What Is Orthodoxy?
52 writings in What Is Orthodoxy?. Clear
What Is Orthodoxy?
Why is there incense in Orthodox services?
We use incense because the Bible tells us to, and because our prayers need to rise somewhere visible. When you walk into an Orthodox service…
What Is Orthodoxy?
What are all the candles for?
Walk into an Orthodox church and you’ll see them everywhere. Candles flickering before icons. Candles on the altar. Sometimes people standing in the narthex lighting…
What Is Orthodoxy?
What is the significance of crossing right to left?
We cross from right to left because it’s how you receive a blessing. When a priest blesses you, his hand moves from your right shoulder…
What Is Orthodoxy?
Why do Orthodox Christians call their church ‘the Orthodox Church’?
The word “Orthodox” comes from two Greek words: ortho (meaning “right” or “straight”) and doxa (meaning both “belief” and “glory”). So when we say “Orthodox…
What Is Orthodoxy?
What does ‘orthodox’ actually mean?
The word “orthodox” comes from two Greek words: orthos (straight, right, correct) and doxa (belief, glory, worship). Put them together and you get something that…
What Is Orthodoxy?
Is the Orthodox Church the original Christian church?
Yes. We believe the Orthodox Church is the Church Christ founded, preserved through unbroken continuity in faith, worship, and apostolic succession. That’s a bold claim,…
What Is Orthodoxy?
Why do Orthodox cross themselves differently than Catholics?
We use three fingers joined together, and we go right to left instead of left to right. But there’s theology packed into those fingers and…
What Is Orthodoxy?
How did the Great Schism of 1054 happen?
It didn’t happen in 1054. Not really. The date makes a nice marker in history books, but the split between East and West was centuries…
What Is Orthodoxy?
Why are there so many different Orthodox churches (Greek, Russian, Antiochian, etc.)?
We’re all the same Church. The Greek, Russian, Antiochian, and other Orthodox churches aren’t denominations like Baptist versus Methodist. They’re administrative families within the one…
What Is Orthodoxy?
Are all the Orthodox churches in communion with each other?
Yes and no. Most of them are, but not all. When you walk into St. Michael’s here in Beaumont, you’re part of the Antiochian Orthodox…
What Is Orthodoxy?
What do Orthodox Christians believe about salvation?
We’re being saved. Not “we got saved” or “we will be saved,” though both those things are true too. Salvation isn’t a one-time transaction where…
What Is Orthodoxy?
What is theosis or deification?
Theosis is what salvation actually is. It’s the process of becoming more like God through His grace, being transformed from glory to glory until we…
