Denomination
Eastern Orthodox
A Trinitarian shelf for Eastern Orthodox churches, with links to their own doctrine pages.
Eastern Orthodox churches confess the Trinity: one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This page does not summarize Orthodox teaching. It lists doctrine pages those churches publish. See the denomination list and Christianity.
Can you lose your salvation? quotes clergy answers on the Orthodox Church in America website beside the other churches. It does not choose a side.
These pages quote the Orthodox Church in America website:
- How Was the Bible Canon Decided, and What Is the Apocrypha?
- Who Started the Catholic Church?
- What Do Christians Believe About Mary?
- Is Purgatory Biblical?
The Mary and purgatory pages say the answer is a clergy question-and-answer, not a synod. They do not choose a side.
These pages quote the Orthodox Church in America catechism or a Greek Orthodox Archdiocese essay beside the other churches:
- What Does the Eastern Orthodox Church Believe?
- Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic
- Eastern Orthodox vs Protestant
- What Does the Bible Say About Predestination?
- What Happened at the Council of Nicaea?
The essay is not a synod. They do not choose a side.
Who Was the First Pope? quotes a clergy email on the Orthodox Church in America site, and it says that answer is not a synod. It does not choose a side.
These pages quote the Orthodox Church in America site beside the other churches:
- Do Catholics Believe Mary Was Sinless?
- Is Praying to Saints in the Bible?
- What Is Transubstantiation?
- Eastern Orthodox vs Oriental Orthodox: What Is the Difference?
- Can Eastern Orthodox Priests Marry?
- What Bible Do Eastern Orthodox Christians Use?
They say when a page is a clergy answer or a catechism chapter, not a synod. They do not choose a side.
When Is Eastern Orthodox Christmas? quotes a Greek Orthodox Archdiocese essay on the Julian and Revised calendars, and it says the essay is not a synod. It does not choose a side.
Do Eastern Orthodox Pray the Rosary? quotes an Orthodox Church in America clergy answer and the catechism chapter on the Jesus Prayer beside the Catholic catechism. It says those Orthodox pages are a question-and-answer and catechesis, not a synod. It does not choose a side.
These pages quote the Orthodox Church in America catechism:
- Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?
- What Does the Bible Say About Infant Baptism?
- Who Was at Jesus’ Baptism?
- Is the Holy Spirit God?
They say the baptism pages are a catechetical essay, not a synod. They do not choose a side. The Holy Spirit page states the Nicene confession.
Eastern Orthodox vs Baptist quotes that baptism chapter beside the Baptist Faith and Message. It says the Orthodox page is catechesis, not a synod. It does not choose a side.
What Is the Mark of the Beast? and Who Is the Antichrist? quote an Orthodox Church in America clergy answer and the catechism chapter on honesty. They say Cyril of Jerusalem’s lecture is on New Advent, a third-party host, and that those pages are not a synod. They do not choose a side.
Official Sources
These links open pages on the body’s own site, or on the site of its official publisher. Each entry names the document, who issues it, and what the page is.
Orthodox Church in America
- The Nicene Creed
Orthodox Church in America
The Nicene Creed chapter in the Orthodox Church in America’s online series The Orthodox Faith.
- Hebrews 6:4–6 — Falling Away from the Faith
Orthodox Church in America
A clergy question-and-answer on the Orthodox Church in America website about Hebrews 6:4–6. It is not a synodal definition.
Start Here
The shared confession and the councils these pages quote.
- Is the Holy Spirit God?
The Holy Spirit is God. Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal texts say so, and they differ on procession and prayer.
- What Happened at the Council of Nicaea?
The Council of Nicaea in 325 confessed the Son as true God from true God, of one substance with the Father, and it did not list the Bible’s books.
- Who Was at Jesus' Baptism?
Who baptized Jesus, who was at the Jordan, and why the sinless Jesus was baptized, from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, with the Catechism and an Orthodox essay.
Salvation and the Last Things
Where these churches disagree about grace, perseverance, and the end. Each page quotes the texts and does not pick a side.
- Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?
Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal texts disagree on whether baptism is necessary for salvation.
- Once Saved, Always Saved?
Once saved, always saved means a saved person cannot lose salvation. Churches disagree, and this page quotes each side’s confession without deciding.
- What Does the Bible Say About Infant Baptism?
Infant baptism and believer’s baptism in Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, and Pentecostal texts, with household baptisms and christening.
- What Does the Bible Say About Predestination?
Romans, Ephesians, and Acts say God predestined and ordained. Other verses say God wills all to be saved. Westminster, Dort, the Remonstrance, the Catechism, Article XVII, and an Orthodox essay read those lines differently.
- What Is the Mark of the Beast?
Revelation 13 says the mark is on the right hand or the forehead, tied to the beast’s name and the number 666. The Catechism, an Orthodox clergy answer, Westminster, and Dallas Theological Seminary do not describe a chip.
- Who Is the Antichrist?
First John says many antichrists have come and that the antichrist shall come. The Catechism, Cyril, Westminster, and Dallas Theological Seminary do not name the same figure.
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- What Does the Bible Say About Predestination?
Romans, Ephesians, and Acts say God predestined and ordained. Other verses say God wills all to be saved. Westminster, Dort, the Remonstrance, the Catechism, Article XVII, and an Orthodox essay read those lines differently.
