The Orthodox ChurchClick here for the Coptic alphabet
History
of the church, teachings, some questions,
the church’s building Almost
two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and founded
the Church, through His Apostles and disciples, for the salvation of man. In the
years which followed, the Apostles spread the Church and its teachings far; they
founded many churches, all united in faith, worship, and the partaking of the Mysteries
(or as they are called in the West, the Sacraments) of the Holy Church. The churches
founded by the Apostles themselves include the Patriarchates of Constantinople,
Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Rome. The Church of Constantinople was
founded by St. Andrew, the Church of Alexandria by St. Mark, the Church of
Antioch by St. Paul, the Church of Jerusalem by Sts. Peter and James, and the
Church of Rome by Sts. Peter and Paul. Those founded in later years through the
missionary activity of the first churches were the Churches of Sinai, Russia,
Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and many others. Each of these
churches is independent in administration, but, with the exception of the Church
of Rome, which finally separated from the others in the year 1054, all are
united in faith, doctrine, Apostolic tradition, sacraments, liturgies, and
services. Together they constitute and call themselves the Orthodox Church. The teachings of
the Church are derived from two sources: Holy Scripture, and Sacred Tradition,
within which the Scriptures came to be, and within which they are interpreted.
As written in the Gospel of St. John, "And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I
suppose that even the world could not contain the books that should be
written" (John 21:20). Much teaching transmitted orally by the Apostles
has come down to us in Sacred Tradition. The word Orthodox
literally means right teaching or right worship, being derived from two Greek
words: orthos (right) and doxa (teaching or worship). As the
falses teachings and divisions multiplied in early Christian times, threatening
to obscure the identity and purity of the Church, the term Orthodox quite
logically came to be applied to it. The Orthodox Church carefully guards the
truth against all error and schism, both to protect its flock and to glorify
Christ whose body the Church is. An astonishing
number of religious groups today claim to be the successors of the early Church.
A yardstick for truth is needed by which to compare what the Church originally
believed and practiced with what these groups proclaim. Certainly we all have
the right to believe whatever we choose. But it is also just good sense to be
acquainted with the options before we make our final choices. It is our hope
that this outline of our beliefs will help introduce you to the Christianity
espoused and instituted by the Apostles of Jesus Christ. This is the yardstick
of truth by which our choices in Christianity need to be measured. God
the Father is the
fountainhead of the Holy Trinity. The Scriptures reveal the one God is Three
Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - eternally sharing the one divine
nature. From the Father the Son is begotten before all ages and all time (Psalm
2:7; II Corinthians 11:31). It is from the Father that the Holy Spirit eternally
proceeds (John 15:26). God the Father created all things through the Son, in the
Holy Spirit (Genesis 1 and 2; John 1:3; Job 33:4), and we are called to worship
Him (John 4:23). The Father loves us and sent His Son to give us everlasting
life (John 3:16). Jesus
Christ is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, eternally born of the Father.
He became man, and thus He is at once fully God and fully man. His coming to
earth was foretold in the Old Testament by the prophets. Because Jesus Christ is
at the heart of Christianity, the Orthodox Church has given more attention to
knowing Him than to anything or anyone else. In reciting the
Nicene Creed, Orthodox Christians regularly affirm the historic faith concerning
Jesus as they say, "I believe... in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, the only begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light,
true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father; by
Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation came down from
heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made
man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was
buried; and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; and
ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall
come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have
no end." Incarnation
refers to Jesus Christ coming "in the flesh." The eternal Son
of God the Father assumed to Himself a complete human nature from the Virgin
Mary. He was and is one divine Person, fully possessing from God the Father the
entirety of the divine nature, and in His coming in the flesh fully possessing a
human nature from the Virgin Mary. By His Incarnation, the Son forever possesses
two natures in His one Person. The Son of God, limitless in His divine nature,
voluntarily and willingly accepted limitation in His humanity in which He
experienced hunger, thirst, fatigue - and ultimately, death. The Incarnation is
indispensable to Christianity - there is no Christianity without it. The
Scriptures record, "Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is not of God" (I John 4:3). By His Incarnation,
the Son of God redeemed human nature, a redemption made accessible to all who
are joined to Him in His glorified humanity. The
Holy Spirit is one of the
Persons of the Holy Trinity and is one in essence with the Father. Orthodox
Christians repeatedly confess, "And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the
Lord, the Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the
Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified." He is called the "promise
of the Father" (Acts 1:4), given by Christ as a gift to the Church, to
empower the Church for service to God (Acts 1:8), to place God's love in our
hearts (Romans 5:5), and to impart spiritual gifts (I Corinthians 12:7-13) and
virtues (Galatians 5:22, 23) for Christian life and witness. Orthodox Christians
believe the biblical promise that the Holy Spirit is given through chrismation
(anointing) at baptism (Acts 2:38). We are to grow in our experience of the Holy
Spirit for the rest of our lives. Sin literally means to "miss the mark." As St. Paul writes, "All
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We sin
when we pervert what God has given us as good, falling short of His purposes for
us. Our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:1, 2), leaving us spiritually dead
(Ephesians 2:1). To save us, the Son of God assumed our humanity, and being
without sin "He condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3). In
His mercy, God forgives our sins when we confess them and turn from them, giving
us strength to overcome sin in our lives. "If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (I John 1:9). Salvation
is the divine gift through which men and women are delivered from sin and death,
united to Christ, and brought into His eternal kingdom. Those who heard St.
Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost asked what they must do to be saved. He
answered, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Salvation begins with these three steps: 1) repent,
2) be baptized, and 3) receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. To
repent means to change our mind about how we have been, to turn from our sin and
to commit ourselves to Christ. To be baptized means to be born again by being
joined into union with Christ. And to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit means
to receive the Spirit Who empowers us to enter a new life in Christ, to be
nurtured in the Church, and to be conformed to God's image. Salvation demands
faith in Jesus Christ. People cannot save themselves by their own good works.
Salvation is "faith working through love." It is an ongoing,
life-long process. Salvation is past tense in that, through the death and
Resurrection of Christ, we have been saved. It is present tense, for we are "being
saved" by our active participation through faith in our union with
Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is also future, for we must
yet be saved at His glorious Second Coming. Baptism
is the way in which a person is actually united to Christ. The experience of
salvation is initiated in the waters of baptism. The Apostle Paul teaches in
Romans 6:1-6 that in baptism we experience Christ's death and resurrection. In
it our sins are truly forgiven and we are energized by our union with Christ to
live a holy life. The Orthodox Church practices baptism by full immersion. Currently, some
consider baptism to be only an "outward sign" of belief in Christ.
This innovation has no historical or biblical precedent. Others reduce it to a
mere perfunctory obedience to Christ's command (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). Still
others, ignoring the Bible completely, reject baptism as a vital factor in
salvation. Orthodoxy maintains that these contemporary innovations rob sincere
people of the most important assurances that baptism provides - namely that they
have been united to Christ and are part of His Church. New
Birth is receipt of
new life. It is how we gain entrance into God's kingdom and His Church. Jesus
said, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God" (John 3:5). From its beginning, the Church has taught
that the water is the baptismal water and the Spirit is the Holy
Spirit. The new birth occurs in baptism where we die with Christ, are buried
with Him, and are raised with Him in the newness of His resurrection, being
joined into union with Him in His glorified humanity (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4).
The idea that being "born again" is a religious experience
disassociated from baptism is a recent one and has no biblical basis whatsoever.
Justification
is a word used in the Scriptures to mean that in Christ we are forgiven and
actually made righteous in our living. Justification is not a once-for-all,
instantaneous pronouncement guaranteeing eternal salvation, regardless of how
wickedly a person might live from that point on. Neither is it merely a legal
declaration that an unrighteous person is righteous. Rather, justification is a
living, dynamic, day-to-day reality for the one who follows Christ. The
Christian actively pursues a righteous life in the grace and power of God
granted to all who continue to believe in Him. Sanctification
is being set apart for God. It involves us in the process of being cleansed and
made holy by Christ in the Holy Spirit. We are called to be saints and to grow
into the likeness of God. Having been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, we
actively participate in sanctification. We cooperate with God, we work together
with Him, that we may know Him, becoming by grace what He is by nature. The
Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God (II Timothy 3:16), and is a crucial
part of God's self-revelation to the human race. The Old Testament tells the
history of that revelation from Creation through the Age of the Prophets. The
New Testament records the birth and life of Jesus as well as the writings of His
Apostles. It also includes some of the history of the early Church and
especially sets forth the Church's apostolic doctrine. Though these writings
were read in the Churches from the time they first appeared, the earliest
listings of all the New Testament books exactly as we know them today is found
in the 33rd Canon of a local council held at Carthage in 318, and in a fragment
of St. Athanasius of Alexandria's Festal Letter in 367. Both sources list all of
the books of the New Testament without exception. A local council, probably held
at Rome in 382, set forth a complete list of the canonical books of both the Old
and the New Testaments. The Scriptures are at the very heart of Orthodox worship
and devotion. Worship
is the rendering of praise, glory, and thanksgiving to God: the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. All humanity is called to worship God. Worship is more than
being in the "great-out-of-doors," or listening to a sermon, or
singing a hymn. God can be known in His creation, but that does not constitute
worship. As helpful as sermons may be, they can never offer a proper substitute
for worship. Most prominent in Orthodox worship is the corporate praise,
thanksgiving, and glory given to God by the Church. This worship is consummated
in intimate communion with God at His Holy Table. As is said in the
Liturgy, "To Thee is due all glory, honor, and worship, to the Father, and
