The World's Christians. Douglas Jacobsen

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1 The Orthodox Tradition

Orthodoxy has the longest history of the four major Christian traditions that exist today, and it preserves the ancient ideas and practices of Christianity more fully than any other tradition. In many ways, the past is still alive in Orthodoxy, so much so that some outsiders view Orthodoxy as locked in the past. But for its adherents, Orthodox Christianity is very much a living faith, connecting them to the present and future as much as to the past. Geographically, the original heartland of Orthodoxy was the Middle East and the Balkans (the area of land located south of the Danube River). By 1500, however, under increasing pressure from Islam, the geographic center of Orthodoxy had moved north into Russia and Eastern Europe, where Orthodoxy remains the majority religion today (see Figure 1.1).

      Theologically, Orthodoxy can be divided into two distinct sub‐traditions. The Eastern Orthodox Church, which accounts for about 85 percent of all Orthodox Christians, is sometimes known as the church of the seven councils because it affirms all seven of the early “ecumenical councils” (worldwide gatherings of Christians called to decide what Christians should believe) that were held between the years 325 and 787. A second, smaller sub‐group of churches known as the Oriental Orthodox or Miaphysite churches (including the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the Syrian Orthodox Church) rejected the conclusions of the Council of Chalcedon (held in the year 451) and have remained institutionally separate from Eastern Orthodoxy ever since. In the 1960s, representatives from these two different Orthodox sub‐groups (Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy) began a dialogue seeking reunification, but that desired reunion has not yet taken place.

      One of the historical experiences that makes Orthodox Christianity different from the other three Christian mega‐traditions is that Orthodox Christians have been marginalized and oppressed more than most Christians. Since the seventh century (the 600s) many Orthodox Christians have lived in regions of the world ruled by Islamic governments where their religious rights have been limited. In the twentieth century, Orthodox Christians suffered greatly when Communists assumed control of Russia in 1917 and subsequently all of Eastern Europe following World War II. This history of social marginalization, mixed occasionally with outright persecution, has tended to make Orthodox Christians more communally minded than other Christians. To be Orthodox has often been a marker of peoplehood in addition to being an affirmation of faith.

Spirituality

The spirituality of Orthodoxy focuses on worship, and to enter an Orthodox church is to enter a different place and time. The Orthodox liturgy (the Orthodox worship service) is seen as a way of participating briefly in the eternal worship of God that is always taking place in heaven, and Orthodox churches are designed to communicate this message. Many Orthodox churches have domed ceilings, and at the top of the dome there is an opening called the oculus. This is a symbolic eye into heaven. A huge picture of Christ as Pantokrator (the ruler of all) is painted in the oculus, surrounded by angels and apostles, looking down on the gathered congregation (see Figure 1.2). In traditional Orthodox worship, everyone stands for the entire service as a way of showing respect to God, but many Orthodox churches (especially in the United States) have now installed pews so people can sit down during worship.

Figure 1.1 Number of Orthodox Christians living in each region of the world with percentage of all Orthodox Christians worldwide.

      © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Figure 1.2 Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral (Sibiu, Romania), interior of main dome.

      Photo by author.

Orthodox Christians view the church building as a sacred space, a temple where God’s presence is near. Other Christians sometimes refer to their churches as “houses of God,” but Orthodox Christians have a stronger sense of what that means compared to most other Christians. Within an Orthodox church, a person is surrounded by icons (holy images) that are meant to communicate that no Christian is ever alone and that all Orthodox Christians are part of one huge, transtemporal community. In most Orthodox churches there are icons on the ceiling, icons on the walls, icons on the screen or partition at the front of the church which is called an iconostasis, and icons on stands scattered throughout the building (see Figure 1.3). Some icons portray Christ, Mary, the angels, and the great saints of the past. Other icons depict the stories of the Bible or important events in the history of Christianity. This panorama of images is intended to make worshippers feel surrounded by a great community of faith, a community that includes both the living and the dead. The boundary between the living and the dead is thin within Orthodoxy, and Orthodox Christians believe that the saints – holy men and women who have died – can still hear their cries for help and assist them in times of need.

Just as the line between life and death is thinned, the line between the sacred and the secular is also visually blurred in Orthodox iconography. The sacred and the secular interpenetrate, overlapping in time and space. Angels appear everywhere in the icons because the Orthodox think they literally are everywhere in reality. They believe that at baptism Christians receive a guardian angel for protection from evil and for guidance in the way of holiness and truth, but fallen angels (demons) are also ubiquitously present, seeking to turn people away from God and the path of faith. Because this spiritual world is hidden from view, humans tend to forget it. The liturgy and the icons remind people that they live within an invisible spiritual world of angels and demons just as literally as they live in the visible realm of the material world. The brilliant colors used in the painting of icons – and most of them were originally brilliant even though many old icons have grown dark with age – are luminous reminders that the spiritual world is as real as, or more real than, the earth itself.

Figure 1.3 Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral (Sibiu, Romania), nave and iconostasis.

      Photo by author.

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