Eastern Christianity

Christian traditions originating from Greek- and Syriac-speaking populations

Not to be confused with Church of the East.

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Eastern Christianity
Christ Pantocrator (Deesis mosaic detail)

Mainstream communions

* Eastern Orthodoxy
* Oriental Orthodoxy (Coptic, Orthodox Tewahedo \- Ethiopian and Eritrean -, Armenian, Cilicia, Syriac, Indian)
* Eastern Catholicism
* Church of the East (Assyrian and Ancient)

Independent communions

* Old Believers
* Spiritual Russian

Eastern Protestantism

* Armenian Evangelical Church
* Assyrian Evangelical Church
* Assyrian Pentecostal Church
* Believers Eastern Church of India
* Eastern Rite Community in Germany and the Czech Republic
* Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia
* Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile)
* Evangelical Church of Romania
* Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia
* Evangelical Orthodox Church
* Kosovo Protestant Evangelical Church
* Mar Thoma Syrian Church
* P'ent'ay - Ethiopian and Eritrean Evangelical Churches
* Russian Evangelical Church
* Society for Eastern Rite Anglicanism
* St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India
* St. Valentine's Fellowship
* Ukrainian Lutheran Church

Eastern liturgical rites

* Alexandrian
* Coptic
* Ge'ez
* Antiochene
* Byzantine
* Armenian
* West Syriac
* Malankara
* Maronite
* East Syriac
* Malabar

Major controversies

* Arianism
* Nestorianism
* Monophysitism
* Miaphysitism
* Dyophysitism
* Henotikon
* Caesaropapism
* Three Chapters
* Monoenergism
* Monothelitism
* Dyoenergism
* Dyothelitism
* Iconoclasm
* Filioque
* Paulicianism
* Bogomilism
* Hesychasm
* Eastern Protestantism

Traditions

* Greek
* Melkite
* Russian
* Syriac

Other topics

* Christian mysticism
* Christology
* Divine Liturgy
* Eastern Christian history
* Monasticism

* Index of related articles
* Western Christianity

* Christianity portal

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Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and the Malabar coast of South Asia, and ephimerally parts of Persia, Central Asia and the Far East.[1] The term does not describe a single communion or religious denomination.

Major Eastern Christian bodies include the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, along with those groups descended from the historic Church of the East, as well as the Eastern Catholic Churches (which have either re-established or always retained communion with Rome and maintain Eastern liturgies), and the Eastern Protestant churches[2] (which are Protestant in theology but Eastern in cultural practice). The various Eastern churches do not normally refer to themselves as "Eastern", with the exception of the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East.

The Eastern Orthodox are the largest body within Eastern Christianity with a worldwide population of 220 million,[3] followed by the Oriental Orthodox at 60 million.[4] The Eastern Catholic Churches consist of about 16-18 million and are a small minority within the Catholic Church.[5] Eastern Protestant Christian churches do not form a single communion; churches like the Ukrainian Lutheran Church and Mar Thoma Syrian Church have under a million members. The Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East, descendant churches of the Church of the East, have a combined membership of approximately 400K.[6]

Historically, after the loss of the Levant in the 7th century to the Islamic Sunni Caliphate, the term Eastern Church was used for the Greek Church centred in Byzantium, in contrast with the (Western) Latin Church, centered on Rome, which uses the Latin liturgical rites. The terms "Eastern" and "Western" in this regard originated with geographical divisions in Christianity mirroring the cultural divide between the Hellenistic East and the Latin West, and the political divide of 395 AD between the Western and Eastern Roman empires. Since the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, the term "Eastern Christianity" may be used in contrast with "Western Christianity", which contains not only the Latin Church but also Protestantism and Independent Catholicism.[7] Some Eastern churches have more in common historically and theologically with Western Christianity than with one another.

Because the largest church in the East is the body currently known as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the term "Orthodox" is often used in a similar fashion to "Eastern", to refer to specific historical Christian communions. However, strictly speaking, most Christian denominations, whether Eastern or Western, regard themselves as "orthodox" (meaning "following correct beliefs") as well as "catholic" (meaning "universal"), and as sharing in the Four Marks of the Church listed in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (325 AD): "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic" (Greek: μία, ἁγία, καθολικὴ καὶ ἀποστολικὴ ἐκκλησία).[note 1]

Eastern churches (excepting the non-liturgical dissenting bodies) utilise several liturgical rites: the Alexandrian Rite, the Armenian Rite, the Byzantine Rite, the East Syriac Rite (also known as Persian or Chaldean Rite), and the West Syriac Rite (also called the Antiochian Rite).

