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Note on Universalism
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'''Orthodox Christianity''' is the life in faith of the [[Orthodox Church]], inseparable from that concrete, historic community and encompassing its entire way of life. The Orthodox Christian faith is that faith "handed once to the saints" ([[Book of Jude|Jude]] 3), passed on in [[Holy Tradition]] to the [[apostles]] by [[Jesus Christ]], and then handed down from one generation to the next, without addition or subtraction.
The sole purpose of Orthodox Christianity is the salvation of every human person, uniting him to Christ in the Church, transforming him in holiness, and imparting eternal life. This is the Gospel, the good news, that Jesus is the Messiah, that he rose from the dead, and that we may be saved as a result.
[[Image:Rublev Trinity.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Hospitality of Abraham]], an [[Old Testament]] pointer toward the [[Holy Trinity]].]]
==God==
''Main article: [[Holy Trinity]]''
Orthodox Christians worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the [[Holy Trinity]], the one God. Following the [[Holy Scriptures]] and the [[Church Fathers]], the Church believes that the Trinity is three divine persons (''[[hypostasis|hypostases]]'') who share one essence (''[[ousia]]''). It is paradoxical to believe thus, but that is how God has revealed himself. All three persons are consubstantial with each other, that is, they are of one essence (''[[homoousios]]'') and coeternal. There never was a time when any of the persons of the Trinity did not exist. God is beyond and before time and yet acts within time, moving and speaking within history.
God is not an impersonal essence or mere "higher power," but rather each of the divine persons relates to mankind personally. Neither is God a simple name for three gods (i.e., polytheism), but rather the Orthodox faith is monotheist and yet [[Triadology|Trinitarian]]. The God of the Orthodox Christian Church is the God of [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]], the '''I AM''' who revealed himself to [[Moses]] in the [[Burning Bush|burning bush]].
The source and unity of the Holy Trinity is the Father, from whom the Son is begotten and also from whom the Spirit proceeds. Thus, the Father is both the ground of unity of the Trinity and also of distinction. To try to comprehend unbegottenness (Father), begottenness (Son), or procession (Holy Spirit) leads to insanity, says the holy [[Gregory the Theologian]], and so the Church approaches God in divine mystery, approaching God [[apophatic theology|apophatically]], being content to encounter God personally and yet realize the inadequacy of the human mind to comprehend him.
''Main articles: [[Jesus Christ]], [[Christology]]''
The second person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, begotten before all ages by the Father without a mother, was begotten in time by the Virgin Mary the [[Theotokos]] without a Fatherfather. He is the [[Logos]], the Word of God, and he became flesh and dwelt among us, as says the beginning of the [[Gospel of John]]. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. This is the doctrine of the [[Incarnation]], that God became a man.
Our Lord Jesus is the ''Theanthropos'', the God-man. He is not half God and half man, nor is he a hybrid of the two. Rather, he is fully God and fully man, perfect in his divinity and perfect in his humanity. He has two natures, joined together in the Incarnation without mixture, division, or confusion. As a result of being fully God and man, he also has two wills, one human will and one divine will to which the human one is submitted. He has two natures yet remains one person, one [[hypostasis]].
The Church is the Bride of Christ, the [[eschatology|eschatological]] spouse of the Son of God, united to him in faith and love, for which he gave himself up on the cross. The intimacy of a husband and wife is an earthly image of the intimacy that Christ has with his Church, and the union of an earthly marriage is a shadow of the union of that marriage of the Lamb of God with the Church.
The community of the Church is the locus of [[soteriology|salvation]] for mankind; it is truly the Ark in which mankind may be saved from the flood of corruption and sin. In it, Christians [[Holy Mysteries|sacramentally]] work out their salvation with fear and trembling ([[Philippians|Phil.]] 2:12), worshipping the Holy Trinity in spirit and in truth. The Church is the pillar and ground of truth ([[I First Epistle of Paul to Timothy|I Tim.]] 3:15) and thus may be relied upon in the Christian's struggle to apprehend the one truth for himself. The Church is eternal, and the gates of [[Hell]] will never prevail against it ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matt.]] 16:18).
