What Is the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church about?
(American Orthodox Church, American Orthodox Catholic Church, North American Orthodox Church, Catholic Christian Church)
SELECTED FUNDAMENTALS:
Original By The Rev. George Mastrantonis
"Outstanding . . . you have treated very accurately the subject on our Orthodox Church and its place in the world."
His All-Holiness Athenagoras I, Ecumenical Patriarch.
Edited By:
The Most Rev. Joseph Thaddeus (Stanford), OSB, SSJt., Ph.D.
Metropolitan Archbishop, Archabbot, Primate
Western Orthodox Theological Institute (WOTI)
Introduction
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST is a living entity which has been placed on Earth for the expansion of the Kingdom of God. The Mission of Jesus Christ was and is to lead the world into the realm of eternal happiness and salvation. Therefore, the Church of Christ is not merely a human institution for accomplishing human objectives. The Church should be considered the sanctified Body of Christ, the Body of the God-Man with Divine and Human Natures. As such, the Church is considered a visible and simultaneously invisible force with the commission to expand the Kingdom of God all over the world and to continue the Redemptive Works of Christ.
The Orthodox Catholic Christian Church is the depository of the spiritual riches of its Founder and His Apostles. This church has preserved the Truths of the Christian Gospel undefiled throughout the centuries. The Orthodox Church was created with the endowment of the Person of Jesus Christ and His Apostles and disciples along with their teachings and deeds. For approximately one thousand years, while the One Undivided Church was in existence, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was handed down from generation to generation to the people who were appointed to be the protectors, defenders and expositors of its riches and blessings. For the first one thousand years, the spiritual edifice of Christendom was well accepted and interpreted. The teachings of the Undivided Church were revealed directly by God in the monuments of Holy Scripture and oral Sacred Tradition of Christ and His Apostles. Also, the form and content of worshipping God was organized not only in its eternal characteristics, but especially in its substance —its meaningful admiration for and belief in the True God.
The Orthodox Catholic Christian Church of today holds the treasury of the teachings and worship of the Undivided Church of the first millennium, and rightly asserts that it is the heir of the One Undivided Church. The Orthodox Church received the Scriptures and kept unchanged in their original form and language not only the Books of the New Testament, but even the Books of the Old Testament, as they were translated into Greek in the third century B.C., from the original Hebrew (the language of the consonants). Also, this Church received from Jesus Christ and His Apostles the oral teachings on the background of which the Gospel was written, and it kept them throughout the stormy centuries unadulterated, as a source of the Church's Truths having the same value as the Scriptures. The Orthodox Church does not claim "that the Church is tradition and tradition is the Church"; this Church has not added the innovations of teachings and worship which have been adopted by the later separated churches. The Orthodox Catholic Christian Church has maintained continuity in teachings and worship as they were wrought by the first Undivided Church.
The Orthodox Church formulated sacred ceremonies for the sanctification of its members. It has not separated its clergymen from the rest of its members. Laymen are considered members of the Sacred Body of Jesus Christ, with many of the same responsibilities and rights as clergymen. However, the Church recognizes a special Priesthood of clergymen. The Church as a whole is infallible; that is, it is governed by the Holy Spirit to prevent the Church from formulating false teachings. The Orthodox Catholic Christian Church has the same type of direction as the Undivided Church, and it retains a democratic administration, where clergymen, along with laymen, are responsible for keeping the Truths of Salvation unchangeable and workable. The Undivided and continuing Orthodox Catholic Christian Church, holds the principle that the "Conscience of the Church" is the court of appeal for the final decree of Faith and morals.
Interpretation of Scriptures and oral Sacred Tradition is made by the Church as a whole, not by individuals. It is true that individual personalities throughout the centuries have interpreted the Bible according to their information and inspiration, but it was the adoption of these individual interpretations by the Church as a whole that gave them the sanction of being teachings of the Church. In many cases, the Church as a whole has disapproved teachings of great theologians and personalities, as is the case with Origen. The theologian and the believer is encouraged to study the Scriptures according to his training and inspiration; but the final pronouncement of faith is decreed by the Church as a whole.
The Orthodox Catholic Christian Church not only is the depository of the Faith in the True God and His Gospel, but also is the guardian of the Christian moral life of its members. The confession of faith in the True Trinitarian God should be planted in the "good soil" of the individual Christian, who should nourish it with Christian behavior and love for his neighbor. These "good works" of the individual Christians are not considered as substitutes for his faith, but as witnesses and functions of a workable faith in the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior. It is a mistake to label the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church a Church of ceremonial sanctifications and liturgical mysticism, without noting the fact that its heritage is the preaching of the Word of God and the teaching of Christian principles to all its members. The basic principle of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church is to teach the Gospel and a concrete faith in the True God. The fact is that this Church stresses the point to both, Orthodoxy, which means a perfect and unchangeable faith in God, and to Orthopraxy, which means a perfect and unchangeable Christian moral life according to the principles of the Bible.
