Eastern Orthodox

Grew from

The apostolic communities

Origin

Constantinople

Confession

Confession of Dositheus 1672 AD

The eastern churches of the Byzantine tradition, self-governing but in communion, holding the seven ecumenical councils and rejecting a universal papal jurisdiction.

What marks it out

Government by a council of patriarchs among whom the see of Constantinople holds honour but not jurisdiction — first among equals, which is precisely the formula Rome does not accept. The seven ecumenical councils and no more. Icons as windows rather than decoration, defended at the seventh council and vindicated in 843. The divine liturgy of Chrysostom, sung throughout and largely unchanged for a millennium. Theology framed as what God is not, and salvation described as theosis, the creature made to share the life of God.

Figures

• Gregory Palamas 1296–1359

  The distinction between God's essence and his energies

• Seraphim of Sarov 1754–1833

  A thousand nights on a rock, and then an open door

Alongside it

Also from The apostolic communities.

• Roman Catholic
• Church of the East (431 AD)
• Oriental Orthodox (451 AD)

In the record

1. 325 AD Council

   Council of Nicaea

   Called by Constantine, it affirmed the Son as of one substance with the Father against Arius, and produced the first form of the Nicene Creed.

2. 381 AD Council

   Council of Constantinople

   Completed the creed's article on the Holy Spirit; the form still recited today.

3. 553 AD Council

   Second Council of Constantinople

   Condemned three sets of writings in the hope of drawing the churches that had rejected Chalcedon back into communion.

4. 680–681 AD Council

   Third Council of Constantinople

   Defined that Christ has two wills, human and divine, against the compromise that he has only one.

5. 787 AD Council

   Second Council of Nicaea

   Restored the veneration of icons after half a century of imperial iconoclasm, and is the last council the Orthodox count as ecumenical.

6. 1054 AD Division

   The Great Schism

   Mutual excommunications formalised centuries of estrangement over papal authority and the filioque clause. Each side has given a different account of it ever since.

7. 1438–1445 AD Rapprochement

   Council of Florence

   Signed a reunion of the eastern and western churches that the eastern churches went home and repudiated.

8. 1672 AD Council

   Synod of Jerusalem

   The Orthodox answer to Calvinism, occasioned by a confession published under a patriarch's name.

What it holds

Each position in the terms this tradition itself uses, with its confessional source.

Baptism Church-dividing

Baptism regenerates and is administered to infants by threefold immersion, followed immediately by chrismation and communion. Confession of Dositheus, Decree 16 (1672)

Church authority Church-dividing

Authority rests with the whole episcopate and is expressed through ecumenical councils. Rome is honoured as first among equals, but universal jurisdiction is rejected. Confession of Dositheus (1672)

Justification Church-dividing

Salvation is understood less as a forensic verdict than as theosis -- the whole transformation of the person by grace, to which faith and works both belong. Confession of Dositheus, Decree 13 (1672)

Mary Church-dividing

Mary is the Theotokos, God-bearer, venerated above all saints and constantly invoked in the liturgy; the western definitions of 1854 and 1950 are not received. Council of Ephesus (431); Confession of Dositheus (1672)

Scripture and tradition Church-dividing

Scripture is read within holy tradition -- the councils, the fathers and the liturgy -- and is not set over against it. Confession of Dositheus, Decree 2 (1672)

The Lord's Supper Church-dividing

The elements truly become the body and blood of Christ at the epiclesis. The change is affirmed; the manner is held to be a mystery not to be explained. Confession of Dositheus, Decree 17 (1672)

The saints and intercession Church-dividing

The saints are living members of the church and their prayers are constantly sought in the liturgy. Confession of Dositheus, Decree 8 (1672)

The state after death Church-dividing

The departed are prayed for and the church awaits the final judgement, but no doctrine of a place of purgation is defined. Confession of Dositheus, Decree 18 (1672)

How many sacraments Genuine disagreement

Seven are commonly enumerated, though the east has been less inclined to fix the number. Confession of Dositheus, Decree 15 (1672)

Icons and images Genuine disagreement

Icons are venerated as a consequence of the incarnation: what is depicted is the God who took flesh. Their rejection was condemned in 787. Second Council of Nicaea (787)

Ordination of women Genuine disagreement

The priesthood is reserved to men; the order of deaconess existed anciently and its restoration is discussed. Orthodox practice, summarised

Perseverance of the saints Genuine disagreement

Salvation is a life-long path that may be abandoned; assurance is found in continuing repentance rather than in a settled verdict. Confession of Dositheus (1672)

Predestination and free will Genuine disagreement

God foreknows but does not predetermine who will be saved; election is according to foreknowledge, and human freedom is preserved. Confession of Dositheus, Decree 3 (1672)

How the cross saves Difference of emphasis

Emphasises Christ's victory over death and the healing of human nature, rather than a transaction of penalty. Held across the confessional standards; no tradition makes one theory a test of communion.

Spiritual gifts Difference of emphasis

Charisms continue, and are attested in the lives of the saints, though tested against the tradition. Orthodox teaching, summarised

The millennium Difference of emphasis

Amillennial; speculation about a literal thousand-year reign has little place in the tradition. Augsburg Confession, XVII (1530) for the Lutheran position; otherwise contemporary practice, summarised.

Inspiration of scripture Broad agreement

Held in common with all the traditions listed here; not a point of division. Held across all confessional standards

Salvation originates in grace Broad agreement

Held in common with all the traditions listed here; not a point of division. Second Council of Orange (529)

The Incarnation Broad agreement

Held in common with all the traditions listed here; not a point of division. Nicene Creed (381); Chalcedon (451)

The Resurrection Broad agreement

Held in common with all the traditions listed here; not a point of division. Nicene Creed (381); Chalcedon (451)

The Trinity Broad agreement

Held in common with all the traditions listed here; not a point of division. Nicene Creed (381); Chalcedon (451)