Orthodox Rus' before and after the adoption of Christianity. When did the Russian Church begin to be called Orthodox?

2. The controversy between Christians and Manichaeans The impression of the difficult conditions in which the Manichaean mission existed is strengthened if we turn our attention to the time when the Christian Church completely conquered the Roman state and Christianity became

The persecution of L. N. Tolstoy by Orthodox priests Since the beginning of the 80s of the last century, the “holy” synod and the government began to pay attention to the literary and journalistic activities of L. N. Tolstoy. In small books “On Church Deception”, “On Tolerance”, “Letters to

The Greek-Catholic Orthodox (Right Faithful) Church (now the Russian Orthodox Church) began to be called Orthodox Slavic only on September 8, 1943 (approved by Stalin’s decree in 1945). What then was called Orthodoxy for several millennia?

“In our time, in modern Russian vernacular in official, scientific and religious designation, the term “Orthodoxy” is applied to anything related to the ethnocultural tradition and is necessarily associated with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Christian Judeo-Christian religion.

To a simple question: “What is Orthodoxy,” any modern person, without hesitation, will answer that Orthodoxy is the Christian faith that Kievan Rus adopted during the reign of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun from the Byzantine Empire in 988 AD. And that Orthodoxy, i.e. The Christian faith has existed on Russian soil for more than a thousand years. Historical scientists and Christian theologians, in support of their words, declare that the earliest use of the word Orthodoxy on the territory of Rus' is recorded in the “Sermon on Law and Grace” of the 1037-1050s of Metropolitan Hilarion.

But was it really so?

We advise you to carefully read the preamble to the federal law on freedom of conscience and on religious associations, adopted on September 26, 1997. Note the following points in the preamble: “Recognizing the special role Orthodoxy in Russia...and further respecting Christianity , Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and other religions..."

Thus, the concepts of Orthodoxy and Christianity are not identical and carry within them completely different concepts and meanings.

Orthodoxy. How historical myths appeared

It is worth wondering who participated in the seven councils Judeo-Christian churches? Orthodox holy fathers or still Orthodox holy fathers, as indicated in the original Word on Law and Grace? Who and when made the decision to replace one concept with another? And was there ever any mention of Orthodoxy in the past?

The answer to this question was given by the Byzantine monk Belisarius in 532 AD. Long before the baptism of Rus', this is what he wrote in his Chronicles about the Slavs and their ritual of visiting the bathhouse: “Orthodox Slovenians and Rusyns are wild people, and their life is wild and godless, men and girls lock themselves together in a hot, heated hut and wear out their bodies... »

We will not pay attention to the fact that for the monk Belisarius the usual visit to the bathhouse by the Slavs seemed something wild and incomprehensible; this is quite natural. Something else is important for us. Pay attention to how he called the Slavs: Orthodox Slovenians and Rusyns.

For this one phrase alone we must express our gratitude to him. Since with this phrase the Byzantine monk Belisarius confirms that the Slavs were Orthodox for many thousands years before their conversion to Judeo-Christian faith.

The Slavs were called Orthodox because they RIGHT was praised.

What is "RIGHT"?

Our ancestors believed that reality, the cosmos, is divided into three levels. And this is also very similar to the Indian system of division: Upper world, Middle world and Lower world.

In Rus' these three levels were called:

• The highest level is the level of Government or Edit.
• The second, middle level is Reality.
• And the lowest level is Nav. Nav or Non-reality, unmanifested.

• World Rule- this is a world where everything is right or ideal higher world. This is a world where ideal beings with higher consciousness live.
• Reality- this is ours, the manifest, obvious world, the world of people.
• And peace Navi or do not appear, unmanifest is the negative, unmanifested or lower or posthumous world.

The Indian Vedas also speak of the existence of three worlds:

• The upper world is a world where the energy of goodness dominates.
• The middle world is engulfed in passion.
• The lower world is immersed in ignorance.

Christians do not have such a division. The Bible is silent about this.

Such a similar understanding of the world gives similar motivation in life, i.e. it is necessary to strive for the world of Rule or Goodness. And in order to get into the world of Rule, you need to do everything correctly, i.e. according to God's law.

Words such as “truth” come from the root “rule.” Is it true- what gives the right. " Yes" is "to give", and " edit" - this is "highest". So, " Truth" - this is what the government gives.

