Greek Orthodox Church

Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía, IPA: ) is a Christian term that can refer to any one of three classes of church, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity or the Eastern Roman Empire.

The broader meaning refers to "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also called 'Eastern Orthodox,' 'Greek Catholic,' or generally 'the Greek Church'".

A second, narrower meaning refers to "any of several independent churches within the worldwide communion of (Eastern) Orthodox Christianity that retain the use of the Greek language in formal ecclesiastical settings".

The third meaning refers to the Church of Greece, an Eastern Orthodox Church operating within the modern borders of Greece.

Etymology

Historically, the term "Greek Orthodox" has been used to describe all Eastern Orthodox churches, since the term "Greek" can refer to the heritage of the Byzantine Empire. During the first eight centuries of Christian history, most major intellectual, cultural, and social developments in the Christian Church took place in the Byzantine Empire or its sphere of influence, where the Greek language was widely spoken and used for most theological writings. The empire's capital, Constantinople, was an early important center of Christianity, and its liturgical practices, traditions, and doctrines were gradually adopted throughout Eastern Orthodoxy, still providing the basic patterns of contemporary Orthodoxy. Thus, Eastern Orthodox came to be called "Greek" Orthodox in the same way that Western Christians came to be called "Roman" Catholic. However, the appellation "Greek" was abandoned by the Slavic and other Eastern Orthodox churches as part of their peoples' national awakenings, beginning as early as the 10th century A.D. Thus, by the early 21st century, generally only those churches most closely tied to Greek or Byzantine culture and ethnicity were called "Greek Orthodox" in common parlance.

Greek Orthodoxy has also been defined as a religious tradition rooted in preserving the Greek identity.

In 2022, U.S. government estimated that 81-90% of the population of Greece identified as Greek Orthodox.

History

The Greek Orthodox churches are descendants of churches which the Apostles founded in the Balkans and the Middle East during the first century A.D., as well as maintainers of many ancient church traditions.

Churches

See also

References

Further reading

  • Aderny, Walter F. The Greek and Eastern Churches (1908) online
  • Constantelos, Demetrios J. Understanding the Greek Orthodox church: its faith, history, and practice (Seabury Press, 1982)
  • Fortesque, Adrian. The Orthodox Eastern Church (1929)
  • Hussey, Joan Mervyn. The orthodox church in the Byzantine empire (Oxford University Press, 2010) online
  • Kephala, Euphrosyne. The Church of the Greek People Past and Present (1930)
  • Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, II: The Nineteenth Century in Europe: The Protestant and Eastern Churches. (1959) 2: 479–484; Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, IV: The Twentieth Century in Europe: The Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Churches (1958)
  • McGuckin, John Anthony (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Vol. 2 vols. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).

Tags:

Greek Orthodox Church EtymologyGreek Orthodox Church HistoryGreek Orthodox Church ChurchesGreek Orthodox Church Further readingGreek Orthodox Church

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