History of the Eastern Orthodox Church
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The history of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the formation, events, and transformation of the Eastern Orthodox Church through time. According to the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church is traced back to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. The Apostles appointed successors, known as bishops, and they in turn appointed other bishops in a process known as Apostolic succession. Over time, five Patriarchates were established to organize the Christian world, and four of these ancient patriarchates remain Orthodox today. Orthodox Christianity reached its present form in late antiquity (in the period from the 3rd to the 8th century), when the ecumenical councils were held, doctrinal disputes were resolved, the Fathers of the Church lived and wrote, and Orthodox worship practices settled into their permanent form (including the liturgies and the major holidays of the Church).
In the
The Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions with the largest number of adherents in modern times are the
Early Christianity
Apostolic era
The original church or community of the East before the Great Schism comprised:
- the Greek churches founded by Saint Paul
- the Asia Minor churches founded by Saint Peter
- the Coptic (or Egyptian) churches founded by Saint Mark (including, at the time, the Ethiopians of Abyssinia)
- the Syriac churches in Upper Mesopotamia
- the Saint Andrew and Saint Nino
- the Armenian church, traditionally founded by Saint Jude and Saint Bartholomew
- the
The church of Rome by tradition was founded by both Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
Systematic
Patristic Age
Much of the official organizing of the ecclesiastical structure, clarifying true from false teachings was done by the bishops of the church. Their works are referred to as Patristics. This tradition of clarification can be seen as established in the saints of the Orthodox Church referred to as the Apostolic Fathers, bishops themselves established by apostolic succession. This also continued into the age when the practice of the religion of Christianity became legal (see the Ecumenical Councils).
The
The early Christians had no way to have a copy of the works that later became the canon and other church works accepted but not canonized. Much of the original church liturgical services functioned as a means of learning these works. Orthodox Church services today continue to serve this educational function. The issue of collecting the various works of the eastern churches and compiling them into a canon, each being confirmed as authentic text was a long protracted process. Much of this process was motivated by a need to address various heresies. In many instances, heretical groups had themselves begun compiling and disseminating text that they used to validate their positions, positions that were not consistent with the text, history and traditions of the Orthodox faith.
Divine Liturgy
Liturgical services, especially the Eucharist service, are based on repeating the actions of Jesus ("do this in remembrance of me"), using the bread and wine, and saying his words (known as the words of the institution). The church has the rest of the liturgical ritual being rooted in Jewish Passover, Siddur, Seder, and synagogue services, including the singing of hymns (especially the Psalms) and reading from the Scriptures (Old and New Testament). The final uniformity of liturgical services became solidified after the church established a Biblical canon, being based on the Apostolic Constitutions and Clementine literature.
Bible
In the Orthodox view, the Bible represents those texts approved by the church for the purpose of conveying the most important parts of what it already believed. The oldest list of books for the canon is the Muratorian fragment dating to c. 170 (see also Chester Beatty Papyri). The oldest complete canon of the Christian Bible was found at Saint Catherine's Monastery (see Codex Sinaiticus) and later sold to the British by the Soviets in 1933.[6] Parts of the codex are still considered stolen by the Monastery even today.[6] These texts (as a whole) were not universally considered canonical until the church reviewed, edited, accepted and ratified them in 368 AD (also see the Council of Laodicea). Salvation or Soteriology from the Orthodox perspective is achieved not by knowledge of scripture but by being a member of the church or community and cultivating phronema and theosis through participation in the church or community.[7][8]
Pentarchy
By the 5th century, Christian
Thus, in order of precedence, the five patriarchates (and the Apostles claimed as founders by each patriarchate) were as follows:
- Rome (founded by Sts. Peter and Paul), currently in Italy. This was the only Pentarch in the Western Roman Empire, and is now better known as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
- Andrew), currently Istanbulin Turkey
- Alexandria (St. Mark), currently in Egypt
- Antioch (St. Peter), currently in Syria
- James), currently in Israel
Two patriarchates are noted to have been founded by St Peter, the patriarchate of Rome and the patriarchate of Antioch. The Eastern churches accept Antioch as the church founded by St Peter (see the
Byzantine period
It was in the establishment of the
Legalization included the calling of the
In the 530s the second Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) was built in Constantinople under emperor Justinian I, to become the center of the ecclesiastical community for the rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium. The first church had been destroyed during the Nika riots.
