10. The mysteries

The Orthodox church has blessings and ceremonies for every occasion, but among the various rites of the church, seven have taken on a special significance. ‘The mysteries’ describes these seven sacraments of the Orthodox church—baptism, chrismation (confirmation), the eucharist, reconciliation (confession), the Anointing of the Sick, marriage, and Holy Orders. The Orthodox conviction is that Christ himself is encountered in each of the seven mysteries, and it is he who provides believers with the grace needed for their particular ministry or state of life. For the Orthodox, sacraments are not just ceremonies or celebrations that mark important milestones in one’s Christian journey; they are manifestations of Christ’s ongoing presence in the world.

3. Constantinople and Moscow

‘Constantinople and Moscow’ considers the Byzantines’ relationship with Rome during the thirteenth century and the continuing argument over the filioque and other Latin heresies. During the next century, it was an internal debate that rocked the Eastern church, as a dispute arose about whether one could in prayer have an experience of God as light. In 1453, Constantinople, the jewel of the Byzantine Empire, finally fell to the Ottomans and Orthodox Christians came under Islamic rule. The impact of the Reformation in Western Europe on Orthodoxy during the sixteenth century and the shift of the Orthodox world east to Moscow are also described.

5. Sources of Orthodox thought

At times the Orthodox themselves have had difficulty distinguishing custom and Tradition, but on the whole Orthodoxy knows that some traditions must be preserved while others may not be as essential. So what then is Tradition? For the Orthodox it is the faith received by the Apostles from Christ, handed down complete without addition or subtraction over two millennia, and lived out in the daily life of the church. Preserving the Tradition has been one of the distinguishing features of Orthodox Christianity. ‘Sources of Orthodox thought’ considers the ways in which the Tradition has manifested and expressed itself: from the Bible and the canons to the church fathers, saints, and worship.

1. “In the beginning”

Orthodox Christians will tell you that their church was founded by Christ himself some 2,000 years ago, and that modern-day Orthodoxy is simply the continuation of the one true church Jesus established when he was on Earth. ‘“In the beginning”’ describes how the twelve apostles, the first Christians, continued Jesus’s preaching of the gospel, despite a lot of early resistance and Roman persecution. It also explains how the church moved on after the apostles’ deaths and how their teaching was preserved through the four gospels. The growth and shaping of Christianity under Constantine the Great—including how it became the official religion of the Roman Empire—and future emperors is described.

Introduction

Although it is the world’s second largest Christian denomination, with between 250 and 300 million adherents, Orthodoxy remains a little known and “mysterious” entity in the West. Yet for Orthodoxy, it is simply a way of being Christian ultimately rooted in the person of Jesus and the experience of the early church. The Introduction explains how Orthodoxy and Catholicism split between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, and then developed along separate trajectories. Among the difficulties for modern Orthodoxy is the lack of any universal head, which prevents it from presenting itself to the world as a united entity. Despite this, Orthodox Christianity continues to thrive, both in its traditional homelands and in the West.

11. Orthodoxy and the modern world

The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have been times of great upheaval for the Orthodox, with persecutions and mass emigrations, but also rebirth and the possibility of new growth. ‘Orthodoxy and the modern world’ considers the position of the Orthodox church on a range of matters, including its views on other churches; the attempts to create an independent church in Ukraine outside the Moscow Patriarchate jurisdiction; the role of women in the church; its advocacy of environmental issues; and issues of sexual morality. Orthodox Christianity remains vibrant and relevant; it provides millions of Christians throughout the world with their spiritual home, and continues to shape world events.

2. Byzantines and Franks

The encounter with Islam impacted Christianity in many ways, and was one of the contributing factors in one of the most acrimonious debates in the Eastern church—the iconoclast controversy. The question was whether the use of icons (pictures of Jesus, Mary, and the saints) violated the biblical commandment prohibiting the worship of graven images. ‘Byzantines and Franks’ discusses the battle between the iconoclasts and the iconodules, and how, despite these troubles, Christianity continued to grow in the East and West. However, by the eleventh century, the “Great Schism” that divided the Christian world into the Orthodox East and the Catholic West had begun. The Crusades and the sack of Constantinople in 1204 deepened the divide.

4. Persecution and resurrection

The Orthodox church continued to suffer persecution through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In Russia, Tsar Peter the Great decreed a new system of church governance, with the tsar serving as “Supreme Judge of the Spiritual College.” ‘Persecution and resurrection’ outlines the difficulties that Orthodox Christians faced through the twentieth century: the impact of the First World War, new Soviet rule in Russia, and the Second World War. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 allowed Orthodoxy to become once again an important part of Russia’s political and cultural landscape. The persecution of Orthodox Christians continued in the Arab world during the late twentieth century, resulting in a Christian exodus from the Middle East.

9. “We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth”

‘“We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on Earth”’ describes the experience of Orthodox church services. From the moment they enter the church for the Divine Liturgy, believers should feel themselves transported beyond time and space to the eternal worship of God that takes place in heaven, where the angels forever sing praises to the Holy Trinity. Orthodox Christians do not gather to “witness” the liturgy, but instead are there to make Christ present among them by their active participation in the church’s worship. The key liturgies of the Orthodox Church are described along with the feast of Pascha—the centerpiece of the Orthodox liturgical year—and the “The Twelve Great Feasts.”

8. “One, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church”

Since its beginning, Christianity has affirmed that believing in Christ necessarily meant belonging to a community of believers. For the Orthodox, the church is the assembly gathered together by Christ himself in order to be his ongoing presence in the world. ‘One, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church’ describes how the model of collective leadership and decision-taking shown by the apostles became the norm for the Orthodox and explains the importance in Orthodoxy of the synodal principle. It also outlines the structure of the Orthodox church—fifteen self-governing churches, each ruled by a patriarch or metropolitan bishop—and describes its relations with other Christian groups, including the Roman Catholic church.