The core beliefs of Eastern Orthodox Christianity are fairly common to most Christian communities, and can be summed up in the Nicene Creed: "We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty; Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; "We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created; of one essence with the Father, through whom all things were made; "Who for us human beings and for our salvation came down from heaven; and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became human; "Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and was buried; on the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; he will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, and his Kingdom shall have no end. "And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of Life, who proceeds from the Father; who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified; who spoke through the prophets; "And in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we expect the resurrection of the dead; and the life of the age to come."
In many ways these beliefs will be familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of Christianity. This is because the communities that would become the Orthodox churches took on much of the work of defining the creeds that would come to be used by the entire Church in the east and the west. Orthodox Christians differ from Catholics or Protestants not so much in our beliefs about who God is, but in our beliefs about who we are as human beings made in the image of God. What follows are a few reflections on Orthodox faith and practice that will hopefully give the inquirer a sense of what is distinctive about our tradition. For more information, we encourage you to send us a message with any questions you may have, or make use of our "Resources" Page.
Anthropology - Who We Are
(Icon - The Creation of Eve) Orthodox Christianity teaches that human beings were created in the image of God, and that this image is most fully represented by Jesus Christ, the God-human. As such, we reject the Western notion of original sin as a physical taint passed down through conception. When Adam and Eve chose power in isolation over relationship, we inherited the cosmic consequences of Adam's sin, in that we live in a world which "waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God," a world where it is easier to do evil than to do good.
St. Athanasius once wrote, "God became human so that humanity might become divine." To restore the divine image in humanity "that had fallen aforetime," God became incarnate as Christ. He sanctified and re-inscribed grace into every moment of human experience by living through it. Because of this, we believe the created world, though imperfect, is capable of bearing in a rich way the goodness of God. This is the theology behind the Orthodox use of the icon, a material image which provides a window into the spiritual reality of the person it represents. The Virgin Mary, whom we honor as "Theotokos" (God-begetter) and Mother of God, is a prime example of someone who bore God in her flesh by her assent to the divine Word. In each moment of our lives, we are given the choice to co-operate with the love of God and pursue theosis (see below under "Spirituality") or to isolate and distance ourselves from the life and love God desires for us.
Soteriology - Who Christ Is For Us
(Icon - The Resurrection of Christ)
When Christ became incarnate, flesh and the material world were sanctified by his unity with them. As he lived a life of perfect unity with the will of the Father, he transfigured human existence. In dying, Christ brought the life of his divinity into the emptiness of death. Each Sunday and once a year on Pascha (Easter) we celebrate Christ's descent into the realm of the dead to "shatter the eternal bars" of Hades. He broke the power of death and evil and made a way to new life for all who would choose to seek him, whether on Earth or in the realm of the dead. Our great joy in the resurrection of Jesus is expressed in the Troparion of Pascha: "Christ is risen from the dead, By death trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs he has granted life!"
Our faith in the resurrection compels us to reject theologies that make Christ into the victim of the wrath of an angry God the Father. Rather, in perfect harmony with the Father and in the power of the Spirit, Christ came to heal and transform our brokenness by existing in human flesh as God the Son, and to liberate us from evil, sin and ultimately from death itself.
Spirituality - Our Journey Towards God
(Icon - The Transfiguration of Christ)
Our life of faith consists of a continual rhythm of prayer, worship, reception of the Holy Mysteries (sacraments) and synergy with the God who is beyond us, within us, and around us through Christ. Our rich traditions of contemplative prayer seek to cultivate an awareness of the presence of Christ in the human heart, shining like the light on Mt Tabor (above). As the light of God illuminates our places of sin and emptiness, we seek metanoia, a change of heart towards new habits of truth and love. This metanoia allows the light of God to make us more radiant and Christlike, and the cycle continues. The end goal of the Orthodox Christian is to "participate in the divine nature" (2 Pet. 2:14), to be deified by the grace of God in the dynamic process of theosis.
This last point may shock some Western Christians, but it has been taught by the Church for centuries. Because of Christ, we have the capacity to become by grace what God is by nature, and to participate in the life of the Trinity while retaining our unique personhood and createdness. For us, this deification and deep personal communion with God is Heaven, the life of the Kingdom of God. Those who have gone before us in faith and attained this unity with God are the ones we call "saints." Just as we ask our fellow Christians on Earth to pray for us, so we ask our siblings in Christ who stand before the presence of God, anticipating the day when the Kingdom of God will be made fully manifest "on earth as it is in heaven."