Eastern Orthodox vs. Oriental Orthodox Beliefs
When someone says "Orthodox", most in the Western world automatically assume the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church. However, there is also the Oriental Orthodox Church. Both of these claim to be orthodox Christianity, as indeed every denomination does. However, these are the names these two branches of the faith are commonly known as.
Despite having very similar names (indeed, "oriental" even essentially means "eastern"), these two denominations are not closely related historically. Whereas the Eastern Orthodox Church famously split from the Roman Catholic Church in 1054, the Oriental Orthodox Church split originates far earlier in the 46th decade over the Council of Chalcedon, reaffirmed the natures of Christ.
Both denominations accept the Council of Ephesus, held in 431 and essentially stating the same thing as the Council of Chalcedon. However, Oriental Orthodox are Miaphysites in that they believe Jesus had two natures mystically united into one nature without confusion, whereas basically every other denomination believes Jesus just had two natures. This slight disagreement led to the Oriental Orthodox Church and Chalcedonian Christianity falling out of communion in the following centuries.
Another contributing factor was the political stress between Constantinople and Alexandria. Though both were part of the Roman Empire, the Coptic Christians felt accepting the Council of Chalcedon was submitting to the Patriarch of Rome as precedential.
Although the similar names are coincidental and they are not more historically related than either is to the Roman Catholic Church, in the centuries since their splits they have grown more similar, at least compared to Western Christianity. Both now reject the primacy of the Pope and believe in autocephalous churches. Neither emphasizes salvation or has a concept of mortal sins or purgatory. Both reject the Filioque, believing instead that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. Both baptize by triple immersion and typically use leavened bread in Eucharist. Neither believes that Mary was born of a virgin and free from sin.
In spite of these similarities, there are many, many differences as well. Obviously Oriental Orthodox being Miaphysite, they believe in a single unified nature for Christ instead of being fully divine and fully human as two separate natures. But just day-to-day, they have different liturgies, saints, and feasts. Oriental Orthodox also believe Christians must follow the Mosaic laws. They use different books of the Bible and have different views of Scripture, with Oriental Orthodox generally believing in inerrancy but not so much that the Bible is word-for-word preserved, while the Eastern Orthodox pride themselves on preserving the Bible, but believe it is wrong about many non-theological facts.
Both churches have been renewing dialogues in recent years and been reaching more agreements on some basic issues, so more similarities may come in the future. Yet they still have well over a thousand years of conflicting history build on their opposing views of the Council of Chalcedon. It appears unlikely that they can ever truly reconcile when doing so would require branding your church's saints as possible heretics.
Belief Table
| Eastern Orthodox | Oriental Orthodox | |
|---|---|---|
| a.k.a. |
| |
| Number of Members | 210,000,000[1] | 52,000,000[1] |
| How does one get saved? | Repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, and be baptized.[2] | Repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, and be baptized.[3][4][5] |
| Who gets saved? | Anyone who chooses by his own free will to believe and accept God's gift of grace will be saved. | Anyone who chooses by his own free will to believe and accept God's gift of grace will be saved. |
| Can one lose his salvation? | Yes, a Christian can lose his salvation by apostasy. | Yes, a Christian can lose his salvation by apostasy. |
| Who gets baptized and why? | The unsaved, typically as infants, get baptized as the first sacrament of Christian initiation, cleansing them of all sins. | The unsaved, typically as infants, get baptized as the first sacrament of Christian initiation, cleansing them of all sins.[3] |
| How should baptism be done? | Baptism should be by triple immersion. | Baptism should be by triple immersion. |
| When does one receive the Holy Spirit? | The Holy Spirit is received at chrismation, generally immediately after baptism. | The Holy Spirit is received at baptism. |
| What is the trinity? | The Trinity is God existing as one god in three equal, eternal, cosubstantial persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. | The Trinity is God existing as one god in three equal, eternal, cosubstantial persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. |
| What is the human nature? | Human nature is intrinsically good but is wounded and incapable of choosing God in our fallen environment.[6][7] | Human nature is corrupt and naturally inclined to evil.[8] |
| Are we guilty of Adam's original sin? | No, we are not guilty of Adam's sin, nor did we inherit a sinful nature from him, but we did inherit the consequences.[9] | No, we are not guilty of Adam's sin, but we did inherit the consequences and a corrupt human nature from him, causing us all to sin.[8][10] |
| Are Christians required to keep the Old Testament ceremonial laws? | No, the ceremonial laws of Judaism were fulfilled and done away with by Jesus. | Yes, all Old Testament laws are binding on Christians. |
| Can Christians become sinless in this earthly life? | Yes, Christian perfection is possible. | Yes, Christian perfection is possible. |
| Do the elements of communion become the body and blood of Christ? | Metousiosis: Yes, the bread and the wine change in essence into the body and blood of Christ. | Yes, the bread and the wine change into the body and blood of Christ in an unknown way.[11][12] |
| Can one be baptized of behalf of someone who has died? | No, the dead cannot be baptized. | No, the dead cannot be baptized. |