Ecumenical councils
These Pre Ecumenical councils include the
The tradition of councils within the church started with the apostolic
The
- First Council of Nicaea (Nicaea, 325)
- convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine, condemning the view of Arius that the Son is a created being inferior to the Father.
- Second Ecumenical Council(Constantinople, 381)
- defining the nature of the Holy Spirit against those asserting His inequality with the other persons of the Trinity. Under Theodosius I this council marks the end of the Arian conflict in the Eastern Roman Empire.
- Third Ecumenical Council(Ephesus 431)
- affirmed that Mary is truly "Birth giver" or "Mother" of God (Theotokos), contrary to the teachings of Nestorius.
- Fourth Ecumenical Council(Chalcedon, 451)
- affirmed that Jesus is truly God and truly man, without mixture of the two natures, contrary to Monophysite teaching.
- Fifth Ecumenical Council(Constantinople, 553)
- interpreting the decrees of Chalcedon and further explaining the relationship of the two natures of Jesus; it also condemned the teachings of Origen on the pre-existence of the soul, and Apocatastasis.
- Sixth Ecumenical Council(Constantinople, 681)
- declaring that Christ has two wills of his two natures, human and divine, contrary to the teachings of the Monothelites.
- Seventh Ecumenical Council(Nicea, 787)
- called under the Empress Regnant Irene, it affirmed the making and veneration of icons, while also forbidding the worship of icons and the making of three-dimensional statuary. It reversed the declaration of an earlier council that had called itself the Seventh Ecumenical Council and also nullified its status (see separate article on Iconoclasm). That earlier council had been held under the iconoclast Emperor Constantine V. It met with more than 340 bishops at Constantinople and Hieria in 754, declaring the making of icons of Jesus or the saints an error, mainly for Christologicalreasons.
The Orthodox Church also recognizes the Fourth Council of Constantinople in 879 as Ecumenical, and continues to participate in dogmatically binding councils.
Confronting Arianism
The
The first council did not end the conflict. When Emperor
Iconoclasm
The
Tensions with the Papacy
Furthermore, the loss of the
Two basic problems—the primacy of the bishop of Rome and the procession of the Holy Spirit—were involved. These doctrinal differences were first openly discussed during the patriarchate of Photius I.
Rome interpreted her primacy among the Pentarchy of five sees in terms of sovereignty, as a God-given right involving universal jurisdiction in the Church. Some churches of the East believed that the Roman See had a primacy of honour but not supremacy, i.e. the Pope being the first among equals, not an absolute authority with the ability to make infallible statements.[19][20][21][22]
Photian schism
Photius refused to accept the supremacy of the pope in Orthodox matters, or accept the Filioque clause that had been added to the Nicene Creed by the Latin church, and was later the theological breaking point in the ultimate Great Schism in the 11th century. The controversy also involved ecclesiastical jurisdictional rights in the Bulgarian church.
Photios did provide concession on the issue of jurisdictional rights concerning Bulgaria, and the papal legates made do with his return of Bulgaria to Rome. This concession, however, was purely nominal, as Bulgaria's return to the Byzantine rite in 870 had already secured for it an autocephalous church. Without the consent of Boris I of Bulgaria, the papacy was unable to enforce any of its claims.
Mission to Great Moravia
In Great Moravia, the two brothers
Conversion of Eastern and Southern Slavs
In the 9th and 10th centuries, Christianity made great inroads into Eastern Europe: first in Bulgaria and Serbia, then followed by Kievan Rus'. For a period of time, there was a real possibility that all of the newly baptized South Slav nations, Bulgarians, Serbs, and Croats would join the Western church, but in the end, only the Croats joined.
