Who is the Orthodox people definition. Orthodoxy is a Christian denomination

15 unpleasant facts about religion, Orthodoxy and Christianity in general
1. 99% of Orthodox do not even suspect that Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in the same God. His name is Elohim (Allah).
Despite the fact that this god has a name, he does not have a proper name. That is, the word Elohim (Allah) simply means "God".
2. Some Orthodox do not even realize that Christians include all people who believe that Jesus existed. And Catholics, and Protestants, and Orthodox.
But today there is not a single reliable confirmation of the existence of Jesus, but Mohammed was a historical figure.
3. The mythical Jesus was a Jew by faith and a Jew by nationality. Clever Jews, who were haunted by the fact that only the clans of Kogans and Levites rule the Jewish flock, decided to branch off and create their own office, which they later called "Christianity."
4. Any religion has only two things in mind for its existence. They should be remembered, no matter who hangs what noodles on your ears.
The first is enrichment.
The second is habit
Priests of one or another cult enrich themselves. The people are getting used to. Any state supports the main religion, because the church helps to turn people into a herd.
In Christianity, they say so - the flock, that is, the herd. A flock that a shepherd or shepherd tends. The shepherd cuts the wool from the lamb and admonishes before making a kebab out of it.
5. As soon as a person is driven into the herd with the help of religion, herd feelings and herd thoughts appear in him. He ceases to think logically and ceases to use the organs of perception. Everything he sees, hears and says is a set of stamps used in the herd.
6. In 1054, the division of the Christian Church into the Roman Catholic Church in the West with its center in Rome and the Orthodox Church in the East with its center in Constantinople took place.
All theories and justifications why this happened are not worth a damn (we will return to this later), the main problem was in the lead. Who should rule - the pope or the patriarch.
As a result, everyone began to consider himself the main one.
The guys reasoned like this: friendship is friendship, and tobacco is apart. Money account love.
7. In 988 Kyiv prince Vladimir decides to be baptized by the Church of Constantinople. For many centuries, the church has been burning dissent and polytheism in Russia with fire and sword.
Almost completely destroyed all the documents relating to the pre-Christian period.
A whole class of people, who in Russia were called magi, sorcerers, witches, sorcerers, was almost completely destroyed.
That is, the layer of ancient knowledge and skills, the primordial language in which people communicated with nature and the gods, all the experience that the people had accumulated over the centuries, was erased from people's memory.
8. It is believed that the veduns (from the Sanskrit word "know", "know") were a kind of conscience of the tribe, its moral and spiritual guide: "co-" + "-message", i.e. "common message", "common knowledge". Conscience is a way of a person's communication with God by comparing his moral standards with the standards of those around him and with the experience of his ancestors.
A people with a conscience did not need such instruments as the state, religion, propaganda, the death penalty.
There is an opinion that in view of the vast territory of the Eurasian continent, the remnants of conscience have been preserved somewhere in the outback of Russia.
Therefore, the genetic memory of Russians sacredly keeps faith in the existence of justice (the root of the "Vedas", by the way) of conscience and truth.
For their evil temper, greed and black cassocks, priesthood in Russia was nicknamed "the crow".
9. The destruction of "conscience" by Christianity in the West occurred much later, it was more total and technological.
The death camps began precisely with the European Inquisition, when sorcerers and witches throughout Europe were identified, recorded, sentenced and burned. All without a trace.
Truth and conscience in the West have been replaced by "law". Western man does not believe in any hypothetical justice, but he believes in the laws, and even adheres to them.
10. First crusade began in 1096, and the last ended in 1444. For 350 years, peaceful Christianity, in the name of Jesus, destroyed countries, cities and entire nations. And this was done, as you probably understand, not only by Catholicism or some kind of Teutonic Order. Dozens of tribes that existed on the territory of Muscovy were also forcibly converted to Orthodoxy or wiped off the face of the earth.
11. In foreign sources, the "Orthodox" church is written as "orthodox". We are orthodox guys.
12. In the 1650s - 1660s, the so-called "split" took place in Muscovy. We will not go into too much detail, we will only say that the reason for the church reforms carried out by Patriarch Nikon was only two things - a sharp difference between the church orders in Muscovy and in the Greek church.
In fact, the Moscow church turned into an unauthorized religious organization, striking visiting Greek priests with its savagery. This became especially evident in view of the annexation of Little Russia. Little Russia separated from Poland, recognized Alexei Mikhailovich as its tsar and became part of the Muscovite state as its inseparable part, but the church and ritual practice of the South Russians converged with the then Greek and differed from the Moscow one.
It was necessary to urgently unify all this.
And second. The main political aspect of the reform was the “Byzantine charm”, that is, the conquest of Constantinople and the revival of the Byzantine Empire with the help and expense of Russia. In this regard, Tsar Alexei wanted to eventually inherit the throne of the Byzantine emperors, and Patriarch Nikon wanted to become the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Like this. Thirst for power. Thirst for superiority.
Thanks to this, the Orthodox flock (remember what the flock means?), led by pastors, hunted schismatics who did not want to rebuild for another three hundred years.
So, perestroika is not only the subversion of Herr Peter and Mikhail Gorbachev.
13. If anyone does not know, I will let you know. The only thing that distinguishes the Catholic Church from the Orthodox is called the filioque (Latin filioque - “and the Son”), an addition to the Latin translation of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, adopted by the Western (Roman) Church in the 11th century in the dogma of the Trinity: on the descent The Holy Spirit is not only from God the Father, but "from the Father and the Son."
That is, the Jewish Elohim in Orthodoxy is the only source of the holy spirit. But Catholics believe that the holy spirit also comes from the Jew Jesus of Nazareth.
Of course, these are formalities, everything always rests on money and power.
14. But here's the problem.
In 1438-1445, the XVII Ecumenical Council, called the Ferrara-Florence Cathedral, takes place. Such councils are called ecumenical because they are attended by representatives of all Christian churches.
The decisions of the ecumenical councils are binding on everyone (like the decisions of the Hague Court) for both Catholics and Orthodox.
At this council, the disagreements between the Western and Eastern churches were discussed for a long time, and in the end a decision was made to unite. The council ended with the signing of the union.
Guess who a few years later denied the decision of the cathedral?
That's right, Muscovy.
15. And what is the point of giving primacy? So we graze our own herd, we are our own bosses, and here the Pope will steer.
Total.
To the two main goals of any religion - the enrichment of the clergy, the obscenity (stupefaction) of the masses, we add a third, empirically identified - the thirst for power.
In Christianity, the most important of the mortal sins is "pride".
The lust for power is what pride is.

