Ask an Orthodox Christian

[HawkeyE]

I thought I'd open a thread where we Orthodox can tell others what our religion is like/about. Mainly because I am pretty confident that very few people know much about Orthodoxy at all.

Who's the head of the Church?
Aside from the Spiritual head of the church (the Patriarch of Constantinople), who mainly acts as an ambassador and presides over councils , the true head of the church is supposed to be Christ/God. When decisions are to be reached, a synod/council, etc., is held with a large number of higher ranking Clergy coming together to discuss certain topics, and together try to choose the decision that fits best with the Church Doctrine, a.k.a. what God wants. There are only 3 different true classification, the Deacon, the Priest, and the Bishop. Deacons and Priests have the ability to get married if they so please, and priests are actually encouraged to get married so that they can communicate better with the married couples in their parish. Bishops, on the otherhand, must remain celibate. The ranks usually go like this: You start as a deacon, and then move your way up to being a priest. If you're a priest and married, you cannot become a Bishop. If you're a priest and unmarried/celibate, then you can work your way up to a Bishop. All Bishop's are considered equal, and no Bishop can interfere singlehandedly in the jurisdiction of another Bishop. The laity, people, are supposed to keep their Bishop's in check, if the Bishop deviates from the teachings of the Holy Church, then he can, and will be deposed. In fact there have been a few deposed Partriachs of Constantinople (Spiritual Leader of the Holy Church)

I've never heard of them... how long have they been around?
As long as organized Christianity has. The Orthodox Churches and the Catholic churches used to be one, but due to a few conflicting issues, we split. Namely the fact we didn't believe one man could be the head of the Church (a Pope), and to top that off be infallible at the same time. Catholocism and Orthodoxy are very similar, but there are huge aesthetic differences, and a few Big-Picture dissimilarities. In fact most Orthodox rituals date back to the beginning of Christianity and the first Patriarch of Constantinople was St. Andrew the Apostle, somewhere in the 30's A.D. (For a list of all the Patriarchs of Constantinople, see this site: http://www.ec-patr.gr/en/list/default.htm). Our most important ritual is the Holy Flame, something some may need to experience to believe... more on this here: http://www2.cytanet.com.cy/gogreek/miracle.htm

Oh wait, I've heard of them, they have Easter like at different times, um... why?
Because at one point every religious holiday was changed, why I have no clue, frankly I think it's kind of dumb (Off Topic: I'm pretty sure that the Greek Orthodox Church is the ONLY Orthodox Church that changed the holidays to a different day, which again, I find stupid). The Holy Flame, for those of you that didn't check the link out, happens at noon on Easter Sunday (When Saturday turns into Sunday). Churches abroad, at least the Greek Orthodox Church of American has a midnight service which symbolizes the Miracles, but the true Miracle can only be obtained in the tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. When the ritual was tried on the date that Easter was changed to, it didn't work. So instead of losing it's most cherised ritual, the Orthodox Church decided to leave Easter on its original day.

What, are there like 8 Orthodox Christians in the World? lololo!!11!1!!!
Actually, there are around 250 million. 98% of Greek citizens are baptised in the Greek-Orthodox Church, the vast majority of Greeks abroad are Orthodox, the majority of Russians and Slavs are Orthodox, many middle-eastern Christians are Orthodox, a large number of Indians have converted to the Orthodox faith, and others. The Orthodox make up a fairly large chunk of Christianity.

The Churches:

Autocephalous Churches:
The Church of Albania
The Church of Alexandria
The Church of Antioch
The Church of Bulgaria
The Church of Constantinople
The Church of Cyprus
The Church of the Czech and Slovak Republics
The Church of Georgia
The Church of Greece
The Church of Jerusalem
The Orthodox Church in America
The Church of Poland
The Church of Romania
The Church of Russia
The Church of Serbia

Autonomous Churches
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
The Church of Finland
The Church of Japan
The Church of Sinai
The Church of Ukraine

Semi-Autonomous Churches
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

More Information
The website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is loaded with lots of information about the church and its history.
Link: http://www.goarch.org

If you guys have any questions about Orthodoxy, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them as best I can, thanks .