The Serbs were baptised during the reign of Heraclius (610–641) by "elders of Rome" according to
A Serbian bishopric (Diocese of Ras) may have been founded in
The Serbs and Bulgarians adopt the Old Slavonic liturgy instead of the Greek.[23][26]In 863, a mission from the Patriarch of Constantinople converted King Boris I of Bulgaria to Christianity. Boris realized that the Christianization of his subjects by the Byzantine mission would facilitate the undesired spread of Byzantine influence in Bulgaria, as the liturgy was carried out in the Greek language, and the newly established Bulgarian Church was subordinate to the Church of Constantinople. A popular revolt against the new religion prompted the King to request that the Bulgarian Church be granted independence, which was refused by Constantinople. Boris turned to the Pope, and the arrival of the Roman clerical mission concluded the activity of the Byzantine mission, which was ordered by the King to leave Bulgaria.
Constantinople nervously watched the events taking place in their northern neighbour, because a pro-Rome Bulgaria threatened its immediate interests. A religious council was held in the summer of 867 in the Byzantine capital, during which the Roman Church's behaviour was harshly condemned. As a personal culprit, Pope Nicholas I was anathematized. In a letter to Boris, the Byzantine emperor Michael III expressed his disapproval of Bulgaria's religious reorientation and used offensive language against the Roman Church. The old rivalry between the two Churches burned with new power.
The Roman mission's efforts were met with success and King Boris asked Pope Nicholas I to appoint Formosa of Portua as Bulgarian Archbishop. The Pope refused, and his successor Pope Adrian II turned out to be even more disinclined to comply, so Boris turned again to Constantinople. This resulted in the creation of an autonomous national (Bulgarian) Archbishopric. In the next 10 years, Pope Adrian II and his successors made desperate attempts to reclaim their influence in Bulgaria, but their efforts ultimately failed.
The foundations of the Bulgarian national Church had been set. The next stage was the implementation of the
Great Schism
In the 11th century the
My dearest brother, we do not deny to the Roman Church the primacy among the five sister patriachates and we recognize her right to the most honorable seat at the Ecumenical Council. But she has separated herself from us by her own deeds when through pride she assumed a monarchy which does not belong to her office ... How shall we accept decrees from her that have been issued without consulting us and even without our knowledge? If the Roman pontiff seated on the lofty throne of his glory wished to thunder at us and, so to speak, hurl his mandates at us from on high and if he wishes to judge us and even to rule us and our churches, not by taking counsel with us but at his own arbitrary pleasure what kind of brotherhood, or even what kind of parenthood can this be? We should be the slaves not the sons, of such a church and the Roman see would not be the pious mother of sons but a hard and imperious mistress of slaves
— Archbishop Nicetas of Nicomedia of the Twelfth Century[28]
Hesychast controversy
Under church tradition the practice of Hesychasm has it beginnings in the bible, Matthew 6:6 and the
Around the year 1337,
On the Hesychast side, the controversy was taken up by
One of Barlaam's friends, Gregory Akindynos, who originally was also a friend of Gregory's, later took up the controversy. Another opponent of Palamism was Manuel Kalekas who sought to reconcile the Eastern and Western Churches. Following the decision of 1351, there was strong repression against anti-Palamist thinkers, who ultimately had no choice but to emigrate and convert to Catholicism. This exodus of highly educated Greek scholars, later reinforced by refugees following the Fall of Constantinople of 1453, had a significant influence on the first generation (that of Petrarca and Boccaccio) of the incipient Italian Renaissance.
Eastern monastic or ascetic tradition
With the elevation of Christianity to the status of a legal religion within the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great, with the edict of Milan (313), many Orthodox felt a new decline in the ethical life of Christians. In reaction to this decline, many refused to accept any compromises and fled the
Crusades
The final breach between Greeks and Latins is often considered to have arisen after the capture and sacking of
The
In 2004,
Establishment of the Roman Catholic Latin Empire
After the
Ottoman period
In 1453AD, the city of
Under Ottoman rule, the
Under the Ottoman Empire, violence against non-Muslims was common. One of the worst such episodes occurred under
Religious rights
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The Orthodox Church was an accepted institution under the Ottomans, in contrast to Catholicism which was associated with enemy Austria, and actually grew in size during Ottoman rule.