There are a lot of differences between Slavic and Christianity. The most important of them should be singled out. They were marked christian church in the 17th century, becoming one of the main reasons for the persecution of the followers of the Old Slavic Orthodox faith- those who are commonly called Old Believers. Baptism with two fingers had a sacred meaning. The fact is that the sacrament of baptism also appeared long before Christianity, it was taught by the Magi. In double baptism middle finger symbolizes God, and the index symbolizes man. Thus, the two-fingered signified the unity of man with God.

The custom of being baptized from right to left also came from Slavic Orthodoxy and was preserved in Orthodox Christianity. For the ancient Slavs, baptism from right to left meant the victory of light over darkness and truth over falsehood.

The symbol of faith for Christians is Jesus Christ himself, and for Orthodox Slavs and Old Believers - an ancient equilateral cross, which was originally enclosed in a solar circle. Such a cross symbolized the path of Rule (in other words, Truth), the starting point for which was the moment of sunrise.

True, the light of life and destiny in Slavic Orthodoxy

The truth and the light of life in the tradition of Slavic Orthodoxy were symbolized by odd numbers. Hence, to this day, the existing tradition has arisen of giving an odd number of flowers for the holidays, and an even number of flowers, for which the light of life has already gone out.

In Slavic Orthodoxy, there was an idea of ​​​​fate, embodied in the belief in women in childbirth - the heavenly mistresses of the world and ancient goddesses fate. It also contained the concept of God's judgment, which is mentioned in the "Tale of Igor's Campaign".