to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen." In that worship we touch and experience His eternal kingdom, the age
to come, and we join in adoration with the heavenly hosts. We experience the
glory of fulfillment of all things in Christ, as truly all in all. Liturgy
is a term used to describe the shape or form of the Church's corporate worship
of God. The word "liturgy" derives from a Greek word which means
"the common work." All the biblical references to worship in heaven
involve liturgy. In the Old
Testament, God ordered a liturgy, or specific pattern of worship. We find it
described in detail in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. In the New Testament
we find the Church carrying over the worship of Old Testament Israel as
expressed in both the synagogue and the temple, adjusting them in keeping with
their fulfillment in Christ. The Orthodox Liturgy, which developed over many
centuries, still maintains that ancient shape of worship. The main elements in
the Liturgy include hymns, the reading and proclamation of the Gospel, prayers,
and the Eucharist itself. For Orthodox Christians, the expressions "The
Liturgy" or "Divine Liturgy" refer to the eucharistic rite
instituted by Christ Himself at the Last (Mystical) Supper. Eucharist
literally means thanksgiving and early became a synonym for Holy
Communion. The Eucharist is the center of worship in the Orthodox Church.
Because Jesus said of the bread and wine at the Last Supper, "This is my
body," "This is my blood," and "Do this in
remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19-20), His followers believe - and do -
nothing less. In the Eucharist, we partake mystically of Christ's Body and
Blood, which impart His life and strength to us. The celebration of the
Eucharist was a regular part of the Church's life from its beginning. Early
Christians began calling the Eucharist "the medicine of immortality"
because they recognized the great grace of God that was received in it. Communion
of Saints: When Christians
depart this life, they remain a vital part of the Church, the body of Christ.
They are alive in the Lord and "registered in heaven" (Hebrews
12:23). They worship God (Revelation 4:10) and inhabit His heavenly dwelling
places (John 14:2). In the Eucharist we come "to the city of the living
God" and join in communion with the saints in our worship of God (Hebrews
12:22). They are that "great cloud of witnesses" which
surrounds us, and we seek to imitate them in running "the race set
before us" (Hebrews 12:1). Rejecting or ignoring the communion of
saints is a denial of the fact that those who have died in Christ are still part
of his holy Church. Confession
is the open admission of known sins before God and man. It means
literally "to agree with" God concerning our sins. St. James
the Apostle admonishes us to confess our sins to God before the elders, or
priests, as they are called today (James 5:16). We are also exhorted to confess
our sins directly to God (I John 1:9). The Orthodox Church has always followed
the New Testament practices of confession before a priest as well as private
confession to the Lord. Confession is one of the most significant means of
repenting, and receiving assurance that even our worst sins are truly forgiven.
It is also one of our most powerful aids to forsaking and overcoming those sins.
Discipline
may become necessary to maintain purity and holiness in the Church and to
encourage repentance in those who have not responded to the admonition of
brothers and sisters in Christ, and of the Church, to forsake their sins. Church
discipline often centers around exclusion from receiving communion
(excommunication). The New Testament records how St. Paul ordered the discipline
of excommunication for an unrepentant man involved in sexual relations with his
father's wife (I Corinthians 5:1-5). The Apostle John warned that we are not to
receive into our homes those who willfully reject the truth of Christ (II John
9,10). Throughout her history, the Orthodox Church has exercised discipline when
it is needed, with compassion, always to help bring a needed change of heart and
to aid God's people to live pure and holy lives, never as a punishment. Mary
is called Theotokos, meaning "God-bearer" or "the Mother
of God," because she bore the Son of God in her womb and from her He took
His humanity. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, recognized this reality
when she called Mary, "the Mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43). Mary
said of herself, "All generations shall call me blessed" (Luke
1:48). So we, Orthodox, in our generation, call her blessed. Mary lived a chaste
and holy life, and we honor her highly as the model of holiness, the first of
the redeemed, the Mother of the new humanity in her Son. It is bewildering to
Orthodox Christians that many professing Christians who claim to believe the
Bible never call Mary blessed nor honor her who bore and raised God the Son in
His human flesh. Prayer
To The Saints is encouraged
by the Orthodox Church. Why? Because physical death is not a defeat for a
Christian. It is a glorious passage into heaven. The Christian does not cease to
be a part of the Church at death. God forbid! Nor is he set aside, idle until
the day of judgement. The True Church is
composed of all who are in Christ - in heaven and on earth. It is not limited in
membership to those presently alive. Those in heaven with Christ are alive, in
communion with God, worshipping God, doing their part in the body of Christ.