Please note that this thread isn't meant for any flaming, or direct debate on the existence of God etc. I only made it so people can find out more about my faith, or at least find out that it exists.

My parish's website: http://www.st-demetrios.org/

Here is a website that shows what Greek Orthodox churches in the Chicagoland Metropolis look like:

http://www.greekchurchbook.com/

My Church (St. Demetrios) (The Cover):


The Church I was Baptized at (The Holy Assumption):
http://www.greekchurchbook.com/images/CAIL_IMG.jpg

http://www.greekchurchbook.com/images/CAIL...-up-af-arch.jpg

[Rand Al Thor]

*shrug*

[This is spam. Bring something to the conversation next time - Carousel]

Ahh yes, I apologize, I do have a question, does your Church have 1 set position regarding Evolution and Creationism? Or do the various sub-levels have their own policy?

[Zuwxiv]

What, are there like 8 Orthodox Christians in the World? lololo!!11!1!!!

Hmmm.... Religion for n00bs?

But that is very interesting. I find it silly that there are so many different Christian break offs, when really there isn't that much difference. *is killed by thousands of hardcore conservatives* And on top of that, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism can all be traced back to the same God. *is killed by Jewish and Arabic hardcore conservatives*

But anyway, there aren't that many Orthodox where I live, and I am probably the most unorthodox (as in against established stuff) Christian that i know. Still, I love anything Greek.

Thanks for posting that!

[psolisc]

Oh wait, I've heard of them, they have Easter like at different times, um... why?
Because at one point every religious holiday was changed, why I have no clue, frankly I think it's kind of dumb (Off Topic: I'm pretty sure that the Greek Orthodox Church is the ONLY Orthodox Church that changed the holidays to a different day, which again, I find stupid). The Holy Flame, for those of you that didn't check the link out, happens at noon on Easter Sunday (When Saturday turns into Sunday). Churches abroad, at least the Greek Orthodox Church of American has a midnight service which symbolizes the Miracles, but the true Miracle can only be obtained in the tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. When the ritual was tried on the date that Easter was changed to, it didn't work. So instead of losing it's most cherised ritual, the Orthodox Church decided to leave Easter on its original day.

Isn't this based on the calendar issue?
Note: the Orthodox Christians are divided into two large categories (without a schizm), those using the Old Calendar, and those using the new (papal) calendar.

What, are there like 8 Orthodox Christians in the World? lololo!!11!1!!!

Hmmm.... Religion for n00bs?

But that is very interesting. I find it silly that there are so many different Christian break offs, when really there isn't that much difference. *is killed by thousands of hardcore conservatives* And on top of that, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism can all be traced back to the same God. *is killed by Jewish and Arabic hardcore conservatives*

The Orthodox Church is estimated about 300 millions by the Roman Catholic Church, and is officially the second largest Christian Church. We did not break off from the body of the Church, we both (Catholics and Orthodox) drew our own path separately. You can't tell whether it is really us who tore apart from the Church, or the Papal Church did.
Check below where I analyze the 5 Patriarchates issue.

Aside from the Spiritual head of the church (the Patriarch of Constantinople), who mainly acts as an ambassador and presides over councils original.gif, the true head of the church is supposed to be Christ/God. When decisions are to be reached, a synod/council, etc., is held with a large number of higher ranking Clergy coming together to discuss certain topics, and together try to choose the decision that fits best with the Church Doctrine, a.k.a. what God wants.

Actually, the Patriarch of Constantinople, known as the Ecumenical Patriarch, is not the papal type of Church Primate. He is the first among equals (the patriarchs) which practically means he has word over the parishes that do not belong to other patriarchates all over the world (which translates into North & South America, Central & Western Europe & Australia + Greece/Cyprus/Turkey/Albania which are his lands).
This practically means we have the following structure:

Jesus Christ
^
Patriarchs
^
Archbishops
^
Bishops/Metropolitans
^
Priests

It is pretty much visible the head of the whole Church is not a human, like the Roman Catholic Church has the Pope of Rome, but instead Jesus Christ himself.

