Eastern Orthodox Christianity

Beliefs and Practices

Leaders of Eastern Orthodox Christianity believe it to be directly descended from Jesus Christ and his apostles through an unbroken apostolic succession of its bishops. Its governance is hierarchical and conciliar, which means that all theological disputes must be worked out through councils of bishops—not through the exclusive promulgation of any individual bishop. The Orthodox Church adheres to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, and thus, like the vast majority of Christians worldwide, it holds firmly to the doctrines of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ. Its Holy Scripture consists of the New Testament together with the Greek Septuagint text of the Old Testament, which includes the “apocryphal” books.

In many of its doctrines and practices, the Orthodox Church resembles the Roman Catholic Church, with which it shares a millennium of common history. However, Greek patristic writers have had a much greater influence on Orthodoxy than Latin writers like Augustine. The Orthodox place little emphasis on the doctrine of Original sin and the hereditary guilt that it implies. Thus, while much Western theology understands the spiritual salvation of human beings in primarily juridical terms—in terms of a need to be legally acquitted before God—the Orthodox, on the other hand, are less concerned with legal acquittal than with progress in theosis, or deification. Deification does not signify a process of becoming a god but rather progressive conformity to the likeness of God. Salvation, for the Orthodox Christian, is therefore the unending transformation of human beings into reflections of the divine. The doctrine of theosis provides the theological rationale underlying [Page 320]nearly all other aspects of Orthodox belief and practice.

The Orthodox Church's worship is highly liturgical and sacramental, with a strong emphasis on the activity of the Holy Spirit. The church officially recognizes seven sacraments, although its understanding of this number is less rigid than in Roman Catholicism. Four of these sacraments are incumbent on all Orthodox Christians. Baptism, which represents the believer's death and resurrection with Christ, is the sacrament by which new members enter the church. It is administered by triple immersion in water, to both infants and adult converts. Baptism is immediately followed by the sacrament of chrismation, in which the newly baptized person is anointed with a specially prepared oil that bestows the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The Eucharistic service, or Holy Communion, is practiced with leavened bread and wine that is believed to be transformed, through an invocation of the Holy Spirit called the epiclesis, into the mystical body and blood of Christ. The Eucharist is administered to all baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christians, including infants, and is the sacrament by which one is united with Christ and all other Orthodox Christians. The most common Eucharistic liturgies used by the Orthodox are the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. Preparation for participation in the Eucharist is made through confession, the sacrament by which sins committed after baptism are absolved. A practicing Orthodox Christian is expected to go to confession at least four times a year.

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