Also, the annals of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church have not recorded the division of churches, infallibility of one person, abolishment of synods, separation of the clergy and laity, the theory of indulgences and purgatory, abandonment of Sacred and Apostolic Tradition, and many other innovations in Faith and practice which were foreign to the ancient Undivided Church. The Orthodox Catholic Christian Church continues to cherish and guard the principles of life and faith of the ancient, One, Undivided Church, Ecumenical in character.
In the light of this spirit of the Church, the following pages introduce, in a concise manner, fundamental aspects of the Orthodox Church with the hope that these explanations will strengthen a belief in Christ as it is interpreted by the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church.
Origin and Titles
The origin of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church:
The Orthodox lurch began with Christ and His Apostles at the very beginning or the Christian Era. There was no time in this Era when the Orthodox Church did not exist, and there has been no interruption of the life of the Orthodox Church up to today. Throughout the centuries the same teachings, the same principles, the same Head have remained. In its monuments is recorded the original and first birthday celebrated by the Apostles themselves. The Orthodox Church did not originate with Chrysostom, or Basil the Great, or Gregory the Theologian, or any such personality of the Church, but with Christ Himself and His Apostles. It is in fact an Apostolic Church, and its age is the same as that of Christianity itself.
The Church of Christ has been pronounced the pillar and bulwark of the Truth (I Timothy 3,15). Over the centuries the Church has proven itself both a substantial source of the Truth and a skilled defender of it. This is because the Church of Christ is not merely an institution, but is a workshop of God's Will with Christ as its Founder and everlasting Master.
The Church was not founded and erected accidentally; it was in the plan of God. "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3,16). And in the fullness of time the Son of God, the everlasting Logos, became flesh. The Church was founded by Jesus Christ. Its content, evolution, role and accomplishments depend on Jesus Christ. Christ founded the Church and armed it with Himself and His Gospel.
The history of the Church began at the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and disciples of Christ as "tongues of fire" (Acts 2,1) and strengthened, guided and sent them forth to present the Gospel to all nations. Right after this day Peter announced the Gospel with power, and converted thousands of astonished people. The Apostles spoke with authority; organized the groups of the new faith; named the new movement after Christ, and appointed assistants called deacons, who devoted their efforts to preaching and serving the needy. The Apostles of Christ from the very beginning preached the Gospel and organized believers into groups which became local churches. They scattered throughout the then-known world. Palestine, Scythia, Asia, Greece, Italy, Spain, Egypt and even India were reached. The Twelve Apostles, Paul, Barnabas, Adelphotheos James and many others joined the journeys of the expansion of the Gospel and the Church. Most of them underwent martyrdom, including all of the Twelve Apostles except John. The Church of Christ was founded on His Blood and on the blood of His disciples.
The origin of the Orthodox Catholic Faith in Jesus Christ and His Apostles, and its expansion through the centuries should be studied and understood as the unchangeable belief which has been preserved by the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church. Heresies and persecutions are dramatic events designed to minimize the important mission of the thousands of martyrs who defended these principles of Christian life. These martyrs had only one objective: to establish the new faith in the True God and to keep it as a perpetual living communion between the believers and the True God. This objective was kept throughout the centuries by the Orthodox Church, which is Ecumenical in character because its faith was formulated at the time when the Church was One, Undivided, and not separated into many parts. The uninterrupted teachings of the Orthodox Church pronounce the Orthodox Church as the depository and treasury of the correct interpretation of the Gospel of Christ without innovations or liberal individual interpretations.
There is in the nature of the Church the tendency to expand its boundaries and spread its Gospel. Mission and conversion is the primary task of the Church of Christ. St. Peter is considered the founder of the Church of Antioch and probably the Church of Rome; St. Andrew founded the Church of Byzantium; St. Paul not only converted the people of the main cities of Greece, but also erected centers in which the faith of Christ was further preached and expanded. The same zeal has been shown by others throughout the centuries, especially in the ninth century when Patriarch Photius organized the mission to convert the Slavonic people.
In accordance with the system of administration of the Orthodox Church, these newly established Churches became, in time, self-governing national Churches with a strong communion with one another based on the same foundation of teachings and beliefs of the One Undivided Ecumenical Church.
unity of the self-governing orthodox churches:
The Orthodox Catholic Christian Church consists of many autonomous Churches, that is, self-governing Churches, according to canon law which is common to all of them. These Churches are fully in communion with one another. Their rites, literature, ecclesiastical calendar, customs, and more important, their canons, creed and dogmas are entirely the same — for they have all been translated from the original Greek.
the ethnic self-governing orthodox churches:
These churches constitute a membership of approximately 250 million communicants today, which ranks the Orthodox Church, as a whole, as the second largest Christian denomination in the world. Some of them were founded by the Apostles themselves, others by later missionaries. The Patriarchates (that is, Churches whose Bishops are called Patriarchs) of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, and the Church of Cyprus were founded by the Apostles. The Churches which owe their origin to missionaries from Constantinople and the other Patriarchates are, in alphabetical order, the Church of Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Lattonia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Mount Sinai, Ukrainia, Yugoslavia. The communicants of these Churches do not say that they belong to a particular local Church, but to the Orthodox Church. The communion and fellowship of all Churches is the supreme authority to which the communicants give allegiance.
