What is Orthodox Christianity?

 

The Orthodox Christian Church, also called the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, or simply, the Orthodox Church, is the oldest Christian Church in the world, founded by Jesus Christ and with its beginnings chronicled in the New Testament. All other Christian churches and groups can be traced historically back to it.

With roughly 250 million members worldwide, Orthodoxy is second in size only to the Roman Catholic Church.  However, in spite of its size, relatively few Americans are aware that it exists.

The Orthodox Church has deep and lasting roots in Christian antiquity and is steeped in rich Biblical tradition. It has been the context of Christian living for millions of Christians for almost twenty centuries.

Yet one cannot understand the Orthodox Church merely by reading about it. Just as reading a biography about someone is no substitute for knowing the biography’s subject personally, Orthodox Christianity must be experienced firsthand to be understood. If you are in the Columbia area or the Midlands of South Carolina, we welcome and invite you to come worship with us, to “come, taste and see” (Psalm 34:8).

Even though Orthodox Christianity must be experienced directly to realize the fullness of its life, there are questions which are commonly asked when first visiting an Orthodox Church that can have some light shed upon them with a few brief words.

As such, we have prepared a series of articles beginning with an Introduction to Orthodox Christianity to answer some basic questions about the Orthodox Christian faith. 

Series provided by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and St. Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church