## Contents

* 1 Families of churches
* 1.1 Eastern Orthodox Church
* 1.2 Oriental Orthodoxy
* 1.3 Church of the East
* 1.3.1 Assyrian Church of the East
* 1.3.2 Saint Thomas Syrian Christians
* 1.4 Eastern Catholic Churches
* 1.5 Dissenting movements
* 1.5.1 "True Orthodox" churches
* 1.5.2 Eastern Protestant Churches
* 1.5.2.1 Byzantine Rite Lutheranism
* 2 Catholic–Orthodox ecumenism
* 2.1 Rejection of uniatism
* 3 Migration trends
* 4 Role of Christians in the Arabic culture
* 5 See also
* 6 Notes
* 7 References
* 8 Further reading
* 9 External links

## Families of churches[edit | edit source]

Further information: History of Eastern Christianity

File:Orthodoxy by Country.svg

Comparative distribution of Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy in the world by country  Legend  Eastern Orthodoxy | Oriental Orthodoxy

|

Dominant religion (more than 75%)

Dominant religion (more than 75%)

Dominant religion (50–75%)

Dominant religion (50–75%)

Important minority religion (20–50%)

Important minority religion (20–50%)

Important minority religion (5–20%)

Important minority religion (5–20%)

Minority religion (1–5%)

Minority religion (1–5%)

Eastern Christians do not all share the same religious traditions, but many do share cultural traditions. Christianity divided itself in the East during its early centuries both within and outside of the Roman Empire in disputes about Christology and fundamental theology, as well as through national divisions (Roman, Persian, etc.). It would be many centuries later that Western Christianity fully split from these traditions as its own communion. Major branches or families of Eastern Christianity, each of which has a distinct theology and dogma, include the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox communion, the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Assyrian Church of the East.[9]

In many Eastern churches, some parish priests administer the sacrament of chrismation to infants after baptism, and priests are allowed to marry before ordination. While all the Eastern Catholic Churches recognize the authority of the Pope of Rome, some of them who have originally been part of the Orthodox Church or Oriental Orthodox churches closely follow the traditions of Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy, including the tradition of allowing married men to become priests.

The Eastern churches' differences from Western Christianity have as much, if not more, to do with culture, language, and politics, as theology. For the non-Catholic Eastern churches, a definitive date for the commencement of schism cannot usually be given (see East–West Schism). The Church of the East declared independence from the churches of the Roman Empire at its general council in 424, which was before the Council of Ephesus in 431, and so had nothing to do with the theology declared at that council. Oriental Orthodoxy separated after the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

Since the time of the historian Edward Gibbon, the split between the Church of Rome and the Orthodox Church has been conveniently dated to 1054, though the reality is more complex. This split is sometimes referred to as the Great Schism, but now more usually referred to as the East–West Schism. This final schism reflected a larger cultural and political division which had developed in Europe and Southwest Asia during the Middle Ages and coincided with Western Europe's re-emergence from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

The Ukrainian Lutheran Church developed within Galicia around 1926, with its rites being based on the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, rather than on the Western Formula Missae.[10][11]

### Eastern Orthodox Church[edit | edit source]

Further information: History of the Eastern Orthodox Church

File:Christ Hagia Sofia.jpg

Christ Pantocrator, detail of the Deesis mosaic in Hagia Sophia – Constantinople (Istanbul) 12th century

The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body whose adherents are largely based in Western Asia (particularly Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine) and Turkey, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Caucasus (Georgia, Abkhazia, Ossetia etc.), with a growing presence in the Western world. Eastern Orthodox Christians accept the decisions of the first seven ecumenical councils.

Eastern Orthodox Christianity identifies itself as the original Christian church (see early centers of Christianity) founded by Christ and the Apostles, and traces its lineage back to the early Church through the process of apostolic succession and unchanged theology and practice. Characteristics of the Eastern Orthodox Church include the Byzantine Rite (shared with some Eastern Catholic Churches) and an emphasis on the continuation of Holy Tradition, which it holds to be apostolic in nature.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is organized into self-governing jurisdictions along geographical, national, ethnic or linguistic lines. Eastern Orthodoxy is thus made up of fourteen or sixteen autocephalous bodies. Smaller churches are autonomous and each have a mother church that is autocephalous.

All Eastern Orthodox are united in doctrinal agreement with each other, though a few are not in communion at present, for non-doctrinal reasons. This is in contrast to the Catholic Church and its various churches. Members of the latter are all in communion with each other, parts of a top-down hierarchy (see primus inter pares). The Eastern Orthodox reject the Filioque clause as contrast to Catholics. The Catholic Church was once in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church, but the two split after the East–West Schism and are no longer in communion.