orthodox churches in america:
The Greek, Russian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Carpatho-Russian, Romanian, Serbian, Syrian, Ukrainian, Estonian and Armenian, are self-governing Churches in the United States founded about the turn of the century and later well organized. These Churches in the United States constitute a membership of approximately five million communicants, most of them now American-born, and are in full communion and fellowship with each other, although they are self-governing organizations. On the other hand, some estimate the membership at six and a half million; private statistics minimizing the membership to two and a half million are misleading, for the membership of local Churches consists of families rather than individuals; and besides, many a faithful is a "member" of the Church by faith and baptism, though he is not "in good standing," which means he is not listed in the "membership" of the Church.
various titles of the orthodox church:
The Orthodox Catholic Christian Church is also known as the "Greek Orthodox Church", or the "Greek Orthodox Catholic Church", or "Russian, Serbian, American, etc. Orthodox Church", or, more simply, as the "Eastern Church". There is no difference of any kind as to the substance and content of this one and the same Church. However, the name "Greek Catholic" does not refer to the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church. Although this Church, the so-called Uniat Church, follows the same rites and customs of its original heritage (that is, the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church), it belongs to the Western Church.
application of meaning of word "orthodox":
The word "orthodox" is derived from two Greek words: "orthos", right or true, and "doxa", opinion or glory. It means sound in opinion or doctrine, especially in religious doctrines; hence, specifically, holding the Christian faith as formulated in the great church creeds and confessions. The Orthodox Church bears the full meaning of the connotations of the "One, Holy. Catholic, and Apostolic Church". It is not only "One," not only "Holy" or "Catholic", or "Apostolic"; it is all of them, that is: it is "Orthodox". "Orthodox", again, does not mean conservative, nor its antonym, radical, nor heterodox (other opinion) — that is, opinion different than the orthodox. The term "orthodox" was used in olden times to define the faith of the Church against the heresies which arose for a while denying mainly the truth of the Holy Trinity.
Again, the term "Orthodox" is used to distinguish from the "heterodox", who accept the truth of the Holy Trinity, but either interpret it in different terms than the Orthodox Church, or differ in other dogma and administration. Specifically, the Church is "One", for Christ is One, its Founder and Head, Who preserves it and keeps it united. The Church is "Holy" because it is the sacred Institution for the sanctifica-tion of its faithful by the Holy Spirit. It is also "Catholic", a word which derives from the Greek Kath-olou, which is a historical expression implying not only that its truth is unique everywhere and always, but also that it teaches the absolute, Kath-olou, Truth, and it is the only efficient one which unites the universe of man "so there shall be one flock, one Shepherd" (John 10, 16). Finally, the Church is "Apostolic" because its teaching and its active mission have been handed down by the Apostles in a continuous and unique succession to the leaders and members of the Church throughout the centuries.
application of the word 'greek":
The word "Greek" when used in connection with the Orthodox Church has no national aspect, except in reference to the Greek Orthodox Church in Greece. The Russian Church calls herself "Russian Greek" Church. Similarly, the other (national) Orthodox Churches feel that they are Greek to the extent that the Greek language, philosophy, and drama served the Message of Christ as a maid to His venerable Orthodox Church. The New Testament was written in the Greek language and bears the elements of a Greek background and culture. During the first three centuries the Militant Church, which underwent humiliation but was able to establish the pure Christian faith against both pagans and heretics, was entirely a "Greek" Christian Church throughout the world of that time. The next two centuries constituted the Golden Era of Christendom and in the Eastern Church the Greek language and thought remained the supreme servant for the true interpretation of our Lord's Gospel and for the safeguarding of the meaning of His redemptive message along with the beginning of Latin Christian literature mostly in North Africa.
The scholar who studies the content, origin, background and doctrines of the New Testament must know the original Greek language because the New Testament in its entirety was written in the "koine" Greek. Also because the first interpreters and adherents, such as the Apostolic Fathers and Apologists and the theologians of Alexandria and Antioch, along with the Fathers of the Golden Era of the Church
—through whom the Christian heritage was defined and clearly stated
—wrote in Greek.
members of the orthodox church:
The Church consists of all its communicants, of all members of the Mystical Body of Christ, of all people who have been baptized properly in the name of the Holy Trinity, clergymen and laymen, saints and sinners, adults and infants, the living and the dead. There is a strong communion and inter-affiliation between the members who have departed, constituting the Triumphant Church, and those who are still alive, constituting the Militant Church. Their Head is the same: Jesus Christ the Savior. In His Name the communicants of both Churches pray for each other and remember each other.
The Orthodox Church considers itself both as visible and invisible. It is visible, for its Founder became flesh and established the Church; its Faith is confessed externally; its sacred ceremonies are performed in sensible signs; also its clergymen are by succession directly linked to the Apostles. Its members also are visible, for not only the pious one and saint, being as such unknown to the Church, is its member, "but also the one who is associated with the Church externally (i.e. through baptism), even though he is in the least intrinsically united (i.e. not in full convictions), with the Founder of the Church." The Church also is an invisible sacred Institution, for its Lord, its communion with Him by Faith, and man's salvation by the Grace of God are invisible. The Church participates, then, in both: on the one hand the divine and invisible, which is the life-giving authority, and on the other, the human and visible, which is the external manifestation of the former, a necessary instrument of the world-saving function of the Church.