The Church consists of the [[prophet]]s and [[saint]]s of both the Old and New Covenants, the [[angels]] and the concrete, historical community of believers in this earthly life. Those who have gone on before us are known as the ''Church Triumphant'', while those in this life are known as the ''Church Militant''.
Holy Tradition is the deposit of faith given by [[Jesus Christ]] to the [[Apostles]] and passed on in the Church from one generation to the next without addition, alteration or subtraction. [[Vladimir Lossky]] has famously described the Tradition as "the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church." It is dynamic in application, yet unchanging in [[dogma]]. It is growing in expression, yet ever the same in essence.
Unlike many conceptions of tradition in popular understanding, the Orthodox Church does not regard Holy Tradition as something which grows and expands over time, forming a collection of practices and doctrines which accrue, gradually becoming something more developed and eventually unrecognizable to the first Christians. Rather, Holy Tradition is that same faith which Christ taught to the Apostles and which they gave to their disciples, preserved in the whole Church and especially in its leadership through [[Apostolic Successionsuccession]].
The central location in Holy Tradition is occupied by the [[Holy Scriptures]], the written witness to God's revelation in the Church. As such, the Scriptures are always [[hermeneutics|interpreted]] from within the Tradition which was the context for their writing and [[canon (Bible)Holy Scripture|canonization]].
==Worship==
''Main article: [[Worship]]''
Worship in the Orthodox Church is understood to be the highest calling of mankind, to fall down at the feet of the Almighty God, the Holy Trinity, and to be given over entirely to Himhim, becoming united mystically with Him him in the [[holy mysteries]]. To worship God is to fulfil the purpose for which we were created.
Orthodox worship is liturgical, that is, following specific ritual patterns and [[Daily Cycle|cycles]] in reverent dignity and embracing the whole of the human person. Its reverence and awe are due to its being understood as entering into the very throne room of the Creator. Orthodox worship is transformative in its nature, bringing the Christian more deeply into communion with God and with his cooperation changing him into a holy person, a [[saint]].
''Main article: [[Sacraments]]''
More properly termed ''holy mysteries'', the Church's entire life is one of sacrament. In the mysteries, the Christian is united with God, becoming a partaker of the divine nature ([[II Peter]] 1:4). With all the sacraments, God makes His his presence known in His his divine [[energies]], using physical means to convey Himself to His people.
There are seven generally recognized sacraments, though the number has never been fixed dogmatically by the Church. Two are sacraments of initiation into the Church, [[baptism]] and [[chrismation]]. Another completes the initiation and nourishes the life of the Christian, the [[Eucharist]], which is regarded as the highest of the sacraments. The remainder of the sacraments are occasional: [[Holy Unction|holy unction]] for the sick, [[confession]] for repentance and reconciliation with the Church, [[marriage]] for those joined in the marital community, and [[ordination]] for those called to serve the Church in holy orders.
''Main article: [[Anthropology]]''
Orthodox Christian anthropology teaches that man was created by God to worship Him him in communion with Himhim, made in His his image to attain to His likeness. All human beings are thus of infinite value, because they bear the indelible stamp of their Creator. All human beings are composed of both a soul and body, which are permanently part of human nature. Man was created sinless, but not perfected, and so though [[Adam]] was pure when he was created, he was created as a being of dynamic progress, capable of growing more and more like God.
At the [[fall of man]], [[Adam and Eve]] not only [[sin]]ned in violation of God's commandments, but their ontological state shifted. Their [[nature]] was not changed in itself, but the image of God in them became obscured by sin, which is an ontological separation from God. Fallen man is thus not totally depraved, but rather suffers from the disease of sin which renders holiness much more difficult to attain to.
Salvation is a process which encompasses not only the whole earthly life of the Christian, but also the eternal life of the age to come. It is often described in terms of three stages—[[catharsis]] (purification), [[theoria]] (illumination) and [[theosis]] (divinization). Salvation is thus not only becoming sinless (purification), but it is also a progress in being filled with the divine light. Additionally, it is becoming so filled with God in union with Him that the Christian shines forth with the likeness of God, sometimes even literally becoming a bearer of the [[uncreated light]]. Though these terms of three stages are sometimes used, there is much overlap between them, and the whole process is often termed ''theosis''.
