Eastern Orthodoxy

== Theology ==

{{Main|Eastern Orthodox Christian theology}}

=== Trinity ===

Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in the [[Trinity]], three distinct, divine persons (''[[hypostasis (philosophy)|hypostases]]''), without overlap or [[Sabellianism|modality]] among them, who each have one divine [[essence]] (''ousia'', Greek: οὐσία)—uncreated, immaterial, and [[God and eternity|eternal]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=208–211}} These three persons are typically distinguished by their relation to each other. The [[God the Father|Father]] is eternal and not begotten and does not proceed from any, the [[God the Son|Son]] is eternal and begotten of the Father, and the [[Holy Spirit (Christianity)|Holy Spirit]] is eternal and proceeds from the Father.<ref name="Theokritoff 2010">{{cite book |author-last=Theokritoff |author-first=Elizabeth |year=2010 |orig-date=2008 |chapter=Part I: Doctrine and Tradition – Creator and creation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jP2vivMSezMC&pg=PA63 |editor1-last=Cunningham |editor1-first=Mary B. |editor2-last=Theokritoff |editor2-first=Elizabeth |title=The Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology |location=[[Cambridge]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=63–77 |doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521864848.005 |isbn=9781139001977 |access-date=2022-02-04 |archive-date=2023-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921092741/https://books.google.com/books?id=jP2vivMSezMC&pg=PA63 |url-status=live }}</ref> Eastern Orthodox doctrine regarding the Trinity is summarised in the [[Nicene Creed#Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed|Nicene Creed]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=202}}

Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in a [[Monotheism|monotheistic]] [[God in Christianity|conception of God]] (God is only one), which is both [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) and [[Immanence|immanent]] (involved in the material universe).<ref name="Theokritoff 2010"/> In discussing God's relationship to his creation, Eastern Orthodox theology [[Essence–Energies distinction|distinguishes]] between God's eternal essence, which is totally transcendent, and his ''uncreated energies'', which is how he reaches humanity.<ref name="Theokritoff 2010"/> The God who is transcendent and the God who touches mankind are one and the same.<ref name="Theokritoff 2010"/> That is, these energies are not something that proceed from God or that God produces, but rather they are God himself: distinct, yet inseparable from God's inner being.{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=67–69}} This view is often called [[Palamism]].

In understanding the Trinity as "one God in three persons", "three persons" is not to be emphasised more than "one God", and vice versa. While the three persons are distinct, they are united in one divine essence, and their oneness is expressed in community and action so completely that they cannot be considered separately. For example, their salvation of mankind is an activity engaged in common: "Christ became man by the good will of the Father and by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit. Christ sends the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit forms Christ in our hearts, and thus God the Father is glorified." Their "communion of essence" is "indivisible". Trinitarian terminology—essence, hypostasis, etc.—are used "philosophically", "to answer the ideas of the heretics", and "to place the terms where they separate error and truth."{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|pp=128–130}}

=== Sin, salvation, and the incarnation ===

[[File:John Damascus (arabic icon).gif|alt=|thumb|304x304px|[[John of Damascus]]]]

When Eastern Orthodox Christians refer to fallen nature they are not saying that human nature has become evil in itself. Human nature is still formed in the image of God; humans are still God's creation, and God has never created anything evil, but fallen nature remains open to evil intents and actions. It is sometimes said among the Eastern Orthodox that humans are "inclined to sin"; that is, people find some sinful things attractive. It is the nature of temptation to make sinful things seem the more attractive, and it is the fallen nature of humans that seeks or succumbs to the attraction. Eastern Orthodox Christians reject the [[Augustinianism|Augustinian position]] that the descendants of Adam and Eve are actually guilty of the original sin of their ancestors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Matusiak |first1=Fr. John |title=Original Sin |publisher=Orthodox Church in America |url=http://www.oca.org/QA.asp?ID=3&SID=3 |access-date=23 May 2014 |ref=none |archive-date=7 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607095648/http://www.oca.org/QA.asp?ID=3&SID=3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Resurrection of Christ ===

[[File:1678. Сашэсце ў пекла.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|A 17th-century [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]] icon of the Resurrection|273x273px]]

The Eastern Orthodox Church understands the death and resurrection of Jesus to be real historical events, as described in the gospels of the [[New Testament]].

