Eastern Orthodox
The second-largest Christian body, rooted in the early Church and defined by liturgy, tradition, and theosis.
Updated July 23, 2026
What Eastern Orthodox believe
Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that the Church founded by Jesus Christ and his apostles has continued without doctrinal interruption, and that the Orthodox Church is the faithful guardian of that unbroken tradition. The Orthodox hold that divine revelation is Scripture and Holy Tradition, understood as the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and that the seven ecumenical councils define orthodox doctrine. They reject the Roman Catholic claim of papal supremacy and the Protestant principle of sola scriptura.
Orthodox theology centers on theosis, the teaching that God became human so that humans might become divine by grace, not by nature. Salvation is understood as participation in the life of the Trinity through Christ, not as a juridical act of justification. The sacraments, called mysteries, are the means by which this participation is nurtured, with the Eucharist as the heart of the liturgy.
The Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous, self-governing churches, including the Greek, Russian, Serbian, and Antiochian Orthodox Churches, among others. They share the same faith, sacraments, and liturgy, but each church is led by its own patriarch or metropolitan. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople holds a primacy of honor, but he exercises no jurisdictional authority over the other churches.
Key beliefs
- God is one in essence and three in persons, the Trinity, confessed in the Nicene Creed without the filioque clause.
- Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, defined at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
- Salvation is theosis, participation in the divine life through Christ and the Holy Spirit.
- Scripture and Holy Tradition together transmit divine revelation, interpreted by the Church.
- The seven ecumenical councils define orthodox doctrine on the Trinity and Christ.
- The seven mysteries, including baptism, chrismation, and the Eucharist, are means of grace.
- Icons are windows to heaven and are venerated, not worshipped, as a confession of the incarnation.
History
The Eastern Orthodox Church traces its origins to the apostolic community and considers itself the continuation of the early undivided Church. In the first millennium the Church developed its doctrine through seven ecumenical councils, addressing the Trinity and the person of Christ, and developed its liturgical and monastic traditions. The Church was organized into five patriarchates, Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, with Rome holding a primacy of honor.
The Great Schism of 1054 divided the Church into East and West, primarily over the authority of the Pope and the filioque clause added to the Nicene Creed in the West. The Eastern Church, centered in Constantinople, developed a distinctive theology that emphasized apophatic theology, mysticism, and theosis. Under the Ottoman Empire and later under communist regimes in Russia and Eastern Europe, the Orthodox Church endured centuries of pressure and persecution. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Orthodox Christianity has experienced a global diaspora, with growing parishes in North America, Western Europe, and Australia, and ongoing tensions between national churches over autocephaly and jurisdiction.
What makes Eastern Orthodox distinct
- Theosis, the teaching that salvation is participation in the divine life, is the theological center and differs sharply from Western juridical models.
- Icons are venerated as a confession of the incarnation, a practice rejected by much of Protestantism and regulated differently by Catholics.
- Autocephalous polity means each national church is self-governing, without a universal primate analogous to the Pope.
- Apophatic theology, knowing God through what he is not, shapes Orthodox approach to doctrine and mystery.
- The Paschal liturgy and the cycle of fasting and feasting structure the entire Orthodox year around the resurrection.
Comparison with other traditions
| Topic | Eastern Orthodox position |
|---|---|
| Authority | Scripture and Holy Tradition, interpreted through the seven ecumenical councils |
| Sacraments | Seven mysteries as means of grace; Eucharist is the real body and blood of Christ |
| Salvation | Theosis, participation in the divine life through Christ |
| Scripture | Bible read within Holy Tradition, no sola scriptura |
| Church government | Autocephalous churches led by patriarchs and metropolitans |
| Worship style | Byzantine liturgy, chanting, icons, incense, and the Divine Liturgy |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between Orthodox and Catholic?
- Both share apostolic succession, seven sacraments, and a sacramental worldview, but they divided in the Great Schism of 1054 over the authority of the Pope and the filioque clause in the Nicene Creed. Orthodox churches are self-governing and do not recognize papal supremacy. They also differ on purgatory, the Immaculate Conception, and the date of Easter in some cases, and they use a different liturgical tradition.
- Do Orthodox Christians believe in the Pope?
- Orthodox Christians honor the Bishop of Rome as first among equals, but they reject papal supremacy and papal infallibility as defined at Vatican I. They hold that the Pope has a primacy of honor within the college of bishops, not a jurisdictional authority over the whole Church. This is the central ecclesiological difference between Orthodoxy and Rome.
- What is theosis in Orthodox theology?
- Theosis is the Orthodox teaching that God became human in Christ so that humans might become divine by grace, not by nature. Salvation is therefore participation in the life of the Trinity through Christ and the Holy Spirit, not merely the forgiveness of sins. Theosis is nurtured through the sacraments, ascetic struggle, and the life of the Church.
- Why do Orthodox Christians use icons?
- Orthodox Christians venerate icons as windows to heaven and as a confession of the incarnation. They argue that because God became visible in Christ, matter can mediate divine presence, and so images of Christ and the saints can be honored. They distinguish veneration, given to icons and saints, from worship, given to God alone. The iconoclast controversy of the eighth and ninth centuries settled this practice in favor of icons.
- Are Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox the same?
- When people say Orthodox in a Christian context, they usually mean Eastern Orthodox. There is also the Oriental Orthodox communion, which includes the Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, and Syriac Churches, and which separated from the Eastern Orthodox after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 over the wording of Christology. The two communions are distinct but share much in worship and spirituality.
- What is the Divine Liturgy?
- The Divine Liturgy is the central worship service of the Orthodox Church, centered on the Eucharist. It follows the Byzantine rite, with chanting, incense, processions, and the recitation of fixed prayers. The two most common forms are the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, used most Sundays, and the Liturgy of Saint Basil, used ten times a year. The liturgy is the principal means by which the faithful participate in the life of Christ.
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