The structure is pretty much like the Roman Catholic Church (because in fact we used to be the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church), with the Pope of Rome being the "Patriarch of the West" with the honorary title of "Pope", the only difference is that, since there is no bishop of Rome for the Orthodox Church, the honorary title of "Pope" goes to the Patriarch of Alexandria.
The original Patriarchates were 3: Rome, Alexandria and Antioch and they were equal. Out of those Patriarchates, the 'Pope' used to either be the bishop of Rome or the bishop of Alexandria. Later, it was decided that Constantinople and Jerusalem become Patriarchate Sees as well, because of the size of the dioceses. Later on, after the schizm of 1054, more sees were promoted to Patriarchates, with the largest among them being the See of Moscow.
So, the Western Roman Catholic Church is in fact the old Church without the other 4 patriarchs (Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria) and the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church is in fact the old Church without the Patriarch of Rome.

The title Patriarch is still used in the Roman Catholic Church though, for the Bishops of Venice and Lisbon; plus the Pope is the Patriarch of the West, as his title is.

[PTL]

I was rather curious about Orthodoxy a while back and attempted (rather half-heartedly unfortunately) to learn a little more about the Orthodox faith, but only learned a few minor details about it. I found the Miracle of the Holy Fire read rather interesting. I had never heard of it, which is odd, because such proof of some sort of regular divine intervention should receive a lot more coverage...I really need to learn more about the Orthodox faith...it sounds pretty interesting. I pretty ignorant on the whole subject.

[psolisc]

For more information on the Holy Light, please to be checking this out: http://www.holylight.gr/agiofos/holyli.html a site dedicated to the Holy Light!

Without wanting to stir a fight with the miaphysite (monophysite) Oriental Orthodox Church, I will mention the 1549 incident that actually proves the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church is blessed with the Holy Light.
"In 1549 AD according to historical recordings, the Armenians bribed Sultan Mourat in order to give them permission to go in the church of the Holy Sepulchre and perform the ceremony. Indeed the sultan gave the authorisation and the Armenians entered the Temple and locked out the orthodox. The Orthodox Patriarch full with despair when he saw the Armenians in the church kneeled and prayed out of the church’s entry near one of the columns. Suddenly the column was torn and the light came out that way, lighting the patriarch’s torches. The Agarino's Emir was watching from the minaret across the street. When he saw these events he cried out: "The faith of the Christians is great! One is the real God, the God of Christians! I believe in Christ the resurrected from the dead. I kneel to him as my God". After his consent he jumped from the minaret but he wasn’t hurt. The Muslims captured him and decapitated him. His relic is kept until today in the Monastery of the Great Virgin in Jerusalem." (straight from the site I mentioned)

A few notes now:
The Armenian Patriarch that is mentioned is not of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is infact of the Armenian Orthodox Church, a Church that is in communion with the Coptic (Oriental Orthodox Church) and was condemned by the Ecumenical Synods as being 'monophysite' (= believing that Jesus had only one nature; contrary to the teachings of the Apostolic Catholic Church that Jesus had both a human and a divine nature). The Armenians have 3 patriarchates: the Patriarchate of Armenia itself, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem that claims apostolic successory from St. James himself (although the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem claims the same) and the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople. Other Patriarchates of the Oriental Orthodox Church (Monophysite/Miaphysite) include: Syriac (Antioch), Alexandria (Coptic Church), Ethiopia, Eritrea, India. The Oriental Orthodox Church includes 50 million people worldwide, 40 million of which are Ethiopians. There are talks over unity with the Eastern Orthodox Church, which have not led anywhere in the past, but are still progressing.
The Sees of Alexandria and Antioch are also Patriarchates for the Eastern Orthodox Church, as I have mentioned.

[Portuguese Rebel]

When he saw these events he cried out: "The faith of the Christians is great! One is the real God, the God of Christians! I believe in Christ the resurrected from the dead. I kneel to him as my God". After his consent he jumped from the minaret but he wasn’t hurt. The Muslims captured him and decapitated him. His relic is kept until today in the Monastery of the Great Virgin in Jerusalem." (straight from the site I mentioned)

Somehow i find this really really really hard to believe... :rolleyes

The Orthodox Churches and the Catholic churches used to be one, but due to a few conflicting issues, we split. Namely the fact we didn't believe one man could be the head of the Church (a Pope), and to top that off be infallible at the same time.