If we talk not about faith, but about the word “Orthodoxy”, then of course it was borrowed by the church(according to various estimates in the 13th-16th centuries) from “those who glorify the rule”, i.e. from ancient Russian Vedic cults.

If only for the following reasons:

• a) it was rare that an Old Russian name did not contain a piece of “glory”,
• b) that the Sanskrit, Vedic word “prav” (spiritual world) is still contained in such modern Russian words as: right, right, righteous, right, rule, management, correction, government, right, wrong. The roots of all these words are " rights».

“Right” or “rule”, i.e. highest beginning. The point is that the basis of real management should be the concept of Rule or the highest reality. And real governance should spiritually elevate those who follow the ruler, leading his wards along the paths of rule.

• Details in the article: Philosophical and cultural similarities of Ancient Rus' and Ancient India .

Substitution of the name "Orthodoxy" is not "Orthodoxy"

The question is, who and when on Russian soil decided to replace the terms orthodoxy with Orthodoxy?

This happened in the 17th century, when Moscow Patriarch Nikon instituted church reform. The main goal of this reform by Nikon was not to change the rituals of the Christian Church, as it is interpreted now, where everything supposedly comes down to replacing the two-fingered sign of the cross with a three-fingered one and walking the procession in the other direction. The main goal of the reform was the destruction of dual faith on Russian soil.

Nowadays, few people know that before the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Muscovy, dual faith existed on Russian lands. In other words, the common people professed not only orthodoxy, i.e. Greek Rite Christianity, which came from Byzantium, but also the old pre-Christian faith of their ancestors ORTHODOXY. This was what most worried Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his spiritual mentor, Christian Patriarch Nikon, for the Orthodox Old Believers lived by their own principles and did not recognize any authority over themselves.

Patriarch Nikon decided to put an end to dual faith in a very original way. To do this, under the guise of reform in the church, allegedly due to the discrepancy between the Greek and Slavic texts, he ordered to rewrite all liturgical books, replacing the phrases “orthodox Christian faith” with “Orthodox Christian faith.” In the Chetiy Menaia that have survived to this day, we can see the old version of the entry “Orthodox Christian Faith.” This was Nikon’s very interesting approach to the matter of reform.

Firstly, there was no need to rewrite many ancient Slavic, as they said then, charati books, or chronicles, which described the victories and achievements of pre-Christian Orthodoxy.

Secondly, life during the times of dual faith and the very original meaning of Orthodoxy were erased from the memory of the people, because after such a church reform, any text from liturgical books or ancient chronicles could be interpreted as the beneficial influence of Christianity on Russian lands. In addition, the patriarch sent out a reminder to Moscow churches about using the three-finger sign of the cross instead of the two-finger sign.

Thus began the reform, as well as the protest against it, which led to a church schism. The protest against Nikon's church reforms was organized by the patriarch's former comrades, archpriests Avvakum Petrov and Ivan Neronov. They pointed out to the patriarch the arbitrariness of his actions, and then in 1654 he organized a Council at which, as a result of pressure on the participants, he sought to carry out a book review of ancient Greek and Slavic manuscripts. However, for Nikon, the comparison was not with the old rituals, but with the modern Greek practice of that time. All the actions of Patriarch Nikon led to the fact that the church split into two warring parts.

Supporters of the old traditions accused Nikon of a trilingual heresy and indulgence in paganism, as Christians called Orthodoxy, that is, the old pre-Christian faith. The split spread throughout the country. This led to the fact that in 1667 a large Moscow council condemned and deposed Nikon, and anathematized all opponents of the reforms. Since then, adherents of new liturgical traditions began to be called Nikonians, and adherents of old rituals and traditions began to be called schismatics and persecuted. The confrontation between the Nikonians and the schismatics at times led to armed clashes until the tsarist troops came out on the side of the Nikonians. In order to avoid a large-scale religious war, part of the highest clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate condemned some provisions of Nikon’s reforms.

The term Orthodoxy began to be used again in liturgical practices and government documents. For example, let us turn to the spiritual regulations of Peter the Great: “...And as a Christian Sovereign, he is the guardian of orthodoxy and all piety in the Holy Church...”

