WHAT IS THE EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCH?
IF THERE IS NO POPE, WHO IS IN CHARGE?
We have followed the story from the New Testament church to the development of bishops, regional church leadership, patriarchs, Rome, Constantinople, and the growing separation between East and West.
Now we need to understand the church that continued in the East.
What exactly is the Eastern Orthodox Church?
Is there one Orthodox Church, or are there many?
Is the Greek Orthodox Church different from the Russian Orthodox Church?
Is there an Orthodox pope?
Who has authority?
And who decides what Orthodox Christians believe?
BEFORE WE COMPARE EASTERN ORTHODOXY WITH THE NEW TESTAMENT, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT EASTERN ORTHODOXY ACTUALLY IS.
1. THERE IS NO EASTERN ORTHODOX POPE
Eastern Orthodoxy has bishops, archbishops, metropolitans, and patriarchs.
It also has the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
But it does not have a pope who exercises the kind of universal governing authority claimed by the bishop of Rome.
The Ecumenical Patriarch holds a special position among Orthodox bishops and patriarchs.
He is commonly described as:
FIRST AMONG EQUALS.
That means he holds first place in the order of honor and has certain responsibilities involving relationships among Orthodox churches.
But he does not simply govern every Orthodox church in the world.
He does not appoint every Orthodox bishop.
And he does not exercise the same universal jurisdiction that Roman Catholic teaching assigns to the pope.
FIRST AMONG EQUALS IS NOT THE SAME CLAIM AS UNIVERSAL GOVERNING AUTHORITY.
That is an important distinction.
2. THEN WHO GOVERNS EASTERN ORTHODOXY?
Eastern Orthodoxy does not have one worldwide headquarters that directly governs every Orthodox church.
Instead, it consists of a communion of churches with their own bishops and governing bodies.
Many of these churches are called:
AUTOCEPHALOUS CHURCHES.
That is a long word.
But the basic idea is simple.
Auto means self.
Kephalē means head.
An autocephalous church is self-governing.
It ordinarily chooses its own chief bishop and governs its internal affairs through its own bishops and synod.
It does not need another Orthodox church to appoint all its bishops or manage its ordinary affairs.
But self-governing does not mean that it considers itself free to teach an entirely different faith.
That brings us to the next question.
3. WHAT ARE THE GREEK, RUSSIAN, AND SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES?
A Greek Orthodox Christian and a Russian Orthodox Christian do not ordinarily understand themselves as belonging to competing denominations with different confessions of faith.
They understand themselves as members of the same Orthodox Church.
There are self-governing Orthodox churches historically associated with places such as:
CONSTANTINOPLE
ALEXANDRIA
ANTIOCH
JERUSALEM
RUSSIA
SERBIA
ROMANIA
BULGARIA
GEORGIA
CYPRUS
GREECE
And others.
These churches have their own bishops and governing synods.
They also share a common Orthodox faith, worship, and sacramental life.
The arrangement is not:
ONE WORLDWIDE BISHOP GOVERNING EVERYBODY.
It is a communion of churches that govern their own affairs while recognizing one another as belonging to the same Orthodox Church.
There is an important qualification.
Not every Orthodox church’s claim to self-governing status is recognized by every other Orthodox church. Disputes over jurisdiction and recognition do occur.
Nor should we assume that every church with the word Orthodox in its name belongs to the Eastern Orthodox communion. The Oriental Orthodox churches, for example, have a distinct history.
For this study, we are concentrating on Eastern Orthodoxy.
4. WHAT HOLDS THESE CHURCHES TOGETHER?
If there is no pope over all of them, what makes them one church?
Orthodox Christians would answer that their unity rests on much more than an administrative organization.
They share:
THE SAME FAITH.
THE SAME SACRAMENTAL LIFE.
THE ANCIENT CREEDS.
THE EARLY ECUMENICAL COUNCILS THEY RECEIVE.
EPISCOPAL MINISTRY.
A COMMON LITURGICAL INHERITANCE.
And:
COMMUNION WITH ONE ANOTHER.
That last expression is important.
Communion refers to their recognized fellowship in the church’s faith and sacramental life.
It includes their recognition of one another’s bishops and the ordinary sharing of the Eucharist among members of churches in communion.
In practice, relationships among particular Orthodox churches can become strained or interrupted.
But the Orthodox understanding of unity is not simply submission to one worldwide bishop.
IT IS UNITY IN FAITH, WORSHIP, SACRAMENTAL LIFE, AND ECCLESIASTICAL COMMUNION.
5. BISHOPS ARE CENTRAL TO THE SYSTEM
The bishop occupies an important place in Eastern Orthodoxy.