It is only in and through Christ that man can be saved. Salvation cannot be earned, being a free gift from God. Its acquisition, however, requires man's cooperation with God, because God will not violate the free will of man. Thus, a life of repentance and participation in the [[sacraments]] is the means by which man cooperates with God. This cooperation is termed ''[[synergiasynergeia]]'' (synergy).
In theosis, man becomes filled with the divine life. He takes on God's attributes, but he does not become merged with the Holy Trinity. There is union without fusion. Man can become a god by grace, not in a polytheistic sense, but rather in terms of becoming a son or daughter of the Most High by means of adoption. Thus, a classic [[Church Fathers|patristic]] image of theosis is a sword held in a flame—the sword gradually takes on the properties of the flame (light and heat), but remains a sword.
The Orthodox Church does not take a position on exactly whom will be saved or what happens to those who are not in the world to come. There are some who take a position of [[Universalism]], like [[Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia]] or [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]] while remaining Orthodox.
==Clergy==
''Main article: [[Clergy]]''
Clergy are those in the Orthodox Church who have been called by God to fulfill specific functions of service and leadership in the Church. They are not worthy in themselves to fulfill these functions, but by the grace of [[ordination]], God enables them to carry out His will. This is why after an ordination is complete, the word ''[[Axios]]!'' ("Worthy!") is shouted, not because the Church is affirming the worthiness of this individual to be ordained (since he has already been ordained at that point), but rather because they affirm that the [[Holy Spirit]] has descended upon him and done His work of changing the man into a cleric.
Clergy are not inherently higher or better than the [[laity]] in the Church, who are also ordained to a specific ministry as the royal priesthood of Christ. The ministry of the clergy is, however, seen as a more intense and potentially spiritually dangerous role, since its business is the administration of the [[holy mysteries]] and the responsibility of the teaching of the people of God.
''Main article: [[Church History]]''
The Church's history records the progress of Christ's work throughout the course of the human experience. History in Orthodoxy has a theological importance because of the [[incarnation]] of Jesus Christ, that just as God chose to become a physical, living, breathing human being, He he also chooses to work in and through human history to bring about salvation. Thus, the Church's history becomes a sacred history, not in the same sense as the Biblical history which forms the salvation story itself, but rather as a record of the continued effects of the salvation story in the experience of man.
==See also==
*[http://orthodoxchristianity.orgfree.com/ Orthodox Christianity for Absolute Beginners]
*[http://www.stnicholascathedral.org/about_orthodoxy.html About Orthodoxy], from [http://www.stnicholascathedral.org/ St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral], Brooklyn, New York
*[http://www.kosovo.comnet/orthodoxy.html Orthodox Christianity], from the [[Church of Serbia]]
*[http://www.oca.org/OCIndex.asp?SID=2 About Orthodox Christianity] ([[OCA]] site)
*[http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/ Our Faith] ([[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|GOA]] site)
*[http://www.antiochian.org/673 What We Believenode/16958 Introduction to Orthodox Christianity] ([[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian]] site)
*[http://www.oca.org/QAindex.asp?SID=3 Meeting the Orthodox: Questions & Answers on the Orthodox Faith], by Fr. [[Thomas Hopko]]
*[http://www.ocf.org/orthodoxpage/reading/questions.html Some straight answers about the Orthodox Church]
*[http://www.svots.edu/Faculty/John-Behr/Articles/Orthodoxy.html Orthodoxy], by Fr. [[John Behr]]
*[http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article7051.asp Introduction to the Orthodox Church], by Fr. Leonidas Contos
*[http://www.stseraphim.org/doctrineofchrist.html ''The Doctrine of Christ: A Layman's Handbook''] by Abp. [[Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas]]
[[Category:Church History]]
[[Category:Church Life]]
[[Category:Theology]]
[[el:Εισαγωγή στον Ορθόδοξο Χριστιανισμό]]
[[fr:Introduction au Christianisme Orthodoxe]]
[[ro:Introducere în Creştinismul Ortodox]]
