The Eastern Orthodox Church (encompassing national Orthodox jurisdictions such as Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc.—see Eastern Orthodox Church organization) is a body of Christians that claim origins extending directly back to Jesus and his Apostles through an unbroken physical line of Apostolic Succession. Likewise they claim to be the preservers of the original teachings and traditions which established the Church at Pentecost. As it became necessary, its doctrines were formalized through a series of church councils, the most authoritative being the Seven Ecumenical Councils held between the 4th and 8th centuries. These councils were convened out of the necessity to resolve conflicts that had developed concerning beliefs such as Arianism, Nestorianism, and Monothelitism. It grew and flourished within the Byzantine Empire and later spread to Russia. Toward the end of its first thousand years of existence, because of invasions which cut off communications, doctrinal differences developed between the Church in the Eastern and Western Roman Empire that ultimately led to the Great Schism in 1054, dividing Chalcedonian Christianity into Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Based on numbers of adherents, Eastern Orthodoxy is the second largest Christian communion in the world after the Roman Catholic Church, and the third largest grouping overall after Protestantism. There are approximately 240 million Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide.^*

The present-day influence of the Eastern Orthodox Church encompasses the territories associated with the former Byzantine and Russian empires: Eastern Europe, Asia (Russia/Siberia), and parts of Finland, the Middle East and Africa. Today, although Eastern Orthodoxy's strongest influence can be seen in Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, and Georgia, the Orthodox Church has a presence in a great many other countries largely because of the emigration of Eastern Orthodox peoples, with large communities in the USA, Canada and Australia.

More on [ Eastern Orthodox Church ]

L.A. Times - Religious News

L.A.'s Wilshire Boulevard Temple rebuilds on past glory
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The landmark temple, long a center of Jewish life in Los Angeles, is embarked on a multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation. The landmark Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles and one associated with the men who invented the motion picture industry, has begun a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion that symbolizes the reversal of the Jewish exodus from the eastern part of the city.
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels opens its doors to mariachi camp
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The L.A. cathedral plays host to young musicians learning the upbeat Mexican genre. Joacim Naranjo plays the trumpet pretty well. But the 16-year-old from East Los Angeles found himself flapping his sore lips like a horse as he and a half dozen other boys tried to master the rapidly cascading sounds of a mariachi song.
How to spot counterfeit True Religion jeans
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
How to spot true blues Want to know if your new dungarees are truly True Religion? Here are some tips to help you separate the bona fide jeans from the fakes:

RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY | PBS

2008 Campaign: Update on the Candidates and Religion
Obama and McCain step up efforts to meet religious leaders and reach religious voters.
Pediatric AIDS Corps
Young American doctors are going to Africa to treat patients and train local providers.
Interfaith Wedding
The wedding rituals of a Hindu-Sikh couple honor the religious traditions of both.

Subscribe to Religion_and_Spirituality RSS feed