Christianity that came to Russia for centuries existed side by side with Orthodoxy and became Orthodox Christianity. Realizing how much Christianity was mixed with Slavic Orthodoxy, Patriarch Nikon decided to correct it according to the Greek canons. As a result, Nikon's reform led not only to the persecution of the Old Believers, but also to the destruction of the surviving heritage of Slavic Orthodoxy.

In Christianity, the Orthodox are not even mentioned. However, the bright image of Jesus Christ took root on Russian soil, turned into one of the most important components of Russian culture. In fact, Christianity and are just different ways to comprehend the one God, and therefore they are equally worthy of respect. The difference between Slavic Orthodoxy lies in the fact that it stands closer to the spiritual sources of ancient Russian culture.

In 1054, it became widespread mainly in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Features of Orthodoxy

The formation of religious organizations is closely connected with the social and political life society. Christianity is no exception, which was especially evident in the differences between its main directions - and Orthodoxy. At the beginning of the 5th century The Roman Empire split into East and West. The eastern one was a single state, while the western one was a fragmented conglomerate of principalities. In the conditions of strong centralization of power in Byzantium, the church immediately turned out to be an appendage of the state, and the emperor actually became its head. stagnation social life Byzantium and the control of the church by the despotic state determined the conservatism of the Orthodox Church in dogma and ritualism, as well as tendencies towards mysticism and irrationalism in its ideology. In the West, the church has gradually assumed a central place in and turned into an organization striving for dominance in all spheres of society, including politics.

Difference between east and west was due to developmental features. Greek Christianity concentrated its attention on ontological and philosophical problems, while Western Christianity focused on political and legal ones.

Since the Orthodox Church was under the auspices of the state, its history is connected not so much with external events as with the formation of dogma. Orthodox doctrine is based on Holy Bible(Bible - Old and New Testament) and Sacred Tradition (resolutions of the first seven Ecumenical and local councils, creations of the church fathers and canonical theologians). At the first two Ecumenical Councils - Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381) the so-called Symbol of faith, briefly outlining the essence of the Christian doctrine. It recognizes the trinity of God - the creator and ruler of the universe, the existence afterlife, posthumous retribution, the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ, who opened the possibility for the salvation of mankind, on which lies the seal of original sin.

Fundamentals of the doctrine of Orthodoxy

The Orthodox Church declares the main provisions of the faith to be absolutely true, eternal and unchanging, communicated to man by God himself and incomprehensible to reason. Keeping them intact is the first duty of the church. It is impossible to add anything or remove any provisions, therefore the later dogmas established by the Catholic Church are about the descent of the Holy Spirit not only from the Father, but also from the Son (filioque), about immaculate conception not only Christ, but also the Virgin Mary, about the infallibility of the Roman pope, about purgatory - Orthodoxy considers it a heresy.

Personal salvation of believers is made dependent on the zealous fulfillment of the rites and prescriptions of the church, due to which there is communion with Divine grace, transmitted to man through the sacraments: baptism in infancy, chrismation, communion, repentance (confession), marriage, priesthood, anointing (unction). The sacraments are accompanied by rituals, which, together with divine services, prayers and religious holidays, form the religious cult of Christianity. Great importance in Orthodoxy is given to holidays and fasts.

Orthodoxy teaches observance of moral precepts given to man by God through the prophet Moses, as well as the fulfillment of the covenants and sermons of Jesus Christ set forth in the Gospels. Their main content is the observance of universal norms of life and love for one's neighbor, manifestations of mercy and compassion, as well as the rejection of resistance to evil by violence. Orthodoxy emphasizes the uncomplaining enduring of sufferings sent by God to test the strength of faith and cleansing from sin, on the special veneration of the sufferers - the blessed, the poor, the holy fools, hermits and hermits. In Orthodoxy, a vow of celibacy is given only by monks and higher ranks of clergy.

Organization of the Orthodox Church

Georgian Orthodox Church. Christianity began to spread on the territory of Georgia in the first centuries AD. She received autocephaly in the 8th century. In 1811 Georgia became part of Russian Empire, and the church became part of the Russian Orthodox Church as an exarchate. In 1917, at the meeting of Georgian priests, a decision was made to restore autocephaly, which was preserved even under Soviet power. The Russian Orthodox Church recognized autocephaly only in 1943.

