Eastern Christianity

== Families of churches ==
{{Further|History of Eastern Christianity}}

[[File:Orthodoxy by Country.svg|right|thumb|upright=2.1|Comparative distribution of [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] and [[Oriental Orthodoxy]] in the world by country
{|
|+ Legend
! scope=col | [[Eastern Orthodoxy]]
! scope=col | [[Oriental Orthodoxy]]
|-
| {{legend|#000055|Dominant religion (more than 75%)}} || {{legend|#660000|Dominant religion (more than 75%)}}
|-
| {{legend|#0000AA|Dominant religion (50–75%)}} || {{legend|#CD0000|Dominant religion (50–75%)}}
|-
| {{legend|#0000FF|Important minority religion (20–50%)}} || {{legend|#FF3030|Important minority religion (20–50%)}}
|-
| {{legend|#5555FF|Important minority religion (5–20%)}} || {{legend|#FF6666|Important minority religion (5–20%)}}
|-
| {{legend|#AAAAFF|Minority religion (1–5%)}} || {{legend|#FFCCCC|Minority religion (1–5%)}}
|}]]
Eastern Christians do not all share the same religious traditions, but many do share cultural traditions. Christianity divided itself in the East during its early centuries both within and outside of the Roman Empire in disputes about [[Christology]] and fundamental theology, as well as through national divisions (Roman, Persian, etc.). It would be many centuries later that Western Christianity fully split from these traditions as its own communion. Major branches or families of Eastern Christianity, each of which has a distinct [[theology]] and [[dogma]], include the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox communion, the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Assyrian Church of the East.<ref name="HindsonMitchell2013">{{cite book|last1=Hindson|first1=Edward E.|last2=Mitchell|first2=Daniel R.|title=The Popular Encyclopedia of Church History|year=2013|publisher=Harvest House Publishers|language=en|isbn=978-0736948074|page=225}}</ref>

In many Eastern churches, some parish priests administer the sacrament of [[chrismation]] to infants after [[baptism]], and priests are allowed to marry before ordination. While all the Eastern Catholic Churches recognize the authority of the [[Pope|Pope of Rome]], some of them who have originally been part of the Orthodox Church or Oriental Orthodox churches closely follow the traditions of Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy, including the tradition of allowing married men to become priests.

The Eastern churches' differences from Western Christianity have as much, if not more, to do with culture, language, and politics, as [[Eastern Orthodox – Roman Catholic theological differences|theology]]. For the non-Catholic Eastern churches, a definitive date for the commencement of [[Schism (religion)|schism]] cannot usually be given (see [[East–West Schism]]). The Church of the East declared independence from the churches of the [[Roman Empire]] at its general council in 424, which was before the [[Council of Ephesus]] in 431, and so had nothing to do with the theology declared at that council. Oriental Orthodoxy separated after the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451 but did not immediately formed separate patriarchates until 518, as for Syriac Patriarchate of Antioch and 536, as for Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria.

Since the time of the historian [[Edward Gibbon]], the split between the Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church has been conveniently dated to 1054, though the reality is more complex. This split is sometimes referred to as the ''Great Schism'', but now more usually referred to as the [[East–West Schism]]. This final schism reflected a larger cultural and political division which had developed in Europe and Southwest Asia during the [[Middle Ages]] and coincided with Western Europe's re-emergence from the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|collapse of the Western Roman Empire]].

The Ukrainian Lutheran Church developed within [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] around 1926, with its rites being based on the [[Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom]], rather than on the Western ''[[Formula missae|Formula Missae]]''.<ref name="Bebis2013"/><ref name="Webber1992"/>

=== Eastern Orthodox Church ===
{{Further|History of the Eastern Orthodox Church}}

[[File:Christ Hagia Sofia.jpg|thumb|upright|Christ Pantocrator, detail of the Deesis mosaic in [[Hagia Sophia]] – [[Constantinople]] ([[Istanbul]]) 12th century]]

The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body whose adherents are largely based in Western Asia (particularly [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Israel]], and [[State of Palestine|Palestine]]) and [[Turkey]], [[Eastern Europe]], the [[Balkans]] and the [[Caucasus]] ([[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Abkhazia]], [[Ossetia]] etc.), with a growing presence in the [[Western world]]. Eastern Orthodox Christians accept the decisions of the [[First seven Ecumenical Councils|first seven ecumenical councils]].