Fall of the Ottoman Empire
The fall of the Ottoman was precipitated by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox disputed possession of the Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. During the early 1850s, the two sides made demands which the Sultan could not possibly satisfy simultaneously. In 1853, the Sultan adjudicated in favour of the French, despite the vehement protestations of the local Orthodox monks.
The ruling Ottoman siding with Rome over the Orthodox provoked outright war (see the
Persecution by the "Young Turks"
Systematic massacres took place in 1894–1896 when Sultan Abdul killed 300,000 Armenians throughout the provinces. In 1909 government troops killed, in the towns of Adana alone, over 20,000 Christian Armenians. Also, in the first two decades of the 20th century, there were massacres of Greeks, Slavs, and Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, culminating in the
Republic of Turkey
During the
In September 1955, a pogrom was directed primarily at Istanbul's 100,000-strong Greek minority.[44][45] In 1971, the Halki seminary in Istanbul was closed along with other private higher education institutions in Turkey.[46]
Other Muslim-majority states
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Orthodoxy under the Palestinian National Authority (including Gaza). Orthodoxy in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan (see Melkite and Kurdish Christians).
Jerusalem
The
Russia
The success of the conversion of the Bulgarians facilitated the conversion of the East Slavs. By the beginning of the 11th century most of the Slavic world, including, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia had converted to Orthodox Christianity. Bulgaria's Church was officially recognized as a Patriarchate by Constantinople in 927, Serbia's in 1346, and Russia's in 1589.
Through a series of Wars with the World of Islam the church did indeed establish itself as the protector of Orthodoxy (see the
Under Mongol rule
Russia lay under
The eventual end of the reign of the Golden Horde is said to have begun with the Battle of Kulikovo on 8 September 1380, which involves the famous Orthodox legend of the Russian monk and champion Alexander Peresvet and his death that mark the beginning of the battle. The final face-off that formally ended Mongol rule in Russia was the Great Stand on the Ugra River in 1480.
Synodal period
The
The church was involved in various campaigns of
The Church, like the Tsarist state was seen as an
Soviet Union
The Russian Orthodox Church
) after the October Revolution. This may have further strengthened the Bolshevik animus against the church.Before and after the October Revolution of 7 November 1917 (October 25 Old Calendar) there was a movement within the Soviet Union to unite all of the people of the world under Communist rule (see Communist International). This included the Eastern European bloc countries as well as the Balkan States. Since some of these Slavic states tied their ethnic heritage to their ethnic churches, both the peoples and their church were targeted by the Soviets and its form of state atheism.[57][58] The Soviets' official religious stance was one of "religious freedom or tolerance", though the state established atheism as the only scientific truth.[59][60][61] Criticism of atheism was strictly forbidden and sometimes resulted in imprisonment.[62]
It is estimated that some 20 million Christians (17 million Orthodox and 3 million Roman Catholic) died or were interned in gulags.[63] Some actions against Orthodox priests and believers along with
The result of state sponsored atheism was to transform the Church into a persecuted and martyred Church. In the first five years after the Bolshevik revolution, 28 bishops and 1,200 priests were executed.[66]In the period between 1927 and 1940, the number of Orthodox Churches in the Russian Republic fell from 29,584 to less than 500. Between 1917 and 1940, 130,000 Orthodox priests were arrested. The widespread persecution and internecine disputes within the church hierarchy led to the seat of the
In the Soviet Union, in addition to the methodical closing and destruction of churches, the charitable and social work formerly done by ecclesiastical authorities was taken over by the state. As with all private property, Church owned property was confiscated into public use. This persecution continued, even after the death of Stalin until the
Other Eastern Orthodox Churches under communist rule
China
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Eastern Catholic or "Byzantine Rite" churches
The
The Eastern Catholic churches were located historically in Eastern Europe, the Asian Middle East, Northern Africa and India, but are now, because of migration, found also in Western Europe, the Americas and Oceania.
