Orthodox Christianity

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY

(By this article, I wish to convince our members as well as our friends why we must feel proud to be an Orthodox Christian?)

1)Why we should be proud as an Orthodox Christians?

Orthodox Church is the original Church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ as described in the New Testament. In fact, it is the oldest Church in Christendom, the second largest body with 225 million people worldwide. But in USA and Canada together Orthodox Christianity makes only less than 6 million.
Incredible as it seems, for over 20 centuries the Orthodox Church has continued in her undiminished and unaltered faith and practices. Even today, the apostolic doctrines, worship and hierarchy remain intact. The Orthodox Church maintains that the Church is the living body of Jesus Christ.

2)Orthodox History.

The history of the Orthodox Church can be traced, in unbroken continuity, all the way back to Jesus Christ and His twelve disciples. The missionary work of the Apostles and the Evangelists resulted in the spread of Christianity throughout the known world. Later, five major locations became centers of faith: Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Alexandria and Constantinople. So surprising to learn the fact that for the first 1000 years of Christianity, there was just one Church only. It was in the 11th Century that a disastrous split occurred between Orthodox East and Latin West.
In the year 1054 the Church in Rome broke from the united Church. Although it has been brewing for years, the so-called “great schism” of 1054 was a final separation of Latin West and Orthodox East. At the core of controversy was one vitally important area of disagreement: the supremacy of the Papacy. Five hundred years later, the Protestant Church began breaking away from Roman Church. But the original (Orthodox) Church remained united in Apostolic faith since the first Century. This is Orthodoxy.
The Orthodox Church steadfastly maintained the Apostolic faith. If you compare Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, you will see that Orthodoxy has maintained the New Testament tradition, where as Rome has often added to it and Protestantism substracted from it. An examble to mention: Rome added to the ancient Nicene Creed of the Church, while numerous Protestant Churches rarely recite it. So we can see that Orthodoxy avoids both the excesses of Papal rule and of congregational independence of the Protestants. In short, Orthodox Christianity has maintained the Faith “once for all delivered to the Holy Fathers”.
So high is the commitment of many Orthodox Christians to Christ and His Church that many gave their lives for faith and it has often been called “ the Church of the Martyrs ”.
One of the major tasks of the early Church was defining and defending Orthodox theology against battering waves of heresies. The Nicene Creed originated at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 and the central statement of Orthodox faith. Orthodox Church is built in the foundation of Christ and His Apostles, nothing has been added to our faith. It is complete.
(To be continued)