Chapter Georgian Church bears the title of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi with residence in Tbilisi.

Serbian Orthodox Church. Autocephaly was recognized in 1219. The head of the church bears the title of Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovapia, Patriarch of Serbia with residence in Belgrade.

Romanian Orthodox Church. Christianity entered the territory of Romania in the II-III centuries. AD In 1865, the autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church was proclaimed, but without the consent of the Church of Constantinople; in 1885 such consent was obtained. The head of the church bears the title of Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church with residence in Bucharest.

Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Christianity appeared on the territory of Bulgaria in the first centuries of our era. In 870 the Bulgarian Church received autonomy. The status of the church has changed over the centuries depending on the political situation. The autocephaly of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was recognized by Constantinople only in 1953, and the patriarchy only in 1961.

The head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church bears the title of Metropolitan of Sofia, Patriarch of All Bulgaria with residence in Sofia.

Cypriot Orthodox Church. The first Christian communities on the island were founded at the beginning of our era by St. Apostles Paul and Barnabas. Widespread Christianization of the population began in the 5th century. Autocephaly was recognized on III Ecumenical Council in Ephesus.

The head of the Cypriot Church bears the title of Archbishop of New Justiniana and all of Cyprus, his residence is in Nicosia.

E.yadskaya (Greek) Orthodox Church. According to legend, the Christian faith was brought by the Apostle Paul, who founded and established Christian communities in a number of cities, and St. John the Evangelist wrote "Revelation" on the island of Patmos. The autocephaly of the Greek Church was recognized in 1850. In 1924, it switched to Gregorian calendar which caused a split. The head of the church bears the title of Archbishop of Athens and all Hellas with residence in Athens.

Athens Orthodox Church. Autocephaly was recognized in 1937. However, due to political reasons, contradictions arose, and the final position of the church was determined only in 1998. The head of the church bears the title of Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania with residence in Tirana. The peculiarities of this church include the election of the clergy with the participation of the laity. Divine services are performed in Albanian and Greek.

Polish Orthodox Church. Orthodox dioceses have existed on the territory of Poland since the 13th century. However, for a long time they were under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. After Poland gained independence, they left the subordination of the Russian Orthodox Church and formed the Polish Orthodox Church, which in 1925 was recognized as autocephalous. Russia accepted the autocephaly of the Polish Church only in 1948.

Worship is held on Church Slavonic. Recently, however, the Polish language has been used more and more. The head of the Polish Orthodox Church bears the title of Metropolitan of Warsaw and all of Polynia with residence in Warsaw.

Czechoslovak Orthodox Church. The mass baptism of the people on the territory of modern Czech Republic and Slovakia began in the second half of the 9th century, when the Slavic enlighteners Cyril and Methodius arrived in Moravia. For a long time these lands were under the jurisdiction catholic church. Orthodoxy was preserved only in Eastern Slovakia. After the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, an Orthodox community was organized. Further development events led to division within the Orthodoxy of the country. In 1951, the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church asked the Russian Orthodox Church to accept it into its jurisdiction. In November 1951, the Russian Orthodox Church granted her autocephaly, which the Church of Constantinople approved only in 1998. After the division of Czechoslovakia into two independent states, the church formed two metropolitan provinces. The head of the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church bears the title of Metropolitan of Prague and Archbishop of the Czech and Slovak Republics with residence in Prague.

American Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy came to America from Alaska, where from the end of the 18th century. the Orthodox community began to operate. In 1924 a diocese was formed. After the sale of Alaska to the United States Orthodox churches and land remains in the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1905, the center of the diocese was transferred to New York, and its head Tikhon Belavin elevated to the rank of archbishop. In 1906, he raised the question of the possibility of autocephaly for the American Church, but in 1907 Tikhon was withdrawn, and the issue remained unresolved.

In 1970, the Moscow Patriarchate gave autocephalous status to the metropolis, which was called the Orthodox Church in America. The head of the church has the title of Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, with residence in Syosset, near New York.