Origins
The
The movement to reestablish communion with the See of Rome within East-Central Europe was started with the 1598–1599 Union of Brest, by which the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'" entered into relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.
A century later, a similar movement occurred in Romania, as described on the website of Delia Despina Dumitrica.[71]
Conflict between Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox
Since the beginnings of the Uniate movement, there have been periodic conflicts between the Orthodox and Uniate in Poland and Western Russia.
The Eastern Catholic churches consider themselves to have reconciled the East and West Schism by keeping their prayers and rituals similar to those of Eastern Orthodoxy, while also accepting the primacy of the Bishop of Rome.
Some Orthodox charge that joining in this unity comes at the expense of ignoring critical doctrinal differences and past atrocities. From the perspective of many Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholicism is a ploy by Roman Catholicism to undermine and ultimately destroy their church by undermining its legitimacy and absorbing it into the Roman Catholic Church. It is feared that this ploy would diminish the power to the original eastern Patriarchs of the church and would require the acceptance of rejected doctrines and Scholasticism over faith. [73][74]
In the 20th century, there have been conflicts which involved forced conversions both by the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox. In Croatia, the Ustaše forced the conversion of Orthodox to Roman Catholicism. Other forced conversions included the Roman Catholics inside the USSR and Eastern Bloc after the October Revolution.[75]
Modern history
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The various autocephalous and autonomous churches of the Eastern Orthodox Church are distinct in terms of administration and local culture, but for the most part exist in
Autocephalous national churches
- Greek Orthodoxy
- in response to the Ottoman invasion of Antioch. Its traditional territory includes Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Turkey, while there is a large autonomous diaspora diocese in North America. The current Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East which is considered by the other bishops of the Orthodox Church to be the sole legitimate heir to the See of Antioch.
- Church of Greece.
- Church of Cyprus. Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Church of Cyprus has been engaged in a struggle between rejoining the mainland Church of Greece, being reunited with the Turkish state and independence.
- Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria claims succession from the Apostle Mark the Evangelist who founded the Church in the 1st century, and therefore the beginning of Christianity in Africa. It is one of the five ancient patriarchates of the early Church, called the Pentarchy. Sometimes called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. In Egypt, members of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate were also called Melkite, because the favorable orientation of the Byzantine Emperor towards the Council of Chalcedon. The term Melkite is currently used to describe the Melkite Greek Catholic Churchmembers. Since the schism occurring as a result of the political and Christological controversies at the Council of Chalcedon (451), the Greek Orthodox have liturgically been Greek-speaking. After the Arab conquest of North Africa in the 7th century the Orthodox were a minority even among Christians, and remained small for centuries. Today, the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Egypt comprises some 300,000 Orthodox Christians, the highest number since the Roman Empire.
- Apostolic See of Antioch. The Georgian Orthodox Church become autocephalous (independent) in 466 when the Patriarchate of Antioch elevated the Bishop of Mtskheta to the rank of "Catholicos of Kartli". On March 3, 1990, the Patriarch of Constantinople re-approved the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church (which had in practice been exercised or at least claimed since the 5th century) as well as the Patriarchal honour of the Catholicos. Today the Georgian Orthodox Church has around 5 million members around the world (of whom about 3,670,000 live within Georgia) and administers, as of 2007[update], 35 eparchies(dioceses).
- The Bulgarian Orthodox Church lost its autocephalous status after the fall of Bulgaria to the Ottoman Empire. Bulgarian autocephaly was restored in 1953.
- Serbian Orthodox Church gained autocephaly in 1219, patriarchate status in 1345, while it was abolished in long periods during the Ottoman period. The Patriarchate was reunited in 1919–22.
- Romanian Orthodox Church. Today the largest self-governing Church after Russia, it was declared autocephalous in 1885 and became a patriarchate in 1925.