Eastern Orthodox Christianity identifies itself as the original Christian church (see [[early centers of Christianity]]) founded by Christ and the Apostles, and traces its lineage back to the [[early church|early Church]] through the process of [[apostolic succession]] and unchanged theology and practice. Characteristics of the Eastern Orthodox Church include the [[Byzantine Rite]] (shared with some Eastern Catholic Churches) and an emphasis on the continuation of [[Sacred tradition|Holy Tradition]], which it holds to be apostolic in nature.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is organized into self-governing jurisdictions along geographical, national, ethnic or linguistic lines. Eastern Orthodoxy is thus made up of fourteen or sixteen [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] bodies. Smaller churches are autonomous and each have a mother church that is autocephalous.

All Eastern Orthodox are united in doctrinal agreement with each other, though a few are not in communion at present, for non-doctrinal reasons. This is in contrast to the Catholic Church and its various churches. Members of the latter are all in communion with each other, parts of a top-down [[hierarchy]] (see {{lang|la|[[primus inter pares]]}}). The Eastern Orthodox reject the [[Filioque|Filioque clause]] as contrast to Catholics. The Catholic Church was once in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church, but the two split after the [[East–West Schism]] and are no longer in communion.

It is estimated that there are approximately 240&nbsp;million Eastern Orthodox Christians in the world.{{NoteTag|See details about [[major religious groups]].}} Today, many adherents shun the term "Eastern" as denying the church's universal character. They refer to Eastern Orthodoxy simply as the ''Orthodox Church''.<ref>{{citation |last=Ware |first=Bishop Kallistos (Timothy) |author-link=Kallistos Ware |title=The Orthodox Church |edition=new |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Books |year= 1993 |isbn=978-0-14-014656-1 |ref=none}}</ref>

=== Oriental Orthodoxy ===
{{Main|Oriental Orthodox Churches}}
Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the churches of Eastern Christian tradition that keep the faith of the first three [[Ecumenical Council|ecumenical council]]s of the [[State church of the Roman Empire|undivided Christian Church]]: the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (AD 325), the [[First Council of Constantinople]] (381) and the [[Council of Ephesus]] (431), while rejecting the [[dogmatic definition]]s of the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451). Hence, these churches are also called the ''Old Oriental churches''. They comprise the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]], the [[Malankara Orthodox Church]] (India), the [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]], the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]], the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] and the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]].

Oriental Orthodoxy developed in reaction to Chalcedon on the eastern limit of the [[Byzantine Empire]] and in [[Egypt]], Syria and [[Mesopotamia]]. In those locations, there are also Eastern Orthodox [[patriarch]]s, but the rivalry between the two has largely vanished in the centuries since the schism.

=== Church of the East ===
{{Main|Church of the East|Nestorianism|Lakhmids}}
Historically, the Church of the East was the widest reaching branch of Eastern Christianity, at its height spreading from its heartland in [[Persia]]n-ruled [[Assyria]] to the Mediterranean, India, and China. Originally the only Christian church recognized by [[Zoroastrian]]-led [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid Persia]] (through its alliance with the Lakhmids, the regional rivals to the Byzantines and its [[Ghassanid]] vassal), the Church of the East declared itself independent of other churches in 424 and over the next century became affiliated with Nestorianism, a Christological doctrine advanced by [[Nestorius]], [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]] from 428 to 431, which had been declared heretical in the Roman Empire. Thereafter it was often known, possibly inaccurately, as the Nestorian Church in the West. Surviving a period of persecution within Persia, the Church of the East flourished under the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] and branched out, establishing dioceses throughout Asia. After another period of expansion under the [[Mongol Empire]], the church went into decline starting in the 14th century, and was eventually largely confined to its founding [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] adherent's heartland in the [[Assyrian homeland]], although another remnant survived on the [[Malabar Coast]] of India.

In the 16th century, dynastic struggles sent the church into schism, resulting in the formation of two rival churches: The [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], which entered into communion with Rome as an Eastern Catholic Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East. The followers of these two churches are almost exclusively ethnic Assyrians. In India, the local Church of the East community, known as the Saint Thomas Christians, experienced its own rifts as a result of Portuguese influence.

==== Assyrian Church of the East ====
{{Main|Church of the East|Assyrian Church of the East}}
The Assyrian Church of the East emerged from the historical Church of the East, which was centered in Mesopotamia/Assyria, then part of the [[Sasanian Empire|Persian Empire]], and spread widely throughout Asia. The modern Assyrian Church of the East emerged in the 16th century following a split with the Chaldean Church, which later entered into communion with Rome as an Eastern Catholic Church.

The Church of the East was associated with the doctrine of Nestorianism, advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428 to 431, which emphasized the disunion between the human and divine natures of [[Jesus]]. Nestorius and his doctrine were condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431, leading to the [[Nestorian Schism]] in which churches supporting Nestorius split from the rest of Christianity.

