Eastern Christian Traditions and Churches
– Developed during classical and late antiquity in various regions
– Major bodies include Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Protestant churches
– Eastern Orthodox is the largest body with 220 million followers worldwide
– Eastern Catholic Churches have 16-18 million followers
– Include various liturgical rites such as Alexandrian, Armenian, Byzantine, East Syriac, and West Syriac
– Differences from Western Christianity influenced by culture, language, and politics
Eastern Christian Church Divisions and History
– Split between Church of Rome and Orthodox Church commonly dated to 1054 (East-West Schism)
– Historical divisions within and outside the Roman Empire over Christology and theology
– Major branches include Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic Churches, and Assyrian Church of the East
– Schism between the Church of the East and Roman Empire occurred before the Council of Ephesus in 431
– Eastern Orthodox Church mainly in Western Asia, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Caucasus
Specific Eastern Christian Churches
– Eastern Orthodox Church accepts decisions of the first seven ecumenical councils
– Eastern Orthodoxy comprises 14-16 autocephalous bodies
– Oriental Orthodoxy keeps faith of first three ecumenical councils and rejects definitions of Council of Chalcedon
– Church of the East declared independence in 424 and split into Chaldean Catholic Church and Assyrian Church of the East in the 16th century
– Assyrian Church of the East associated with Nestorianism and largely confined to Assyrian homeland
Eastern Catholic Churches and Rejection of Uniatism
– Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with the Holy See at the Vatican
– Rooted in Eastern Christian theological and liturgical traditions
– Originally part of Orthodox East and closely related to Eastern Orthodox churches
– Reciprocal exchanges of information and cooperation between bishops are encouraged
– Rejection of Uniatism and recognition of rights and obligations connected with communion with Rome
Contributions and Influence of Eastern Christianity
– Byzantine Rite Lutheranism based on the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom
– Significant Christian migration from the Near East in the 20th century
– Christians contributed to Arab Islamic Civilization in philosophy, science, and theology
– Role of Eastern Christianity in liturgical practices with influences on worship patterns
– Christian contributions to art, culture, and education in the Arab-Islamic world
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Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Western Asia, Asia Minor, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and the Malabar coast of South Asia, and ephemerally parts of Persia, Central Asia and the Far East. The term does not describe a single communion or religious denomination.
Major Eastern Christian bodies include the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, along with those groups descended from the historic Church of the East (aka the Assyrian Church), as well as the Eastern Catholic Churches (which have either re-established or always retained communion with Rome and maintain Eastern liturgies), and the Eastern Protestant churches (which are Protestant in theology but Eastern in cultural practice). Various Eastern churches do not normally refer to themselves as "Eastern", with the exception of the Assyrian Church of the East and its offshoot, the Ancient Church of the East.
The Eastern Orthodox are the largest body within Eastern Christianity with a worldwide population of 220 million, followed by the Oriental Orthodox at 60 million. The Eastern Catholic Churches consist of about 16–18 million and are a small minority within the Catholic Church. Eastern Protestant Christian churches do not form a single communion; churches like the Ukrainian Lutheran Church and Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church have under a million members. The Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East, descendant churches of the Assyria-based Church of the East, have a combined membership of approximately 400,000, with other Assyrians being Catholics within the Chaldean Catholic Church which broke away from the Assyrian Church in the late 17th century.
Historically, after the loss of the Levant in the 7th century to the Islamic Sunni Caliphate, the term Eastern Church was used for the Greek Church centered in Byzantium, in contrast with the (Western) Latin Church, centered on Rome, which uses the Latin liturgical rites. The terms "Eastern" and "Western" in this regard originated with geographical divisions in Christianity mirroring the cultural divide between the Hellenistic East and the Latin West, and the political divide of 395 AD between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. Since the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, the term "Eastern Christianity" may be used in contrast with "Western Christianity", which contains not only the Latin Church but also forms of Protestantism and Independent Catholicism. Some Eastern churches have more in common historically and theologically with Western Christianity than with one another.
Because the largest church in the East is the body currently known as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the term "Orthodox" is often used in a similar fashion to "Eastern", to refer to specific historical Christian communions. However, strictly speaking, most Christian denominations, whether Eastern or Western, regard themselves as "orthodox" (meaning "following correct beliefs") as well as "catholic" (meaning "universal"), and as sharing in the Four Marks of the Church listed in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 AD): "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic" (Greek: μία, ἁγία, καθολικὴ καὶ ἀποστολικὴ ἐκκλησία).
Eastern churches (excepting the non-liturgical dissenting bodies) utilize several liturgical rites: the Alexandrian Rite, the Armenian Rite, the Byzantine Rite, the East Syriac Rite (also known as Persian or Assyrian Rite), and the West Syriac Rite (also called the Antiochian Rite).
