Before we start let us explain two important terms:

Orthodoxy = orthi + doxa = correct + faith, from Old Greek roots. It means the unchanged beliefs in a particular group. For instance, the "orthodox" Jews claim to be those Jews that have stayed close to the beliefs of Judaism and have not "strayed". Orthodox refers as a word in general to someone following the right way without this implying that there is any notion of fundamentalism associated with it. The "strayed" way, the deviated way rather, is expressed in the word "heterodox". Hence, heretic beliefs in Christianity must therefore be heterodox. Please note that Orthodox Christianity presupposes Orthodoxy (Orthodoxia) and Orthopraxis, which is often implied, which indicates the accomplishment and realisation of the things Orthodoxy teaches!

Catholic = cata + holos = related to the whole. It means to be in possession of the whole truth as this relates to the doctrines and ethos. It means to be in possession of the whole Truth, the Truth that lacks nothing, the Truth that is complete. In other words, to claim to be Catholic is nothing less than to claim to be the Body of Christ and nothing less than the whole Body of Christ, His Church (this is because "Truth" for Christians is a Who and not a what; for this reason to be in possession of the Truth can make sense mystically as it means to be in Christ).

The word Catholic does not mean Ecumenical or Universal, as we saw on the root site on the Meaning of Ecclesia. The misunderstanding in the West that Catholic means Universal in an absolute sense of the word goes back at least to the time of Blessed Augustine. This has contributed to the "theology" of Papism, where the whole Church can only exist in a super-diocesan structure around the globe.

Nevertheless, the word catholic is used at times to mean universal, by abuse of language. This is because the One Church proclaims the whole Truth (Christ) universally. Again, we believe context will make it quite clear, as we ourselves will often not abide by the above distinction.

At any rate, the Franco-Germanic Papal denomination call themselves "Catholic" because they believe to uphold the whole Christian truth and nothing but the whole truth, in other words that they are the true Church of Christ around the world. As a result, they also believe that they possess the true doctrines and worship, in other words orthodoxy. Therefore the Franco-Germanic Papal congregation believe to be Orthodox as well.

Semantically, the term is rejected among the Orthodox because it could either mean "the Roman side of the Catholic Church" and we do not believe that they are part of the Church of Christ (let alone the Church of Christ) or "the Roman and Catholic Church" which coincides with their view but of course not ours. Nevertheless, we shall use the term in its loose form, to be able to distinguish between the different bodies of congregations (Roman Catholic, Old Catholic) but we shall also use the term Papal at times, when we want to be more precise. (We do not use these terms in an insulting manner).

The "Orthodoxy" we mention here coincides with the ancient "Eastern Orthodox Church" and not other denominations which call themselves "Orthodox" such as the ancient henaphysite and monophysite heresies are that were condemned by the Ecumenical Synods.

Roman Catholics will also be referred to as "Papal" or "Papist" because the Pope is the head of the "Roman Catholic" Church. If we take the preceding argument backwards, we can see that likewise, since we believe to be in Orthodoxy, we must necessarily believe to be the Catholic Church of Christ. Therefore we commonly call them Papal or Papic Church without this necessarily implying any form of racism or hatred of course. It is a matter of belief. In these notes we shall use all these terms (Roman Catholic, Papal, Papist, Papic) with this view in mind always. It is true that sometimes these terms have been used in a negative sense, however we wish to stress here that this is not the case in general. Hence we will use them all. Please also note that sometimes they call us "Oriental" whereas we use the term "Oriental Orthodox" for the Monophysites. Terminology can be confusing at times!

Whenever the terms orthodox and catholic are used below henceforth, they could also mean "correct way" and "of the whole (truth)", respectively, in accordance with the above-mentioned semantic meanings of the words.This so as people may not think they necessarily refer to the name of the respective churches as they are known. The word Orthodoxy will correspond of course to the Orthodox Church and/or her beliefs. Context will always make it obvious as to the meaning. We shall completely avoid the Western contemporary use of the word orthodoxy.

Another point: sometimes, we translate verses and terminology directly from Greek (modern, old and ancient). As such please excuse minor differences in terminology to what you are used to.

