What is Orthodoxy: The How of Orthodox Belief
Most commonly, when I am asked about Orthodoxy it has to do with the practices and beliefs of the Orthodox Church. Others (usually Protestants) wonder what the Orthodox Church's view is on salvation, atonement, prayer to the saints, the authority of the Scriptures, Tradition, the relationship of faith and good works and if we're saved by grace alone, etc. While the question seems rather straightforward, the answer often is not.
A common misconception about the Orthodox Church is that she is uniform in all her beliefs, practices, and in her expression of faith, like a denomination with clear, nuanced beliefs and practices which sets it apart from other denominations. However, Orthodoxy is actually quite diverse. Yes, there are indeed common beliefs which all Orthodox have believed everywhere and at all times, beliefs which make Orthodoxy...well, Orthodoxy. And yet, this same shared belief can be and has been expressed through a variety of traditions over centuries. What she believes, then, is not as simple as referencing the Westminster or Heidelberg Confession, the Catholic Catechism, or a local church's statement of belief. Like a stained glass window which expresses one, whole, unified image using glass of different shapes, colors, and sizes, the Orthodox Church is one, whole, unified faith but expressed through a number of unique local traditions. That said, the question still remains: What does the Orthodox Church believe?
In lieu of such diversity and the vast number of topics that would fall under "Orthodox belief," I would like approach the question by shifting away from the massive task of answering what she believes and instead consider how she believes. To do so, I have chosen to focus on two how's: catholicity and communion.
Catholicity. Although commonly understood as universal among Protestants, universal significantly diminishes the vast truth contained in Church's self-identification (in the Creed) as catholic. The two terms are simply not interchangeable. As it relates to the Church, catholic (which means "pertaining to the whole") communicates a far more profound (and beautiful!) truth about who she is as the Body of Christ. That is, while she is a fully human body, she is equally a fully divine body. And there are many implications to her divine nature. For our purpose here I will name just one: wherever there is an expression of the Church, the whole Church is fully present. In other words, while the Church may be visibly expressed in one parish across the street and another one across town, both of them are 100% the Church, not just one fraction, or part, of the Church. This is because the divine nature of the Church is a nature she possesses by participation in God's life in Christ by the Holy Spirit. And God is always fully present wherever he is -- he can't be divided or contained in parts. As a result, the Church, as a partaker of God's divine nature, is also always present in her fullness wherever she is.
Communion. As it relates to the Church, communion (meaning "union with") concerns two things: the unity her members and the way this unity is expressed. The belief that all members of the Church are united is not necessarily novel, and Protestants (more or less) believe the same thing. However, Protestantism expresses this unity through denominationalism which affirms some level of spiritual unity (grounded on shared Christian belief) but no visible unity between distinct denominations. Each denomination functions practically and organizationally as separate. But, we believe as Orthodox that spiritual unity must also be expressed in ecclesial unity, i.e. it must also be expressed physically and visibly in the Church. So, for example, the Church of Constantinople (Greek Orthodox Church) and of Antioch (Antiochian Syrian Orthodox Church) may be two distinct churches with their own particular, localized theological and liturgical traditions, but they do not exist or function separate from each other. They exist within the same, single structure of Orthodox churches where the belief and practices of each tradition is mutually submitted to and intertwined with all others. So, though many traditions, we are all part of one single Church.
"How" Orthodoxy believes. Like the stained glass window that is one composite image made up of several different pieces of glass, Orthodox faith is unified, but not uniform. The same faith is beautifully expressed in localized traditions with different languages and words, different music and hymns, different vestments and iconographic styles, different church architecture, different histories resulting in different Church calendars with different feasts and saints to be commemorated, different prayers and devotional observances, different theological emphases and preferred historical texts -- different points of reference and frameworks from which and through which this same faith comes to look, sound, feel, and be explained in a host of unique ways. It is the expression of a diverse union, a unified distinctness, a single Body with many members: communion. And more wonderful yet, there is not a single one of these beautiful traditions that is second-class or inferior in the eyes of God because wherever -- and however -- there is an expression of the Church, the whole Church and the fullness her faith is present. The Spirit gathers up the humble offerings of our praise -- whatever words, styles, or forms we may use -- and he and carries us up on his wings to the throne room of God the Father Almighty where the whole of Christ is there seated in glory to be heard, beheld, looked upon, touched, and received by any humble and penitent soul that would so have him by faith and with thanksgiving.
This is Orthodox belief. This is our faith. This is the hope of glory to which we are called.
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
The REVELATION of Jesus Christ to St John, 21:22-26