Interpretation and Administration
The doctrine of belief on divine revelation:
The Apostles and disciples of Our Savior treasured His Divine Revelation by constituting the first "ecclesia", the living Church. This ecclesia is both the source and the origin of the Orthodox Church today in an unbroken chain throughout the centuries. The human element which so dearly kept intact the Gospel, or "good news", was the faith of the members of the Church in the Lord and their love for Him and for one another. Their faith and love were, first of all, recorded in their hearts and memories and expressed in their great and far-flung missionary work. For an entire generation, the first creative generation of Christianity, no book or letter was written, but the Church was established. On this great work the Church of today is based. God in His mercy has revealed His Will at various times to man, who was incapable of finding it for himself. The Church derives its Truths from this Divine Revelation, which was given to man through the activities of God in His Creation and in history, and through the prophets. These factors have served to prepare mankind to accept the salvation offered by Jesus Christ, for "when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians, 4,4,5). The Person of Jesus Christ and His work and teachings are the Divine Revelation. Through Christ the older revelation, written in the Old Testament, becomes understandable and purposeful.
the doctrine of belief in the scriptures:
The Orthodox Church has kept the Bible undefiled in its original form, both the Septuagint Old Testament third century B.C. translation into Greek from the Hebrew original and the New Testament. The Church has handed it down, from generation to generation, as the inspiring Word of God to guide the life of the believers and lead them in the true faith through Jesus Christ, their Savior. The Bible is the revealed and divine source of the Orthodox Faith and of the spiritual life of its believers. St. John stresses the importance of the written word as being indispensable for belief in Christ and for living His Message by saying that "These are written, that ye might have life through his name" (John 20,21).
The New Testament was adopted and "canonized" during the last half of the second century, long after the founding of the "good news" by the living Church and its missionary activities. The various books of the New Testament were written "occasionally" for one reason or another. For instance, St. Paul wrote his great Epistles to Churches which he was unable to visit in person at that time. The content of the New Testament can be more fully understood if the missionary activities and the ways of worship of the original living Church are known. Some of these matters can supplement and clarify various otherwise obscure statements in the New Testament. The Church in time accepted these writings and its additional activities in mission, love and worship—not all of which had been recorded at that time—as being the very source of its treasure. Generally speaking, the
Christian writings of the Church are the books of the New Testament and the redemptive activities of the first Apostles as recorded later in Sacred Tradition. In the Orthodox Church the Scriptures and Sacred Tradition are one and the same source and of equal validity.
the doctrine of belief in sacred tradition:
Sacred Tradition goes back to our Lord and His Apostles. It is in fact an apostolic tradition especially related to the redemptive work of Christ; that is, to faith and morals, which are divine truths indispensable for salvation (e.g. the dogma of the Holy Trinity). Sacred Tradition consists of the teachings which Christ and His Apostles handed down to the Church by word of mouth. Most of the oral Sacred Tradition was preserved hi the Bible, which was written on the background of this Tradition and should be used for the interpretation of teachings which are poorly and vaguely mentioned in the Bible. This Sacred Tradition existed from the beginning of the Christian era and was kept alive in the "Conscience of the Church," consisting of the Truths which have been accepted "everywhere, always and by all" the faithful.
The 27 books of the New Testament, which we so dearly love and read, are a written form of this Sacred Tradition, and other of its divine truths appeared later in various "confessions" which were written to refute the errors of the heretics. By Tradition of the Church, for example, we claim today that the New Testament consists of the known 27 books. The Bible itself does not mention it. The Church cannot create Sacred Tradition, but rather Sacred Tradition, now recorded in the written monuments of the Church, was revealed to the Church by our Lord and His Apostles.
There are other so-called traditions—that is, various customs and practices handed down from olden times which are used in the Church. They are not Sacred Tradition. For instance, traditions such as the style of the church building, vestments of the clergymen, lighting candles, the Sign of the Cross, etc., are not the redemptive Sacred Tradition, but pious customs appropriate for order and practical life, if properly used.
authorized interpretation of the divine revelation:
Interpretation of Divine Revelation, the Word and Will of God, treasured now in the Scriptures and Sacred Tradition, is made by the Church as a whole and not by individuals. In the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church its ecclesiastical personalities, no matter how gifted and inspired, have never considered themselves infallible and have never led their followers outside the One Church. They have never considered themselves as heads or vicars of the Church; they have never thought of themselves as unerring human beings, but they have always derived their teaching from the treasure of the Church, or they have submitted their creative thoughts to the whole Church for recognition. This has been, and still is, the golden Rule of interpretation of Divine Revelation in the Eastern Church. This is why the Eastern Church does not pronounce dogmas which are not witnessed by the spoken and written Word of God; and, on the other hand, does not present either a scholastic system of dogmatics, or a system of mere human reasoning.
It is sufficient for the Church to state the divine truths according to the sacred sources, using human reasoning only to explain them as "possible" but not "necessary" to human reasoning. If they could be proved by human reasoning, the believer, on the one hand, would have to say, "I know" and not "I believe", and the non-believer, on the other hand, according to such a method, would be an unreasoning person.