It is estimated that there are approximately 240 million Eastern Orthodox Christians in the world.[note 2] Today, many adherents shun the term "Eastern" as denying the church's universal character. They refer to Eastern Orthodoxy simply as the Orthodox Church.[12]

### Oriental Orthodoxy[edit | edit source]

Main article: Oriental Orthodox Churches

Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the churches of Eastern Christian tradition that keep the faith of the first three ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church: the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325), the First Council of Constantinople (381) and the Council of Ephesus (431), while rejecting the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon (451). Hence, these churches are also called the Old Oriental churches. They comprise the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Church (India), the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Oriental Orthodoxy developed in reaction to Chalcedon on the eastern limit of the Byzantine Empire and in Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia. In those locations, there are also Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, but the rivalry between the two has largely vanished in the centuries since the schism.

### Church of the East[edit | edit source]

Main articles: Church of the East, Nestorianism, and Lakhmids

Historically, the Church of the East was the widest reaching branch of Eastern Christianity, at its height spreading from its heartland in Persian-ruled Assyria to the Mediterranean, India, and China. Originally the only Christian church recognized by Zoroastrian-led Sassanid Persia (through its alliance with the Lakhmids, the regional rivals to the Byzantines and its Ghassanid vassal), the Church of the East declared itself independent of other churches in 424 and over the next century became affiliated with Nestorianism, a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428 to 431, which had been declared heretical in the Roman Empire. Thereafter it was often known, possibly inaccurately, as the Nestorian Church in the West. Surviving a period of persecution within Persia, the Church of the East flourished under the Abbasid Caliphate and branched out, establishing dioceses throughout Asia. After another period of expansion under the Mongol Empire, the church went into decline starting in the 14th century, and was eventually largely confined to its founding Assyrian adherent's heartland in the Assyrian homeland, although another remnant survived on the Malabar Coast of India.

In the 16th century, dynastic struggles sent the church into schism, resulting in the formation of two rival churches: The Chaldean Catholic Church, which entered into communion with Rome as an Eastern Catholic Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East. The followers of these two churches are almost exclusively ethnic Assyrians. In India, the local Church of the East community, known as the Saint Thomas Christians, experienced its own rifts as a result of Portuguese influence.

#### Assyrian Church of the East[edit | edit source]

Main articles: Church of the East and Assyrian Church of the East

The Assyrian Church of the East emerged from the historical Church of the East, which was centered in Mesopotamia/Assyria, then part of the Persian Empire, and spread widely throughout Asia. The modern Assyrian Church of the East emerged in the 16th century following a split with the Chaldean Church, which later entered into communion with Rome as an Eastern Catholic Church.

The Church of the East was associated with the doctrine of Nestorianism, advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428 to 431, which emphasized the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus. Nestorius and his doctrine were condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431, leading to the Nestorian Schism in which churches supporting Nestorius split from the rest of Christianity.

Many followers relocated to Persia and became affiliated with the local Christian community there. This community adopted an increasingly Nestorian theology and was thereafter often known as the Nestorian Church. As such, the Church of the East accepts only the first two ecumenical councils of the undivided Church—the First Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople—as defining its faith tradition, and rapidly took a different course from other Eastern Christians.

The Church of the East spread widely through Persia and into Asia, being introduced to India by the 6th century and to the Mongols and China in the 7th century. It experienced periodic expansion until the 14th century, when the church was nearly destroyed by the collapse of the Mongol Empire and the conquests of Timur. By the 16th century it was largely confined to Iraq, northeast Syria, southeast Turkey, northwest Iran and the Malabar Coast of India (Kerala). The split of the 15th century, which saw the emergence of separate Assyrian and Chaldean Churches, left only the former as an independent sect. Additional splits into the 20th century further affected the history of the Assyrian Church of the East.

#### Saint Thomas Syrian Christians[edit | edit source]

Main article: Saint Thomas Christians

The Saint Thomas Syrian Christians are an ancient body of Syrian Christians in Kerala, Malabar coast of India who trace their origins to the evangelical activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. Many Assyrian and Jewish communities like the Knanaya and the Cochin Jews assimilated into the Saint Thomas Syrian Christian community.[13] By the 5th century the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians were part of the Church of the East (Nestorian Church). Until the middle of the 17th century and the arrival of the Portuguese, the Thomas Christians were all one in faith and rite. Thereafter, divisions arose among them, and consequently they are today of several different rites. The East Syriac Chaldean Rite (Edessan Rite) Churches among the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians are the Syro Malabar Church and the Chaldean Syrian Church. The West Syriac Antiochian Rite Churches among the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians are the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, the Syro Malankara Church and the Thozhiyur Church.

### Eastern Catholic Churches[edit | edit source]

Main article: Eastern Catholic Churches

File:Kanjirappally Bishop Mar Mathew Arackal at Tomb of Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly.jpg

An Eastern Catholic bishop of the Syro-Malabar Church holding the Mar Thoma Cross which symbolizes the heritage and identity of the Saint Thomas Christians of India

The twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches are in communion with the Holy See at the Vatican whilst being rooted in the theological and liturgical traditions of Eastern Christianity. Most of these churches were originally part of the Orthodox East, but have since been reconciled to the Latin Church.

