History

History of the Orthodox Church

The Church has her origin with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, not with a human teacher, group,
code of conduct, or religious philosophy. Orthodoxy believes that the Church has her origin
in the Apostolic Community called into being by Jesus Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit.
The Feast of Pentecost, celebrated fifty days after Easter, commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
and marks the beginning of the mission of the Church to the world.
The Orthodox Church believes that she has maintained a direct and unbroken continuity of love, faith, and order
with the Church of Christ born in the Pentecost experience.

The Time of Persecution

The earliest Church, described in the Epistles and the Acts of the Apostles, did not confine itself to the land of Judea.
She took very seriously the command of Our Lord to go into the whole world and preach the Gospel.
The words of Christ and the event of His saving Death and Resurrection were destined not only for the people of the first century
and the Mediterranean world, but for persons in all places and every age.
Within only a few years after the Resurrection, colonies of Christians arose in the major cities of the Roman Empire.

While the early Church received many converts from Judaism and the pagan religions,
the world in which the Gospel was proclaimed was, in the words of St. Paul, “heartless and ruthless.”
With only a few intervals of peace, the Church was persecuted throughout the Empire for nearly three hundred years.
The faith and love expressed by the Christians were viewed as a threat to the religion and political policies of the Empire.
Thousands upon thousands of Christians were martyred.

The Time of Growth

The beginning of the fourth century marked a new stage in the development of the Church.
After centuries of persecution at the direction of the Roman Emperors, an Emperor of Rome became a Christian — Constantine the Great —
who in the year 313 granted Christians freedom of worship.
The Edict recognized that the Church not only had survived the persecutions
but also had become a significant force in the Empire.
From that time onward, the Church and the Empire began a close and mutually beneficial relationship.
Not only did the Church receive imperial support, but also the evils which had characterized the old Roman Empire
were greatly reduced in Christian Byzantium.
The Church was truly a leaven within society.

The fourth through the tenth centuries were a significant period for the Church’s internal development.
The authoritative content of the New Testament was determined,
the services of worship received a formal framework,
and the teachings of Christianity were developed by great pastors and theologians known as the “Fathers” of the Church.
It was also a period of missionary activity — among the most important was the evangelization of the Slavs by Saints Cyril and Methodius.
However, the period was not without struggle.
The Byzantine Empire was constantly on guard against Persians and Muslims,
and the Church was afflicted with grave schisms and heresies.
Among the greatest heresies was Arianism, which taught that Christ was not truly God.
This heresy plagued the Church and Empire for nearly a century.

The fundamental doctrines of the Church were proclaimed and defended by the Seven Ecumenical Councils.
These Synods, which included bishops from throughout the world,
affirmed the authentic teachings on the Incarnation and the Holy Trinity.
The Councils did not create new doctrines but proclaimed, in a particular place and time,
what the Church had always believed and taught.
The conciliar and collegial expression of Church life and authority manifest in the Ecumenical Councils
continues to be an important aspect of Orthodox Christianity.

The Ecumenical Councils also sanctioned the organization of the Church
around the five great ecclesiastical centers of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
The Archbishops of these cities came to be known as Patriarchs, presiding over the synod of bishops in their regions.
Each center had its own theological style, customs, and liturgical traditions, yet all shared unity in faith.
A primacy of honor was accorded the Bishop of Rome from early times.
The Second Ecumenical Council (381) gave Constantinople a position of honor by stating:
“The Bishop of Constantinople shall have the prerogative of honor after the Bishops of Rome,
because Constantinople is New Rome.”

The Great Schism

The Great Schism is the title given to the separation between the Western Church (Roman Catholic)
and the Eastern Church (Orthodox), which took place in the eleventh century.
Relations between East and West had often been strained since the fourth century,
yet unity was maintained despite differences in theology, liturgy, and views of authority.
By the ninth century, legitimate differences were intensified by political circumstances, cultural clashes, papal claims,
and the introduction in the West of the Filioque phrase into the Nicene Creed.
The Filioque affirms that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son —
a teaching strongly repudiated by the East.

Although difficult to date precisely, the Schism is often marked by the year 1054,
when official charges (Anathemas) were exchanged.
The Crusades, and especially the sack of Constantinople by Western crusaders in 1204,
deepened the estrangement and mistrust.
From that period onward, the Western Church, centered around the Pope of Rome,
and the Eastern Church, centered around the Patriarch of Constantinople, went their separate ways.
Although attempts at reunion were made in 1274 and 1439, no lasting unity was achieved.
The Orthodox Church believes that the two principal reasons for continued division
are the papal claims of universal jurisdiction and infallibility,
and the meaning of the Filioque.

For nearly 500 years the two traditions lived in isolation from each other.
Only since the early 1960s have steps been taken to restore unity.
Most significant was the mutual lifting of the Anathemas of 1054
by Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI in 1965.

Time of Struggle

In the year 1453, the city of Constantinople fell to the invading Muslims.
With its capital, the Byzantine Empire came to an end,
and the vast lands of Asia Minor fell under non-Christian rule.
The great ecclesiastical cities of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem —
already under Islamic control for centuries — were now joined by Constantinople.
Throughout the Ottoman Empire, Christians were treated as second-class citizens,
paying heavy taxes and enduring oppression.
The life of the Orthodox Church in the Balkans and Asia Minor continued, but under great duress.
Thousands suffered martyrdom; patriarchs were deposed or murdered;
churches, monasteries, and schools were closed or destroyed.

Only with the liberation of Greece in 1821 did some of the brutality end.
Yet massacres continued into the twentieth century,
and even today Christians are denied basic rights in parts of Asia Minor.
After the decline of Byzantium, the Church in Russia thrived for nearly 500 years,
but with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Orthodoxy was confronted by militant atheism.
Most churches were closed, and a policy was inaugurated to eliminate Christianity from Russia,
a land steeped in Orthodoxy since the tenth century.
Between the two World Wars, Orthodox Christians in Russia suffered devastating persecution.
Only since 1943 have limited freedoms been restored.

Today, in many of the lands which were once the pride of Eastern Christendom,
the Orthodox Church continues to struggle amid great obstacles and persecution.
It has been observed that in recent centuries there have been more martyrs than during the great persecutions of the early Church.
Yet, despite injustices and indignities, the Faith survives.

Time of Renewal and Reconciliation

Throughout the past two hundred years, the Orthodox Church in the Western Hemisphere
has been developing as a valuable presence and distinctive witness.
In the United States, Orthodoxy has been recognized as one of the four major faiths.
She has more than five million members, grouped into over a dozen ecclesiastical jurisdictions.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, the largest, has about 500 parishes
and operates church schools, parochial schools, an orphanage, a college, and a theological seminary.
Many believe that Orthodoxy in America has great potential for renewal, creative development, and missionary activity
which can contribute greatly to American life.

From the beginning of the twentieth century, the Orthodox Church has been committed to the Ecumenical Movement —
a quest for Christian unity that represents the boldest attack on division since the early centuries.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople not only inspired the movement for unity with an encyclical in 1920
but also co-founded the World Council of Churches in 1948.
The cause of Christian unity was a special concern of Patriarch Athenagoras,
who labored to promote collegiality among the Orthodox Churches
and inaugurated true dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church.

“May the Lord of mercy send as soon as possible to our holy Eastern and Western Churches
the grace of celebrating the Divine Eucharist anew and of communicating again together…
The common chalice stands out luminously on the horizon of the Church.”

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,

www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7052