Orthodox Theology

Further, we venerate and honor the Saints, and we ask their intercession with God, but we adore and worship only God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Of all Saints, we honor exceedingly the Mother of our Lord (Theotokos), because of the supreme grace and the call which she received from God. Though she was not exempt from hereditary (“original”) sin, from which she was cleansed at the time of the Annunciation, we believe that by the grace of God she did not commit any actual sin. We venerate the sacred Images (Icons) as well as the relics of the Martyrs and Saints. Yet this veneration, according to the decisions and Canons of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, relates not to the sacred images as such, but to their prototypes, or to the persons whom they represent.

At death man’s body goes to the earth from which it was taken; and the soul, being immortal, goes to God, who gave it. The souls of all human beings, being conscious and exercising all their faculties immediately after death, are judged by God. This judgment immediately following death, we call the Particular Judgment. The final reward of humankind, however, we believe will take place at the time of the General Judgment. During the time between the Particular and the General Judgment, which is called the Intermediate State, the souls receive a foretaste of their blessing or punishment.

We recognize seven Holy Mysteria: Baptism, Chrismation (or Confirmation), Holy Eucharist, Confession, Ordination, Marriage and Holy Unction. Baptism is the door through which one enters into the Church. Confirmation is the completion of Baptism with the seal of the Holy Spirit. In the Holy Eucharist, in the species of bread and wine we partake of the very Body and the very Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for remission of sins and eternal life. Both the New Testament and Sacred Tradition bear witness to the real Presence of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. In Holy Confession & Absolution, our Jesus Christ, through the instrument of the confessor, forgives the sins committed after Baptism by the person who confesses his or her sins and sincerely repents of them. In Holy Ordination, through prayer and the laying-on of hands by a bishop, Divine grace comes down on the ordained enabling him to be a worthy minister of the Church. Apostolic succession is fundamental to the Church. Without it there can be no continuity of the Church. In Holy Matrimony, divine grace sanctifies the union of husband and wife. In Holy Unction, the sick person is anointed with sanctified oil; and divine grace heals his bodily and spiritual ills.

The Church is the holy community (not a worldly institution) founded by our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of humankind, bearing His holy sanction and authority, and composed of the faithful having one and the same faith, and partaking of the same Holy Mysteries (“sacraments”). It is divided into the clergy and laity. The clergy trace their descent by uninterrupted succession from the Apostles and through them from our Lord Jesus Christ (Apostolic succession). The Church is ONE because our Lord Jesus Christ founded not many, but only one Church; HOLY because her aim, the sanctification and salvation of her members through the Holy Mysteries, is holy; CATHOLIC because she is above local limitations; and APOSTOLIC because she was “built upon the foundation of the Apostles, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20). The head of the Church is not a Pope or Patriarch, but solely our Lord, Jesus Christ.

We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is truly God. He is Jesus, that is, the Savior and Christ, the Lord’s anointed one, a Son not created of another substance, as is the case with us, but a Son begotten of the very substance of the Father before all time, and thus consubstantial with the Father. He is also truly man, like us in every respect, except sin. The denial either of His divinity or of His humanity constitutes a denial of His incarnation and of our salvation. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. The faith of the Church about the procession of the Holy Spirit was confirmed by the Second Ecumenical Council, which added to the Creed the following clause: “And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father.”

Beliefs about God

We believe that God is One in substance and Triune in persons. We worship One God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. Creation is the work in time of the Blessed Trinity. The world is not self-created, neither has it existed from eternity, but it is the product of the wisdom, the power, and the will of the One God in Trinity. God the Father is the prime cause of creation and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit took part in creation, God the Son perfecting creation and God the Holy Spirit vivifying creation.

Theology is used to:
* understand a particular religious tradition being followed
* understand other religious traditions
* make comparisons between different religious traditions
* defend or justify a religious tradition
* help reform of a particular tradition
* assist in the widespread adoption of a religious tradition
* use a tradition to solve a problem in present situation or need