Many of these churches were originally part of one of the above families and so are closely related to them by way of ethos and liturgical practice. As in the other Eastern churches, married men may become priests, and parish priests administer the mystery of confirmation to newborn infants immediately after baptism, via the rite of chrismation; the infants are then administered Holy Communion.

The Syro-Malabar Church, which is part of the Saint Thomas Christian community in India, follows East Syriac traditions and liturgy. Other Saint Thomas Christians of India, who were originally of the same East Syriac tradition, passed instead to the West Syriac tradition and now form part of Oriental Orthodoxy (some from the Oriental Orthodox in India united with the Catholic Church in 1930 and became the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church). The Maronite Church claims never to have been separated from Rome, and has no counterpart Orthodox Church out of communion with the Pope. It is therefore inaccurate to refer to it as a "Uniate" Church. The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church has also never been out of communion with Rome, but, unlike the Maronite Church, it resembles the liturgical rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

### Dissenting movements[edit | edit source]

File:Ukrlckremenec.jpg

The Church of the Cross of the Lord is located in Kremenets and is part of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, which uses the Byzantine Rite.

In addition to these four mainstream branches, there are a number of much smaller groups which originated from disputes with the dominant tradition of their original areas. Most of these are either part of the more traditional Old Believer movement, which arose from a schism within Russian Orthodoxy, or the more radical Spiritual Christianity movement. The latter includes a number of diverse "low-church" groups, from the Bible-centered Molokans to the anarchic Doukhobors to the self-mutilating Skoptsy. None of these groups are in communion with the mainstream churches listed above. There are also national dissidents, where ethnic groups want their own nation-church, such as the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Montenegrin Orthodox Church; both are domiciles of the Serbian Orthodox Church. There are also some Reformed Churches which share characteristics of Eastern Christianity, to varying extents.

#### "True Orthodox" churches[edit | edit source]

Main article: True Orthodoxy

Starting in the 1920s, parallel hierarchies formed in opposition to local Orthodox churches over ecumenism and other matters. These jurisdictions sometimes refer to themselves as being "True Orthodox". In Russia, underground churches formed and maintained solidarity with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia until the late 1970s. There are now traditionalist Orthodox in every area, though in Asia and Egypt their presence is negligible.

#### Eastern Protestant Churches[edit | edit source]

Main article: Eastern Protestantism

Protestant Eastern Christianity comprises a collection of heterogeneous Protestant denominations which are mostly the result of Protestant Churches adopting reformational variants of Orthodox Christian liturgy and worship.[14][15] Some others are the result of reformations of Orthodox Christian beliefs and practices, inspired by the teachings of Western Protestant missionaries.[16] Denominations of this category include the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India, Believers Eastern Church, Evangelical Orthodox Church, etc.

##### Byzantine Rite Lutheranism[edit | edit source]

Main article: Byzantine Rite Lutheranism

Byzantine Rite Lutheranism arose in the Ukrainian Lutheran Church around 1926.[2] It sprung up in the region of Galicia and its rites are based on the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.[10][11] The church suffered persecution under the Communist régime, which implemented a policy of state atheism.[17]

## Catholic–Orthodox ecumenism[edit | edit source]

Ecumenical dialogue since the 1964 meeting between Pope Paul VI and Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I has awoken the nearly 1,000-year hopes for Christian unity. Since the lifting of excommunications during the Paul VI and Athenagoras I meeting in Jerusalem there have been other significant meetings between Popes and Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople. One of the most recent meetings was between Benedict XVI and Bartholomew I, who jointly signed the Common Declaration. It states that "We give thanks to the Author of all that is good, who allows us once again, in prayer and in dialogue, to express the joy we feel as brothers and to renew our commitment to move towards full communion".[18]

In 2013 Patriarch Bartholomew I attended the installation ceremony of the new Catholic Pope, Francis, which was the first time any Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople had ever attended such an installation.[19]

In 2019, Primate of the OCU Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphanius stated that "theoretically" the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church could in the future unite into a united church around the Kyiv throne.[20] In 2019, the primate of the UGCC, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Galicia Sviatoslav, stated that every effort should be made to restore the original unity of the Kyivan Church in its Orthodox and Catholic branches, saying that the restoration of Eucharistic communion between Rome and Constantinople is not a utopia.[21]

### Rejection of uniatism[edit | edit source]

At a meeting in Balamand, Lebanon, in June 1993, the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church declared that these initiatives that "led to the union of certain communities with the See of Rome and brought with them, as a consequence, the breaking of communion with their Mother Churches of the East … took place not without the interference of extra-ecclesial interests";[22] and that what has been called "uniatism" "can no longer be accepted either as a method to be followed nor as a model of the unity our Churches are seeking" (section 12).