Strictly speaking there is no such thing as an Orthodox country; only Orthodox people who live in countries. However, a country where the State is harmonised to the Synod and the Church and in many ways considers it the official faith of the country, where State/Church coexist like one body in one soul, can be called an Orthodox country. Of course, it is possible that very few true Orthodox Christians live in an Orthodox country and many saintly figures live in non-Orthodox countries. Even countries that one could reasonably consider anti-Christian (i.e. whose governments are openly hostile to Christianity) can have a large (even larger) number of true Orthodox Christians.

One may notice that certain acts of proselytism have been illegal in some Orthodox countries. Until a few years back, "proselytisation" was considered illegal according to Hellenic Constitution.

Here we introduce a word that we often use and this is the word proselytisation (as opposed to proselytism). We use this word to denote the non-stop act of trying to proselytise people. As the reader can appreciate, such an act cannot be in accordance with Christ's Church where even the Bible reminds us "after the first and second admonition" we should reject the "heretick", namely the one who insists on warping dogma due to their ego.

Thus honest and open proselytism is allowed due to freedom of speech and choice. Not however illicit, forceful or hateful proselytism. This type of proselytism we shall call proselytisation because it is usually a continuing process (e.g. Papist Ustase in WWII against the Orthodox Serbs, Jews and Gypsies, all of whom would be placed in Concentration Camps). The constant attempt to find ways to sway someone's opinions (most of the time using illicit means and frauds, lies, fear and so forth) is not in accordance with the spirit of the Ecclesia and, as we said, even in its more subtle forms (i.e. those that do not involve open hostilities) have been illegal in some places at certain times (e.g. Greece). Of course, now that the State in Greece is ruled by enemies of Christianity it is not any more supportive of the main faith in the country and does not agree to protect the flock allowing shameless proselytisation by all sorts of heresies and cults (90% of which stem from the USA and beyond). It is the will of the people that still force the Democratic State to be lenient to the main faith in the country (98% are Orthodox) and to continue the harmonised relationship with the Church in order for us to be able to still call Greece an Orthodox country (for now).

Another important point we need to make: we often speak of the West and of Westernisation. We appreciate that our Western brothers and sisters will get tired of this "bashing". Let us therefore explain that we do this out of the greatest love. We use these terms in the historical setting, to indicate the almost-constant flow of problems from the West to the East since the 11th century. However, what people often fail to appreciate is the fact that these are not a result of the fact that Westerners are by default "worse" than we are. Nor did the Westerners fail miserably to uphold Orthodoxy because they are so far away from Easterners in their views and have always been so thanks to different modes of theology, which is what various theologians often tout. No. The East/West dichotomy is false. The differences we meet today are of a different nature, viz. due to the affects of the spiritual separation between East and West.

The reason is that at some point in time, Orthodoxy was uprooted from the conscience of the people, due to political motivations (e.g. Francocracy) and due to great levels of illiteracy and poverty that happened to exist at the time. The anti-Christian West (mainly Western Europe and the USA) that we meet today is a result of the sickness of religion which permeates their atmosphere. All these centuries, heresy (a spiritual illness) increased, expanded and made many ill, even Orthodox who live in these countries and thus also get affected. In fact, the illness comes and also affects us too, who live in Orthodox countries (Greece, Russia).

We ask that you understand all this and that you learn to become Orthodox in truth (not just by name) and help us too! Yes! We need your help too! Going astray and following the secular outlook, especially in today's globalised secularism, is not a prerogative of the West!

So the upshot is: the West was Orthodox before the Schism. Yet you were denied your Christian heritage! Alas, some of your ancestors did this consciously. For others, your ancestors simply had their faith altered because they stayed in the West. For yet others, your ancestors had to flee the West in order to keep their Orthodoxy thus leaving you behind.

Whatever the reasons, you are not more blameworthy than anyone else. Also, the errors of the past are not your errors. Learn from them though, so you know how you were and how you are and thus how you can be. Learn so that you, us, our children and their children remember. Truth in Greek is a-lethia (= negation of the word "oblivion"). Truth is Christ, that you forgot how He looked like, and what He taught; you forgot how His Body looks like. This is the lesson of History, when viewed through Christ of course, and not as a mere collection of events. Also, we must avoid propaganda, frauds, lies, idealisations and romanticisms.