=== Christian life ===

Church teaching is that Eastern Orthodox Christians, through baptism, enter a new life of salvation through repentance whose purpose is to share in the life of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Eastern Orthodox Christian life is a spiritual pilgrimage in which each person, through the [[imitation of Christ]] and ''[[hesychasm]]'',{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|pp=234–237,(241=Glossary)}} cultivates the practice of unceasing prayer. Each life occurs within the life of the church as a member of the [[body of Christ]].{{sfn|George|2006|p=[http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/theosis-english.pdf 34]}} It is then through the fire of God's love in the action of the Holy Spirit that each member becomes more holy, more wholly unified with Christ, starting in this life and continuing in the next.{{sfn|Oxford Dict Christian Church|3rd ed}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fitzgerald |first1=Fr. Thomas |title=Spirituality |publisher=Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America |year=2014 |url=http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7114 |access-date=15 May 2014 |ref=none |archive-date=29 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329012245/http://goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7114 |url-status=live }}</ref> The church teaches that everyone, being born in God's image, is called to [[Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)|theosis]], fulfillment of the image in likeness to God. God the creator, having divinity by nature, offers each person participation in divinity by cooperatively accepting His gift of grace.{{sfn|George|2006|p=[http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/theosis-english.pdf 21]}}

The Eastern Orthodox Church, in understanding itself to be the [[Body of Christ]], and similarly in understanding the Christian life to lead to the unification in Christ of all members of his body, views the church as embracing all Christ's members, those now living on earth, and also all those through the ages who have passed on to the heavenly life. The church includes the Christian saints from all times, and also judges, prophets and righteous Jews of the first covenant, Adam and Eve, even the angels and heavenly hosts.{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|pp=25–30}} In Eastern Orthodox services, the earthly members together with the heavenly members worship God as one community in Christ, in a union that transcends time and space and joins heaven to earth. This unity of the Church is sometimes called the ''[[communion of the saints]]''.{{sfn|Hierotheos|1998|p=23}}

=== Virgin Mary and other saints ===

[[File:Tinos panagia evangelistria 200707 04.jpg|thumb|[[Our Lady of Tinos]] is the major [[Marian shrine]] in Greece]]
[[File:Vladimirskaya.jpg|thumb|The [[Theotokos of Vladimir]], one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]]]]

Pre-eminent among the saints is the [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]] (commonly referred to as ''Theotokos'' or ''Bogoroditsa'': "[[Mother of God]]"). In [[Eastern Orthodox theology]], the Mother of God is the fulfillment of the Old Testament archetypes revealed in the [[Ark of the Covenant]] (because she carried the New Covenant in the person of Christ) and the [[burning bush]] that appeared before [[Moses]] (symbolising the Mother of God's carrying of God without being consumed).<ref>{{cite book|last=Meyendorff|first=Gregory of Nyssa; transl., introduction and notes by Abraham J. Malherbe and Everett Ferguson; preface by John|title=The life of Moses|year=1978|publisher=Paulist Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8091-2112-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/gregoryofnyssa00abra/page/59 59]|url=https://archive.org/details/gregoryofnyssa00abra/page/59|access-date=4 October 2013}}</ref>

The Eastern Orthodox believe that Christ, from the moment of his conception, was both fully God and fully human. Mary is thus called the ''Theotokos'' or ''Bogoroditsa'' as an affirmation of the divinity of the one to whom she gave birth. It is also believed that her virginity was not compromised in conceiving God-incarnate, that she was not harmed and that she remained forever a virgin. Scriptural references to "brothers" of Christ are interpreted as kin. Due to her unique place in salvation history according to Eastern Orthodox teaching, Mary is honoured above all other saints in this religion and especially venerated for the great work that God accomplished through her.{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=257–258}}

The Eastern Orthodox Church regards the bodies of all saints as holy because of their participation in prescribed rituals called [[Eastern Orthodox Church#Holy_mysteries_(sacraments)|holy mysteries]]. Physical items connected with saints are also regarded as holy, through their participation in the earthly works of those saints. According to Eastern Orthodox church teaching and tradition, God himself bears witness to this holiness of saints' [[relic|relics]] through the many miracles connected with them that have been reported throughout history since biblical times, often including healing from disease and injury.{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=234}}

=== Eschatology ===

{{main|Christian eschatology}}
[[File:Torcello - Santa Maria Assunta.Last Judgement.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|''Last Judgment'': 12th-century [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] mosaic from [[Torcello]] Cathedral]]

Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that when a person dies the soul is temporarily separated from the body. Though it may linger for a short period on Earth, it is ultimately escorted either to paradise ([[Abraham's bosom]]) or the darkness of [[Christian views on Hades|Hades]], following the [[Particular judgment|Temporary Judgment]]. Orthodox do not accept the doctrine of [[Purgatory]], which is held by Catholicism. The soul's experience of either of these states is only a "foretaste"—being experienced only by the soul—until the [[Last Judgment|Final Judgment]], when the soul and body will be reunited.<ref>[http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm ''The Longer Catechism of The Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church''], an Orthodox catechism from 1830, by [[Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow|Metropolitan Philaret]]. Start with item 366 or 372. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703171158/http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm |date=July 3, 2007 }}</ref><ref name=soul>Rose, Father Seraphim, ''The Soul After Death'', St. Herman Press, Platina, CA, c. 1980</ref>