They actively pray to God for all those in the Church - and perhaps, indeed, for
the whole world (Ephesians 6:8; Revelation 8:3). So we pray to the saints who
have departed this life, seeking their prayers, even as we ask Christian friends
on earth to pray for us. Apostolic
Succession has been a
watershed issue since the second century, not as a mere dogma, but as crucial to
the preservation of the faith. Certain false teachers would appear, insisting
they were authoritative representatives of the Christian Church. Claiming
authority from God by appealing to special revelations, some were even inventing
lineages of teachers supposedly going back to Christ or the Apostles. In
response, the early Church insisted there was an authoritative apostolic
succession passed down from generation to generation. They recorded that actual
lineage, showing how its clergy were ordained by those chosen by the successors
of the Apostles chosen by Christ Himself. Apostolic
succession is an indispensable factor in preserving Church unity. Those in the
succession are accountable to it, and are responsible to ensure all teaching and
practice in the Church is in keeping with Her apostolic foundations. Mere
personal conviction that one's teaching is correct can never be considered
adequate proof of accuracy. Today, critics of apostolic succession are those who
stand outside that historic succession and seek a self-identity with the early
Church only. The burgeoning number of denominations in the world can be
accounted for in large measure by a rejection of apostolic succession. Councils
of the Church: A monumental
conflict (recorded in Acts 15) arose in the early Church over legalism, the
keeping of Jewish laws by the Christians, as means of salvation. "So the
apostles and elders came together [in council] to consider the matter"
(Acts 15:6). This council, held in Jerusalem, set the pattern for the subsequent
calling of councils to settle problems. There have been hundreds of such
councils - local and regional - over the centuries of the history of the Church,
and seven councils specifically designated Ecumenical, that is,
considered to apply to the whole Church. Aware that God has spoken through the
Ecumenical Councils, the Orthodox Church looks particularly to them for
authoritative teaching in regard to the faith and practice of the Church. Creed
comes from the Latin credo, "I believe." From the earliest days of the
Church, creeds have been living confessions of what Christians believe and not
simply formal, academic, Church pronouncements. Such confessions of faith appear
as early as the New Testament, where, for example, St. Paul quotes a creed to
remind Timothy, "God...was revealed in the flesh" (I Timothy
3:16). The creeds were approved by Church councils, usually to give a concise
statement of the truth in the face of the invasion of heresy. The most important
creed in Christendom is the Nicene Creed, the product of two Ecumenical Councils
in the fourth century. Delineated in the midst of a life-and-death controversy,
it contains the essence of New Testament teaching about the Holy Trinity,
guarding that life-giving truth against those who would change the very nature
of God and reduce Jesus Christ to a created being, rather than God in the flesh.
The creeds give us a sure interpretation of the Scriptures against those who
would distort them to support their own religious schemes. Called the
"symbol of faith" and confessed in many of the services of the Church,
the Nicene Creed constantly reminds the Orthodox Christian of what he personally
believes, keeping his faith on track. Spiritual
Gifts: When the young Church was getting under way, God poured out His Holy
Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers, giving them spiritual gifts to
build up the Church and to serve each other. Among the specific gifts of the
Spirit mentioned in the New Testament are: apostleship, prophecy, evangelism,
pastoring, teaching, healing, helps, administrations, knowledge, wisdom,
tongues, interpretation of tongues. These and other spiritual gifts are
recognized in the Orthodox Church. The need for them varies with the times. The
gifts of the Spirit are most in evidence in the liturgical and sacramental life
of the Church. Second
Coming: Amid the current speculation in some corners of Christendom
surrounding the Second Coming of Christ and how it may come to pass, it is
comforting to know that the beliefs of the Orthodox Church are basic. Orthodox
Christians confess with conviction that Jesus Christ "will come again to
judge the living and the dead," and that His "kingdom will have no
end." Orthodox preaching does not attempt to predict God's prophetic
schedule, but to encourage Christian people to have their lives in order so that
they might be confident before Him when He comes (I John 2:28). Heaven
is the place of God's throne, beyond time and space. It is the abode of God's
angels, as well as of the saints who have passed from this life. We pray, "Our
Father, who art in heaven." Though Christians live in this world, they
belong to the kingdom of heaven, and that kingdom is their true home. But heaven
is not only for the future. Neither is it some distant place billions of light
years away in a nebulous "great beyond." For the Orthodox, heaven is
part of Christian life and worship. The very architecture of an Orthodox Church
building is designed so that the building itself participates in the reality of
heaven. The Eucharist is heavenly worship, heaven on earth. St. Paul teaches
that we are raised up with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), "fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the household of God"
(Ephesians 2:19). At the end of the age, a new heaven and a new earth will be
revealed (Revelation 21:1). Hell,
unpopular as it is to modern people, is real. The Orthodox Church understands
hell as a place of eternal torment for those who willfully reject the grace of
God. Our Lord once said, "If your hand makes you sin, cut it off. It is
better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go to hell,