Relationship with Oriental Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Church is often referred to as Eastern Orthodox Church in order to distinguish it from Oriental Orthodoxy (despite the fact that eastern and oriental are synonyms).
The (Eastern) Orthodox Church strives to keep the faith of the seven
Minority communities
European minorities
The Orthodox Churches in
Churches in Asia
Judging from the New Testament account of the rise and expansion of the early church, during the first few centuries of Christianity, the most extensive dissemination of the gospel was not in the West but in the East. In fact, conditions in the Parthian empire (250 BC – AD 226), which stretched from the Euphrates to the Indus rivers and the Caspian to the Arabian seas, were in some ways more favourable for the growth of the church than in the Roman world. And though opposition to Christianity increasingly mounted under successive Persian and Islamic rulers, Christian communities were eventually established in the vast territory which stretches from the Near to the Far East possibly as early as the first century of the church.
- Chinese Orthodox Church
- Japanese Orthodox Church
- Korean Orthodox Church
- Philippine Orthodox Church
See also
- Christian Church
- Church Fathers
- Eastern Orthodox Christian theology
- History of Arab Christians
- History of Christianity
- History of Eastern Christianity
- Pentarchy
- Seven Ecumenical Councils
- Eastern Orthodoxy in Greece
- Western Rite Orthodoxy
- Eastern Orthodoxy in North America
- Timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in North America
Other Eastern apostolic churches:
- Oriental Orthodoxy
- History of Oriental Orthodoxy
- Church of the East
- Eastern Rite Roman Catholicism
Historical writers:
- Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev)
- James H. Billington
- Jaroslav Pelikan
- Sergey Solovyov
- Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware)
References
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- ^ Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans VIII
- ^ "The Letter Of Aristeas", R.H. Charles-Editor, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1913
- ^ a b BBC NEWS Technology |Oldest known Bible to go online
- ^ Saint Cyprian wrote, "A man cannot have God as his Father if he does not have the Church as his Mother." Stated the other way around, Georges Florovsky said: "Outside the Church there is no salvation, because salvation is the Church."
- ^ NPNF2-01. Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine Christian Classics Ethereal Library
- ^ Raya, The Byzantine Church and Culture Archived 2008-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Papadakis, Aristeides. History of the Orthodox Church
- Apostolic Canon, expressly blames the Latins because they had ceased to observe this command. What the Latin Church, however, thought on this subject about the year 400, is shown by St. Augustinein his work Contra Faustum, where he states that the Apostles had given this command in order to unite the heathens and Jews in the one ark of Noah; but that then, when the barrier between Jewish and heathen converts had fallen, this command concerning things strangled and blood had lost its meaning, and was only observed by few. But still, as late as the eighth century, Pope Gregory the Third 731 forbade the eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days. No one will pretend that the disciplinary enactments of any council, even though it be one of the undisputed Ecumenical Synods, can be of greater and more unchanging force than the decree of that first council, held by the Holy Apostles at Jerusalem, and the fact that its decree has been obsolete for centuries in the West is proof that even ecumenical canons may be of only temporary utility and may be repealed by disuser, like other laws."
- ^ Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: A Concise Exposition Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky pages 92–95.
- ^ A General History of the Catholic Church: From the Commencement of the Christian Era Until the Present Time. P. O'Shea. 1869. pp. 500–.
- ^ Atrocity statistics from the Roman Era
- ^ Epitome, Iconoclast Council at Hieria, 754
- ^ "Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann: Byzantium, Iconoclasm and the Monks".
- ^ Exodus 20:4
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- ^ a b De Administrando Imperio
- ^ Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren
- ISBN 9780521074599. Retrieved 3 September 2013 – via Google Books.
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- ^ "The Great Schism: The Estrangement of Eastern and Western Christendom". Orthodoxinfo.com. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
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- ^ Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes by John Meyendorff pg 172 [1]
- ^ "The Sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 0-14-026653-4.