As we see, even in the 18th century, Peter the Great was called the Christian sovereign, the guardian of Orthodoxy and piety. But there is not a word about Orthodoxy in this document. It is not in the editions of the Spiritual Regulations of 1776-1856.

Thus, the “church” reform of Patriarch Nikon was clearly carried out against the traditions and foundations of the Russian people, against Slavic rituals, not church ones.

In general, the “reform” marks the milestone from which a sharp decline in faith, spirituality and morality begins in Russian society. Everything new in rituals, architecture, icon painting, and singing is of Western origin, which is also noted by civilian researchers.

The “church” reforms of the mid-17th century were directly related to religious construction. The order to strictly follow the Byzantine canons put forward the requirement to build churches “with five peaks, and not with a tent.”

Tent-roofed buildings (with a pyramidal top) were known in Rus' even before the adoption of Christianity. This type of building is considered originally Russian. That is why Nikon, with his reforms, took care of such “trifles”, because this was a real “pagan” trace among the people. Under the threat of the death penalty, craftsmen and architects managed to preserve the shape of the tent in temple buildings and secular ones. Despite the fact that it was necessary to build domes with onion-shaped domes, the general shape of the structure was made pyramidal. But not everywhere it was possible to deceive the reformers. These were mainly the northern and remote areas of the country.

Nikon did everything possible and impossible to ensure that the true Slavic heritage disappeared from the vastness of Rus', and with it the Great Russian People.

Now it becomes obvious that there were no grounds at all for carrying out church reform. The reasons were completely different and had nothing to do with the church. This is, first of all, the destruction of the spirit of the Russian people! Culture, heritage, the great past of our people. And this was done by Nikon with great cunning and meanness.

Nikon simply “planted a pig” on the people, so much so that we, the Russians, still have to remember in parts, literally bit by bit, who we are and our Great Past.

But was Nikon the instigator of these transformations? Or maybe there were completely different people behind him, and Nikon was only a performer? And if this is so, then who are these “men in black” who were so disturbed by the Russian man with his many thousands of years of great past?

The answer to this question was outlined very well and in detail by B.P. Kutuzov in the book “The Secret Mission of Patriarch Nikon”. Despite the fact that the author does not fully understand the true goals of the reform, we must give him credit for how clearly he exposed the true customers and implementers of this reform.

• Details in the article: The great scam of Patriarch Nikon. How Nikita Minin killed Orthodoxy

Education of the Russian Orthodox Church

Based on this, the question arises: when did the term Orthodoxy begin to be officially used by the Christian Church?

The fact is that in the Russian Empire did not have Russian Orthodox Church. The Christian Church existed under a different name - “Russian Greek-Catholic Church”. Or as it was also called “Russian Orthodox Church of the Greek Rite”.

Christian church called The Russian Orthodox Church appeared during the reign of the Bolsheviks.

At the beginning of 1945, by order of Joseph Stalin, a local council of the Russian church was held in Moscow under the leadership of responsible persons from the State Security of the USSR and a new Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' was elected.

• Details in the article: How Stalin created the Russian Orthodox Church MP [video]

It should be mentioned that many Christian priests, those who did not recognize the power of the Bolsheviks left Russia and beyond its borders they continue to profess Christianity of the Eastern Rite and call their church nothing more than Russian Orthodox Church or Russian Orthodox Church.

In order to finally move away from well crafted historical myth and to find out what the word Orthodoxy really meant in ancient times, let us turn to those people who still keep the old faith of their ancestors.

Having received their education in Soviet times, these learned men either do not know or carefully try to hide from ordinary people that in ancient times, long before the birth of Christianity, Orthodoxy existed in the Slavic lands. It covered not only the basic concept when our wise ancestors glorified the Rule. And the deep essence of Orthodoxy was much larger and more voluminous than it seems today.

The figurative meaning of this word also included the concept of when our ancestors The right was praised. But it was not Roman law or Greek law, but ours, our native Slavic law.

It included:

• Family Law, based on the ancient cultural traditions, laws and foundations of the Family;
• Communal law, creating mutual understanding between various Slavic clans living together in one small settlement;
• Cop law which regulated the interaction between communities living in large settlements, which were cities;
• Vesi law, which determined the relationships between communities living in different cities and settlements within the same Vesi, i.e. within one area of ​​settlement and residence;
• Veche law, which was adopted at a general meeting of all the people and was observed by all clans of the Slavic community.