into the fire that never shall be quenched - where their worm does not die, and
the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:44-45). He challenged the religious
hypocrites with the question: "How can you escape the condemnation of
hell?" (Matthew 23:33). His answer is, "God did not send His Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved" (John 3:17). There is a day of judgement coming, and there is a
place of punishment for those who have hardened their hearts against God. It
does make a difference how we will live this life. Those who of their own free
will reject the grace and mercy of God must forever bear the consequences of
that choice. Creation:
Orthodox Christians confess God as Creator of heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1, the
Nicene Creed). Creation did not just come into existence by itself. God made it
all. "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of
God" (Hebrews 11:3). Orthodox Christians do not believe the Bible to be
a science textbook on creation, as some mistakenly maintain, but rather to be
God's revelation of Himself and His salvation. Also, we do not view science
textbooks, helpful though they may be, as God's revelation. The may contain both
known facts and speculative theory, but they are not infallible. Orthodox
Christians refuse to build an unnecessary and artificial wall between science
and the Christian faith. Rather, they understand honest scientific investigation
as a potential encouragement to faith, for all truth is from God. Moral
Questions Ecumenism:
One has to welcome rejection of the age-old separation of Christians, but only
if this is done with the objective of disclosing the treasures of Orthodoxy, to
bring those who have fallen away from the Church back to unity in Orthodoxy. The attitude of
the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad toward ecumenism has always been of a sober,
strictly Orthodox character, in accordance with the teachings of the Holy
Fathers. The outlook of our Church was particularly well defined in a statement
issued on December 31, 1931, when the Russian Church Abroad appointed its
representative to the Committee for the Continuation of the World Conference on
Faith and Order: "Preserving the Faith in the One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church, the Synod of Bishops confesses that the Church has never been
divided. The issue lies only in who does and who does not belong to Her.
Moreover, the Synod of Bishops fervently welcomes all attempts by the heterodox
to study the teaching of Christ about the Church, in the hope that through such
investigation, especially with the participation of representatives of the Holy
Orthodox Church, they will eventually arrive at the conviction that the Orthodox
Church, which is the `pillar and the ground of truth' (I Timothy 3:15), has
fully and without any adulteration retained the doctrine taught by Christ the
Savior to His disciples." The Ecumenical
Movement takes as its guiding principle the Protestant view of the Church.
Protestants hold that there is no single truth and no single visible Church, but
that each of the many Christian denominations possesses a particle of the truth,
and that these relative truths can, by means of dialogue, lead to the One Truth
and the One Church. One of the ways of attaining this unity, as perceived by the
ideologues of the Ecumenical Movement, is the holding of joint prayers and
religious services, so that in time communion from a common chalice
(intercommunion) may be achieved. Orthodoxy can
never accept such an ecclesiology. It believes and bears witness that there is
no need to assemble particles of the truth, since the Orthodox Church is the
repository of the fullness of the Truth, which was given to Her on the day of
Holy Pentecost. For the Orthodox,
joint prayer and Communion at the liturgy is an expression of an already
existing unity within the bounds of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church. St. Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century) concisely expressed this: "Our
Faith is in accord with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist confirms our
Faith." The Holy Fathers of the Church teach that the members of the Church
comprise the Church - the Body of Christ - because in the Eucharist they partake
of the Body and the Blood of Christ. Outside the Eucharist and Communion there
is no Church. Communing together would be an admission that all those receiving
Communion belong to the One Apostolic Church, whereas the realities of Christian
history even of our time unfortunately point out the deep dogmatic and
ecclesiastical division of the Christian world. Abortion
is the termination of a pregnancy by taking the life of the baby before
it comes to full term. The Scriptures teach, "For You have formed my
inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb" (Jeremiah 1:5).
When a child is aborted, a human being is killed. For the Christian, all
children, born or unborn, are precious in God's sight, and are a gift from Him.
Even in the rare case in which a choice must be made between the life of the
child and the life of the mother, decision-making must be based upon the
recognition that the lives of two human persons are at stake. Cults:
The word "cult" has several meanings. The usage to which we refer
designates a group of people who focus on a religious doctrine which deviates
from the tradition of the historic Church as revealed by Jesus Christ,
established by His Apostles, and guarded by the seven Ecumenical Councils of the
Church. A cult usually forms around an individual who proclaims a heresy as
truth. The error itself assures the separation of the group from historic
Christianity. Many cults claim the Bible as their basis, but they alter the
historic interpretation of Scripture to persist in their own idea. Cults may do
some things that are good (e.g. care for the poor, emphasize the family) and
thus at least appear, to casual observers, to be part of true Christianity. St.
