Eastern Christianity

=== 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.