Any Right from the Tribal to the Veche was established on the basis of the ancient Laws, the culture and foundations of the Family, as well as on the basis of the commandments of the ancient Slavic gods and the instructions of the ancestors. This was our native Slavic Right.

Our wise ancestors commanded to preserve it, and we preserve it. Since ancient times, our ancestors glorified the Rule and we continue to glorify the Rule, and we preserve our Slavic Right and pass it on from generation to generation.

Therefore, we and our ancestors were, are and will be Orthodox.

Substitution on Wikipedia

Modern interpretation of the term ORTHODOX = Orthodox, appeared on Wikipedia only after this resource switched to funding from the UK government. In fact, Orthodoxy is translated as rightVerie, Orthodox is translated as orthodox.

Either, Wikipedia, continuing the idea of ​​​​the “identity” Orthodoxy = Orthodoxy, should call Muslims and Jews Orthodox (for the terms Orthodox Muslim or Orthodox Jew are found throughout world literature) or still admit that Orthodoxy = Orthodoxy and in no way relates to Orthodoxy, as well as the Christian Church of the Eastern Rite, called the Russian Orthodox Church since 1945.

Orthodoxy is not a religion, not Christianity, but a faith

By the way, on many of his icons it is written in implicit letters: MARY LIK. Hence the original name of the area in honor of the face of Mary: Marlykian. So in fact this bishop was Nicholas of Marlikiy. And his city, which was originally called “ Mary"(that is, the city of Mary), is now called Bari. There was a phonetic replacement of sounds.

Bishop Nicholas of Myra - Nicholas the Wonderworker

However, now Christians do not remember these details, hushing up the Vedic roots of Christianity. For now Jesus in Christianity is interpreted as the God of Israel, although Judaism does not consider him a god. But Christianity says nothing about the fact that Jesus Christ, as well as his apostles, are different faces of Yar, although this is read on many icons. The name of the god Yara is also read on Shroud of Turin .

At one time, Vedism reacted very calmly and brotherly to Christianity, seeing in it simply a local outgrowth of Vedism, for which there is a name: paganism (that is, an ethnic variety), like Greek paganism with another name Yara - Ares, or Roman, with the name Yara is Mars, or with the Egyptian, where the name Yar or Ar was read in the opposite direction, Ra. In Christianity, Yar became Christ, and Vedic temples made icons and crosses of Christ.

And only over time, under the influence of political, or rather geopolitical reasons, Christianity was opposed to Vedism, and then Christianity saw manifestations of “paganism” everywhere and waged a struggle with it not to the stomach, but to the death. In other words, he betrayed his parents, his heavenly patrons, and began to preach humility and submission.

The Judeo-Christian religion not only does not teach a worldview, but also prevents the acquisition of ancient knowledge, declaring it heresy. Thus, at first, instead of the Vedic way of life, stupid worship was imposed, and in the 17th century, after the Nikonian reform, the meaning of Orthodoxy was replaced.

The so-called "Orthodox Christians", although they have always been true believers, because Orthodoxy and Christianity are completely different essences and principles.

• Details in the article: V.A. Chudinov - Proper education .

Currently, the concept of "paganism" exists only as an antithesis to Christianity, and not as an independent figurative form. For example, when the Nazis attacked the USSR, they called the Russians “Rusishe Schweine”, so why should we now, imitating the fascists, call ourselves “Rusishe Schweine”?

A similar misunderstanding occurs with paganism; neither the Russian people (our ancestors) nor our spiritual leaders (magi or brahmans) ever called themselves “pagans.”

The Jewish form of thinking needed to vulgarize and mutilate the beauty of the Russian Vedic system of values, so a powerful pagan (“pagan”, filthy) project arose.

Neither the Russians nor the Magi of Rus' ever called themselves pagans.

The concept of "paganism" is a purely Jewish concept, which the Jews used to designate all non-biblical religions. (And as we know, there are three biblical religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And they all have one common source - the Bible).

• Details in the article: There has NEVER been paganism in Rus'!

Secret writing on Russian and modern Christian icons

Thus Christianity within ALL Rus' was adopted not in 988, but in the interval between 1630 and 1635.