The Eastern Orthodox believe that the state of the soul in Hades can be affected by the love and prayers of the righteous up until the Last Judgment.<ref>[http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm ''The Longer Catechism''], Item 377. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703171158/http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm |date=July 3, 2007 }}</ref> For this reason the Church offers a special [[prayer for the dead]] on the third day, ninth day, fortieth day, and the one-year anniversary after the death of an Eastern Orthodox Christian. There are also several days throughout the year that are set aside for general commemoration of the departed, sometimes including nonbelievers. These days usually fall on a Saturday, since it was on a Saturday that Christ lay in the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre|Tomb]].<ref name=soul/>

The Eastern Orthodox believe that after the Final Judgment:
* All souls will be reunited with their [[Resurrection of the Dead|resurrected bodies]].
* All souls will fully experience their spiritual state.
* Having been perfected, the saints will forever progress towards a deeper and fuller love of God, which equates with eternal happiness.<ref name=soul/>

=== Bible ===

[[File:Paris psaulter gr139 fol5v.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|''David glorified by the women of Israel'' from the [[Paris Psalter]], example of the [[Macedonian art (Byzantine)]] (sometimes called the [[Macedonian Renaissance]])]]

The official Bible of the Eastern Orthodox Church contains the [[Septuagint]] text of the [[Old Testament]], with the [[Book of Daniel]] given in the translation by [[Theodotion]]. The [[Patriarchal Text]] is used for the [[New Testament]].<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last = Collins|editor1-first = John Joseph|editor2-last = Flint|editor2-first = Peter W.|editor3-last = VanEpps|editor3-first = Cameron|page = 586|date = 2002|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception|volume = 2|chapter = The Textual History of Septuagint-Daniel and Theodotion Daniel|first = Alexander A.|last = Di Lella|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&pg=PA586|publisher = Brill|isbn = 9780391041288|access-date = 2022-02-04|archive-date = 2023-09-21|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230921092742/https://books.google.com/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&pg=PA586|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1= Geisler|first1=Norman L.|last2=Nix|first2=William E. |date = 2012|title = From God to Us: How We Got Our Bible|publisher = Moody Publishers|isbn = 9780802428820}}</ref> Orthodox Christians hold that the Bible is a verbal icon of Christ, as proclaimed by the [[Second Council of Nicaea|7th ecumenical council]].{{sfn|Ware|1991|p=209}} They refer to the Bible as [[holy scripture]], meaning writings containing the foundational truths of the Christian faith as revealed by Christ and the [[Holy Spirit]] to its divinely inspired human authors. Holy scripture forms the primary and authoritative written witness of [[holy tradition]] and is essential as the basis for all Orthodox teaching and belief.{{sfn |Ware|1991|p=209 (quoting [[John Chrysostom|St. John Chrysostom]]): "It is impossible for a man to be saved if he does not read the Scriptures."}}

Once established as holy scripture, there has never been any question that the Eastern Orthodox Church holds the full list{{which?|date=November 2022}} of books to be venerable and beneficial for reading and study,<ref>Pomazansky, Michael, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, pp. 33–34</ref> even though it informally holds some books in higher esteem than others, the four gospels highest of all. Of the subgroups significant enough to be named, the "[[Anagignoskomena]]" (ἀναγιγνωσκόμενα, "things that are read") comprises ten of the Old Testament books rejected in the [[Protestant Bible|Protestant canon]],{{Efn|Including the [[deuterocanonical books]]|name=deuterocanonical}} but deemed by the Eastern Orthodox worthy to be read in worship services, even though they carry a lesser esteem than the 39 books of the [[Hebrew Bible|Hebrew canon]].<ref>{{cite book| author = S.T. Kimbrough| title = Orthodox And Wesleyan Scriptural Understanding And Practice| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q-vhwjamOioC&pg=PA23| year = 2005| publisher = St Vladimir's Seminary Press| isbn = 978-0-88141-301-4| page = 23| access-date = 2016-02-20 }}</ref> The lowest tier contains the remaining books not accepted by either Protestants or Catholics, among them, [[Psalm 151]]. Though it is a psalm, and is in the book of psalms, it is not classified as being within the Psalter (the first 150 psalms).<ref>Orthodox Study Bible, St. Athanasius Academy of Theology, 2008, p. 778, commentary</ref>

Eastern Orthodoxy does not subscribe to the doctrine of ''[[sola scriptura]]''. Rather, Eastern Orthodoxy teaches that its church has defined what Scripture is, and therefore, its church also interprets the meanings of Scripture.<ref>Ware, Bishop Kallistos (Timothy), [http://orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/ware_howto.aspx ''How to Read the Bible''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201235402/http://orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/ware_howto.aspx |date=2022-02-01 }}, retrieved 11 June 2013</ref>