It is not only the Sacred Scriptures but rather its interpretation which counts and keeps the Church united to proclaim "one Lord, one Spirit, one Baptism", and "one flock and one Shepherd". The interpretation of the Bible and its Truths makes the Church "the Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth" (Timothy 3.5). The interpretation of the Bible should be one and the same, because its Author is One. It is absurd for one individual to claim that his interpretation of the Bible is the true one, though contradictory to the interpretation of another Christian, who also claims that he possesses the truth; and on the other hand, both of them will claim that the Holy Ghost, Who is one and the same, is their guidance and inspiring Author! This cannot be. The Church as a whole is the safeguard and depository of the Divine Revelation and the Church must be its only interpreter.
the meaning of "conscience of the church":
The highest authority in the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church is the "Conscience of the Ecclesia (Church)". It is a common consent of opinions of faith, and hope, and activities of love of all communicants of the entire Church. Especially, the Conscience of the Church is important on matters of faith and morals which are divine truths, indispensable for the salvation of the faithful. This "Conscience of the Church" takes form and expression in general assemblies of the bishops of the entire Church, that is, Ecumenical Synods or Councils, which are considered the only authority in formulating and expressing the Truths of the Word of God in unchangeable monuments. Such monuments are, for instance, the Creed of the Church and other dogmas (that is, statements or confessions of divine truths).
The Ecumenical Synods, seven in number, either adopted the truths already accepted by the "Conscience of the Church" or stated the ever-existing Truths of the Word of God by defending them against the heretics, who were attempting at that time to devastate them. These Truths did not constitute a systematic statement of the entire teaching of the Orthodox faith, nor did they adopt or authorize a system of catechism. They merely defended and formulated only those truths which had been attacked and misrepresented by either pagans or, for the most part, by misled Christians. Strictly speaking, the only Truths of the Word of God which were formulated by the Ecumenical Synods are those stated in the Ecumenical Nicene Creed, relating mainly to the Holy Trinity and especially to its Second Person, Jesus Christ the Logos. (See Chapter on Ecumenical Synods).
the authority & freedom in the orthodox church:
Bishops, conferring in a Synod, consider themselves guided by the Holy Spirit, but not to the extent of eliminating the need for their human abilities to search the sources of the revealed Will of God. The Bishops pronounce the interpretation of the Will of God according to methods of logical procedure, humanly adopted, as a positive way of Christian life.
The Holy Spirit prevents the entire Church from false statements of a truth already revealed by God. It does not compel the Church to create or invent a truth or truths. Thus, it gives the members of the Synod the freedom of using their minds and abilities to decide an issue with the full understanding that they are acting as an Ecumenical Synod. But if a Synod is not approved by the "Conscience of the Church" as such (that is, as being Ecumenical), the action of the Synod will be abolished later by an Ecumenical Synod which bears witness of the "Conscience of the Church". Again, many local Synods have been convened and have acted as such, and many personal statements have been expressed by churchmen and laymen without an assumption that these statements have an Ecumenical authority. Yet these statements sometimes have been raised by the "Conscience of the Church" to the rank of authoritative statements to be sanctioned later by the next Ecumenical Synod.
The criterion for proving that such statements are the revealed Truths of God is the "Conscience of the entire Church", which is considered infallible and "the pillar and ground of truth" (Timothy 3,15). This criterion, which the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church so dearly keeps in its conscience, is its simple but golden rule for the interpretation of the Scripture, that is, "what is believed everywhere, always, and by all" the faithful of the Church.
the canons of the orthodox church:
The Church as a divine organization, headed by our Lord Jesus Christ, needs its leaders and rules to carry on its functions and to achieve its destiny. The Ecumenical Synods (Councils), besides the dogmata, the pronouncements of Truths for salvation, have also issued "Canons", which are rules and regulations referring to "orderly behavior and discipline." They determine the conditions for the administration of such a divine-human organization, that is, the Church; the relation of its members; duties ot the clergymen, etc. These canons are decided by a majority vote and are compulsory to all the faithful, clergymen as well as laymen. However, they may be changed by the same authority which issued them. (See Chapter on Ecumenical Synods.)
the democratic type of administration:
In the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church the formulation of her Truths of faith and her type of government are by the people and for the people. Even its highest leader, the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople, is considered "the first among equals," and each Bishop as the executor and overseer for the application of the Truths and rules of the Church. The Bishop is not a ruler or head, but a shepherd and spiritual leader. The Church as a divine-human organization has its Instruments of action. First, the "Ecumenical Synod" (council) of the Church is composed of clergymen having the privilege and duty to formulate its Truths of faith and to issue rules for its effective leadership. Secondly, "the Conscience of the Church"—the Church as a whole—approves this formulation of Truths of faith by accepting and applying them in the life of the faithful. Finally, the clergy oversee the right application of these accepted Truths and rules, preaching and developing them among the faithful.