- What Is the Mark of the Beast?
Revelation 13 says the mark is on the right hand or the forehead, tied to the beast’s name and the number 666. The Catechism, an Orthodox clergy answer, Westminster, and Dallas Theological Seminary do not describe a chip.
- Who Is the Antichrist?
First John says many antichrists have come and that the antichrist shall come. The Catechism, Cyril, Westminster, and Dallas Theological Seminary do not name the same figure.
The Churches
Comparisons that quote this church beside the others. They do not pick a side.
- Can Eastern Orthodox Priests Marry?
An Orthodox clergy answer says a married man may be ordained deacon or priest, once, and may not marry after ordination. The OCA’s Trullo essay says bishops are celibate. Catholic Canon 277 binds clerics to celibacy. Anglican Article XXXII says priests may marry.
- Do Catholics Believe Mary Was Sinless?
Ineffabilis Deus in 1854 defines Mary as preserved from original sin at her conception. The Catechism adds that she remained free of every personal sin. An Orthodox clergy answer calls that definition foreign. Augsburg and Article IX speak of original sin in everyone naturally born.
- Do Eastern Orthodox Pray the Rosary?
The Orthodox Church in America says the Roman Catholic rosary is not part of Orthodox tradition. Orthodox Christians pray the Jesus Prayer on a rope. The Catholic catechism names the rosary.
- Eastern Orthodox vs Baptist: What's the Difference?
Both confess the Trinity. The Orthodox Church in America catechism describes a godparent speaking for a child and triple immersion. The Baptist Faith and Message requires a believer’s immersion and says true believers will not fall away.
- Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic: What's the Difference?
Both confess the Nicene faith. They differ, in their own texts, on the filioque, the pope, Mary, purgatory, the cup for the laity, and clerical celibacy.
- Eastern Orthodox vs Oriental Orthodox: What Is the Difference?
Eastern Orthodox vs Oriental Orthodox: both confess that Jesus is God. They split on Chalcedon: two natures, or one nature of the incarnate Logos.
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- Eastern Orthodox vs Baptist: What's the Difference?
Both confess the Trinity. The Orthodox Church in America catechism describes a godparent speaking for a child and triple immersion. The Baptist Faith and Message requires a believer’s immersion and says true believers will not fall away.
- Eastern Orthodox vs Catholic: What's the Difference?
Both confess the Nicene faith. They differ, in their own texts, on the filioque, the pope, Mary, purgatory, the cup for the laity, and clerical celibacy.
- Eastern Orthodox vs Oriental Orthodox: What Is the Difference?
Eastern Orthodox vs Oriental Orthodox: both confess that Jesus is God. They split on Chalcedon: two natures, or one nature of the incarnate Logos.
- Eastern Orthodox vs Protestant: What's the Difference?
Both confess the Nicene faith. Their texts differ on Scripture and Tradition, justification, Mary and the saints, icons, and the filioque.
- How Was the Bible Canon Decided, and What Is the Apocrypha?
Trent receives the longer Old Testament and anathematizes refusal. Westminster says the books called Apocrypha are no part of the canon. The Catechism says the Church discerned the list by Tradition.
- Is Praying to Saints in the Bible?
The Council of Trent says it is good and useful to invoke the saints, and that the honour of images is referred to the prototypes. The Catechism calls image honour veneration, not the adoration due to God alone. Augsburg and Article XXII refuse calling on the saints.
- Is Purgatory Biblical?
Catholic teaching names a purification after death for the saved. Westminster and Article XXII say Scripture has no such place.
- What Bible Do Eastern Orthodox Christians Use?
An Orthodox clergy answer says the longer canon, not the Apocrypha, includes Tobit, Judith, more of Esther and Daniel, Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and the Prayer of Manasseh, from the Septuagint. The Catholic list is similar and does not count the Prayer of Manasseh.
- What Do Christians Believe About Mary?
The Catechism teaches the Mother of God, perpetual virginity, the Immaculate Conception, and the Assumption, and says devotion to Mary is not adoration. Augsburg and Article XXII refuse calling on the saints. An Orthodox clergy answer seeks her intercession and calls the Immaculate Conception foreign.
- What Does the Eastern Orthodox Church Believe?
Eastern Orthodox churches confess the Nicene faith. A Greek Orthodox Archdiocese teaching and the Orthodox Church in America catechism state Tradition, the mysteries, Mary, icons, and what they reject.
- What Is Transubstantiation?
The Catechism quotes Trent: the whole substance of the bread and wine is changed into the body and blood of Christ, and that change is called transubstantiation. Article XXVIII says that change cannot be proved by holy Writ. An Orthodox essay does not use the word and denies that the gifts are mere symbols.
- When Is Eastern Orthodox Christmas?
Churches on the Revised Julian calendar keep Christmas on December 25. Churches that still use the Julian calendar keep it on January 7. A Greek Orthodox Archdiocese essay names which is which. Easter is calculated apart from that split.
- Who Started the Catholic Church?
The Catechism says Jesus inaugurated the Church and made Peter its rock. Westminster says Christ is the only head and the pope cannot be head. The fetched texts do not say Constantine founded it.
- Who Was the First Pope?
The Catechism says Jesus made Peter the rock and that the pope succeeds him. An Orthodox clergy answer says first among equals is not supremacy of jurisdiction. Westminster says Christ is the only head.