Orthodoxy is the Christian doctrine developed in Byzantium, one of the main world religions. Orthodoxy embodies the canons of the Eastern Christian Church, in contrast to Catholicism, which was formed as a Western direction of Christianity.

Name "orthodoxy" comes from Greek "orthodoxy" (ortho - direct, correct, doxa - judgment, glory) and means "correct service." Orthodoxy took shape in the first millennium in Constantinople, which at that time was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Today, the number of Orthodox in the world is about three hundred million people. Orthodoxy was most widely spread in Russia, in the Balkan countries, in the countries of Eastern Europe. However, there are also Orthodox communities in Asian countries - South Korea, Japan.

Orthodox - believers who adhere to the canons of Orthodoxy. They believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (in God the Trinity) and believe that all three hypostases of God are inseparable unity. They also believe that the Almighty originally created a sinless world, and Adam and Eve committed the original sin. This sin was subsequently redeemed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through earthly life and suffering.

church hierarchy

From an organizational point of view, the Orthodox Church is a community of many local churches. On its territory, each such church enjoys independence and autonomy. To date, there are fourteen churches called autocephalous - for example, Greek, Bulgarian, Constantinople.

The Orthodox perceive the Church as a kind of organism that unites believers with the Law of God, the Holy Spirit, and the Sacraments. A hierarchy has been established in the church: the territories are divided into dioceses, each diocese is headed by a bishop who can ordain clergy (that is, ordain them to the dignity).


Higher in the hierarchy of Orthodoxy are archbishops and metropolitans. The highest hierarchical level is the patriarch. If you go, as if on steps, in the opposite direction, then below the bishops there will be presbyters. These are priests who are allowed to perform, except for ordination. Another step lower are the deacons, who do not perform the sacraments and only help the bishops and presbyters in this.

All the clergy in Orthodoxy are divided into black and white. The black clergy are celibate monks. Deacons in the black clergy are called "hierodeacons" and priests are called "hieromonks". It is the representatives of the black clergy who become bishops. The white clergy are priests and deacons who can have families.

Orthodox principles

One of the basic principles of Orthodoxy is the acquisition of true freedom from passions and sins. It is believed that passions enslave a person, and he can gain salvation under the influence of God's grace. For this, it is necessary to make efforts on the spiritual path, for which it is necessary to have the free will of the believer.

A person can gain salvation in two ways: either by dedicating himself to the service of the family and leading a godly lifestyle. Monks seclude themselves, renounce the world and embark on a special path of service to God. The family plays a very important role in the Orthodox system of values; it is no coincidence that it is called the “small church”.


The Orthodox try to live according to Holy Tradition, which includes Holy Scripture, interpretations of Scripture from the holy fathers, writings of the holy fathers, liturgical texts, works of ascetic writers devoted to the spiritual life and deeds of the saints. In addition, the Orthodox honor the commandments, the most popular of which are “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Relations between spiritual and secular authorities in Orthodoxy and Catholicism are built differently: Catholics strictly advocate church immunity. The Pope, head of the Catholic Church, has his own sovereign temporal power. In Orthodoxy, there is no such strict distinction. Orthodox, unlike Catholics, do not recognize the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope and his supremacy over all Christians.

In relation to power, Orthodoxy has always taken an unambiguous position: all power comes from God. And even in those times when the church was persecuted by the state, the Orthodox prayed for the health of the king and revered his power as given by God.

Orthodox sacraments

Orthodoxy has a number of sacraments. Among them, baptism is a rite of introducing a person to the church, an opportunity to start a pure, sinless life. People are usually baptized in infancy, but adults can also be baptized by consciously choosing their godfather and mother.

Baptism is followed by chrismation, during which the believer is given a blessing and the Holy Gifts. This should strengthen the baptized in spiritual life. The Eucharist, or Blessing, means the communion of man with God.


Another church sacrament is the consecration of unction, during which the body is smeared with consecrated oil (oil) to save a person from ailments. Confession is a sacrament that allows you to cleanse the soul from sin; the sacrament of repentance is performed if a person sincerely repents of his sins.

