What is the Eastern Orthodox Church and what are the beliefs of Orthodox Christians?
The Eastern Orthodox Church is not a single church but rather a family of 13 self-governing bodies, denominated by the nation in which they are located (e.g., the Greek Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church, etc.). They are united in their understanding of the sacraments, doctrine, liturgy, and church government, but each administers its own affairs.
The head of each Orthodox church is called a "patriarch" or "metropolitan." The patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) is considered the "ecumenical," or universal, patriarch. He is the closest thing to a counterpart to the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church, but unlike the Pope, who is known as VICARIUS FILIUS DEI (the vicar of the Son of God), the bishop of Constantinople is known as PRIMUS INTER PARES (the first amongst equals). He enjoys special honor, but he has no power to interfere with the 12 other Orthodox communions.
The Orthodox Church claims to be the one, true church of Christ and seeks to trace its origin back to the original apostles through an unbroken chain of succession. Orthodox thinkers debate the spiritual status of Roman Catholics and Protestants, and a few still consider them heretics. Like Catholics and Protestants, however, Orthodox believers affirm the Trinity, the Bible as the Word of God, Jesus as God the Son, and other biblical doctrines. However, in doctrine, they have much more in common with Roman Catholics than they do Protestant believers.
The doctrine of justification by faith is virtually absent from the history and theology of Orthodoxy. Rather, Orthodoxy emphasizes thesis (literally, "divination"), the gradual process by which Christians become more and more like Christ. Other Orthodox distinctive that are in conflict with the protestant (biblical) creeds include:
The equal authority of church tradition and Scripture
Discouragement of individuals interpreting the Bible apart from tradition
The perpetual virginity of Mary
Prayer for the dead
Baptism of infants w/o reference to individual responsibility and faith
The possibility of salvation after death
The possibility of losing salvation
While the Eastern Orthodox Church has claimed some of the church's great voices, they do not speak with a clear message that can be harmonized with the Gospel of Christ. The clarion call of the Reformers for "Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, and Christ Alone" is missing in this branch of Christendom and that is too precious a treasure to do without
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