This was not the issue at that time (although it is now). The seperation was politically motivated.

[Tiwaz]

Actually position of Pope was issue from the moment idea of infallible pope was introduced but you are correct mostly. The split was very politically, and perhaps culturally, motivated. Eastern and western parts of the original church simply grew in different directions due to distance.

[Hagios]

Thanks for posting this HawkeyE. Interesting read!

[psolisc]

Somehow i find this really really really hard to believe...

Your call. I simply found it on the site about the holy light. In the pictures, you can see the column that was split apart as well.

[General David]

The Armenian Patriarch that is mentioned is not of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is infact of the Armenian Orthodox Church, a Church that is in communion with the Coptic (Oriental Orthodox Church) and was condemned by the Ecumenical Synods as being 'monophysite' (= believing that Jesus had only one nature; contrary to the teachings of the Apostolic Catholic Church that Jesus had both a human and a divine nature).

Here's some information from Wikipedia.

The Armenian Apostolic Church, sometimes incorrectly called the Armenian Orthodox Church is the world's oldest national church and one of the original churches, having been founded in 301. The Apostolic Church separated from the then-still-united Roman Catholic/Byzantine Orthodox church in 506, after the Council of Chalcedon (see Oriental Orthodoxy). The earliest accounts of the introduction of Christianity into Armenia date from the 1st century A.D. when it was first preached by two Apostles of Jesus, St. Bartholomew and St. Thaddeus. The Armenian Apostolic Church has been around since the days of the apostles and therefore has a rightful claim to be one of the oldest denominations in Christianity, if not the oldest. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in 301, when St. Gregory the Illuminator converted Tiridates the Great (the King of Armenia) and members of his court. Christianity was strengthened in Armenia by the translation of the Bible into the Armenian language by the Armenian theologian, monk and scholar Saint Mesrop Mashtots.

The Armenian church has been labeled monophysite because they rejected the decisions of this council, which condemned monophysitism. The Coptic Orthodox Church also separated after the Council of Chalcedon. The Armenian church does not hold to monophysite doctrine, however, but confesses the two natures of Christ. The Armenian church also rejects the juridical authority of the pope and the doctrine of purgatory.

The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church is the Catholicos of Armenia (the plural is Catholicoi). (The Armenian Apostolic Church should not be confused, however, with the Armenian Catholic Church, which is an Eastern Rite church under the authority of the Pope in Rome.) At present, the Catholicos of All Armenians is his Holiness Garegin II (sometimes spelled as Karekin), who resides in the city of Echmiadzin, west of Yerevan. However, a minority of the church has recognized instead the Catholicos of Cilicia, who resides in Antilyas in Lebanon, as a result of a dispute that emerged while Armenia was under Communist rule. Although the Catholicos of All Armenians claims theoretical sovereignty over the Catholicos of Cilicia.

Liturgically, the Church has much more in common with the Latin rite, especially as it was at the time of separation, than other Orthodox rites. For example, their bishops wear vestments almost identical to those of Western bishops. They usually do not use a full iconostasis, but rather a curtain (which was also used in the West at the time of separation).


Today there are large Armenian Apostolic congreations in many middle-eastern countries outside Armenia. Of particular importance is the Armenian Apostolic Church of Iran (see also Christians in Iran) where Armenians are the largest Christian ethnic minority.

Other large Armenian Apostolic congregations are in the Russian Federation, the USA and in many Western European countries.

The Armenians have 3 patriarchates: the Patriarchate of Armenia itself, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem that claims apostolic successory from St. James himself (although the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem claims the same) and the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople.

There are 2 Armenian Catholicosates in Echmiadzin (Armenia) and in Antelias (Lebanon). The 2 Patriarchates of lesser importance are the ones in Constantinople and Jerusalem.