At the same time, the Commission stated:

* 3) Concerning the Eastern Catholic Churches, it is clear that they, as part of the Catholic Communion, have the right to exist and to act in response to the spiritual needs of their faithful.
* 16) The Oriental Catholic Churches who have desired to re-establish full communion with the See of Rome and have remained faithful to it, have the rights and obligations which are connected with this communion.
* 22) Pastoral activity in the Catholic Church, Latin as well as Oriental, no longer aims at having the faithful of one Church pass over to the other; that is to say, it no longer aims at proselytizing among the Orthodox. It aims at answering the spiritual needs of its own faithful and it has no desire for expansion at the expense of the Orthodox Church. Within these perspectives, so that there will be no longer place for mistrust and suspicion, it is necessary that there be reciprocal exchanges of information about various pastoral projects and that thus cooperation between bishops and all those with responsibilities in our Churches, can be set in motion and develop.

## Migration trends[edit | edit source]

There has been a significant Christian migration in the 20th century from the Near East. Fifteen hundred years ago Christians were the majority population in today's Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Egypt. In 1914 Christians constituted 25% of the population of the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the 21st century Christians constituted 6–7% of the region's population: less than 1% in Turkey, 3% in Iraq, 12% in Syria, 39% in Lebanon, 6% in Jordan, 2.5% in Israel/Palestine and 15–20% in Egypt.

As of 2011 Eastern Orthodox Christians are among the wealthiest Christians in the United States.[23] They also tend to be better educated than most other religious groups in America, having a high number of graduate (68%) and post-graduate (28%) degrees per capita.[24]

## Role of Christians in the Arabic culture[edit | edit source]

See also: Christian influences in Islam

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Christians, especially Nestorians, contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Umayyads and the Abbasids by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards to Arabic.[25] They also excelled in philosophy, science (such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Qusta ibn Luqa, Masawaiyh, Patriarch Eutychius, Jabril ibn Bukhtishu etc.) and theology (such as Tatian, Bar Daisan, Babai the Great, Nestorius, Toma bar Yacoub, etc.) and the personal physicians of the Abbasid Caliphs were often Assyrian Christians such as the long serving Bukhtishus.[26][27] Many scholars of the House of Wisdom were of Christian background.[28]

A hospital and medical training center existed at Gundeshapur. The city of Gundeshapur was founded in AD 271 by the Sassanid king Shapur I. It was one of the major cities in Khuzestan province of the Persian empire in what is today Iran. A large percentage of the population was Syriacs, most of whom were Christians. Under the rule of Khusraw I, refuge was granted to Greek Nestorian Christian philosophers including the scholars of the Persian School of Edessa (Urfa), also called the Academy of Athens, a Christian theological and medical university. These scholars made their way to Gundeshapur in 529 following the closing of the academy by Emperor Justinian. They were engaged in medical sciences and initiated the first translation projects of medical texts.[29] The arrival of these medical practitioners from Edessa marks the beginning of the hospital and medical center at Gundeshapur.[30] It included a medical school and hospital (bimaristan), a pharmacology laboratory, a translation house, a library and an observatory.[31] Indian doctors also contributed to the school at Gundeshapur, most notably the medical researcher Mankah. Later after Islamic invasion, the writings of Mankah and of the Indian doctor Sustura were translated into Arabic at Baghdad.[32] Daud al-Antaki was one of the last generation of influential Arab Christian writers.

Arab Christians and Arabic-Speaking Christians especially Maronites played important roles in the Nahda, and because Arab Christians formed the educated upper and bourgeois classes, they have had a significant impact in politics, business and culture, and most important figures of the Nahda movement were Christian Arabs.[33] Today Arab Christians still play important roles in the Arab world, and Christians are relatively wealthy, well educated, and politically moderate.[34]

## See also[edit | edit source]

* Apophatic theology
* Ascetical theology
* Cappadocian Fathers
* Desert Fathers
* Eastern Christian monasticism
* Eastern Orthodox – Roman Catholic ecclesiastical differences
* Eastern Orthodox Christian theology
* Eastern Party
* Essence–energies distinction (Eastern Orthodox theology)
* History of Eastern Christianity
* History of the Eastern Orthodox Church
* Index of Eastern Christianity–related articles
* Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy
* Mystical theology
* Syriac Christianity
* Tabor Light

## Notes[edit | edit source]

1. ^ This ecumenical creed is today recited in the liturgy of the Catholic Church (both Latin and Eastern Rites), the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Church of the East, the Moravian Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Methodist Churches, the Anglican Communion, the Reformed Churches, and other Christian denominations.[8]
2. ^ See details about major religious groups.

