The Basics
Orthodox Christianity is a sect of Christianity. They believe that God created the universe and endowed man with a soul, but that man sinned and broke this original harmony. God enacted a plan to rescue man from this chaos. He revealed Himself to Moses and established laws and practices to keep the chosen people on the right path. When the time of fulfillment came, God sent down His Son (who is Himself God) to preach, to be crucified, to die, to resurrect, and then return to Heaven. He then sent the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Divine Trinity, to empower His followers to know and love God, and to convert the world.
Those who faithfully follow Christ will be “saved” through the redemptive power of His sacrifice. They will go to Heaven, God’s own dwelling place, to be with Him for eternity. Those who reject Christ will not receive a share in His redemptive power, left instead with the consequences of their own actions – disorder, evil, self-centeredness, and separation from God – Hell.
Orthodox Christians have Apostolic succession, ministerial priesthood, and sacraments, but reject the infallible doctrinal authority of the bishop of Rome (the Pope). Instead of relying on active ecumenism, their bishops rely on the time-tested teachings of a limited number of ecumenical councils. The Assyrian Church of the East, for example, only recognizes the first two councils of the Church, while a Catholic Sedevacantist recognizes 20 of the 21. Both accept a certain number of ecumenical teachings as binding and authoritative, and accept the authority of the bishops, but not Papal infallibility.
The History
The main doctrinal basis for the East-West schism is the “filioque.” The original Nicene Creed stated that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. The western church sought to respond to a popular seventh-century heresy about Christ not being coequal to the Father by clarifying that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The theological basis for this is largely found in the farewell discourse of John 14-16, in which Christ “gives” the Spirit. The East refused this idea, citing the saints and earlier councils and claiming that the distinction would subordinate the Spirit.
By this point, the Pope had gained significant power relative to the Eastern authorities. The other highly respected seats (Antioch, Alexandria) were mired with blatant heresies, wars with the Muslims, and violent theological disputes. The Roman bishop enjoyed orthodox teaching, safety from war, and obedience in the west. Using this to his advantage, he unilaterally made the decision to add the filioque to the Creed.
Similar to the bishop of Rome, the patriarch of Constantinople had grown in power due to orthodoxy, peace, and fealty. Despite the fact that Orthodox actually do accept that the Pope has a special role as the successor to Peter, the patriarch rejected this Papal ruling as an overstepping of said role. Other disputes increased the animosity, such as the Eastern fury over the Pope crowning Charlemagne as Emperor. Over the centuries, the divide grew deeper and wider until the two representatives’ (Rome, Constantinople) mutual excommunications in 1054.
The true sealing of the schism was the sack of Constantinople by the Roman crusaders 150 years later. The Orthodox had managed to live under the Muslims in relative peace for a long while. The Crusaders, on their way to take back Jerusalem from the Muslims, struck a deal with Alexius, a Byzantine prince. He offered the crusaders fealty to the Pope and support in their quest for Jerusalem if they helped him take the throne. They did, but he was deposed and failed to make good on his promises. Enraged, the crusaders ignored the pleas of the Pope and stormed the city, violated its holy places and women, and stole enormous amounts of wealth. This was the end of amicable East-West relations.
Despite efforts to rejoin together over the centuries, the idea is nigh impossible. Both sides have deep distinctions in their philosophies, traditions, and culture, but doctrine is doctrine. There can be no “meeting halfway;” councils are either legitimate, or not legitimate. Communion would require one side to submit to or oust 14 councils’ worth of doctrine. This would completely abase whichever side submitted to the other. The only foreseeable way that could even happen is by strong representation, and no Orthodox group has an office fitting for that.
Orthodox Ideas
There are three major groups within Orthodoxy, and one subgroup.
The Eastern Orthodox are the largest group, mostly concentrated in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Greece. Eastern Orthodox has a history mired in turmoil and tragedy under Mongol, Muslim, and Soviet rulership. Eastern Orthodoxy is a confederation of autocephalous dioceses, each ruled by a bishop and united under the binding doctrines of the first seven ecumenical councils. The first seven councils primary definitions are that Jesus and the Holy Spirit share the essence of God, that Jesus is true God and true man and has two natures as such, and that the use of icons is good practice.
Beyond the Nicene Creed and the first seven ecumenical councils, little else is absolutely certain under Eastern Orthodoxy. The religion is much more “experiential” than the Latin Church. Despite this, many practices are very similar to Catholicism. The Eastern Orthodox practice all seven sacraments, generally in a very similar form to the Catholics. They are practically unanimous on the Eucharist truly being the body and blood of Christ. They venerate the saints and specially venerate the Mother of God, again like the Catholics.
However, they do not profess the Immaculate Conception of Mary as sinless in the womb. They reject Purgatory as a defined dogma, but have a similar concept of a place of purification. The liturgy is far more traditional than modern Catholic Mass. It is entirely chanted, is said facing East, and is a sacramental reenactment of the entire life of Christ. Some of the most serious disagreements with the west are the permission of divorce and contraception. The Catholic Church rejects both as morally impermissible. The Eastern churches accept divorce under certain circumstances and permit the use of non-abortive contraception.
The Oriental Orthodox are separate from the Eastern Orthodox, and are mostly concentrated in Egypt, Ethiopia, Syria, and Armenia. They are practically the same as the Eastern Orthodox, except that they only accept the first three ecumenical councils. They believe – heretically, according to Catholics and Eastern Orthodox – that Christ only has one nature, simultaneously human and divine. Oriental Orthodox churches are all in communion with each other, running as a confederation of autocephalous dioceses.
The Assyrian Church of the East is found in Iraq. They only accept the first two ecumenical councils as binding. They admit that Christ has two natures, but insist that they are distinct natures, such that one may say that God did not die on the cross. This is a heretical position to the Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox. In most other ways, they are similar to the other Orthodox churches, except they tend not to use icons. This is not due to a doctrinal concern per se, but a distaste brought about by living in Muslim-dominated culture.
Finally, there are the “Sedevacantists.” Sedevacantists are, in essence, Catholic. They believe in the authority of the Pope and of councils ratified by the Pope with universal intent. However, they also believe that there has not been a true Pope since some time prior to the 1960’s. Unlike the true “Orthodox,” they accept 19 or 20 of the councils (as opposed to seven or fewer), and await a true Pope. Yet, they still reject the Papacy in practice and rely on preestablished doctrines, so I have categorized them as Orthodoxy. There are less than 50,000 such people.
Conclusion
Orthodox Christianity is a non-Papal version of Christianity which still maintains hierarchy, the ministerial priesthood, and ecumenical doctrine. There are three major communions within Orthodoxy, each separated from the Catholic Church and each other by disagreements about the nature of God.
My critique of Orthodox Christianity will focus on logical contradictions regarding doctrine.
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