History of the Eastern Orthodox Church

The History of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the formation, events, and transformation of the Eastern Orthodox Church through time.

According to the Eastern Orthodox tradition the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church is traced back to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. The Apostles appointed successors, known as bishops, and they in turn appointed other bishops in a process known as Apostolic succession. Over time, five Patriarchates were established to organize the Christian world, and four of these ancient Patriarchates remain Orthodox today. Orthodox Christianity reached its present form in Late Antiquity (in the period from the 3rd to the 8th century), when the Ecumenical Councils were held, doctrinal disputes were resolved, the Fathers of the Church lived and wrote, and Orthodox worship practices settled into their permanent form (including the liturgies and the major holidays of the Church).

In the early medieval period, Orthodox missionaries spread Christianity towards the north, to the Bulgarians, Serbs, Russians and others. Meanwhile, a gradual process of estrangement took place between the four Eastern Patriarchates and the Latin Church of Rome, culminating with the Great Schism in the 11th century, in which Orthodoxy and the Latin Church (later called the Roman Catholic Church) separated from each other. In the Late Middle Ages, the Fall of Constantinople brought a large part of the world's Orthodox Christians under Ottoman Turkish rule. Nevertheless, Orthodoxy continued to flourish in Russia, as well as within the Ottoman Empire among the latter's Christian subject peoples. As the Ottoman Empire declined in the 19th century and several majority-Orthodox nations regained their independence, they organized a number of new autocephalous Orthodox churches in Southern and Eastern Europe.

The Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions with the largest number of adherents in modern times are the Russian and the Romanian Orthodox churches. The most ancient of the Eastern Orthodox communities existing today are the churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Georgia.Tomas Spidlik, ''The Spirituality of the Christian East: A systematic handbook'', Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1986. Kallistos Ware, ''The Orthodox Church'', St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, London, 1995. Robert Payne, ''The Holy Fire: The Story of the Fathers of the Eastern Church'', St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1997.

Early Christianity

Apostolic era

Christianity first spread in the predominantly Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire. The Apostles traveled extensively throughout the empire, establishing communities in major cities and regions, with the first community appearing in Jerusalem, followed by communities in Antioch, Ethiopia and others. Early growth also occurred in the two political centers of Rome and Greece, as well as in Byzantium (initially a minor centre under the Metropolitan of Heraclea, but which later became Constantinople). Orthodoxy believes in the apostolic succession that they believe was established by the Apostles in the New Testament; this played a key role in the communities' view of itself as the preserver of the original Christian tradition. Historically the word "church" did not mean a building or housing structure (for which Greek-speakers might have used the word "basilica") but meant a community or gathering of like peoples (see ekklesia). The earliest Ecclesiology would posit that the Eucharistic assembly, under the authority and permission of a Bishop, is what constitutes a Church. As St. Ignatius of Antioch said, "Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is dministeredeither by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude f the peoplealso be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast."

The original church or community of the East before the Great Schism comprised:

* the Greek churches founded by Saint Paul
* the Antiochian and Asia Minor churches founded by Saint Peter
* the Coptic (or Egyptian) churches founded by Saint Mark (including, at the time, the Ethiopians of Abyssinia)
* the Syriac (or Assyrian) churches in Upper Mesopotamia
* the Georgian church, traditionally founded by Saint Andrew and Saint Nino
* the Armenian church, traditionally founded by Saint Jude and Saint Bartholomew
* the church of Jerusalem, founded by Saint James, as well as the churches of Samaria and Judea, together comprising "the Holy Land".

The church of Rome by tradition was founded by both Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Systematic persecution of the early Christian church caused it to become an underground movement. The first above-ground ''legal'' churches were built in Armenia (''see Echmiadzin''). Armenia became the first country to legalize Christianity (around 301 AD) under King Tiridates III and also embrace it as the state religion in 310 AD. However, illegal churches before "Christian legalization" are mentioned throughout church history; for example, in the City of Nisibis during the persecutions of Diocletian. Of the underground churches that existed before legalization, some are recorded to have existed in the catacombs of Europe i.e. Catacombs of Rome and also in Greece (see Cave of the Apocalypse, The Church of St George and the church at Pergamon) and also in the underground cities of Anatolia such as Derinkuyu Underground City (''also see Cave monastery and Bab Kisan''). Also noteworthy are the Church of St Peter in Antioch and the Cenacle in Jerusalem.

Patristic Age

Much of the official organizing of the ecclesiastical

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