The study of Christian icons made it possible to identify sacred texts on them. Explicit inscriptions cannot be included among them. But they absolutely include implicit inscriptions associated with Russian Vedic gods, temples and priests (memes).

On the old Christian icons of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus there are Russian inscriptions in runes, saying that they depict the Slavic Goddess Makosh with the baby God Yar. Jesus Christ was also called HOR OR HORUS. Moreover, the name CHOR on the mosaic depicting Christ in the Church of Christ Choir in Istanbul is written like this: “NHOR”, that is, ICHOR. The letter I used to be written as N. The name IGOR is almost identical to the name IHOR OR CHORUS, since the sounds X and G could transform into each other. By the way, it is possible that the respectful name HERO came from here, which later entered many languages ​​practically unchanged.

And then the need to disguise Vedic inscriptions becomes clear: their discovery on icons could entail accusing the icon painter of belonging to the Old Believers, and this could result in punishment in the form of exile or the death penalty.

On the other hand, as is now becoming obvious, the absence of Vedic inscriptions made the icon a non-sacred artifact. In other words, it was not so much the presence of narrow noses, thin lips and large eyes that made the image sacred, but it was the connection with the god Yar in the first place and with the goddess Mara in the second place through reference implicit inscriptions that added magical and miraculous properties to the icon. Therefore, icon painters, if they wanted to make an icon miraculous, and not a simple piece of art, were obliged to supply any image with the words: FACE OF YAR, MIM OF YAR AND MARA, TEMPLE OF MARA, YAR TEMPLE, YAR Rus', etc.

Nowadays, when persecution on religious charges has ceased, the icon painter no longer risks his life and property by applying implicit inscriptions to modern icon paintings. Therefore, in a number of cases, namely in the cases of mosaic icons, he no longer tries to hide this kind of inscription as much as possible, but transfers them to the category of semi-explicit.

Thus, using Russian material, the reason was revealed why explicit inscriptions on icons moved into the category of semi-explicit and implicit: the ban on Russian Vedism, which followed from. However, this example gives rise to the assumption of the same motives for masking obvious inscriptions on coins.

This idea can be expressed in more detail as follows: once upon a time, the body of a deceased priest (mime) was accompanied by a funeral golden mask, on which there were all the corresponding inscriptions, but not very large and not very contrasting, so as not to destroy the aesthetic perception of the mask. Later, instead of a mask, smaller objects began to be used - pendants and plaques, which also depicted the face of the deceased mime with corresponding discreet inscriptions. Even later, portraits of mimes migrated to coins. And this kind of image was preserved as long as spiritual power was considered the most significant in society.

However, when power became secular, passing to military leaders - princes, leaders, kings, emperors, images of government officials, not mimes, began to be minted on coins, while images of mimes migrated to icons. At the same time, secular power, being more coarse, began to mint its own inscriptions weightily, roughly, visibly, and obvious legends appeared on coins. With the emergence of Christianity, such explicit inscriptions began to appear on icons, but they were no longer written in the runes of the Family, but in the Old Slavonic Cyrillic script. In the West, the Latin script was used for this.

Thus, in the West there was a similar, but still somewhat different motive, why the implicit inscriptions of mimes did not become explicit: on the one hand, aesthetic tradition, on the other hand, the secularization of power, that is, the transition of the function of managing society from priests to military leaders and officials.

This allows us to consider icons, as well as sacred sculptures of gods and saints, as substitutes for those artifacts that acted as carriers of sacred properties before: golden masks and plaques. On the other hand, icons existed before, but did not affect the sphere of finance, remaining entirely within religion. Therefore, their production has experienced a new heyday.

• Details in the article: Secret writing on Russian and modern Christian icons [video] .

To comply with ethical and moral standards in society, as well as to regulate relations between an individual and the state or the highest form of spirituality (Cosmic Mind, God), world religions were created. Over time, splits have occurred within every major religion. As a result of this schism, Orthodoxy was formed.

Orthodoxy and Christianity

Many people make the mistake of considering all Christians to be Orthodox. Christianity and Orthodoxy are not the same thing. How to distinguish between these two concepts? What is their essence? Now let's try to figure it out.

Christianity is which originated in the 1st century. BC e. waiting for the coming of the Savior. Its formation was influenced by the philosophical teachings of that time, Judaism (polytheism was replaced by one God) and endless military-political skirmishes.