| What happens if a saved person dies without being perfect? | There is no purgatory, but Christians will continue in theosis after death.[13] | Once Christians leave their sinful bodies, nothing else is needed to receive glorified, sinless bodies.[14] |
| Did Mary ever sin? | Mary was prone to sin like anyone else, but no, through her own free will she still never did. | Mary was prone to sin like anyone else, but no, through her own free will she still never did. |
| What spiritual gifts are available today? | Continuationism: All spiritual gifts are still available to believers. | |
| What is the gift of tongues? | Speaking in tongues is sometimes unintelligible and sometimes foreign human languages.[15][16] | |
| What are the requirements for clergy? | Priests must be men over 30 ordained by bishops. | |
| How many church ordinances/sacraments are there? | The church has seven sacraments: Baptism, Chrism, Holy Eucharist, Confession, Ordination, Marriage, and Holy Unction.[17] | The church has seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Holy Eucharist, Unction of the Sick, Matrimony, and Priesthood.[18][19][20] |
| Who can take communion? | Only members of the church can participate in Holy Communion.[21] | |
| Should communion bread be leavened? | Leavened bread should be used in Holy Communion. | Most believe leavened bread should be used in Holy Communion. Armenians use unleavened bread. |
| To whom do Christians need to confess their sins? | Confession should be made to God before a priest.[22] | Sins must be privately confessed to a priest within 40 days.[23][24][25][26] |
| How should a church be structured? | Episcopal: Churches should be governed by the bishop in that episcopacy, who in turn is governed by a patriarch of an autocephalous church. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is first among equals. | Episcopal: Churches should be governed by the bishop in that eparchy, who in turn is governed by a patriarch of an autocephalous church. |
| What day of the week should Christians worship? | Christians worship on Sunday. | Christians worship on Sunday, although the Sabbath should be observed on Saturday. |
| How does God's revelation come to us today? | Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition have equal authority and comprise one finished deposit of faith. | Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition have equal authority and comprise one finished deposit of faith.[27] |
| How was the Bible written? | Verbal plenary inspiration: The Bible was written by men who had every word supernaturaly inspired by God.[28] | Verbal plenary inspiration: The Bible was written by men who had every word supernaturaly inspired by God.[29] |
| How many books are in the Bible? | There are 76 canonical books of the Bible: 39 protocanonical books, 10 deuterocanonical books, and 27 New Testament books. | Varies widely |
| Was the Bible written inerrantly? | No, the Bible was written inerrantly on matters of salvation but may contain errors in other matters.[30][31] | Yes, the Bible was written without any error.[29] |
| Who can speak with God's authority today? | The church as a whole speaks with God's authority at ecumenical councils. | Nobody today can speak for God.[32] |
| How was the Bible preserved? | Verbal plenary preservation: God has supernaturally preserved every word of the Bible.[33] | God has preserved the meanings of the Bible, but not every word.[29] |
| How was the earth created? | No established doctrine | Generally creationism: The earth was spoken into existence by God. |
| What is marriage? | Marriage is a covenant before God between one man and one woman. | Marriage is a covenant before God between one man and one woman.[34][35][36] |
| Is sex permissible outside marriage? | No, sex outside of marriage is not permissible. | No, sex outside of marriage is not permissible. |
| When is divorce permissible? | Divorce is permissible for adultery, abuse, or abandonment.[37][38] | Divorce is seldomly permissible upon investigation by a clergical committee, usually instigated by infidelity.[39] |
| May a Christian remarry while his former spouse is still alive? | Yes, a Christian may remarry a second or third time for human weakness.[38] | The innocent party to the adultery may remarry.[40] |
| When does a fetus become human? | Humanity begins at conception.[41] | Ranges from humanity beginning at fertilization to 40 days after conception[42][43][44][45] |
| Is contraception permissible? | Most believe that yes, contraceptives are permissible.[46][47] | Varies widely[44][48][49][50] |
| Are blood transfusions permissible? | Yes, blood transfusions are permissible. | Yes, blood transfusions are permissible.[51][52] |
| Should women cover their heads? | Varies widely | |
| Should Christians drink alcohol? | Yes, drinking alcohol is fine as long as one does not get drunk. | No, alcohol should be totally avoided aside from Eucharist.[53] |
| Should Christians fight in wars? | Yes, Christians can fight in just wars.[54][55][56] | Yes, Christians can fight in just wars.[57] |
| Whom does the Holy Spirit come from? | The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. | The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone.[58] |
| Who can be demon-possessed? | Demons can possess unbelievers and Christians living in sin.[59][60] | |
| Do icons glorify God? | Yes, icons are holy and should be venerated.[61] | Yes, icons are holy and should be venerated.[62][63] |
| Where does a Christian's soul go after death? | After death, souls sit conscious in an Intermediate State, with a foretaste of heaven for Christians.[64] | After death, souls sit conscious in an Intermediate State, with Christians being with Christ.[65] |
| When does the Tribulation happen? | Futurism: The Tribulation will happen at a time in the future which no man knows the time of.[66] | |
| When will the church be raptured? | The church will not be raptured at any point. | |
| When is the millennial reign of Christ happen? | Amillennialism: The millennial reign of Christ is an indefinite period of time beginning on the day of Pentecost and ending at His Second Coming. | Amillennialism: The millennial reign of Christ is an indefinite period of time beginning on the day of Pentecost and ending at His Second Coming. |