The sacrament of unction is usually performed before death and means the forgiveness of all sins committed by a person ever in life.

Christianity has many faces. AT modern world it is represented by three generally recognized directions - Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as numerous movements that do not belong to any of the above. There are serious disagreements between these branches of one religion. Orthodox consider Catholics and Protestants to be heterodox associations of people, that is, those who glorify God in a different way. However, they do not see them as completely devoid of grace. But the Orthodox do not recognize sectarian organizations that position themselves as Christian, but have only an indirect relation to Christianity.

Who are Christians and Orthodox

Christians - followers of the Christian denomination belonging to a Christian denomination - Orthodoxy, Catholicism or Protestantism with its various denominations, often of a sectarian nature.
Orthodox- Christians whose worldview corresponds to the ethno-cultural tradition associated with Orthodox Church.

Comparison of Christians and Orthodox

What is the difference between Christians and Orthodox?
Orthodoxy is a well-established creed that has its dogmas, values, centuries-old history. Christianity is often passed off as something that, in fact, is not. For example, the White Brotherhood movement, active in Kyiv in the early 90s of the last century.
Orthodox believe that their main goal is the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, their own salvation and the salvation of their neighbor from the spiritual slavery of passions. World Christianity at its congresses declares salvation in a purely material plane - from poverty, disease, war, drugs, etc., which is external piety.
For the Orthodox, the spiritual holiness of a person is important. Evidence of this is the saints, canonized by the Orthodox Church, who showed the Christian ideal with their lives. In Christianity as a whole, the spiritual and sensual prevail over the spiritual.
Orthodox consider themselves co-workers with God in the matter of their own salvation. In world Christianity, in particular, in Protestantism, a person is likened to a pillar who does not have to do anything, because Christ did the work of salvation for him on Golgotha.
At the heart of the doctrine of world Christianity lies the Holy Scripture - the record of Divine Revelation. It teaches how to live. The Orthodox, like the Catholics, believe that Scripture is separated from Holy Tradition, which clarifies the forms of this life and is also an unconditional authority. Protestant currents have rejected this claim.
A summary of the foundations of the Christian faith is given in the Creed. For the Orthodox, this is the Niceno-Tsaregrad Creed. The Catholics introduced into the wording of the Symbol the concept of filioque, according to which the Holy Spirit proceeds both from God the Father and from God the Son. Protestants do not deny the Nicene Creed, but the Ancient, Apostolic Creed is generally accepted among them.
Orthodox especially revere the Mother of God. They believe that she did not have personal sin, but was not deprived of original sin, like all people. After the ascension, the Mother of God bodily ascended into heaven. However, there is no dogma about it. Catholics believe that the Mother of God was also deprived of original sin. One of the dogmas catholic faith- the dogma of the bodily ascension to heaven of the Virgin Mary. Protestants and numerous sectarians do not have a cult of the Theotokos.

TheDifference.ru determined that the difference between Christians and Orthodox is as follows:

Orthodox Christianity is contained in the dogmas of the Church. Not all movements that pose as Christians are, in fact, so.
For the Orthodox, inner piety is the basis right life. Outward piety is much more important for contemporary Christianity in the bulk of it.
The Orthodox are trying to achieve spiritual holiness. Christianity as a whole places an emphasis on sincerity and sensuality. This is clearly seen in the speeches of Orthodox and other Christian preachers.
The Orthodox is a co-worker with God in the matter of his own salvation. The same position is held by Catholics. All other representatives of the Christian world are convinced that a person's moral feat is not important for salvation. Salvation has already been accomplished at Calvary.
Foundation of Faith Orthodox person- Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, as for Catholics. The Protestants rejected the Traditions. Many sectarian Christian movements distort Scripture as well.
An account of the foundations of faith for the Orthodox is given in the Nicene Creed. Catholics added the concept of filioque to the Symbol. Most Protestants accept the ancient Apostles' Creed. Many others do not have a special creed.
Only Orthodox and Catholics venerate the Mother of God. Other Christians do not have her cult.