Many followers relocated to Persia and became affiliated with the local Christian community there. This community adopted an increasingly Nestorian theology and was thereafter often known as the Nestorian Church. As such, the Church of the East accepts only the first two ecumenical councils of the undivided Church—the First Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople—as defining its faith tradition, and rapidly took a different course from other Eastern Christians.

The Church of the East spread widely through Persia and into Asia, being introduced to India by the 6th century and to the Mongols and China in the 7th century. It experienced periodic expansion until the 14th century, when the church was nearly destroyed by the collapse of the Mongol Empire and the conquests of [[Timur]]. By the 16th century it was largely confined to Iraq, northeast Syria, southeast Turkey, northwest [[Iran]] and the Malabar Coast of India ([[Kerala]]). The split of the 15th century, which saw the emergence of separate Assyrian and Chaldean Churches, left only the former as an independent sect. Additional splits into the 20th century further affected the history of the Assyrian Church of the East.

==== Saint Thomas Syrian Christians ====
{{Main|Saint Thomas Christians}}
The [[Saint Thomas Christians|Saint Thomas Syrian Christians]] are an ancient body of [[Syriac Christianity|Syrian Christians]] in Kerala, Malabar coast of [[India]] who trace their origins to the evangelical activity of [[Thomas the Apostle]] in the 1st century. Many [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] and [[Jews|Jewish]] communities like the [[Knanaya]] and the [[Cochin Jews]] assimilated into the [[Saint Thomas Christian|Saint Thomas Syrian Christian]] community.<ref name="AFM">A. E. Medlycott, ''India and The Apostle Thomas'', pp. 1-71, 213–297; M. R. James, ''Apocryphal New Testament'', pp. 364–436; Eusebius, ''History'', chapter 4:30; [[J. N. Farquhar]], ''The Apostle Thomas in North India'', chapter 4:30; V. A. Smith, ''Early History of India'', p. 235; L. W. Brown, ''The Indian Christians of St. Thomas'', pp. 49–59</ref> By the 5th century the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians were part of the [[Church of the East]] ([[Nestorian Church]]). Until the middle of the 17th century and the arrival of the [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]], the Thomas Christians were all one in faith and rite. Thereafter, divisions arose among them, and consequently they are today of several different rites. The [[East Syriac Rite|East Syriac Chaldean Rite]] (Edessan Rite) Churches among the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians are the [[Syro-Malabar Church|Syro Malabar Church]] and the [[Chaldean Syrian Church]]. The [[West Syriac Rite|West Syriac Antiochian Rite]] Churches among the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians are the [[Jacobite Syrian Christian Church|Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church]], the [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]], the [[Mar Thoma Syrian Church]], the [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church|Syro Malankara Church]] and the [[Malabar Independent Syrian Church|Thozhiyur Church]].

=== Eastern Catholic Churches ===
<!--Use of "churches" denotes plural, not proper noun--> 
{{Main|Eastern Catholic Churches}}
[[File:Kanjirappally Bishop Mar Mathew Arackal at Tomb of Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly.jpg|thumb|An Eastern Catholic bishop of the [[Syro-Malabar]] Church holding the Mar Thoma Cross which symbolizes the heritage and identity of the [[Saint Thomas Christians]] of [[Christianity in India|India]]]]
The twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches are in communion with the [[Holy See]] at the Vatican whilst being rooted in the theological and liturgical traditions of Eastern Christianity. Most of these churches were originally part of the Orthodox East, but have since been reconciled to the Latin Church.

Many of these churches were originally part of one of the above families and so are closely related to them by way of ethos and [[Liturgy|liturgical practice]]. As in the other Eastern churches, married men may become priests, and parish priests administer the [[sacrament|mystery]] of [[confirmation]] to newborn infants immediately after baptism, via the rite of chrismation; the infants are then administered [[Eucharist|Holy Communion]].

The Syro-Malabar Church, which is part of the Saint Thomas Christian community in India, follows East Syriac traditions and liturgy. Other Saint Thomas Christians of India, who were originally of the same East Syriac tradition, passed instead to the West Syriac tradition and now form part of Oriental Orthodoxy (some from the Oriental Orthodox in India united with the Catholic Church in 1930 and became the [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]]). The [[Maronite Church]] claims never to have been separated from Rome, and has no counterpart Orthodox Church out of communion with the Pope. It is therefore inaccurate to refer to it as a "Uniate" Church. The [[Italo-Albanian Catholic Church]] has also never been out of communion with Rome, but, unlike the Maronite Church, it resembles the [[Byzantine Rite|liturgical rite]] of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].