the position of the laymen in the church:
The laymen constitute the "royal priesthood" as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, although they have never replaced the special order of priesthood. The clergyman administers the Divine Sacrifice, although the layman has the right to administer the Divine Word, along with the Priest, as preacher and teacher of the Gospel. Both follow and obey the teachings of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church. Most of the theological teachers of the clergy in some of the Orthodox countries are laymen who also teach the religious courses in the regular schools of those countries. The privileges and obligations of the laymen are no less than those of the clergymen. They have the right to elect the clergymen in their community who must meet certain qualifications. Without his election as priest of the community, no faithful can be ordained by the Bishop, although, the Bishop has the right to ordain unmarried male Christians and monks. The political authorities in the Orthodox countries, as the sovereign power of the nation, exercise their authority to sustain order, issuing, on some occasions, the decisions of the national Synods as laws of the State. In the past the Emperors called the General Assemblies of Bishops, expressed their opinions, especially on matters of discipline, and accompanied the decisions of the Synod with a special enactment.
the degrees of priesthood:
The clergy by ordination consists of three degrees: the Deacon, the Presbyter, and the Bishop. Their duties vary. The Deacon assists the Priest in offering the Liturgy; however, only a few churches have a Deacon. The Presbyter is better known as Priest, because he offers the Divine Liturgy; as Pastor, because he looks after his people; and as Preacher, because he delivers the Word of God. He administers the Mysteria (i.e. the sacred ceremonies of the Church), but not that of Ordination. He administers the Chrism, which is blessed and prepared only by Bishops, but is used by the Priest. Today most Eastern Orthodox priests are married. The Bishop performs the same duties as a Priest, and in addition oversees all parishes within his jurisdiction; ordains the Priests and Deacons; consecrates churches, and as one of a local Synod prepares the Chrism, Myron (blessed oil), for Chrismation (confirmation).
The main difference between the Priest and the Bishop, according to Chrysostom, is that the latter ordains the former. A Bishop is ordained by at least two other Bishops. The office of the Bishop is restricted to unmarried. Priests (chaste Priests) or widowers, an ecclesiastical custom from the 7th century up to this day. The Bishop, the Priest and the Deacon constitute the three degrees of the higher rank of Priesthood. It is a mistake to consider the degree of Priest and Deacon in the lower rank of the clergy, as is the lower degree of the Reader, etc.
The Teachings and Beliefs
'The authority and reading of the bible:
All parishioners of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church are urged not only to read the Bible, but especially to live it. They must read the Bible freely for practical purposes and devotion. They are not encouraged to interpret the Bible other than the interpretation given by the whole Orthodox Catholic Christian Church. The people reverence the Bible as the most important treasure of the Church and the source of the Divine Truths. The Gospel is placed in the most important place of the church, that is, on its Altar, and bears on its covers the pictures of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, two events in the life of Jesus Christ without which our preaching and faith are in vain (1 Cor. 15,14).
Parts of the Bible, the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, are read abundantly in every service, ritual or otherwise. Although the national Greek Church uses the original Septuagint, this is, the Greek version of the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament Greek, a translation in modern Greek or in any other language is permitted for reading, such as Slavonic, Arabic, and other modern languages. In English, the King James version or the Revised Standard Version, although slightly different from the original version of the Orthodox Church, is in use, for the Orthodox Church has not yet translated the Bible into English.
the ecumenical creed:
It is a written statement which was formulated in the First (325 A.D. in the City of Nicaea) and Second (381 A.D.) Ecumenical Synods as the shortest and the most accurate summary of the Divine Truths. The Orthodox Christian must accept and believe in these Truths for his salvation. This Creed is also known as the "Ecumenical Symbol of Faith" or "Nicene Creed", after the name of the city of Nicaea, in Asia Minor. This Creed is known from its first Greek word as "Pistevo", or in Slavonic "Vjeruju", or in Latin "Credo", from which the English word "creed" is derived, meaning "I believe". It is also called "Symbol" as "a sign by which someone is recognized, who proclaims Christ according to apostolic rules" (Roufinos). This Nicene Creed is considered as the Constitution of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church, and is called Ecumenical as having been issued by the undivided entire Church, and is, even today, adopted mainly by all Christian Churches.
The Nicene Ecumenical Creed contains the standards of the Christian Faith, and should be considered a guide for understanding the Bible. It should be the standard of the life of the faithful. This Creed is the "most authoritative and official statement of faith and the infallible criterion and accurate standard of Orthodoxy". It is not written to merely be memorized, but to make more emphatic the principles of life according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The most controversial thought in the Creed was that of Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity (Christology), to Whom the second through the seventh articles of the Creed are devoted. The Creed, and especially the above mentioned articles, are clarified by Ecumenical Synods which determined that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity was incarnate as God-man, taking on two complete natures, the Divine and the human, without confusion and without change, and subsequently, two wills with two energies. The Nicene Creed was pronounced to be literally unchangeable as formulated by the First and Second Ecumenical Synods. The Western Church, in the 9th Century, inserted in the eighth article of the Creed the thought that the Holy Spirit proceeded not only from the Father, as it was originally pronounced, but also "from the Son", and inserted the Latin phrase "filioque", a foreign thought to the Ecumenical Church. This contributed to the separation of the Eastern and Western Churches.
