The Orthodox Christian Church is:
evangelical, but not Protestant; orthodox, but not Jewish;
catholic, but not Roman; it isn’t non-denominational, it is pre-denominational.
It has believed, taught, preserved, defended and died for
the Faith of the Apostles since the Day of Pentecost, some 2000 years ago.
(from Our Life in Christ)

We have been asked many times - what is Orthodox Christianity?  There are some very important differences between Orthodoxy and other Christian groups and denominations.  It’s not to do with rites or ritualism, and it’s not to do with irrelevant or obscure theologising: Orthodoxy is fundamentally about the union of the faithful with God through the Church that He created.

Humanity

As humans, we need to be with God – continuously and consciously. We don’t get this through explanations of every part of God, we don’t get this through a list of rules and regulations. However, we do get this union with God through encountering Christ, in all His mystery, and worshipping Him.

Christ calls us to be perfect, as our Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Our lives should be based – first, foremost and fundamentally – on what the Gospel teaches us: that we should take up our cross and follow Christ. This is something that is beyond cultural norms: we are called to be the salt of the earth, displaying a godly life by our own godly actions and, in this manner, inspire others to do the same.

We desire that all people pursue spiritual perfection. Often, our beliefs will get in the way of this perfection – this is the purpose of any beneficial theological discussion. It is not solely knowledge of God that brings us closer towards God, nor is it solely a well-organised Church structure – rather, a continual relationship with God will provide this, through the means that He has given us, His Church.

Relationship with God

This relationship with God starts with God’s love for humanity, which we are then able to respond to. God always loves us, whether we accept Him or reject Him (Matthew 5:45). Through this, we are saved, are able to begin a relationship with God.

After this, we begin a process of relating with God, a process that further saves us by leading us towards sanctification. This is attained by each person working on their selves – prayers that the Church has used for centuries, self-discipline, fasting, charitable works, an inner struggle with sin, leading towards greater and greater humility in the awe of God. All of this is done in order to free ourselves from the passions, and to bring ourselves into the joy that passes all understanding, the joy experienced in the presence of the Lord. Christ did not come to give us paradise on earth, but for us to take up our cross; for each of us to return to God.

Our return to God

The return to God requires that we work on ourselves, and requires a differentiation from worldliness. It’s not easy – and not supposed to be easy – but it is the return to God. This return to God is the pinnacle of salvation, that we aspire to attain at the conclusion of our lives.

Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, took on human nature. He was born and baptised for us, taught and worked miracles for us, convicted and crucified for us, destroyed hades (sheol) and resurrected for us, and ascended into heaven for us to follow Him. In the same way, we are born, baptised and carry our own cross to have a Christ-filled life and death, so that we can be with Him.

It is not about judgement. Adam sinned, “the wages for sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and we experience the ‘wages’ of Adam’s sin (i.e. experience death). We are not guilty for the sin of another person, however. God loves us; indeed, He is love (1 John 4:8). The basis of redemption based on God hating humanity and exacting revenge on Jesus is not a relationship of love. Love is not conditional, love is not a contract of obligations, and love is not a pitting of faith against reason. Love is complete and unconditional, founded in a relationship between us and God, with our own pride as the major obstacle.

God commands that we love everyone. God is love, and we are to be like God. God commands that we forgive everyone, that we do not judge others (Matthew 7:1). The life in Christ is one towards healing human sinfulness and leading us to perfection.

Doctrine

After the Resurrection of Christ, the apostles and missionaries travelled throughout the known world to spread the Gospel – starting with Jerusalem, then moving through major world centres of Antioch, Alexandria, Rome and, later, Constantinople. Together, the Christian Church formed beliefs and canons that we take for granted today, including the Scripture (395AD), the Trinity (fourth century AD) and how Christ can be both God and man (fifth to seventh centuries AD).

Around 1054, Rome broke away from the remaining four centres, and some 500 years after that, Protestantism began to break away from Rome. The remaining original centres of Christianity, however, have held fast to what the Apostles passed on to the Church (cite). Because of this, we call ourselves the Orthodox Christian Church.

With a foundation on the apostles and their teachings, we have a complete system: we call ourselves Orthodox – this word refers to ‘right belief’ and ‘right praise’.

Our views on moral issues would be thought of as traditional – we believe that marriage is a sacred, exclusive commitment between a man and a woman to become one in Christ; we believe that murder is almost invariably a sin against God and His Creation (which includes abortion); and believe that charitable works are a natural conclusion of being a Christian.

Orthodox can fall on any side of the political spectrum – left, right and in-between – but where Scripture and the early Church guide us, there are no controversial issues.

Worship

Our worship is largely a compilation of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, and is based on temple worship in the Old Testament and heavenly worship in Revelations. Our services are entirely God-centric – not on our own enjoyment, but on worshipping God.

Our worship is filled with repentance, gratitude and praise. We do the best that we can to make our worship beautiful – the Book of Exodus (chapters 25-26) tell us that temple worship included gold, silver, embroidery, incense, bells and anointing; the Book of Revelations (chapter 4) tells us that heavenly worship includes gold, thrones, crowns, white robes, crystal and incense. From the beginning to the end of Scripture, the ideal in the worship of God is that worship is to be beautiful.

This doesn’t mean that it is rigid, formal or cold. Rather, we are a family coming together before our beloved Father in heaven. Orthodox worship is comfortable, joyful and warm, as we believe it should be in God’s presence.

Written by A. K. D. Smith
For further information, contact us: andrew@anesti.info