What is the “Orthodox” Christian Church?
The title of the Orthodox Christian Church is usually linked with various ethnic and national titles: “Greek Orthodox,” or “Russian Orthodox,” etc., or more comprehensively, the Church is sometimes called “Eastern Orthodox.” These particular titles limit the Church in some respects because they define a “national church” that belongs to a region or state or that maintains ties with its place of origin. Orthodox Christianity is not limited to the East or to any particular region. The Greek word “orthodox” simply means “correct belief” and at the same time, “correct worship.” It became the name applied to the Christian Church that grew and flourished in the eastern, predominantly Greek speaking regions of the late Roman Empire. In fact, for the sake of accuracy, we should emphasize that for the first millennium of Christianity, the two great halves of the Christian Church, East and West, Greek speaking, Latin speaking and otherwise, were essentially united in one “catholic” (Greek for “u