- ^ "Fourth Crusade, 1202–1204" Even after Greek control of Byzantium was re-established, the empire never recovered the strength it had had even in 1200, and the sole effect of the fourth crusade was to weaken Europe's chief protection against the Turks.
- ^ Unia
- ^ In Memory Of The 50 Million Victims Of The Orthodox Christian Holocaust
- ^ History of the Copts of Egypt
- ^ History of THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
- ^ History of BULGARIA
- ^ Paroulakis, Peter H. The Greek War of Independence Hellenic International Press 1984
- ^ Altruistic Suicide or Altruistic Martyrdom? Christian Greek orthodox Neomartyrs: A Case Study
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- ^ ISBN 978-1-57607-800-6.
- ^ Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia during World War I, by David Gaunt, 2006
- ^ The Forgotten Genocide: Eastern Christians, the Last Arameans, p.195, by Sébastien de Courtois
- ISBN 0-9747660-3-8
- ^ The pogrom greatly accelerated emigration of ethnic Greeks from the Istanbul region (the former Constantinople), reducing the 200,000-strong Greek minority in 1924 to just over 5,000 in 2005. According to figures presented by Prof. Vyron Kotzamanis to a conference of unions and federations representing the ethnic Greeks of Istanbul."Ethnic Greeks of Istanbul convene", Athens News Agency, 2 July 2006.
- ^ Turkish parliament tries to avoid reopening Orthodox seminary|agency=Associated Press|work=International Herald Tribune|date=20 September 2006 [2]
- ^ Natalia Shlikhta (2004) "'Greek Catholic'-'Orthodox'-'Soviet': a symbiosis or a conflict of identities?" in Religion, State & Society, Volume 32, Number 3 (Routledge)
- Ivan the Terrible's policy in the defeated territories) is 'obvious', no facts are given in their article to support this. http://www.jcrelations.net/en/?id=787
- ^ Shlomo Lambroza, John D. Klier (2003) Pogroms: Anti-Jewish Violence in Modern Russian History, Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b "Jewish-Christian Relations", by the International Council of Christians and Jews
- ^ It is no coincidence that in the entry on 'Orthodoxy' in the seventh volume of the Kratkaya Evreiskaya Entsyklopedia, devoted to the Russian Orthodox Church (pp. 733–743), where numerous examples are given of persecution of the Jews in Russia, including religious persecution, no evidence is given of the direct participation of the church, either in legislative terms or in the conduct of policy. Although the authors of the article state that the active role of the Church in inciting the government to conduct anti-Jewish acts (for example in the case of Ivan the Terrible's policy in the defeated territories) is 'obvious', no facts are given in their article to support this. http://www.jcrelations.net/en/?id=787
- ^ Undoubtedly the Russian church can be criticised for its total submission to the State in the Synodical period (after the abolition of the Patriarchage in the early eighteenth century), for its inability to express an independent opinion and for its failure to demonstrate love for one's neighbour and defence of the persecuted in accordance with the basic teachings of the Gospel: unlike the Western church, the Russian Orthodox Church took no steps to protect the Jews. But once again we must emphasise that unlike the Western churches, 'antisemitic policies were not conducted in the name of the Russian Orthodox Church'. http://www.jcrelations.net/en/?id=787
- ^ Solzhenitsyn breaks last taboo of the revolution Russia |Guardian Unlimited
- ^ a b Russian Jews charge Solzhenitsyn with altering history
- ^ Solzhenitsyn New Book, Soviet Repression, Jews – Johnson's Russia List 1-25-03
- ^ Lydia Chukovskaya – Interview with Solzhentisyn about "200 Years Together"
- Lenin wrote to E. M. Skliansky, President of the Revolutionary War Soviet: "We are surrounded by the greens (we pack it to them), we will move only about 10–20 versty and we will choke by hand the bourgeoisie, the clergy and the landowners. There will be an award of 100,000 rubles for each one hanged." He was speaking about the future actions in the countries neighboring Russia.
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- ^ Kishkovsky, Sophia (8 June 2007). "Former Killing Ground Becomes Shrine to Stalin's Victims". The New York Times.