A bishop oversees a diocese.
Priests serve local congregations under their bishop.
Deacons also serve within the church’s ministry.
Bishops meet together in synods.
A patriarch, metropolitan, or archbishop may preside among the bishops of a particular church.
The exact use of those titles varies among Orthodox churches.
So there is definite church organization and hierarchy.
Eastern Orthodoxy is not a collection of independent congregations.
Its bishops have responsibilities within their dioceses and share wider responsibilities through synods.
That gives us an important question for our later comparison:
HOW DOES THIS ORGANIZATION RELATE TO THE ELDERS, OVERSEERS, AND DEACONS DESCRIBED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT?
But first, we need to understand how Orthodox bishops make decisions together.
6. WHAT IS A SYNOD?
A synod is a gathering or council of bishops.
Orthodox church government places considerable emphasis on bishops acting together.
This is often called:
CONCILIARITY
or:
SYNODALITY.
A synod may address questions of church administration, discipline, appointments, and doctrine within its responsibilities.
Orthodox Christians see the conciliar practice of the ancient church as an important part of their inheritance.
They also point to Acts 15.
There, the apostles and elders gathered in Jerusalem to address a controversy involving Gentile believers.
Peter spoke.
Paul and Barnabas reported what God had done.
James spoke and appealed to Scripture.
A decision was then communicated to the churches.
Orthodox Christians understand this account as consistent with the importance of church leaders deliberating together.
But we should distinguish the two claims.
ACTS 15 DESCRIBES A MEETING OF APOSTLES AND ELDERS.
A LATER ORTHODOX SYNOD IS A MEETING OF BISHOPS.
Whether the later system faithfully continues the pattern established in Acts 15 requires further examination.
For now, we are identifying the Orthodox understanding of its own organization.
7. WHAT DOES THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH DO?
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople.
Constantinople is now called Istanbul, in Turkey.
He holds first place in the order of honor among Eastern Orthodox primates—the chief bishops of the self-governing churches.
He also has recognized responsibilities involving coordination and relationships among Orthodox churches.
But the exact scope of those responsibilities is disputed within Orthodoxy itself.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate understands its coordinating role and certain wider responsibilities in one way.
Other Orthodox churches, including the Russian Orthodox Church, have disagreed with some of its claims.
We should not pretend that every Orthodox church agrees about every aspect of Constantinople’s authority.
But one distinction is widely recognized:
THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH DOES NOT FUNCTION AS AN EASTERN POPE WITH UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION EQUIVALENT TO THAT CLAIMED BY ROME.
He does not ordinarily govern the internal affairs of every self-governing Orthodox church.
His role must be understood within the Orthodox system of bishops, synods, and communion among churches.
8. WHAT IS A PATRIARCH?
A patriarch is a senior bishop who presides within a major church or patriarchate.
There are patriarchs associated with ancient centers such as:
CONSTANTINOPLE
ALEXANDRIA
ANTIOCH
JERUSALEM.
Other Orthodox patriarchates developed later.
But a patriarch is still a bishop.
He ordinarily works with a synod of bishops.
His responsibilities are defined within the church over which he presides.
The Orthodox ideal is not simply one man making every decision for the whole church.
It is an episcopal and conciliar arrangement.
BISHOPS HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES. SYNODS HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES. PATRIARCHS HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES.
The precise relationships among them depend on the particular church and the questions involved.
9. DOES THAT MEAN EVERY ORTHODOX CHURCH IS COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT?
Not quite.
An autocephalous church governs its own internal affairs.
But it does not understand itself as free to invent a new Christianity.
It is expected to remain faithful to the common Orthodox faith.
It maintains relationships with other Orthodox churches.
Its bishops recognize other Orthodox bishops.
Its members ordinarily share sacramental communion with members of other Orthodox churches.
So remember this distinction:
SELF-GOVERNING DOES NOT MEAN THEOLOGICALLY INDEPENDENT.
A self-governing Orthodox church does not ordinarily claim that it can change the church’s faith merely because its own bishops have voted to do so.
Its self-government exists within its understanding of the wider Orthodox communion.
10. SCRIPTURE IS IMPORTANT — BUT SO IS HOLY TRADITION
Here we reach an issue that will become important when we compare Eastern Orthodoxy with the New Testament.
Eastern Orthodoxy does not ordinarily describe its authority as:
THE BIBLE ALONE.
It speaks of:
HOLY TRADITION.
We should understand what Orthodox Christians mean by that expression.
They do not regard Scripture as unimportant.
