. _The opinion of Plotinus the Platonist regarding enlightenment from above._
of Hippo Augustine, The City of God, Volume I
States what Eastern Christianity is; the author is tied to Eastern Christianity in the knowledge graph.
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The established religion of this country has, ever since the eleventh century, been that of the Greek church, so called in opposition to the Latin; though there were always a greater number of Mahometan and Pagan provinces, than of those inhabited by Christians. Siberia, as far as China, was in a state of idolatry; and, in some of the provinces, they were utter strangers to all kind of religion. Perry, the engineer…
Voltaire, The History of Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia
States what Eastern Christianity is.
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Eastern Christianity

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