## References[edit | edit source]

1. ^ Historically, Christianity in the Persian Empire and in Central Asia also had great importance, especially in proselytising in East and South Asia.
2. ^ a b Hämmerli, Maria; Mayer, Jean-François (23 May 2016). Orthodox Identities in Western Europe: Migration, Settlement and Innovation. Routledge. p. 13\. ISBN 9781317084914.
3. ^ Fairchild, Mary (17 March 2017). "Eastern Orthodox Denomination". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
4. ^ "Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 8 November 2017. "Oriental Orthodoxy has separate self-governing jurisdictions in Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Armenia and Syria, and it accounts for roughly 20% of the worldwide Orthodox population."
5. ^ "The beautiful witness of the Eastern Catholic Churches". Catholic Herald. 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
6. ^ Murre van den Berg 2011, p. 154-159. sfn error: no target: CITEREFMurre_van_den_Berg2011 (help)
7. ^ Bulletin for the Study of Religion, Volumes 9-12. Council on the Study of Religion. 1978. p. 29\. "Since Eastern Christianity is difficult to define, or even to describe, the subject parameters of the proposed works will be somewhat open-ended."
8. ^ Scharper, Philip J. (1969). Meet the American Catholic. Broadman Press. p. 34\. "It is interesting to note, however, that the Nicene Creed, recited by Catholics in their worship, is also accepted by millions of other Christians as a testimony of their faith — Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, and members of many of the Reformed Churches."
9. ^ Hindson, Edward E.; Mitchell, Daniel R. (1 August 2013). The Popular Encyclopedia of Church History. Harvest House Publishers. p. 225\. ISBN 9780736948074.
10. ^ a b Bebis, Vassilios (30 March 2013). "The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, used by the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, and its missing elements". Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Retrieved 18 September 2018. "A revised Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is also celebrated in Ukraine by members of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. This Church was organized originally in 1926 in the “Galicia” region of Ukraine, which was at that time under the government of Poland. The liturgical rites used by the Ukrainian Lutherans reflected their Byzantine tradition. They did not use a Lutheran revision of the Latin Mass in their services, but instead they used a Lutheran revision of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom."
11. ^ a b Webber, David Jay (1992). "Why is the Lutheran Church a Liturgical Church?". Bethany Lutheran College. Retrieved 18 September 2018. "In the Byzantine world, however, this pattern of worship would not be informed by the liturgical history of the Latin church, as with the Reformation-era church orders, but by the liturgical history of the Byzantine church. (This was in fact what occurred with the Ukrainian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, which published in its 1933 Ukrainian Evangelical Service Book the first ever Lutheran liturgical order derived from the historic Eastern Rite.)"
12. ^ Ware, Bishop Kallistos (Timothy) (29 April 1993), The Orthodox Church (new ed.), New York, NY: Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0-14-014656-1
13. ^ A. E. Medlycott, India and The Apostle Thomas, pp.1-71, 213-97; M. R. James, Apocryphal New Testament, pp.364-436; Eusebius, History, chapter 4:30; J. N. Farquhar, The Apostle Thomas in North India, chapter 4:30; V. A. Smith, Early History of India, p.235; L. W. Brown, The Indian Christians of St. Thomas, p.49-59
14. ^ "Believers Eastern Church".
15. ^ "Church History". St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (steci) is an episcopal Church.
16. ^ "Heritage – Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church".
17. ^ Dushnyck, Walter (1991). The Ukrainian Heritage in America. Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. p. 94\. ISBN 9781879001008.
18. ^ "Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople". Ecupatriarchate.org. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
19. ^ "auto".
20. ^ "Предстоятель ПЦУ Епіфаній: Найперше мусимо зберегти свою незалежність".
21. ^ "Блаженніший Святослав: "Відновлення євхаристійного спілкування між Римом і Константинополем не є утопією"".
22. ^ SEVENTH PLENARY SESSION (Vatican Website) Archived 23 December 2003 at the Wayback Machine
23. ^ Leonhardt, David (13 May 2011). "Faith, Education and Income". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
24. ^ US Religious Landscape Survey: Diverse and Dynamic (PDF), The Pew Forum, February 2008, p. 85, archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09, retrieved 17 September 2012
25. ^ Hill, Donald. Islamic Science and Engineering. 1993. Edinburgh Univ. Press. ISBN 0-7486-0455-3, p.4
26. ^ Rémi Brague, Assyrians contributions to the Islamic civilization
27. ^ Britannica, Nestorian
28. ^ Hyman and Walsh Philosophy in the Middle Ages Indianapolis, 1973, p. 204' Meri, Josef W. and Jere L. Bacharach, Editors, Medieval Islamic Civilization Vol.1, A-K, Index, 2006, p. 304.
29. ^ The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 22:2 Mehmet Mahfuz Söylemez, The Jundishapur School: Its History, Structure, and Functions, p.3.
30. ^ Gail Marlow Taylor, The Physicians of Gundeshapur, (University of California, Irvine), p.7.
31. ^ Cyril Elgood, A Medical History of Persia and the Eastern Caliphate, (Cambridge University Press, 1951), p.7.
32. ^ Cyril Elgood, A Medical History of Persia and the Eastern Caliphate, (Cambridge University Press, 1951), p.3.
33. ^ [1] "The historical march of the Arabs: the third moment."
34. ^ "Pope to Arab Christians: Keep the Faith". The Huffington Post. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2016.

