Eastern Orthodox Essay

I. Origin The Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholicism were branches of the same body—the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church until 1054 AD, which is the date of the first major division and the beginning of â€Å"denominations† in Christianity. The Christian Church divided into two Churches, East and West. Both Churches believe that they are the original Church established by Jesus Christ and the Apostles, and they disapprove each other. The Church in the East added â€Å"orthodox†, which comes from the Greek word â€Å"orthodxia†, to show that they retain the original teachings and traditions. Every Church in the Eastern Orthodox system can trace their roots back to the five early Christianity center—the Roman Church, the Jerusalem Church, Antioch, the Alexandrian Church and the Church of Constantinople. Although all Orthodox Churches recognize the Patriarch of Constantinople as the ecumenical Patriarch and the supreme leader, the Churches are ind ependent of each other in the mutual recognition of state instead of entirely united. Disagreements between the two branches of Christianity—Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholicism—had long existed even before the division, and increased throughout the first millennium. Their disputes include issues pertaining to the nature of the Holy Spirit, the use of icons in worship, and the correct date to celebrate Easter. Also, the Eastern mindset inclined more toward philosophy, mysticism and ideology. They reject rationalism, as they believe that unless God speaks out, humans can not know him through reason. The Western outlook guided more by a practical and legal mentality, a perfect example being the Summa Theologica by St. Thomas which successfully fused Aristotelian philosophy with ideology. The Catholics believe that humans can one day see the true body of the Lord through rationality. With these disputes worsening and the gaps widening, separation was inevitable. The slow process of it was encouraged in 330 AD when Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to the city of Byzantium and called in Constantinople. After he died, the Roman empire was divided by his two sons into the Eastern portion, which was ruled from Constantinople, and the Western portion, which was ruled from Rome. The formal split took place in 1045 AD when Pope Leo IX, leader of the Roman Church at the time, excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, leader of the Eastern Church. Cerularius then condemned the Pope in mutual excommunication. Michael Cerularius was the Patriarch of Constantinople from 1043-1058 AD, and played a prominent role in the East-West Schism. In 1045 he wrote a letter to the Pope claiming the title â€Å"ecumenical patriarch† and addressing Pope Leo as â€Å"brother† rather than â€Å"father†. It can be argued that it was this letter that initiated the events which followed. At the time the two primary disputes were Rome’s claim to a universal papal supremacy and the adding of the word filioque to the Nicene Creed. Filioque is a Latin word which means â€Å"and from the Son†. By inserting it to the Nicene Creed during the 6th century, the phrase pertaining to the origin of the Holy Spirit â€Å"who proceeds from the Father† was changed to â€Å"who proceeds from the Father and the Son†. The change was made to emphasize Christ’s divinity, but was strongly objected by the Eastern Christians, as they not only opposed any alteration of anything by the first ecumenical council, but also disagreed with its new meaning. Eastern Christians believe that both the Holy Spirit and the Son have their origin in the Father. During the time of the Crusades beginning in 1095, Rome joined the East in fight against the Turks to defend the Holy Land. But by the end of the Forth Crusade in 1204, all hope for potential reconciliation between the two Churches was over as the hostility between them continued to worsen. The Eastern and Western Churches remain divided and separate until present day. II. Institutional Structure â€Å"The Orthodox Church is evangelical, but not Protestant. It is orthodox, but not Jewish. It is Catholic, but not Roman. It isn’t non-denominational—it is pre-denominational. It has believed, taught, preserved, defended and died for the Faith of the Apostles since the day of Pentecost 2000 years ago.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Steve Robinson The Orthodox Catholic Church is the second largest Christian Church in the world and the religious denomination of the majority of the population in Russia, Greece, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Cyprus. Orthodoxy plays a smaller role in a dozen other countries: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the U. S. It also consists of churches in scattered presence in other countries. The Orthodox Church has an Episcopal organizational structure where consecrated bishops are the chief ecclesiastical officers in each diocese and have the power to ordain priests. The Church believes in the Apostolic Succession, which means that the consecration of its bishops can be traced back to Jesus’ apostles. The Orthodox Church is composed of several self-governing ecclesial bodies, each geographically and nationally distinct but theologically unified. Each self-governing body, often but not always encompassing a nation, is shepherded by a Holy Synod whose duty, among other things, is to preserve and teach the apostolic and patristic traditions and related church practices. III. Basic Belief System In Orthodox history, events that have transformed the external appearance of the Orthodox world—the capture of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem by Arab Muslims; the burning of Kiev by the Mongols; the two sacks of Constantinople; the October Revolution—have never broken the inward continuity of the Orthodox Church. The  greatest characterization of the Orthodox faith is its antiquity, its apparent changelessness, its continuity with the Apostolic Church and that it follows the faith and practices defined by the first seven Ecumenical Councils. For the Orthodox Christians, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity underlies all theology and spirituality. Salvation is personal and underlines particularity, yet also communal and implies sharing; there is a uniqueness and wholeness in the human person, in humanity and in creation. It is also on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity that the councilor and hierarchical structure of the Orthodox Church rests. The mystery of the Trinity is revealed in the supreme act of love, the Incarnation of the divine â€Å"Word that became flesh†, assuming and healing humanity and creation entirely. Participation in the defied humanity of Jesus Christ is the ultimate goal of the Christian life, accomplished through the Holy Spirit. In the seven Sacraments and in the life of the