About Orthodoxy

The Orthodox Church is the True Church. Although many other denominational churches claim the same thing, but they are only denominational churches that have splintered off from the Roman Catholic Church, and usually one man's interpretations of certain verses in the Holy Bible, without regard to context, or completeness of doctrine.

If you are a follower of Calvinism, for instance, you are following a man called John Calvin who wanted to set up a theocracy, and believed that everyone was predestined either to heaven or hell.  This is completely unscriptural, and never believed by the ancient Church.  The predestined Church is what the Scriptures are telling about, not the individual.  Baptists are typically Calvinists.    John Calvin wrote his heresies and made a new "church" in the 1500s.

If you are a follower of Lutheranism, you are following Martin Luther, a man who lived in the 1300's and rebelled against the Roman Catholic Church. His doctrines are usually described as Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria, the Five Solas.  They mean Scripture alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Christ alone, Glory to God Alone.  In themselves they are all contradictory, if each one "alone" then that would exclude all of the others.  I was once a Lutheran, and believe me, the Lutheran faith is all contradictory, while ignoring the most important parts of the Bible.  Martin Luther was insane, as witnessed by many people.  He rebelled against the Roman Catholic Church (which is understandable, given their own sins against humanity), and set about to first try to change the Roman Catholic Church, which was a dismal failure, and then began his own set of doctrines to please himself.  Martin Luther is not a person to follow, and he had the ability to go to the Orthodox Church, and set himself straight, but instead he chose to make up a new religion, and continued in him madness until he expired.

If you are a follower of Seventh Day Adventists, then you follow a sect that broke away from the Millerites, and began in 1863.  As you can see, this could not be possible to be the original, One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church mentioned in the First Council of Constantinople (381).  Believers cannot keep breaking away from one belief after another, and making new ones without more severe errors and heresies.  It just is not possible. 

The Eastern Orthodox Church (as many have come to call it) is actually the original Church given to Jesus to the apostles, and then handed down to us through the 2,000+ years since Jesus Christ walked the earth, and was crucified.  It is the Church which Christ promised us in Scripture that the, "Gates of Hades would not prevail against."  The Original and True Church never died, it thrived, and exists to this day, all of the history intact, and all of the doctrines that were made in Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed.  It is the very same Church which canonized the Bible.  Many denominal churches claim these same creeds and Bible, and yet deny the Church that held these together throughout the ages. 

The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern part of the Orthodox Church were once the same Church, but they split apart in 1054, and there were other differences besides that which were ongoing.  To simplify, they did split on the "doctrine" of papal infallibility, the addition of the Filioque to the Nicene Creed, and a few other reasons.  The Roman Catholic Church has strayed ever farther from the original faith ever since, and then Martin Luther splintered it from there, which is called the Protestant Movement.

 How Large Is the Orthodox Church?

The Orthodox Church includes the Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Antiochian Orthodox, and others.  It is the second largest body of believers in the world.  There are also the Egyptian Coptic Church, which the Orthodox Church separated from because of a disagreement with the definition of the Body of Christ.  There seems to be efforts underway to come to an understanding again, and hope these two Churches can once again be in communion with each other.  Otherwise, they are Orthodox, but with that one exception that I am aware of.

The Orthodox Church reaches worldwide, with autcephalous Churches in many countries.  It has always been important to the Orthodox Church to retain the teachings of the Apostles, and preserve them.  Jesus Christ commanded that we love one another, and to respect each other.  When certain factions of the Church began with disagreements, and refusing to listen to the original teachings, they had to be let go, or "break away" from the Apostolic faith.  Being strict in this sense has preserved the faith and teachings, and the dissenters are always welcome back with a changed heart.   If the Church had not been this way, it would have been a broken church long ago, and would not have been very strong to withstand the multiple persecutions that happened throughout the centuries. 

Updated on: April 2, 2012 4:33 PM