Besides the Nicene Creed, there are two other Ecumenical Symbols; the Apostles' Creed, shorter than the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creed, a lengthier one. All three were written originally in Greek. A much shorter Creed is the liturgical one: "Let us love one another that we may with one mind confess, The Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Trinity consubstantial (of the same essence) and undivided", which Creed presupposes love as the basis of the right faith.
the outline of the nicene creed:
The Nicene Creed was written as a whole and later was divided into twelve articles, the outline of which follows: (letters for chapters; numerals for articles)
A. (1) I believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of everything;
B. (2-7) and in our Lord Jesus Christ; (2) the only-begotten Son of God, of the same substance with the Father, (3) who for our salvation came down from Heaven; was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, (4) was crucified, suffered and buried, (5) and the third day He rose again, (6) and ascended into Heaven, (7) and shall come again to judge;
C. (8) And (I believe) in the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father (only);
D. (9) in One, Holy, (Orthodox) Catholic, Apostolic Church, (10), I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, (11)1 look for the Resurrection of the dead (bodies), (12) and the everlasting life.
In short, the Creed is a confession of belief in the Holy Trinity (1-8), and Its relationship to man (9-12), that is, his salvation (9-10), and the life to come (11-12).
The Nicene Creed
1. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth and of all things visible and invisible.
2. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all Ages. Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, through Whom all things were made.
3. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, and became Man.
4. And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried.
5. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures.
6. And ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father.
7. And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, Whose Kingdom shall have no end.
8. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who pro-ceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the Prophets.
9. In one, Holy, (Orthodox) Catholic and Apostolic Church.
10. I acknowledge One Baptism for the remission of sins.
11. I look for the Resurrection of the dead.
12. And the life of the ages to come. Amen.
This translation is taken from the Faith Press, London, approved by the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. There is no translation accepted officially by the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church.
the doctrine of belief in god:
The Faithful believes not only in the existence of a God, but in the God defined by the Scriptures and especially in John 17,3 that, "this is eternal life that they know Thee the only true God". God is the "Highest, Infinite and Super-perfect Spiritual Being from whom everything originated and by Whom everything is sustained". God is Spirit beyond place, time and variation. God knows everything, He is Almighty, All-love and All-holy. Almighty God created the world, "created the heavens and the earth"; He created the Universe during different periods, "days", from nothing; He created Angels, man's guardians, as the "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1,7-14), although some of them, using their free will, came to be bad Angels or demons. God created man. God also provides for everything He created, because He is a living God; He feeds the birds and clothes the lilies. The evolution in the universe, too, is in the plan of God's providence. God provides especially for man whatever he needs for his 'ife, and in the fullness of time, God sent forth His beloved Son to be Incarnate for man's salvation.
the doctrine of belief in the holy trinity:
The belief in the Holy Trinity is the outstanding characteristic of the Eastern Orthodox Faith. God is one in substance; He is Triune in three Persons or Hypostases, as the liturgical confession reads "I confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, Trinity consubstantial and Undivided." The Scriptures proclaim that "To us there is one God, the Father"; that "in Him (the Son) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead"; and, relating to the Holy Ghost, "Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God". The first six Ecumenical Synods dealt primarily with the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the LOGOS, and the Third Person, the Holy Ghost, proclaiming that they are of the same essence with the Father. There are not three Gods but only One; a Unity in Trinity.
The faithful believes and worships God, in Whom he has been baptized, that is, "into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost". The three Persons are distinguished in the Bible by "personal qualifications". The Father is neither begotten, nor proceeds from anyone, but that He begat the Son, and is the primal cause of the Holy Spirit's procession. The Son sends the Holy Spirit to guide His Church (John 15,26). God the Holy Trinity is revealed by Himself, in His Revelation, and especially through Jesus Christ. This Truth can be reached only by faith. It is a mystery above our comprehension, and one which cannot be simplified by any illustration. The True belief in the Holy Trinity is in itself the Kingdom of God, that is, the substance of the salvation of the faithful, (cf. John 1 7,3).
the place of the HOLY theotokos, the virgin mary, in the church:
When the fullness of time came for the coming of the Savior, the only-begotten Son of God, Christ, was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and became man for our Salvation. The Theotokos, the Birth-Giver of God, was blessed, magnified and elected to serve the Will of God by giving a fatherless birth to our Savior. The Orthodox Catholic Christian Church does glorify and magnify her by bestowing on her the highest honor, calling her the Theotokos-, Birth-Giver of God. Her personality is vivid in the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church. In the Bible, she is mirrored in the "Magnificat" and in what she kept in her heart; in icons, the Blessed Virgin Mary always appears with her Child and never alone; in the hymns, her mission is related to her Son's Work; in Church teaching, she is described neither as an ordinary woman, even after her mission, nor as goddess-like, but as the Theotokos, Birth-Giver of God, for ever. Her mission was divine; her birth human, she being one of our race. Therefore the Church does not accept her immaculate conception.