Church, each person is called to theosis or deification, for â€Å"God became human in order that humanity might be divinized†. When expressing these beliefs, the Orthodox look for consistency with Scripture and Tradition, as manifested in the life of the Church and the early Church Fathers, but will search also for new formulations of this tradition. External criteria of truth are lacking; for Orthodox Christians seek the living experience of truth accessible in the communion of Saints. Thus they are reluctant to define matters of faith with too much precision, in the firm conviction that truth is never exhausted. The apophatic or   negative approach safeguards the transcendence of God even while designating His immanence; it also affirms the uniqueness of each person—divine and human—that they may never be reduced to anything less than a mystery. Integral to the long history and tradition of the Orthodox Christian faith are the Icons, which further reflect the divine glory and beauty. The Incarnation of Christ implies that God became fully human and therefore accessible and describable. God is not only understood but, at the Incarnation, is looked upon and seen. An Orthodox Church is, therefore, filled with icons invariably depicting Christ or the Saints of the Church, and an Orthodox Christian kisses and assigns veneration to those depicted by them. Icons are never worshiped, and they are the Christian faith and histories depicted in images and constitute part of the transfigured cosmos. Today people tend to think of the Orthodox Church as a vast, world-wide institution. Yet the concept of universality as expressed in the local community is a fundamental principle of Orthodox doctrine. Each local Eucharist gathering is related on the principle of identity. IV. Morality Eastern Orthodoxy does not differ from the larger Christian principles of moral thought and action in any way, but does offer a unique view on Christianity’s promised redemption. It teaches a doctrine of theosis, or unity with God, which is a kind of deification that is available to all. The Orthodox doctrine of theosis is grounded in several key New Testiment scriptures. In the epistles of Paul, he repeatedly describes the Christian life as life â€Å"in Christ.† In the Gospel of John, Jesus prayed, â€Å"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me† (John 17:20-21). The idea of this mutual indwelling, God in us and we in God, is a constant theme in John’s Gospel. In the Second Letter of Peter he says, â€Å"Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may partici pate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires† (2 Peter 1:4) The goal of the Christian life, and its expected outcome, is to partake in the divine nature. This is theosis, or deification, and the idea merits special discussion so that its meaning is not distorted. The hoped-for mystical union between God and human is a true union, but it is a union with God’s energies, not the divine essence. Humans remain fully human and distinct from God. But they become perfected in grace, so that every element of ego and selfishness disappears and they are able to reflect the divine light. Few Christians will experience theosis before the Day of Judgment, but on that day, Christians will be resurrected and glorified by God, clothed in a spiritual body that radiates the divine light. Still, deification begins in the here and now, in the daily lives of ordinary Christians. All Christians are called to follow God’s commandments, and as long as they try to do so, however weak their efforts may be, or however often they may fail, they become in some way deified. Deification begins in repentance, and is nurtured through the normal routines of the Christian life. To become deified, the Christian should go to church, regularly participate in the sacraments, pray to God with honesty and great sincerity, read the Gospels, and follow the commandments. The most important commandments are love of God and neighbor. To love God is to live in and for others, which is why some of the greatest of the Eastern Orthodox saints are remembered for their service to others, such as St. Basil of Caesarea (c. 330-379) caring for the sick, or St. John the Almsgiver (d. 619) caring for the poor. Sincere dedication to following the commandments and living life within the church bears with it the promise of redemption fulfilled in the resurrection of a radiant body and soul. But Christians may look forward to even more than this. The Bible speaks of a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1) and of the hope that the creation itself will be redeemed (Romans 8:22). In these scriptures, Eastern Orthodoxy sees the promise of a cosmic redemption, in which all of material creation is transfigured. This belief in the redemption as deification rests in the Orthodox interpretation of the doctrine of the Incarnation. By choosing to become human, God became flesh and blood, thereby sanctifying material as well as immaterial creation. Because of this, all of material creation can look forward to its ultimate redemption, in which pain, death, and suffering will cease, along with hostility and enmity, and all of creation will be transfigured. The first fruits of this promise can already be seen as fulfilled in the divine power that works through the holy relics, in the divine presence in the icons, and in the radiant transfigured faces of the hesychasts. V. Worship The life of an Orthodox Christian can be seen as being composed of five cycles. First of all, there is the cycle of life, which embraces the whole life of a man from birth to death, and which consists in liturgical actions which are not repeated, occurring only once in a person’s lifetime. There are Holy Baptism, Holy Chrismation (equivalent to Confirmation in the West) and the Burial Service. In addition, there also belongs in this great cycle the Sacraments or Sacramental Blessings which bestow special grace for a particular office or vocation with the community. These are Holy Matrimony, the Monastic Tonsure and Holy Orders. Another major cycle which involves the entire life of an Orthodox Christian is the daily cycle of prayers and praises offered by the Church, once every twenty-four hours. These services express our remembrance of events which happened at certain hours and contain petitions relevant to these memories. In antiquity the day was considered to begin at sunset and divided according to the following order. Night began at 6 p.m. and was divided into four parts called watches, which means the time of changing guards: Evening (6 p.m. to 9 p.m.), Midnight (9 p.m. to 12 midnight), Cock-crow (12 midnight to 3 a.m.), and Morning (3 a.m. to 6 a.m.). Day began at 6 a.m. and was too divided into four watches (or hours): First Hour (6 a.m. to 9 a.m.), Third Hour (9 a.m. to 12 noon), Sixth Hour (12 noon to 0 3 p.m.), and Ninth Hour (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.).