Quite the opposite.
Scripture occupies a central place in Orthodox worship and theology.
But Orthodoxy understands Scripture as belonging within the life and Tradition of the church.
That Tradition includes:
SCRIPTURE.
THE ANCIENT CREEDS.
THE ECUMENICAL COUNCILS.
THE WRITINGS OF THE CHURCH FATHERS.
THE LITURGY.
THE CHURCH’S CANONICAL TRADITION.
And the continuing worship and life of the church.
Orthodox Christians do not understand these simply as unrelated additions piled on top of the Bible.
They understand Holy Tradition as the apostolic faith preserved and expressed within the church.
That is their claim.
And it gives us a question to examine carefully:
HOW CAN WE DISTINGUISH APOSTOLIC TEACHING FROM A LATER CHURCH PRACTICE?
11. HOW CAN WE KNOW WHETHER A TRADITION IS APOSTOLIC?
Paul told Timothy:
“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
— 2 Timothy 2:2, KJV
Clearly, apostolic teaching was to be passed on.
The question is not:
SHOULD CHRISTIANS PRESERVE APOSTOLIC TEACHING?
Of course they should.
The question is:
HOW CAN WE KNOW THAT A LATER TRADITION IS ACTUALLY APOSTOLIC?
Age alone cannot prove it.
Something can be old without coming from an apostle.
But the absence of a practice from a brief New Testament description does not, by itself, prove that Christians adopted it without any apostolic basis.
We must examine the claim and the evidence.
Orthodox Christians understand apostolic Tradition as something preserved in the life of the church, not only in written statements.
Other Christians give the apostolic writings a different role when testing later claims.
So our study must ask:
WHAT DID THE APOSTLES TEACH?
WHAT DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT RECORD?
WHAT DO LATER CHRISTIANS CLAIM TO HAVE RECEIVED FROM THE APOSTLES?
AND WHAT EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THAT CLAIM?
These are questions we will return to in our next study.
12. WHAT ABOUT WORSHIP?
Someone entering an Orthodox church for the first time may notice things unfamiliar to many Protestants.
There may be:
ICONS.
INCENSE.
CANDLES.
VESTMENTS.
CHANTS.
PROCESSIONS.
And a carefully ordered liturgy.
The Lord’s Supper, called the Eucharist, is central to Orthodox worship.
The principal Eucharistic service is called the Divine Liturgy.
Orthodox worship is deliberately connected with the worship of earlier generations.
Its purpose is not to invent an entirely new form for every generation.
Orthodox Christians regard continuity with ancient Christian worship as important.
For now, our task is to understand what they practice and why.
Later, we can ask which parts of their worship are described or taught in the New Testament and what authority they claim for other practices.
13. WHAT ABOUT ICONS?
Icons are especially important in Eastern Orthodoxy.
An icon is a sacred image, commonly depicting Christ, Mary, angels, apostles, or other saints.
Orthodox Christians distinguish between:
WORSHIP, WHICH BELONGS TO GOD ALONE,
and:
VENERATION, OR HONOR SHOWN TOWARD SAINTS AND THEIR IMAGES.
They do not understand themselves to be worshiping wood and paint.
They also explain the use of icons in connection with the incarnation of Christ: the Son of God truly became human and was seen.
That is part of their theological reasoning.
We should state their position fairly before examining it.
Then we can ask:
WHAT DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT TEACH ABOUT SACRED IMAGES?
DOES IT DESCRIBE CHRISTIANS VENERATING THEM?
WHAT SCRIPTURAL REASONING DO ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS USE TO SUPPORT THE PRACTICE?
Those are questions for a separate, careful study.
14. WHAT ABOUT MARY AND THE SAINTS?
Eastern Orthodox Christians honor Mary very highly.
They commonly call her:
THEOTOKOS.
The Greek word means:
GOD-BEARER
or:
THE ONE WHO GAVE BIRTH TO GOD.
The title was intended to protect a teaching about Jesus Christ.
Mary did not give birth to a merely human person who later became united with God.
The child she bore was Jesus Christ, who is truly divine and truly human.
The title is therefore a statement about who Jesus is, not a claim that Mary existed before God or was the source of His divinity.
Orthodox Christians also honor the saints and ask for their prayers.
They understand the saints who have died in Christ as living in Him.
They distinguish asking saints to pray from worshiping them as gods.
Again, we should understand the claim before examining it.
Then we can ask:
WHAT DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT TEACH ABOUT CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE DIED?
DOES IT TEACH LIVING CHRISTIANS TO ADDRESS THEM OR ASK FOR THEIR PRAYERS?