The position of the Theotokos in the Bible and in the Orthodox Church is very high. Her person is pictured with words of the highest esteem in the Bible and with beautiful Icons in the Church. The Church commemorates the Theotokos in its hymnology and its prayers. It honors her personality and mission in superb prose and poetry. The Church has recorded her name in its redemptive truths and has put it in the Creed. The Church venerates the Mother of Christ because she was chosen by Almighty God to serve as the Mother of Jesus Christ; it does not honor the Virgin Mary merely as a holy woman, but as a "holder of Him Who is illimitable . . . and infinite Creator."
the incarnation of jesus christ:
The human birth of Jesus Christ was the beginning of the Incarnate Logos (Word). It was "the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints" (Col. 1,26); it was "the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages, but is now disclosed and, through the prophetic writings, made known to all nations" (Romans 16,25-26). It was the mystery of reconciliation through God's only begotten Son, the Logos, "when the fullness of time came." The fullness of time came about through God's Will, and by virtue of man's preparation. Man was prepared to accept God's Will by various historical events, the innate desires of his nature, the cultivation of the spark of faith in the true God and the prophecy recorded in the Old Testament.
Almighty God from the very beginning had planned to save mankind, and in time, chose the Virgin Mary to give a miraculous virgin-birth to Jesus Christ the Savior. This is an unshakable belief of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church, which later included this belief in the Ecumenical Nicene Creed that Jesus Christ "was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and became man." Jesus Christ was born with two Perfect Natures — the Divine and Human — and the Church worshipped Him from the very beginning as God-Man, the Savior. The Orthodox Church celebrates the Birth of Christ with solemn services. On the 25th of December (for Orthodox Churches using the old Julian Calendar, Christmas falls 13 days later, that is, on January 6, which for them is the 25th of December), the celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ takes place with rich hymnology referring to Jesus Christ and His Redemptive Work.
the crucifixion of jesus christ:
Christ on the Cross is considered the prelude of the triumphant victory of Christian ideals. The Cross of Christ depicts the climax where the final humiliation of Christ took place, signified by the last Words of Christ on the Cross, "It is finished". On the other hand, it was here that the victorious leadership of the Church of Christ was established. The dreadful event of the Crucifixion took place in a certain place and time, and had been prophesied as an event in the plan of God for the salvation of mankind. The details of the Crucifixion were recorded by the Evangelists and Apostles as the central occurrence of Christ's stay on earth. The theme of the preachings of the Apostles is the Cross and Christ crucified. The sacred hymnology of the Orthodox Church refers to the Crucifixion of Christ as the event of atonement, saving the believers. The Crucifixon has been established through the centuries as an actual event by which the God-Man, a real person, was crucified and buried. It has been an unshakeable belief that Christ on the Cross was the everlasting Logos Who became flesh incarnate, out of divine love, to save the world.
The Crucifixion is considered by the Orthodox Church as the "sorrowful Easter" because it is linked with the Resurrection of Christ, "the victorious Easter". These two events in the Life of Christ are linked on the Cross as a whole, and created from two Divine Events. The Orthodox faithful refer to the Crucifixion as an event through which their sins are forgiven in the sacrifice of Christ, Who bore the sins of mankind and reconciled man with Almighty God, paving the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. The Blood of Christ shed on the Cross was not shed in vain, but made possible the forgiveness of sinful man. The Sacrifice of Christ is reenacted in the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church.
the resurrection of jesus christ:
The Resurrection of Christ on the third day is for the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church the highest event of the life of our Lord. His death was real — a historical event. Christ was crucified, suffered and was buried, He descended into hades (Hell) and the third day He rose again. Easter, known as Pascha, for the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church is every Sunday. Its theme of readings and hymns every Sunday is: "Christ is risen, indeed." The first Christians chose not Friday, the day of Golgotha, but "the third day" (Sunday), for what they called "the Lord's Day", as a dedication to the Lord of the Church. In Greek, this day is called "Kyriake" which derives from "Kyrios", the Lord. In Russian, the word for Sunday is "Voskreseniye" which literally means "Resurrection".
The Church celebrates the divine event of the Resurrection of our Lord as the key event in the salvation of man. Jesus Christ presents Himself thus: "I am the Resurrection and the life", and we believe that "we shall certainly be united with Him in the likeness of His Resurrection". St. Paul proclaimed that the preaching of the Church and our faith would be in vain if Christ had not risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15,14).
The Orthodox Church believes in the Resurrection of the Body of Jesus Christ, Which died on the Cross. The Body of Jesus Christ was buried and with Its Resurrection was transformed beyond comprehension. It was the same Body, the wounds of which were recognized by St. Thomas; the same Body which entered the room through the closed door; the same Body that was walking to Emmaus, the same Body which ascended into Heaven and blessed the Apostles.
The Resurrection of the Body of Jesus Christ is an assurance of the resurrection of mankind. The belief in the Resurrection of Christ is indispensable for salvation. It is an inspiring divine event that reminds the faithful of their privilege of preserving the Gospel of Christ and practicing His commandment of love toward others. The Orthodox faithful, finally, greet each other throughout Easter Week saying, Christ is Risen, Christos Anesti, Hristos Vf^ ' rese, Christos a Inviat.
The calculation of Easter was determined by the first Ecumenical Synod, convened at Nicaea in 325 A.D., which decreed that Easter is