Face the Truth, for He is Love.

The format used will be: Chapter: Verse and Chapter: Verse1.Verse2 to mean verses Verse1 and Verse2 from Chapter and Chapter: Verse1-Verse2 to mean all verses from Verse1 to Verse2 inclusive in Chapter. I use "divine" for "hieros" (ιερός) and "holy" for "hagios" (άγιος). So e.g. even though some are accustomed to "Holy Ghost" or "Divine Spirit", we shall usually use "Holy Spirit" since in Greek it is "Hagio Pneuma".

These notes are partly the result of various theological books accepted by Orthodoxy as valid (in case you worry) and partly our own additions; merely, explanations of certain things through the life of the Church.

For those interested in receiving a list of authors of such books, please note that we have added a partial list on the root site. Note that many individual references mentioned in the various articles or web pages can be found easily through these books, although primarily Greek-speaking readers will benefit from this observation. Note that we will be updating this book list in the near future with more additions.

We would like to make an important announcement as regards the recommended books (in bold type): we found them of great use, though the non-patristic ones (i.e. those that were not written by saintly elders and Fathers of the Church but are pious books about the faith written by theologians and priests who refer to these Fathers) are not without their shortcomings.

Furthermore, there are many other good books both for beginners and more spiritually experienced readers. We have only provided some books that fit around the theme of these notes; books that we used or that inspired us to write something.

We have been asked to provide a suggested list of books for Orthodox Christians in the West that can help them in their daily prayers. Digital books can be found at the Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries (OODEgr.com/english).

We strongly recommend the above website. It is a far better website than ours and any other we have read. Please visit it on a regular basis.

There is however one book that is a must read for all Orthodox Christians (especially beautiful for recent converts into Orthodoxy, though even non-Orthodox will benefit from it): Elder Paisios' Epistles. The translation in English is beautiful and accurate, and the spirit of this "unlearned" elder of the Church comes through without filters or omissions. Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain was an Athonite monk who lived the life in Christ that we need to imitate, and who was a great example for all of us. He still performs a multitude of wondrous miracles through Christ's Grace from his grave at the Monastery in Souroti, Thessalonica, Greece. The language of this book is simple and straightforward; yet deep. We cannot recommend this book enough.

(Orthodox Christians are particularly advised to obtain the books that Elder Paisios himself suggests at the bottom of this link.)

Any shortcomings in these notes are entirely ours, due to our low spiritual progress. Please do tell us of anything that seems out of place with Orthodox doctrine. If you notice any mistakes (even if it is just a Bible reference) please send us feedback from the main web page, for we have a grave responsibility if we pass on wrong information. For this reason we repeat please write to us if you think there is a problem in something we said or anything else. Please contact us only after having exhausted your search in these web pages first (as your question might be answered elsewhere in these web pages as the amount of mail we receive tends to be very large). Thank you for your co-operation in advance. Let us begin.

The Eastern-Orthodoxy.Com Team

FOOTNOTES

the Roman side = Of course, there is no such thing since these are descendants of Frankish usurpers who destroyed the Hellenic-Roman civilisation in the West and those who would uphold it. There has never existed throughout history an empire known as "the Byzantine Empire". The reader is advised to read some important historical background here. The "Roman Catholic" congregation is neither Roman (in the ethnic-cultural sense of the word) nor Catholic (as it seceded from the catholic Body of the Church). History clearly shows (when not seen through the filters of the West) that most Western Europeans are neither descendants of the Hellenic-Roman civilisation nor those who preserved it (!) nor do they share a "common heritage" with Eastern European Hellenes; of course they are not at fault here. Westerners are victims who either had their Orthodoxy uprooted by some of their ancestors or had their Orthodox ancestors killed or kicked out of the West. The West did not go astray because they were "more evil" than us; they went astray because they had the True Faith taken out of their hands. For more on this important topic the reader is highly advised to read Clark Carlton's "The Truth: What every Roman Catholic should know about the Orthodox Church" (recommended in our References section), the above link and last but certainly not least a critical link to Philippides' book here.