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Top 10 Facts About Orthodox Christianity

The world second largest Christina church is the Orthodox church as known as the Eastern Orthodox Church which has approximately 220 million members by virtue of baptism  It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches and each is governed by its bishops via local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the head of the Catholic Church.

The church has the oldest religious institutions in the world with its prominent role in the history and culture of Europe. Eastern Orthodox theology is based on the scriptures and holy tradition it incorporated the dogmatic decrees of the seven ecumenical councils. It maintains that it practices the original Christian faith as passed down by holy tradition. The church also teaches that through consecration invoked by a priest, the sacrificial bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.

1. The Ecumenical Councils Uphold the Rules of the Church

The church uses the ecumenical council to govern and lead the church community into a calm and peaceful environment for all Orthodox Christians. These councils have been held to resolve the most important theological matters that came to be disputed within the Christian Church.

There have been a number of other significant councils meant to further define the Eastern Orthodox position. They are the Synods of Constantinople in 1484, 1583, 1755, 1819, and 1872. Another council covered in June 2016 to discuss many modern phenomena.

2. Definition of The Church and the Governing Rules

The church is defined by the Eastern Christians who recognize the seven ecumenical councils. They are normally in communion with the Patriarchate of Antioch, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The Eastern Orthodox churches are defined positively by their adherence to the dogmatic definitions of the seven councils by the strength of not being a sect. The seven ecumenical councils recognized by the Eastern Orthodox churches are Nicaea II, Constantinople I, Nicaea I, Chalcedon, Ephesus, and Constantinople II.

3. The Religious Denomination Around The World

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The church is known for being the primary religious denomination in Ukraine, Greece, Serbia, Moldova, Russia, Romania, Belarus, Cyprus, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. The significant minorities in Kazakhstan, Germany, Spain, the United States. and Uzbekistan. The majority of Eastern Orthodox Christians live in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe, and Siberia.

Eastern Orthodox communities outside Eastern Europe including those in North America, Western Europe, and Australia, have been formed through diaspora, conversions, and missionary activity.

4. The Interesting Orthodoxy of The Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church claims that it is today the continuation and preservation of that same early church. The term Eastern Church has been used to distinguish it from western Christendom. The word “Eastern” is used to indicate the highest concentration of the church’s residue in the Christian world.

Orthodox Christians throughout the world use various ethnic or national titles like Eastern Orthodox, Orthodox Catholic, or simply Orthodox. Orthodoxy asserts that its shared beliefs and its theology exist within the holy tradition and cannot be separated from it, that doctrine cannot be understood unless it’s prayed, and that it must also be lived in order to be prayed. 

The line between the Orthodox Christians and the Catholic faith tends to blur. Due to the fact that they are both united by the holy tradition, they are both expressed most fundamentally in scripture and worship. 

5. The Catholicity of The Orthodox Church

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The Eastern Orthodox Church considers itself to be both orthodox and catholic. The doctrine of the Catholicity of the church is essential to Eastern Orthodox ecclesiology. The term Catholicity of the Church is used in its original sense as a designation for the universality of the Christian Church centered around Christ.

The influence of the Catholic Church in the west caused the words catholic and catholicity are sometimes be used to refer to that church specifically. The more prominent dictionary sense given for general use is still the one shared by other languages.

6. The Uniqueness of the Church in Ottoman Empire

Orthodox Christians were the largest non-Muslim group. As imperial Russia began to rise, most Russians chose to become protectors of the Orthodox Christians, especially in the Ottoman Empire. Conversion to Islam in the Ottoman Empire involved a combination of individual, family, communal, and institutional initiatives and motives. Most Ottoman subjects in Eastern Europe remained Orthodox Christian even though they had larger Muslim populations. These states included Serbs, Wallachia, and Romania. Bosnia, and Kosovo.

7. The Church’s Fascinating Organization

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The church considers Jesus Christ as the head of the church and that the church is his body. It’s believed that authority and the grace of God are directly passed down to Orthodox bishops and clergy. The Eastern Orthodox assert that apostolic faith forfeits their claim to apostolic succession.

The Eastern Orthodox communion is organized into several regional churches which are self-headed or self-governing. The church bodies are unified in theology and worship. These include the fourteen self-headed in Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Georgia, Cyprus, Serbia, Russia, Greece, Poland, Romania, Albania, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

8. Adherents All Over The World

The most reliable estimated currently available number of Eastern Orthodox adherents at around 220 million worldwide. This makes Eastern Orthodoxy to be regarded as the second-largest Christian communion in the world after the Catholic Church. Scholars have proven that over two-thirds of all Eastern Orthodox members are centered in the Southern and Eastern parts of Europe, and Russia. Over the last century, Orthodoxy has become more globalized. Also, the church has grown in the Americas and parts of Africa.

Most of the church’s adherents constitute the largest single religious community in Russia while the majority are in Greece, Serbia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro, and Ukraine. Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the fastest-growing religion uncertain Western countries. 

9. The Trinity Belief and the Followers

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Orthodox Christians believe in the Trinity, three distinct, divine persons, without overlap or modality among them. These persons are typically distinguished by their relation to each other.  They believe that the three persons are distinct and their oneness is expressed in community and action. The nature of the Trinity in its fullness is believed to remain beyond man’s comprehension and expression. It is described as a holy mystery that can only be experienced,

10. The Official Bible that is Followed by the Church

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the official bible contained texts from the Greek Old Testament. Orthodox Christians hold that the Bible is a verbal icon of Chrisy ad proclaimed by the 7th ecumenical council. Church members refer to the Bible as the Holy Scripture, it contains the foundational truths of the Christian faith.

The Holy scripture forms the primary and authoritative written witness of holy tradition and is essential ad the basis for all Orthodox teaching and belief. The Eastern Orthodox Church holds the full list of books to be venerable and beneficial for reading and study.