=== Dissenting movements ===
In addition to these four mainstream branches, there are a number of much smaller groups which originated from disputes with the dominant tradition of their original areas. Most of these are either part of the more traditional [[Old Believer]] movement, which arose from a [[Schism (religion)|schism]] within Russian Orthodoxy, or the more radical [[Spiritual Christianity]] movement. The latter includes a number of diverse "[[Low church|low-church]]" groups, from the Bible-centered [[Molokan]]s to the anarchic [[Doukhobor]]s to the self-mutilating [[Skoptsy]]. None of these groups are in communion with the mainstream churches listed above. There are also national dissidents, where ethnic groups want their own nation-church, such as the [[Macedonian Orthodox Church]] and the [[Montenegrin Orthodox Church]]; both are domiciles of the [[Serbian Orthodox Church]]. There are also some [[Protestantism|Reformed]] Churches which share characteristics of Eastern Christianity, to varying extents.

===="True Orthodox" churches====
{{Main|True Orthodoxy}}
Starting in the 1920s, [[Greek Old Calendarists|parallel hierarchies]] formed in opposition to local Orthodox churches over ecumenism and other matters. These jurisdictions sometimes refer to themselves as being "True Orthodox". In Russia, underground churches formed and maintained solidarity with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia until the late 1970s. There are now traditionalist Orthodox in every area, though in Asia and Egypt their presence is negligible.

==== Eastern Protestant Churches ====
{{Main|Eastern Protestantism}}
[[Eastern Protestant Christianity]] comprises a collection of heterogeneous Protestant denominations which are mostly the result of [[Protestantism|Protestant]] Churches adopting Reformation variants of [[Orthodoxy#Christianity|Orthodox Christian]] liturgy and worship.<ref>{{cite web |title=Believers Eastern Church |url=https://www.bec.org/history/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Church History |url=http://steci.org/church-history/ |website=St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (steci) is an episcopal Church |access-date=2019-07-23 |archive-date=2019-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720140346/http://steci.org/church-history/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Some others are the result of [[reformation]]s of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] beliefs and practices, inspired by the teachings of Western Protestant missionaries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Heritage – Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church |url=http://marthoma.in/the-church/heritage/}}</ref> Denominations of this category include the [[Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church ]],
[[Ukrainian Lutheran Church]], [[St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India]], [[Evangelical Orthodox Church]], etc.

===== Byzantine Rite Lutheranism =====
{{Main|Byzantine Rite Lutheranism}}
[[Byzantine Rite Lutheranism]] arose in the Ukrainian Lutheran Church around 1926.<ref name="HämmerliMayer2016">{{cite book |last1=Hämmerli |first1=Maria |last2=Mayer |first2=Jean-François |title=Orthodox Identities in Western Europe: Migration, Settlement and Innovation |date=23 May 2016 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |language=en |isbn=978-1317084914 |page=13}}</ref> It sprung up in the region of Galicia and its rites are based on the [[Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom]].<ref name="Bebis2013">{{cite web |url=http://www.omhksea.org/2013/03/the-divine-liturgy-of-saint-john-chrysostom-used-by-the-ukrainian-lutheran-church-and-its-missing-elements/|title=The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, used by the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, and its missing elements |last=Bebis |first=Vassilios |date=30 March 2013 |publisher=[[Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia]] |language=en |access-date=18 September 2018 |quote=A revised Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is also celebrated in Ukraine by members of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. This Church was organized originally in 1926 in the “Galicia” region of Ukraine, which was at that time under the government of Poland. The liturgical rites used by the Ukrainian Lutherans reflected their Byzantine tradition. They did not use a Lutheran revision of the Latin Mass in their services, but instead they used a Lutheran revision of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.}}</ref><ref name="Webber1992">{{cite web|url=https://www.blc.edu/comm/gargy/gargy1/liturgical_church.html|title=Why is the Lutheran Church a Liturgical Church?|last=Webber|first=David Jay|year=1992|publisher=[[Bethany Lutheran College]]|language=en|access-date=18 September 2018|quote=In the Byzantine world, however, this pattern of worship would not be informed by the liturgical history of the Latin church, as with the Reformation-era church orders, but by the liturgical history of the Byzantine church. (This was in fact what occurred with the Ukrainian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, which published in its 1933 Ukrainian Evangelical Service Book the first ever Lutheran liturgical order derived from the historic Eastern Rite.)}}</ref> The church suffered [[Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc|persecution under the Communist régime]], which implemented a policy of [[state atheism]].<ref name="Dushnyck1991">{{cite book|last=Dushnyck|first=Walter|title=The Ukrainian Heritage in America|year=1991|publisher=Ukrainian Congress Committee of America|language=en|isbn=978-1879001008|page=94}}</ref>