Paul's counsel on cults is: "From such withdraw yourself" (I
Timothy 6:5). The danger of the cult is that it removes those in it from the
life of Christ and the Church, where the blessings and grace of God are found.
All cults die; the Church lives on. Marriage
in the Orthodox Church is forever. It is not reduced to an exchange of vows or
the establishment of a legal contract between the bride and groom. On the
contrary, it is God joining a man and a woman into one flesh in a sense
similar to the Church being joined to Christ (Ephesians 5:31, 32). The success
of marriage cannot depend on mutual human promises, but on the promises and
blessing of God. In the Orthodox marriage rite, the bride and groom offer their
lives to Christ and to each other - literally as crowned martyrs. Divorce:
While extending love and mercy to those who have divorced, the Orthodox Church
is grieved by the tragedy and pain divorce causes. Though marriage is understood
as a sacrament, and thus accomplished by the grace of God, and permanent, the
Church does not deal with divorce legalistically, but with compassion. After
appropriate pastoral counsel, divorce may be allowed when avenues for
reconciliation have been exhausted. If there is a remarriage, the service for a
second marriage includes prayers offering repentance for the earlier divorce,
asking God's forgiveness, and protection for the new union. Pre-Marital
Sex: The Orthodox Christian faith holds to the biblical teaching that
sexual intercourse is reserved for marriage. Sex is a gift of God to be fully
enjoyed and experienced only within marriage. The marriage bed is to be kept
"pure and undefiled" (Hebrew 13:4), and men and women are called
to remain celibate outside of marriage. Our sexuality, like many other things
about us human beings, affects our relationship with God, ourselves, and others.
It may be employed as a means of glorifying God and fulfilling His image in us,
or it may be perverted and abused as an instrument of sin, causing great damage
to us and others. St. Paul writes, "Do you know that your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not
your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your
body" (I Corinthians 6:19, 20). Homosexuality:
Although there is much more open discussion about homosexuality in the twentieth
century than in previous times, there is definite reference to it in ancient
writings. The frequently used synonym, sodomy, comes from the apparent
homosexual activity among men of Sodom (Genesis 19), and the severity of
strictures set forth in the Holiness Code, with nothing short of the death
penalty being imposed, suggested that the need for discipline must have been
great, (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13). The Old Testament understood normal sexual
intercourse as not only a way of expressing a loving relationship, but also as a
divinely appointed way of procreating new life. In the New
testament, St. Paul condemns male prostitutes and homosexuals (I Corinthians
6:9-11). In the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans (Romans 1:24-32), he
also judges it as unnatural . Homosexuals are included elsewhere among the
immoral persons who, St. Paul says, deserve judgement by God (I Timothy 1:10).
There is no example in all of the New Testament of approval, acceptance, or even
tolerance of homosexuality. Throughout
Christian history, this disapproval has continued to be the case. In the
patristic era freedom from homosexuality was seen as a mark of the Christian's
ethical superiority to the wanton way of life that converts had left. Patristic
thinking, like scriptural references, were directed to the practice of
homosexuality, not to the desire itself. The Orthodox Church does not condemn
the person who keeps this propensity in check, and ministers to homosexuals who
wish to find release from this inclination. Orthodox
churches generally take one of several shapes that have a particular mystical
significance. The most common shape is an oblong or rectangular shape, imitating
the form of a ship. As a ship, under the guidance of a master helmsman conveys
people through the stormy seas to a calm harbor, so the Church, guided by
Christ, carries us unharmed across the stormy seas of sin and strife to the
peaceful haven of the Kingdom of Heaven. Churches are also frequently built in
the form of a Cross to proclaim that we are saved through faith in the Crucified
Christ, for Whom Christians are prepared to suffer all things. Almost always
Orthodox churches are oriented East - West, with the main entrance of the
building at the west end. This symbolizes the entrance of the worshipper from
the darkness of sin (the west) into the light of truth (the east). On the roof of
Orthodox churches are usually found one or more cupolas (domes with rounded or
pointed roofs). A peculiar feature of Russian Orthodox churches is the presence
of onion-shaped domes on top of the cupolas. This shape reminds believers of the
flame of a candle, burning upward to heaven. Every cupola is
crowned with a Cross, the instrument of our salvation. In the Russian Church,
the most common form is the so-called three-bar Cross, consisting of the usual
crossbeam, a shorter crossbeam above that and another, slanted, crossbeam below.
