Concept
Eastern Orthodoxy
Overview
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and certain forms of Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") Eastern Orthodox Church is organised into autocephalous churches independent from each other. There are 17 mainstream autocephalous churches in Eastern Orthodoxy, plus other autocephalous churches unrecognized by the mainstream ones. Autocephalous churches choose their own primate. Autocephalous churches can have jurisdiction (authority) over other churches, some of which have the status of "autonomous" which means they have more autonomy than simple eparchies.
Many of these jurisdictions correspond to the territories of one or more modern states; the Patriarchate of Moscow, for example, corresponds to Russia and some of the other post-Soviet states. They can also include metropolises, bishoprics, parishes, monasteries, or outlying metochia corresponding to diasporas that can also be located outside the country where the primate resides (e.g., the case of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople whose canonical territory is located partly in northern Greece and the east); sometimes they overlap (the case of Moldova where the jurisdictions of the patriarchs of Bucharest and of Moscow overlap).
The spread of Eastern Orthodoxy began in the eastern area of the Mediterranean Basin within Byzantine Greek culture. Its communities share an understanding, teaching and offices of great similarity, with a strong sense of seeing each other as parts of one church. Adherents of Eastern Orthodox Christianity punctuate their year according to the liturgical calendar of their church. Mainstream Eastern Orthodoxy holds that the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father and rejects the Filioque clause ("and the Son") added to the Nicene Creed by the Latin Church, on the grounds that no council was called for the addition.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
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 Orthodoxy is; the author is tied to Eastern Orthodoxy in the knowledge graph.
In some passages of Scripture, therefore, they have sought to preserve the distinction by using not εὐσέβεια, the more general word, but θεοσέβεια, which literally denotes the worship of God. We, on the other hand, cannot express either of these ideas by one word. This worship, then, which in Greek is called λατρεία, and in Latin "servitus" [service], but the service due to God only; this worship, which in Greek is…
of Hippo Augustine, The City of God, Volume I
States what Eastern Orthodoxy is; the author is tied to Eastern Orthodoxy in the knowledge graph.
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 Orthodoxy is.
Philosophers who discussed Eastern Orthodoxy
- Gemistos Plethon
- Augustine of Hippo
- David Bentley Hart
- Richard Swinburne
- Vladimir Lossky
- Semyon Frank
- Ioan Zalomit
Related ideas
- Eastern Orthodox Church
- Fall of Constantinople
- God in Christianity
- Germany
- Greece
- Holy Spirit
- Hesychasm
- Mount Athos
- Last Judgment
- Byzantine Empire
- Lebanon
- London
- Wisdom literature
- Middle Ages
- Monotheism
- Moses
- Eastern Mediterranean
- Western culture
- New Testament
- Near East
- Old Testament
- Original sin
- North Macedonia
- Immanence
Opposing perspectives
Place in the tradition
Part of Bioethics.