Orthodoxy is just one of the branches of Christianity that originated in the 1st millennium AD. in the eastern Roman Empire and received its official status after the schism of the common Christian church in 1054.

History of Christianity and Orthodoxy

The history of Orthodoxy (orthodoxy) began already in the 1st century AD. This was the so-called apostolic creed. After the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the apostles faithful to him began to preach his teachings to the masses, attracting new believers to their ranks.

In the 2nd-3rd centuries, orthodoxy was engaged in active confrontation with Gnosticism and Arianism. The first rejected the writings of the Old Testament and interpreted the New Testament in their own way. The second, led by the presbyter Arius, did not recognize the consubstantiality of the Son of God (Jesus), considering him a mediator between God and people.

Seven Ecumenical Councils, convened with the support of the Byzantine emperors from 325 to 879, helped to resolve the contradictions between the rapidly developing heretical teachings and Christianity. The axioms established by the Councils regarding the nature of Christ and the Mother of God, as well as the approval of the Creed, helped the new movement to take shape into the most powerful Christian religion.

Not only heretical concepts contributed to the development of Orthodoxy. Western and Eastern influenced the formation of new directions in Christianity. The different political and social views of the two empires created a crack in the united all-Christian church. Gradually it began to split into Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic (later Orthodox). The final split between Orthodoxy and Catholicism occurred in 1054, when the Pope and the Pope mutually excommunicated each other (anathema). The division of the common Christian church ended in 1204, along with the fall of Constantinople.

The Russian land adopted Christianity in 988. Officially, there was no division into Rome yet, but due to the political and economic interests of Prince Vladimir, the Byzantine direction - Orthodoxy - was widespread on the territory of Rus'.

The essence and foundations of Orthodoxy

The basis of any religion is faith. Without it, the existence and development of divine teachings is impossible.

The essence of Orthodoxy is contained in the Creed, adopted at the Second Ecumenical Council. On the fourth, the Nicene Creed (12 dogmas) was established as an axiom, not subject to any change.

Orthodox believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Holy Trinity). is the creator of everything earthly and heavenly. The Son of God, incarnate from the Virgin Mary, is consubstantial and only begotten in relation to the Father. The Holy Spirit comes from God the Father through the Son and is revered no less than the Father and the Son. The Creed tells of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, pointing to eternal life after death.

All Orthodox Christians belong to one church. Baptism is a mandatory ritual. When it is committed, liberation from original sin occurs.

Observance of moral standards (commandments) that were transmitted by God through Moses and voiced by Jesus Christ is mandatory. All “rules of behavior” are based on help, compassion, love and patience. Orthodoxy teaches us to endure any hardships of life without complaint, to accept them as the love of God and trials for sins, in order to then go to heaven.

Orthodoxy and Catholicism (main differences)

Catholicism and Orthodoxy have a number of differences. Catholicism is a branch of Christian teaching that arose, like Orthodoxy, in the 1st century. AD in the western Roman Empire. And Orthodoxy is Christianity, which originated in the Eastern Roman Empire. Here is a comparison table:

Nowadays, the question of reconciliation between churches very often arises. But due to significant and minor differences (for example, Catholics and Orthodox Christians cannot agree on the use of yeast or unleavened bread in the sacraments), reconciliation is constantly postponed. There can be no talk of a reunion in the near future.

The attitude of Orthodoxy to other religions

Orthodoxy is a direction that, having stood out from general Christianity as an independent religion, does not recognize other teachings, considering them false (heretical). There can only be one truly true religion.

Orthodoxy is a trend in religion that is not losing popularity, but on the contrary, gaining popularity. And yet, in the modern world it calmly coexists in the vicinity of other religions: Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Shintoism and others.

Orthodoxy and modernity

Our times have given the church freedom and support it. Over the past 20 years, the number of believers, as well as those who consider themselves to be Orthodox, has increased. At the same time, the moral spirituality that this religion implies, on the contrary, has fallen. A huge number of people perform rituals and attend church mechanically, that is, without faith.

The number of churches and parochial schools attended by believers has increased. An increase in external factors only partially affects the internal state of a person.

The Metropolitan and other clergy hope that, after all, those who consciously accepted Orthodox Christianity will be able to achieve spiritual success.