## Further reading[edit | edit source]

* Angold, Michael, ed. (2006). The Cambridge History of Christianity. Vol. 5, Eastern Christianity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81113-2.
* Julius Assfalg (ed.), Kleines Wörterbuch des christlichen Orients, Wiesbaden 1975.
* FitzGerald, Thomas (2007). "Eastern Christianity in the United States". The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 269–279. ISBN 9780470766392.
* Jenkins, Philip (2008). The Lost History Of Christianity. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-147281-7.
* Walters, J. Edward, ed. (2021). Eastern Christianity: A Reader. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-7686-7.

## External links[edit | edit source]

* Eastern Christian Churches
* Eastern Catholics Information concerning Christians of Eastern rites who are in communion with, and under the jurisdiction of, the Pope, the Bishop of Rome.
* Byzantine Chant Studies Page
* The Greek Orthodox Church in Canada
* OrthodoxWiki
* Sample of Melkite Chant in English
* The Eastern Christian Churches
* Fellowship and Aid to the Christians of the East

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Christian liturgical chant

Eastern|

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Western|

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Oriental Orthodoxy

Eastern Christian communion of autocephalous churches from Armenia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and parts of the Middle East, and India

Autocephalous
churches|

* Coptic Orthodox Church
* Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
* Armenian Apostolic Church
* Holy See of Cilicia
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* Syriac Orthodox Church
* Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

File:ChristCopticArt.png

Autonomous churches|

Armenian Apostolic:
Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Syriac Orthodox:
Malankara Jacobite

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church:
Brahmavar (Goan) Orthodox Church

Independent
churches|

British Isles
Malabar Independent Syrian Church
Syncretic Oriential Catholic Churches:

Western Orthodoxy

Celtic

Liturgy|

* Alexandrian Rite
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Eastern Orthodox Church

Autocephalous and autonomous churches of Eastern Orthodoxy

Autocephalous churches|

| Four ancient patriarchates|

* Constantinople
* Bartholomew I
* Alexandria
* Theodore II
* Antioch
* John X
* Jerusalem
* Theophilos III

|

Junior patriarchates|

* Russia[a]
* Kirill
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Autocephalous
archbishoprics/metropolises|

* Cyprus
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* Epiphanius
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* Stefan

File:ByzantineCross.svg

Autonomous churches|

Sinai
Finland (Ecumenical Patriarchate)
Estonia (Ecumenical Patriarchate)[b]
Latvia (Moscow Patriarchate)
Japan (Moscow Patriarchate)[b]
China (Moscow Patriarchate)[b]
Ukraine (Moscow Patriarchate)[c]
Ohrid (Serbian Orthodox Church)
Americas (Romanian Patriarchate)
Bessarabia (Romanian Patriarchate)[b]
Moldova (Moscow Patriarchate)[b]

Semi-autonomous churches
Crete (Ecumenical Patriarchate)
Estonia (Moscow Patriarchate)[d]
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia[d]

History|

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15th–16th c.
1996
2018

Liturgy|

Byzantine Rite

Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom
Liturgy of Saint Basil
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Liturgy of Saint Mark
Western Rite

Other|

* Unrecognized Eastern Orthodox churches
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* Canon law of the Eastern Orthodox Church

1. ^ The ROC severed full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2018, and later severed full communion with the primates of the Church of Greece, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the Church of Cyprus in 2020.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Autocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized.
3. ^ UOC-MP has moved to formally cut ties with the ROC as of May 27th 2022.
4. ^ a b Semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church whose autonomy is not universally recognized.

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|

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Middle Ages|

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|

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* See also:
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By country)|

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Culture|

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* Role in civilisation
* See also:
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* Anti-Catholicism

Media|

* Holy See Press Office
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Religious orders,
institutes, societies|

* Assumptionists
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Associations
of the faithful|

* Confraternities
* Lay
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* Saint Francis
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Charities|

* Aid to the Church in Need
* Caritas
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* Home Missions
* Relief Services
* CIDSE
* Pax Christi
* Society of Saint Vincent de Paul

* See also:
* Health care
* Schools
* Universities

*   * Category

* v
* t
* e

Eastern Christianity

Cultural area of Christian traditions that developed since Early Christianity in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, North and East Africa, Asia Minor, South India, and parts of the Far East.