- ^ Van Christo. Albania and the Albanians.
- ^ Dumitru Bacu, The Anti-Humans. Student Re-Education in Romanian Prisons Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Soldiers of the Cross, Englewood, Colorado, 1971. Originally written in Romanian as Pitești, Centru de Reeducare Studențească, Madrid, 1963
- ^ Adrian Cioroianu, Pe umerii lui Marx. O introducere în istoria comunismului românesc ("On the Shoulders of Marx. An Incursion into the History of Romanian Communism"), Editura Curtea Veche, Bucharest, 2005
- ^ Dumitrica, Delia Despina. "Uniate vs. Orthodox: What Lays [sic] behind the Conflict?".
- ^ Pg. 97
- ^ We are Orthodox from Czechoslovakia. God permitted for us to be greatly tested. We feel, He is burning and testing us like gold in a crucible. We also feel, we are not like gold to survive this fire without the help of God and support of our brothers throughout the world. We beg you therefore to pray for us to the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos, that Orthodoxy in Czechoslovakia recover her freedom and equal rights with all the other Christian communities and overcome her enemies. The Orthodox Faith was taught to us by the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius in 863. After the repose of Saint Methodius, in 885, the latins expelled the Orthodox priests from Great Moravia and destroyed all their works. Orthodoxy survived only in Carpathia, in the east of our country. The Pope of Rome, unhappy of the fact that the Church (Orthodox) continued to exist, instituted the Unia of Uzgorontzcy in 1649, in which of the 1,200 priests, they allowed only 63.<!-not clear, can this be explained?--> For 300 years the Uniates worked tirelessly to uproot Orthodoxy. Following World War II, people began to return en-masse to the Orthodox Church, which became free again and powerful. But the years of happiness and peace did not last. In 1968 God allowed the first test. The Country recognized the Unia (which called itself "Greek Catholic Church"), which with the forbearance of the State started to torment the Orthodox followers. They confiscated by force our churches and threw the priests with their families to the street. And nobody came to our support. For a while we thought that everything was finished. ... However, our Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos had mercy on us and we did not perish completely. The Uniates "allowed" us to continue our worship in our churches, which however we had to share with them. Since then we continuously drink daily from the bitter cup of hatred and malice. The devil however cannot rest, seeing that Orthodoxy still survived in Czechoslovakia. He then unleashed the Uniates against us. They now demanded that we hand over all our churches to them with all their wealth and heritage. If this happens then we will have to worship on the street. What would then happen? The happenings of 885, 1649 and 1968? From past history we have bitter experience of the hardships that Rome visited upon us through its Unia. Brothers we seek your help. Terminate all discussions with the Roman Catholics as long as the Unia problem remains unresolved. Come to us and give us courage. You and we are one body, the body of Christ. Let the world know about our suffering brought on by the Uniates. They say they are Christians but are not. Christians have love for their fellow man. Let the papists sent their church letters to the idolaters, not to the Orthodox of Czechoslovakia and the Ukraine. Here live Christians and not idolaters. (Signed by Orthodox dignitaries of Czechoslovakia). "Orthodox Kypseli" Publications – Thessalonika, Greece – http://www.impantokratoros.gr/170832DE.en.aspx
- ^ Atrocities of the Uniate or Unia
- ^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus". Archived from the original on 2007-06-22. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
- ^ Interfax-Religion
- ^ "Orthodox Church Relations". Archived from the original on 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
- ^ "Antiochian - Syrian Pastoral Agreement 1991". Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia & New Zealand. 2006-05-18. Archived from the original on 18 May 2006. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
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External links
- Orthodox Research Institute
- List of most patriarchates
- The Orthodox Tradition
- Orthodox Tradition and the Liturgy
- Eastern Orthodox Christianity
- Directory of Orthodox Internet Resources
- Orthodox Library: History, Doctrine, Practices, Saints
- Background information on the Orthodox Church
- Orthodox Life Info Portal: catalog of resources