Today, brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul addresses us all with these words: “If I am not an Apostle to others, I am an Apostle to you; for the seal of my apostleship is ye in the Lord” (1 Cor. 9:2). These words remind us of the most important characteristic of our Church. In the “Creed” we sing: “I believe in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.” These four qualities: unity, holiness, conciliarity and apostolate are the main signs of the true Church. We have a reason to talk about the last quality, apostleship, today.

First of all, it must be said that the name “apostle” in Scripture designates not only the disciples of Christ. Christ Himself is called an apostle. For example, the book of Hebrews says, “Keep in mind the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ” (Heb. 3:1). The word "Messenger" here is a translation from the Greek "apostolos". Also, the ministry of Christ is called apostleship: in the Epistle to the Galatians it is written: “When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His [Only Begotten] Son” (Gal. 4:4). “Sent” (in Greek “exapestile”) comes from the same root as the word “apostle.” Thus, Christ is, if I may put it this way, an Apostle of God the Father.

Christ's apostolate is also borne by His Church, which is the Body of Christ. From this we can understand one of the meanings of calling our Church “Apostolic Church.” The Church bears this high title according to the purpose of its existence. The mission of the Church in the world is the mission of Christ, the apostolic one. The church is given the commandment: “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). This is a very important point - the great command of Christ is addressed not only to the apostles and their successors, the bishops, but to the entire Church, and concerns us all. If the responsibility to preach their faith lay only with bishops and priests, then church history would not know the face of equal-to-the-apostles laity. There would be no Equal-to-the-Apostles Thekla, nor Saint Nina of Georgia, nor Grand Duke Vladimir and Princess Olga, nor Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen in our calendar. These people did not have holy orders, but they enlightened thousands of people with the light of Christianity. Or, for example, Saint Gregory, the enlightener of Armenia, although he took holy orders, it was only after, thanks to him, Christianity became the official religion of Armenia.

Of course, brothers and sisters, this does not mean that we should all run out into the street today with a Bible in our hands and start throwing ourselves at passers-by. No. You can preach in different ways, and that’s not what we’re talking about now. It is important to realize the very idea: the whole Church is called to preach. And how this thought will be realized in the life of a believer is a personal matter for each of us.

So, the Church is called apostolic because of the purpose of its existence. Further, it bears this name based on its foundation. Paul writes in Ephesians that the Church is built on “the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20). What does it mean? It was the apostles who stood at the origins of the historical existence of the Church, transmitted to it the teaching of faith and life, established the Sacraments and sacred rites according to the commandment of the Lord, and laid the foundation for its canonical structure. The Apostles are the founders of a number of Local Churches, which then, in turn, became the mothers of many other Local Churches.

Further, the Church is called apostolic because the apostolic Tradition has been preserved in it. This point is the most important. If all Orthodox Christians were well acquainted with this situation, it is unlikely that anyone would find compelling reasons for converting from Orthodoxy to Protestantism (which, unfortunately, happens). Starting from the day of Pentecost to our time, the living stream of grace of the Holy Spirit, transmitted through the Sacraments, continuously flows in the Church, and the correct teaching about the economy of our salvation is proclaimed. And this is the main point. What does a person need to be saved? Right faith and the grace of God. A person comes to church and hears words of truth and common sense. He comes and receives forgiveness of sins and grace-filled strength for growth in faith. The Church of Christ gives man the greatest treasure: correct teaching on how to be saved, and effective means for achieving his salvation. All this is contained in the Apostolic Tradition.

So, here are three reasons why the Orthodox Church calls itself apostolic: by the purpose of its existence, by its foundation, by the presence of the Apostolic Tradition in it.

All this, it would seem, should make an Orthodox person love the apostles of Christ, read their books, pray to them, study their lives. However, there is some damage in our church life regarding this topic. Firstly, in Orthodox circles it is considered absolutely normal not to know the apostolic epistles. Secondly, in our church piety there is no obligatory column about frequent and fervent prayer to the apostles of Christ. We pray much more to St. Nicholas, Spyridon, Panteleimon, Tatiana, than the twelve apostles. For some reason, Christ’s disciples do not deserve to become “our own”, “relatives” to us. This will be clearly visible if you pay attention to how many people are standing in the church in the service of St. Nicholas and how many are in the service of, say, the Apostle Thomas. Or at the service of the Great Martyr Barbara and at the service of the Evangelist Matthew. It is good that we love Nicholas and Varvara so much, but at the same time, unfortunately, the inferiority of our missionary consciousness is clearly revealed.

