Читать книгу The World's Christians - Douglas Jacobsen - Страница 20

Orthodoxy has the longest history of the four major Christian traditions that exist today, and it preserves the ancient ideas and practices of Christianity more fully than any other tradition. In many ways, the past is still alive in Orthodoxy, so much so that some outsiders view Orthodoxy as locked in the past. But for its adherents, Orthodox Christianity is very much a living faith, connecting them to the present and future as much as to the past. Geographically, the original heartland of Orthodoxy was the Middle East and the Balkans (the area of land located south of the Danube River). By 1500, however, under increasing pressure from Islam, the geographic center of Orthodoxy had moved north into Russia and Eastern Europe, where Orthodoxy remains the majority religion today (see Figure 1.1).

Theologically, Orthodoxy can be divided into two distinct sub‐traditions. The Eastern Orthodox Church, which accounts for about 85 percent of all Orthodox Christians, is sometimes known as the church of the seven councils because it affirms all seven of the early “ecumenical councils” (worldwide gatherings of Christians called to decide what Christians should believe) that were held between the years 325 and 787. A second, smaller sub‐group of churches known as the Oriental Orthodox or Miaphysite churches (including the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the Syrian Orthodox Church) rejected the conclusions of the Council of Chalcedon (held in the year 451) and have remained institutionally separate from Eastern Orthodoxy ever since. In the 1960s, representatives from these two different Orthodox sub‐groups (Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy) began a dialogue seeking reunification, but that desired reunion has not yet taken place.

One of the historical experiences that makes Orthodox Christianity different from the other three Christian mega‐traditions is that Orthodox Christians have been marginalized and oppressed more than most Christians. Since the seventh century (the 600s) many Orthodox Christians have lived in regions of the world ruled by Islamic governments where their religious rights have been limited. In the twentieth century, Orthodox Christians suffered greatly when Communists assumed control of Russia in 1917 and subsequently all of Eastern Europe following World War II. This history of social marginalization, mixed occasionally with outright persecution, has tended to make Orthodox Christians more communally minded than other Christians. To be Orthodox has often been a marker of peoplehood in addition to being an affirmation of faith.