Symbolically, the three bars represent, from the top, the signboard on which was
written, in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews
(John 19:19); the main crossbeam, to which the hands of Jesus were nailed; the
lower portion, to which His feet were nailed. The three-bar
representation existed in Christian art from the very early times in Byzantium,
although usually without the bottom bar slanted, which is particularly Russian.
The origin of this slanted footbar is not known, but in the symbolism of the
Russian Church, the most common explanation is that it is pointing upward to
Paradise for the Good Thief on Jesus' right and downward to Hades for the thief
on His left (Luke 23). Internal
Arrangement The interior of an
Orthodox church is divided into several parts. The first is the Narthex
(Vestibule; Lity - Greek; Pritvor - Russian), in ancient times a large, spacious
place, wherein the Catechumens received instruction while preparing for Baptism,
and also where Penitents excluded from Holy Communion stood. The main body of
the church is the Nave, separated from the Sanctuary (Altar) by an icon screen
with doors, called the Iconostasis (Icon stand). The walls of the Nave are
decorated with Icons and murals, before many of which are hanging lit lamps (lampadas).
Especially noticeable in traditional Orthodox churches is the absence of any
pews. The Fathers of the Church deemed it disrespectful for anyone to sit during
the Divine services (except at certain explicit moments of instruction or Psalm
reading) and the open spaces were seen to be especially conducive to the many
bows and prostrations typical of Orthodox worship. At the extreme
Eastern end of the church is found the Altar (or Sanctuary), with two rooms -
the Sacristy and the Vestry - at either side, separated from the Nave by the
Iconostasis. Holy
Icons - Theology in Color One of the first
things that strikes a non-Orthodox visitor to an Orthodox church is the
prominent place assigned to Holy Icons. The Iconostasis is covered with them,
while others are placed in prominent places throughout the church building. The
walls and ceiling are covered with iconic murals. The Orthodox faithful
prostrate themselves before Icons, kiss them, and burn candles before them. The
are censed by the clergy and carried in processions. Considering the obvious
importance of the Holy Icons, then, questions may certainly be raised concerning
them: What do these gestures and actions mean? What is the significance of
Icons? Are they not idols or the like, prohibited by the Old Testament? Icons have been
used for prayer from the first centuries of Christianity. Sacred Tradition tells
us, for example, of the existence of an Icon of the Savior during His lifetime
(the "Icon-Made-Without-Hands") and of Icons of the Most Holy
Theotokos immediately after Him. Sacred Tradition witnesses that the Orthodox
Church had a clear understanding of the importance of Icons right from the
beginning; and this understanding never changed, for it is derived from the
teachings concerning the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity -
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The use of Icons is grounded in the very
essence of Christianity, since Christianity is the revelation by God-Man not
only of the Word of God, but also of the Image of God; for, as St. John the
Evangelist tells us, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John
1:14). "No one has
ever seen God; only the Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him
known" (John 1:18), the Evangelist proclaims. That is, He has revealed the
Image or Icon of God. For being the brightness of [God's] glory, and the express
image of [God's] person (Hebrews 1:3), the Word of God in the Incarnation
revealed to the world, in His own Divinity, the Image of the Father. When St.
Philip asks Jesus, Lord, show us the Father, He answered him: Have I been with
you so long, and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the
Father (John 14:8-9). Thus as the Son is in the bosom of the Father, likewise
after the Incarnation He is constubstantial with the Father, according to His
divinity being the Father's Image, equal in honor to Him. The truth
expressed above, which is revealed in Christianity, thus forms the foundations
of Christian pictorial art. The Image (or Icon) not only does not contradict the
essence of Christianity, but is unfailingly connected with it; and this is the
foundation of the tradition that from the very beginning the Good News was
brought to the world by the Church both in word and image. St. John of
Damascus, an eighth-century Father of the Church, who wrote at the height of the
iconoclastic (anti-icon) controversies in the Church, explains that, because the
Word of God became flesh (John 1:14), we are no longer in our infancy; we have
grown up, we have been given by God the power of discrimination and we know what
can be depicted and what is indescribable. Since the Second Person of the Holy
Trinity appeared to us in the flesh, we can portray Him and reproduce for
contemplation Him Who has condescended to be seen. We can confidently represent
God the Invisible - not as an invisible being, but as one Who has made Himself
visible for our sake by sharing in our flesh and blood. Holy Icons
developed side by side with the Divine Services and, like the Services,
expressed the teaching of the Church in conformity with the word of Holy
Scripture. Following the teaching of the 7th Ecumenical Council, the Icon is
seen not as simple art, but that there is a complete correspondence of the Icon
to Holy Scripture, "for if the Icon is shown by Holy Scripture, Holy
Scripture is made incontestably clear by the Icon" (Acts of the 7th
Ecumenical Council, 6). As the word of
Holy Scripture is an image, so the image is also a word, for, according to St.
