Eastern Orthodoxy

=== 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}}