That is why, brothers and sisters, our self-awareness as an apostolic Church is so important. This is why Paul emphasizes that we must bear the “seal of apostleship.” The apostolate of the Church is not just words, but a worldview. One of the modern theologians wrote that a Christian is one who looks at the world through the eyes of the apostles. The apostolate of the Church is a spiritual reality in which we must live and be saved. Our faith originates from the apostles, and it will lead to them. For this is what is said about the heavenly Jerusalem, in which all Christians who please God will dwell: “The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:14). In the city founded on the apostolic names, the Lord will settle all those who have the seal of apostleship on them, and we should all be like that.

May the words of today's reading help us patch up some of the holes in our church life, of which we have many, brothers and sisters. And we don't need to be afraid to admit it. An Orthodox person should always be ready to learn and improve. When the Orthodox Church says that everything is perfect in Her, then from minute to minute we can expect the end of the world. But as long as there are people who admit their illnesses and agree to be treated in Christ’s hospital called the Church, the world will stand. And first of all, it depends on us, to whom Paul, and in his person the other apostles, says today: “If I am not an Apostle to others, then I am an Apostle to you; for the seal of my apostleship is ye in the Lord.”

To the question Since when and why did the Orthodox Christian Church begin to be called Orthodox? given by the author Sketch the best answer is To attract flocks at the Council in 1663, Patriarch Nikon renamed Orthodox Christianity as Orthodox.
Source: Faith in God
Mhlu
Oracle
(59511)
I received the information from an oral source, an adherent of the Russian tradition.

Answer from 22 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Since when and why did the Orthodox Christian Church begin to be called Orthodox?

Answer from Yollala[guru]
Oh, don’t look, all normal facts have been destroyed

Answer from Neuropathologist[guru]
The schism of the Christian Church in 1054, also the Great Schism - a church schism, after which the Church was finally divided into the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox Church in the East, centered in Constantinople.

Answer from Slope[guru]
This is the church that does not want to perceive the entire Bible, since the Commandments of God are written in the Old Testament, which they do not want to fulfill.
Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. (words of Christ)
(Matt. 5:17)
Orthodoxy is ancient Christianity. We are the Old Believers of Europe: we believe as Europeans did a thousand years ago. We are the Europe of Boethius, Augustine, Tertullian, Ambrose. Orthodoxy is that reading of the Gospel, that way of life in Christ that developed in the era of late antiquity. When Greek philosophy reached its zenith in Plotinus, in that century and in the same city a man called the “father of Orthodox theology” - Origen - was working. St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory the Theologian managed to graduate from the Athenian (still pagan) university before its decline and managed to advise his students to take the great pagan authors on their Christian path28. It was the 4th century that was central in the history of Orthodoxy - this is the “golden age of patristic writing”, and the time of the adoption of the Creed, the time of the birth of monasticism and the final formation of the structure of the church body. Before the era of the barbarian invasion, Christianity managed to find its basic forms, preserved in Orthodoxy in the main to this day, so much so that even according to the observation of A. Harnack, the famous Protestant historian of the Church, Orthodoxy has not changed since then: “I ask you to skip centuries and move on to the consideration Greek Church as it now exists, which has remained essentially unchanged in it for more than a thousand years.Between the third and the nineteenth centuries in the ecclesiastical history of the East we do not see any deep difference... Obviously, the peoples belonging to Orthodoxy, have not experienced anything since then that could make the church unbearable for them and force them to demand reforms."29

Answer from Alex Alexandrov[newbie]
it's actually simple. Initially, when Christianity came with fire and sword to Holy Rus', it (Christianity) was called: Orthodox Christian Faith. True believer - because. that they believe and observe rituals correctly - this is said by any Pop. And so. Since the Slavs did not accept this religion, it was purposefully renamed Orthodox. And after several generations, a substitution of concepts occurred in our people’s brains and everyone turned to Christianity. (don’t forget that out of 12 million residents of Kyiv, after the introduction of Christianity, 4 million remained alive.) As for Kuraev, I’ll say it straight: From the position of Good, he throws mud at everyone and everything.