Basil the Great (379 AD): By depicting the
divine, we are not making ourselves similar to idolaters; for it is not the
material symbol that we are worshipping, but the Creator, Who became corporeal
for our sake and assumed our body in order that through it He might save
mankind. We also venerate the material objects through which our salvation is
effected - the blessed wood of the Cross, the Holy Gospel, Holy Relics of
Saints, and, above all, the Most-Pure Body and Blood of Christ, which have
grace-bestowing properties and Divine Power. Orthodox Christians do not venerate
an Icon of Christ because of the nature of the wood or the paint, but rather we
venerate the inanimate image of Christ with the intention of worshipping Christ
Himself as God Incarnate through it. We kiss an Icon of
the Blessed Virgin as the Mother of the Son of God, just as we kiss the Icons of
the Saints as God's friends who struggled against sin, imitating Christ by
shedding their blood for Him and following in His footsteps. Saints are
venerated as those who were glorified by God and who became, with God's help,
terrible to the Enemy, and benefactors to those advancing in the faith - but not
as gods and benefactors themselves. They were the servants of God who were given
boldness of spirit in return for their love of Him. We gaze on the depiction of
their exploits and sufferings so as to sanctify ourselves through them and to
spur ourselves on to zealous emulation. The Icons of the
Saints act as a meeting point between the living members of the Church
[Militant] on earth and the Saints who have passed on to the Church [Triumphant]
in Heaven. The Saints depicted on the Icons are not remote, legendary figures
from the past, but contemporary, personal friends. As meeting points between
Heaven and earth, the Icons of Christ, His Mother, the Angels and Saints
constantly remind the faithful of the invisible presence of the whole company of
Heaven; they visibly express the idea of Heaven on earth. The
Iconostasis The most prominent
feature of an Orthodox church is the Iconostasis, consisting of one or more rows
of Icons and broken by a set of doors in the center (the Holy or Royal Doors)
and a door at each side (the Deacon's Doors). A typical
Iconostasis consists of one or more tiers (rows) of Icons. At the center of the
first, or lowest, tier, are the Royal Doors, on which are placed Icons of the
four Evangelists who announced to the world Good News - the Gospel - of the
Savior. At the center of the Royal Doors is an Icon of the Annunciation to the
Most Holy Theotokos (the Mother of God), since this event was the prelude or
beginning of our salvation. Over the Royal Doors is placed an Icon of the
Mystical Supper (the Last Supper) since, in the Altar beyond, the Mystery of the
Holy Eucharist is celebrated in remembrance of the Savior Who instituted the
Sacrament at the Last Supper. At either side of
the Royal Doors are always placed an Icon of the Savior (to the right) and of
the Most Holy Theotokos (to the left). On either side of the Royal Doors, beyond
the Icons of the Lord and His Mother, are two doors - Deacon's Doors - upon
which are depicted either saintly Deacons or Angels - who minister always at the
heavenly Altar, just as do the earthly deacons during the Divine services. In
our church, on the left Deacon door, is placed an Icon of the Good Thief, the
first to enter Paradise. Other Icons of particular local significance are also
placed in the first row of the Iconostasis, for which reason the lower tier is
often called the Local Icons. Ascending above
the Local Icons are three more tiers of Icons. Immediately above the Icon of the
Mystical Supper is placed an Icon of the Savior in royal garments, flanked by
His Mother and John the Forerunner and an array of other saints, included the
Archangels Michael and Gabriel, the Apostles Peter and Paul and bishop saints
and martyrs. This tier is called the Deisis (prayer), since all in this tier are
turned to Christ in supplication. The tier immediately above this contains Icons
of the principal Feasts of the Lord and of the Theotokos. The top row
contains the Old Testament Prophets - in the midst of which is the Birthgiver of
God with the Divine Infant Who is from everlasting and Who was their hope, their
consolation, and the subject of their prophecies. At the very top of the
Iconostasis is placed the Holy Cross, upon which the Lord was crucified,
effecting thereby our salvation. The
Altar The Altar which
lies beyond the Iconostasis, is set aside for those who perform the Divine
services, and normally persons not consecrated to the service of the Church are
not permitted to enter. Occupying the central place in the Altar is the Holy
Table, which represents the Throne of God, with the Lord Himself invisibly
present there. It also represents the Tomb of Christ, since His Body (the Holy
Gifts) is placed there. The Holy Table is square in shape and is draped by two
coverings. The first, inner covering, is of white linen, representing the
winding-sheet in which the Body of Christ was wrapped. The outer cloth is made
of rich and bright material, representing the glory of God's throne. Both cloths
cover the Holy Table to the ground. |