WHAT SCRIPTURAL ARGUMENTS ARE OFFERED FOR THAT PRACTICE?
Those questions deserve more than a quick answer.
15. WHAT ABOUT BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER?
Both are central to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Baptism is not treated merely as a public symbol.
It is understood sacramentally as entrance into the life of Christ and His church.
Orthodox churches ordinarily baptize infants as well as older converts.
Chrismation, an anointing associated with the gift of the Holy Spirit, normally follows baptism.
The Eucharist is likewise understood as more than a memorial meal.
Orthodox Christians believe they truly participate in the body and blood of Christ.
We will need to examine the biblical passages used to explain these practices.
But notice something important.
Eastern Orthodoxy has preserved baptism and the Lord’s Supper at the center of church life.
Our question will not simply be:
DO THEY PRACTICE THEM?
It will be:
WHAT DO THE APOSTOLIC WRITINGS TEACH ABOUT THEIR MEANING AND PRACTICE?
16. ORTHODOXY MAKES A LARGE HISTORICAL CLAIM
Eastern Orthodoxy does not ordinarily describe itself as a denomination that began in A.D. 1054.
That would misunderstand its own claim.
Orthodox Christians believe their church is the historical continuation of the church founded by Christ and His apostles.
From their perspective, they did not leave the ancient church.
They preserved its faith and life.
Rome also claims historical continuity with the apostolic church.
Later Protestant movements made claims about reforming or recovering apostolic Christianity.
Restoration movements have made claims about returning to New Testament teaching and practice.
So we should apply the same method to everyone.
A CLAIM OF CONTINUITY MUST BE EXAMINED.
We should not accept it merely because a church makes the claim.
And we should not reject it merely because its practices are unfamiliar to us.
We need to ask what kind of continuity is being claimed.
Is it continuity of teaching?
Continuity of leadership?
Continuity of worship?
Continuity of institutional organization?
Or some combination of these?
Then we must examine the evidence for each claim.
17. HISTORY HAS SOMETHING TO TEACH US
Eastern Orthodoxy reminds us that Christianity did not begin with the Protestant Reformation.
It did not begin in America.
It did not begin with our congregation.
Christians were reading Scripture, worshiping, baptizing, celebrating the Lord’s Supper, debating doctrine, and sometimes dying for Christ many centuries before our modern church movements existed.
We need to study that history.
It can show us how earlier Christians understood the Scriptures.
It can help us identify when particular teachings and practices were documented.
It can show us how church organization developed.
But historical evidence and biblical teaching answer different kinds of questions.
A historical document may show that Christians practiced something in a particular century.
We must still ask what authority they claimed for it and how they connected it to apostolic teaching.
HISTORY HELPS US UNDERSTAND WHAT CHRISTIANS DID AND BELIEVED.
THE APOSTOLIC WRITINGS ALLOW US TO EXAMINE WHAT THE APOSTLES TAUGHT.
Both belong in a careful study of church history.
18. SO WHAT IS EASTERN ORTHODOXY?
In simple terms:
Eastern Orthodoxy is a worldwide communion of self-governing churches united by a common faith, sacramental life, episcopal structure, ancient councils, and Holy Tradition.
It has bishops.
It has patriarchs.
It has priests and deacons.
It has no worldwide pope with governing authority equivalent to that claimed by Rome.
The Ecumenical Patriarch holds first place among Orthodox primates, although the scope of his responsibilities is a matter of disagreement within Orthodoxy.
Orthodox Christians believe they have preserved the apostolic faith through the continuing life of the historic church.
That is how Eastern Orthodoxy understands itself.
Now we can ask our next set of questions.
HOW DOES ITS CHURCH ORGANIZATION RELATE TO THE NEW TESTAMENT?
And beyond organization:
WHAT ABOUT HOLY TRADITION?
WHAT ABOUT BISHOPS AND PRIESTS?
WHAT ABOUT ICONS?
WHAT ABOUT PRAYERS TO SAINTS?
WHAT ABOUT MARY?
WHAT ABOUT BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER?
We should not answer these questions merely by repeating a Protestant tradition.
Nor should we answer them merely by repeating an Orthodox tradition.
We should read the relevant passages, understand their context, and examine the arguments made from them.
READ FIRST. CONCLUDE LATER.
That is where we go next.
EASTERN ORTHODOXY BESIDE THE NEW TESTAMENT
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
RETURN TO MAIN SERIES: ONE CHURCH, SO MANY DIVISIONS—WHAT HAPPENED?
NEXT STUDY: EASTERN ORTHODOXY BESIDE THE NEW TESTAMENT