[HawkeyE]

Originally posted by PTL@May 29 2005, 03:51 AM
I was rather curious about Orthodoxy a while back and attempted (rather half-heartedly unfortunately) to learn a little more about the Orthodox faith, but only learned a few minor details about it. I found the Miracle of the Holy Fire read rather interesting. I had never heard of it, which is odd, because such proof of some sort of regular divine intervention should receive a lot more coverage...I really need to learn more about the Orthodox faith...it sounds pretty interesting. I pretty ignorant on the whole subject.

There's abunch of websites for those curious. Wikipedia has a great article here and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has a beautiful site full of information also, there site is here. I'm really glad that this post can actually help people in some way or another.

And Rebel, like Psolic said, that's a matter of belief. Supposedly the spot where the guy landed is still noticeable in the ground today, but I myself haven't gone to see it. Also, in the part where the Patriarch of Jerusalem retrieves the flame outside of the church, it also says that while doing so, a column split straight down the middle, and there is a picture of that on this website: http://www.holyfire.org/eng/



The article on that website is also very interesting.

[Iskender Bey]

http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles/Ana...osMission.shtml

I found this interview with Anastasios. He is the Archbishop of Albania and an overall great man whom I had the luck of meeting with.

here is an article on the guy; http://www.stbasil.com/Parade%20article.pdf

PS: Sory if this was off-topic.

[HawkeyE]

Originally posted by Iskender Bey@May 29 2005, 12:33 PM
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles/Ana...osMission.shtml

I found this interview with Anastasios. He is the Archbishop of Albania and an overall great man whom I had the luck of meeting with.

here is an article on the guy; http://www.stbasil.com/Parade%20article.pdf

PS: Sory if this was off-topic.

That was not spam at all, any additional information about Orthodoxy is more than welcome. I read that whole article on the Archbishop Anastasios, you are very lucky to have met a great man like him. I wish I could.

[psolisc]

http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articl...sMission.shtml

I found this interview with Anastasios. He is the Archbishop of Albania and an overall great man whom I had the luck of meeting with.

here is an article on the guy; http://www.stbasil.com/Parade%20article.pdf

PS: Sory if this was off-topic.

This was not at all off-topic. Archbishop Anastasios is one of the most worthy men in the history of Orthodoxy, and along with Archbishop Demetrios the America, they make excellent candidates for the Patriarchal See of Constantinople, but they are unfortunately forbidden to even ask for the position, since the Patriarch has to be a turk.

HawkeyE, could you not post images like this directly to the thread (I mean like the jpg itself been directly attached to the thread, not the link)? There are personal issues for my asking this, I do not mean any ill-intent. It would be better for someone to view the column or anything else from the Temple of the Resurrection only if he decided to do so...
Sorry for my asking this...

[Emperor Constantine the 12th]

Everybody loves Orthodoxy, I mean come on who dosnt besides the Turks? I find Orthodoxy to be the most ineresting sect of Christianity even more then my Lutheran sect. I love the mysticism and the Patriarchs and alot of their beliefs. At one point I was tempted to convert to Orthodoxy myself! Well speaking of Orthodoxy, Greek fest is this weekend in my hometown, whoot whoot! Gia Konstantinopley! Christos Kai Panagia!

[therussian]

and add to the fact that Orthodoxy did not have any huge schisms within itself, like the Catholic church

[Ardeur]

What is the Orthodoxy view of baptism?

[therussian]

what do you mean?

They get baptised when they are little, but there are exceptions, like my uncle.

[HawkeyE]

What is the Orthodoxy view of baptism?

Just like any other Christian view on baptism, it's purpose is to absolve infants of the original sin. Anyone converting to the faith must be baptised in the Orthodox Church. Also, first communion is given immediately after baptism (same ceremony). We like to get our kids liquored up at the earliest age possible :p.

Everybody loves Orthodoxy, I mean come on who dosnt besides the Turks? I find Orthodoxy to be the most ineresting sect of Christianity even more then my Lutheran sect. I love the mysticism and the Patriarchs and alot of their beliefs. At one point I was tempted to convert to Orthodoxy myself! Well speaking of Orthodoxy, Greek fest is this weekend in my hometown, whoot whoot! Gia Konstantinopley! Christos Kai Panagia!

Why didn't you convert? If you don't mind my asking.