Main
divisions|

| Communions|

* Eastern Orthodox Church
* Oriental Orthodox Churches
* Eastern Catholic Churches
* Assyrian Church of the East
* Ancient Church of the East

|

Independent Churches/Communions|

* Old Believers
* Spiritual Christianity
* True Orthodox churches
* Tolstoyans

Protestantism|

* Eastern Protestantism

Christ Pantocrator (Deesis mosaic detail)
Christ Pantocrator (circa 1261) in Hagia Sophia

History|

* Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire
* Christianization of Iberia
* Copts
* Proto-orthodoxy
* Ecumenical council
* Heresies
* Nestorianism
* Iconoclasm
* Paulicianism
* Bogomilism
* Church of the East
* China
* India
* Mongols
* Oriental Orthodox Churches
* Council of Chalcedon
* Saint Thomas Christians/Malankara Church
* Arab Christians
* Antiochian Greek Christians
* Melkite
* Ghassanids
* Christianization of Bulgaria
* Christianization of Kievan Rus'
* Eastern Orthodox Church
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* 15th–16th centuries schism
* 1996 schism
* 2018 schism

Scriptures|

* Canon
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Theology|

* Hesychasm
* Icon
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* Filioque clause
* Miaphysitism
* Dyophysitism
* Nestorianism
* Theosis
* Theoria
* Phronema
* Philokalia
* Praxis
* Theotokos
* Hypostasis
* Ousia
* Essence–energies distinction
* Metousiosis

Worship|

* Sign of the cross
* Divine Liturgy
* Iconography
* Asceticism
* Omophorion

* v
* t
* e

Christianity

* Index
* Outline
* Glossary
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* By country

Bible
(Scriptures)|

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Foundations|

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* Creed
* Gospel
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* Worship

History
(timeline)
(spread)

| Early
Christianity|

* Jesus
* in Christianity
* Nativity
* Baptism
* Ministry
* Sermon on the Mount
* Crucifixion
* Resurrection
* Great Commission
* Apostles
* Church fathers
* Apostolic fathers

|

Great Church|

* Ante-Nicene period
* Late antiquity
* Constantine
* First seven ecumenical councils
* Nicaea I
* Chalcedon
* State church of the Roman Empire
* Biblical canon

Middle Ages|

* Monasticism
* Papal States
* East–West Schism
* Investiture Controversy
* Crusades
* Age of Discovery

Modern era|

* Protestant Reformation
* Catholic Reformation
* Thirty Years' War
* Enlightenment
* French Revolution
* Persecution:
* Communism
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* Influences

Denominations
(list, members)|

| Western|

* Catholic
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* Adventist
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* Anglican
* Baptist
* Calvinist
* Charismatic
* Evangelical
* Holiness
* Lutheran
* Methodist
* Pentecostal
* Quakers
* Western Rite Orthodoxy

|

Eastern|

* Eastern Orthodox
* Oriental Orthodox (Miaphysite)
* Church of the East (Nestorian)
* Eastern Catholic

Restorationist|

* Jehovah's Witnesses
* Latter Day Saint movement
* Iglesia ni Cristo

Theology|

* God
* Trinity
* Father
* Son
* Holy Spirit
* Christology
* Nicene Creed
* Tradition
* Original sin
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* Liturgy
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* Saints
* Angel
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* Four marks
* Body of Christ
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* Canon law
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* Baptism
* Eucharist
* Marriage
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* Penance
* Anointing of the Sick
* Holy orders
* Mission
* Ablution
* Hygiene

Philosophy|

* Natural law
* Ethics
* Science
* Evolution
* Politics
* Views on poverty and wealth

Other
Features|

| Culture|

* Architecture
* Architecture of cathedrals and great churches
* Art
* Jesus
* Mary
* Education
* Catechism
* Flag
* Literature
* Music
* Mythology
* Pilgrimage
* Popular piety
* Church buildings
* Cathedrals
* Role in civilization
* See also:
* Other religions
* Cultural Christians
* Criticism
* Persecution

|

Movements|

* Crusading movement
* Anarchism
* Charismatic
* Democracy
* Environmentalism
* Existentialism
* Fundamentalism
* Liberation
* Left/Right
* Mysticism
* Pacifism
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Cooperation|

* Christendom
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* Charta Oecumenica
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* Nondenominationalism

*   * Category

* v
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Western world and culture

Foundations|

* Cradle of civilization
* Old World
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* Rome
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History|

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Culture|

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* Religion
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* Decline
* Secularism

Philosophy|

* Ancient Greek philosophy
* Hellenistic philosophy
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* Christian philosophy
* Scholasticism
* Rationalism
* Empiricism
* Existentialism
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* Humanism
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* Liberalism
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Religion|

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* Western/Eastern
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Law|

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Contemporary
integration|

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