What Is the Orthodox Christian Church?
(A very brief outline of Church history)
Briefly and simply, the Orthodox Christian Church is the Church of the Apostles, the Church founded by Christ Himself, as it has survived intact through the ages to the present day.
This statement will come as a surprise to many who have been taught or have vaguely believed that the Church of the Apostles and martyrs somehow died out when the Faith was legalized in the fourth century, to be replaced by a state-run institution that fell into all kinds of error and was finally resurrected by the Protestant reformers twelve hundred years later. However, the statement above is the simple truth. Christ promised, "On this rock [the faith of the Apostles] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). The Orthodox Christian Church is the living fulfillment of that promise.
During the first three Christian centuries, in spite of often vicious persecution, the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church spread throughout the civilized world and developed its theology, worship, and administrative structure as far as was possible for a catacomb Church. The Church was governed by bishops, who were first the Apostles themselves and then men whom they chose and appointed. Every new bishop was consecrated by another bishop who could trace his spiritual "heritage" back to one of the Apostles. This is called the "apostolic succession," and it still holds in the Orthodox Church today.
When the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in AD 312, making Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, the Church emerged from hiding. At this time, bishops from all over the empire-many of them crippled, blind, or maimed as a result of persecution-were finally able to meet and establish uniformity among the churches in matters of doctrine and practice. The Church's structure was solidified at this time, but not essentially changed from what it had been all along.
The Church under Constantine and his immediate successors was united throughout the world. The entire Church was divided into five patriarchates, with a patriarch in each of the major cities of the empire: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and-by courtesy because it was the Holy City-Jerusalem. These five patriarchs were equal in authority. By custom the patriarch of Rome received the honor of "first among equals," but his authority was no greater than the others'. However, all the patriarchs were titular heads, not independent decision-makers. The government of the Church was conciliar-all important decisions were made by synods of bishops. Essential matters of theology could only be decided by an ecumenical council representative of all the bishops of Christendom. Seven officially recognized ecumenical councils were held between the fourth and eighth centuries.
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