Scriptures are understood by Eastern Orthodox interpretation to contain historical fact, poetry, idiom, metaphor, simile, moral fable, parable, prophecy and [[wisdom literature]], and each bears its own consideration in its interpretation. While divinely inspired, the text still consists of words in human languages, arranged in humanly recognisable forms. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not oppose honest critical and historical study of the Bible.<ref name="Ware1991">{{harvnb|Ware|1991|pp=210–215}}</ref>

=== Holy tradition and patristic consensus ===

In Eastern Orthodoxy,  "[[Vincentian Canon|that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all]]", the faith taught by Jesus to the apostles, given life by the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] at [[Pentecost]], and passed down to future generations without additions and without subtractions, is known as [[holy tradition]].{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=195–196}}<ref>Letter of 1718, in [[George Williams (priest)|George Williams]], ''The Orthodox Church of the East in the 18th Century'', p. 17</ref> Holy tradition does not change in the Eastern Orthodox Church because it encompasses those things that do not change: the nature of the one God in Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the history of God's interactions with his peoples, the Law as given to the Israelites, all Christ's teaching as given to the disciples and Jews and recorded in scripture, including the parables, the prophecies, the miracles, and his own example to humanity in his extreme humility. It encompasses also the worship of the church, which grew out of the worship of the synagogue and temple and was extended by Christ at the last supper, and the relationship between God and his people which that worship expresses, which is also evidenced between Christ and his disciples. It includes the authority that Christ bestowed on his disciples when he made them apostles.<ref>Bible: {{Bibleverse|Matthew|16:19|NKJV}}</ref>

Holy tradition is firm, even unyielding, but not rigid or legalistic; instead, it lives and breathes within the church.<ref>[[Vladimir Lossky]], ''Tradition is the Life of the Holy Spirit in the Church''.</ref> For example, the New Testament was entirely written by the early church (mostly the apostles). The whole Bible was accepted as scripture by means of holy tradition practised within the early church. The writing and acceptance took five centuries, by which time the holy scriptures themselves had become in their entirety a part of holy tradition.{{sfn|Ware|1991|p=205}} But holy tradition did not change, because "that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all" remained consistent, without additions, and without subtractions. The historical development of the Divine Liturgy and other worship services and devotional practices of the church provide a similar example of extension and growth "without change".{{sfn|Ware|1991|p=213}}

Besides these, holy tradition includes the doctrinal definitions and statements of faith of the seven ecumenical councils, including the [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed]], and some later local councils, patristic writings, [[Canon law of the Eastern Orthodox Church|canon law]], and icons. Not all portions of holy tradition are held to be equally strong. Some—the holy scriptures foremost, certain aspects of worship, especially in the Divine Liturgy, the doctrines of the ecumenical councils, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed—possess a verified authority that endures forever, irrevocably. However, with local councils and patristic writings, the church applies a selective judgement. Some councils and writers have occasionally fallen into error, and some contradict each other.<ref name="Ware1991" />

In other cases, opinions differ, no consensus is forthcoming, and all are free to choose. With agreement among the Church Fathers, though, the authority of interpretation grows, and full patristic consensus is very strong. With canon law (which tends to be highly rigorous and very strict, especially with clergy) an unalterable validity also does not apply, since canons deal with living on earth, where conditions are always changing and each case is subject to almost infinite variation from the next.<ref name=Ware1991/>

By tradition, the Eastern Orthodox Church, when faced with issues that are larger than a single bishop can resolve, holds a local council. The bishops convene (as St. Paul called the Corinthians to do) to seek the ''mind of the church''.<ref>Bible: {{Bibleverse|1 Cor|1:10|NKJV}}</ref> A council's declarations or edicts then reflect its consensus (if one can be found). An ecumenical council is only called for issues of such importance, difficulty or pervasiveness that smaller councils are insufficient to address them. Ecumenical councils' declarations and canons carry binding weight by virtue of their representation across the whole church, by which the mind of the church can be readily seen. However, not all issues are so difficult as to require an ecumenical council to resolve. Some doctrines or decisions, not defined in a formal statement or proclaimed officially, nevertheless are held by the church unshakably and unanimously without internal disturbance, and these, also reflecting the mind of the church, are just as firmly irrevocable as a formal declaration of an ecumenical council. Lack of formality does not imply lack of authority within holy tradition.<ref name=Ware1991/>

=== Territorial expansion and doctrinal integrity ===

As the church increased in size through the centuries, the logistic dynamics of operating such large entities shifted: patriarchs, metropolitans, archimandrites, abbots and abbesses, all rose up to cover certain points of administration.