Catholic Ecumenical Councils This article covers Catholic Ecumenical Councils. According to the Catholic Church, a Church Council is ecumenical (“world-wide”), if it is “a solemn congregation of the Catholic bishops of the world at the invitation of the Pope to decide on matters of the Church with him”. In addition to ecumenical Councils, there...
Catholic Church And Ecumenism This article covers the relationship between Catholic Church and Ecumenism. The Catholic Church has engaged in the modern ecumenical movement, especially since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the issuing of the decree Unitatis redintegratio and the declaration Dignitatis humanae. It was at the Council that the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity was created. Those outside...
Saint Thomas Christians The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani, Malankara Nasrani, or Nasrani Mappila, are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Kerala (Malabar region), who, for the most part, employ the Eastern and Western liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity. They trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. The Saint Thomas...
Schism Of 1552 The schism of 1552 was an important event in the history of the Church of the East. It divided the church into two factions, of which one entered into communion with Rome becoming part of the Catholic Church at this time and the other remained independent until the 19th century. Although the Eliya line,...
Ecumenical Patriarchate Of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constantinopolitanus; Rum Ortodoks Patrikhanesi, İstanbul Ekümenik Patrikhanesi, “Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate”) is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches (or “jurisdictions”) that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, currently Bartholomew, Archbishop...
Eastern Christian Monasticism Eastern Christian Monasticism is the life followed by monks and nuns of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East and Eastern Catholicism. Eastern monasticism is founded on the Rule of St Basil and is sometimes thus referred to as Basilian. History Christian monasticism began in the Eastern Mediterranean in Syria, Palestine and Egypt where the Desert...
Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy (or Eastern Orthodox Christianity) is one of the three main branches of Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or “canonical“) Eastern Orthodox Church is organised into autocephalous churches independent from each other. In the 21st century, the number of mainstream autocephalous churches is seventeen; there also exist autocephalous...
True Orthodoxy True Orthodoxy, or Genuine Orthodoxy (“Church of True Orthodox Christians”; “True Orthodox Church”), often pejoratively referred to as “Zealotry“, is a movement within Eastern Orthodox Christianity that has been separated from the mainstream Eastern Orthodox Church over issues of ecumenism and calendar reform since the 1920s. Population Those...
Papal Primacy Papal primacy, also known as the primacy of the bishop of Rome, is a Christian ecclesiological doctrine concerning the respect and authority that is due to the pope from other bishops and their episcopal sees. English academic and Catholic priest Aidan Nichols wrote that “at root, only one issue of substance divides the Eastern Orthodox...
The Catholic Church And The Eastern Orthodox Church This article covers theological differences between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church have been in a state of official schism from one another since the East-West Schism of 1054. This schism was caused by historical and linguistic...
Oriental Orthodox Churches The Oriental Orthodox Churches are a group of Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology and theology, with a total of 60 million members worldwide. As some of the oldest religious institutions in the world, the Oriental Orthodox Churches have played a prominent role in the history and culture of Armenia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan...
Glorification Glorification may have several meanings in Christianity. From the Catholic canonization to the similar sainthood of the Eastern Orthodox Church to salvation in Christianity in Protestant beliefs, the glorification of the human condition can be a long and arduous process. Catholicism The Catholic Church teaches that, “at the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its...
Iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct from artistic style. The word iconography comes from the Greek εἰκών (“image”) and γράφειν (“to write” or to draw). A secondary...
Cataphatic Theology Cataphatic theology or kataphatic theology is a theology that uses “positive” terminology to describe or refer to the divine – specifically, God – i.e. terminology that describes or refers to what the divine is believed to be, in contrast to the “negative” terminology used in apophatic theology to indicate what it is believed the divine is not....
Acceptance of Evolution by Religious Groups This article covers the acceptance of evolution by religious groups. Although biological evolution has been vocally opposed by some religious groups, many other groups accept the scientific position, sometimes with additions to allow for theological considerations. The positions of such groups are described by terms including...
Eastern Orthodox Theology Eastern Orthodox theology is the theology particular to the Eastern Orthodox Church (officially the Orthodox Catholic Church). It is characterized by monotheistic Trinitarianism, belief in the Incarnation of the essentially divine Logos or only-begotten Son of God, a balancing of cataphatic theology with apophatic theology, a hermeneutic...
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 260 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the head of the Roman Catholic Church—the Pope—but...
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. There is no definitive list. The historical period during which they flourished is referred to by scholars as the Patristic Era ending approximately around AD 700 (John...
Eastern Christianity Eastern Christianity comprises church families that developed outside the Occident, with major bodies including the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox churches, the Eastern Catholic churches (that are in communion with Rome but still maintain Eastern liturgies), and the denominations descended from the Church of the East. Eastern...
Orthodoxy Orthodoxy (from Greek orthodoxía “right opinion”) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. In the Christian sense, the term means “conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the creeds of the early Church.” The first seven ecumenical councils were held between the years 325 and 787...