Orthodoxy: The Origins Of The Eastern Orthodox Church

The Origins of Eastern Orthodoxy The Eastern Orthodox Church has a long history, but is poorly understood in America where the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions are the most prevalent. The Eastern Orthodox Church was established in the 11th century during what is known as the Great Schism. At this time, due to mounting theological and doctrinal issues, the Christian Church separated into East and West, with the Roman Catholic Church representing the West and the Eastern Orthodox Church, originally the Eastern Byzantine Church, representing the East (Arnakis, 1952). This schism was the result of long-standing conflict over numerous issues, such as the use of idols and other art in the Eastern church. Although the great schism was

They are also both significant and formative cultural players in their respective nations as foundations of national and ethnic identity (Mavrogordatos, 2003). Both churches are also connected in their separation from the Roman Catholic Church and politics of the rest of Western Europe (Roudometof, 2001). Both Churches have been successful at spreading their organization and their doctrine internationally (Saloutos, 1973). The Greek Church has most successfully moved into America and Australia, and the Russian Church to America and East Asia, including Japan and China. Both churches also are grounded in the foundational doctrines and practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church, especially as it has to do with mysticism and iconoclasm. Despite minor doctrinal differences, the two churches remain grounded in the roots of Orthodoxy rather than the Roman

These include the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Greek Orthodox Churches of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, the Orthodox Churches of Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprsu, Greece, Poland, Albania, and the Czech lands & Slovakia, as well as the two partially recognized Orthodox Church in America and Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church. Additionally, there are many other churches which characterize themselves as “orthodox” but which are not part of the Eastern Orthodox community (McGukin, 2008).

Modern disputes in the Orthodox Church have centered around the question of which calendar to use in determining ceremonial dates and in occasional disagreements between the many different branches of the orthodox church. There has also been some residual discord between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church as the two communicate regarding theological and doctrinal issues. The movement of the Greek Orthodox Church around the globe, especially, has become representative in some circles of the trends of transnationalism and an example of how transnationalism works (Roudometof,