Doctrine & Catechesis

Theology Library

A systematic account of what the Orthodox Church teaches, why it teaches it, and how each doctrine is witnessed in Scripture, the Councils, and the Fathers.

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Christ Pantocrator blessing and holding the Gospel book.

Christology

The Person of Christ

True God, true man, one Lord Jesus Christ

Orthodoxy confesses Jesus Christ as the eternal Son and Word of God made flesh: one divine Person in two natures, divine and human, without confusion or separation.

The Orthodox Church gathered before the iconostasis in liturgical prayer.

Ecclesiology

The Church

One, holy, catholic, and apostolic

Orthodoxy understands the Church as the visible, sacramental, apostolic communion founded by Christ, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, and guarded through the bishops, councils, Eucharist, and faithful people of God.

The Transfiguration of Christ revealing humanity's calling to theosis.

Soteriology

Salvation

Theosis, healing, and life in Christ

Orthodoxy teaches salvation as union with Christ: rescue from death and sin, healing of the human person, and participation in divine life by grace through repentance, faith, baptism, Eucharist, and lifelong transformation.

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The Fathers of Constantinople confessing the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son.

Triadology

The Holy Trinity

One God in three Persons

Orthodoxy worships one God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one in essence and undivided, yet personally distinct.

Pentecost, with the Holy Spirit descending upon the Apostles.

Pneumatology

The Holy Spirit

The Lord, the Giver of Life

Orthodoxy confesses the Holy Spirit as fully divine, proceeding from the Father, worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son.

Christ the High Priest distributing the Eucharist to the Apostles.

Sacramentology

The Holy Mysteries

Sacramental life in Christ

Orthodoxy teaches that the Mysteries are visible, ecclesial means by which Christ gives grace, heals, sanctifies, and unites His people to Himself.

The Theotokos in the Platytera icon type with Christ shown before her.

Mariology

The Theotokos

Mother of God and Ever-Virgin

Orthodoxy honors Mary as Theotokos, the Mother of God, because the child born of her is God the Word incarnate.

Adam and Eve at the Fall, the beginning of humanity's ancestral wound.

Hamartiology

Sin & the Ancestral Condition

Mortality, corruption, and repentance

Orthodoxy teaches that humanity inherits mortality and corruption from Adam, not personal guilt for Adam's act, and that Christ heals the ancestral wound.

Christ enthroned in glory as the dead rise at the Last Judgment.

Eschatology

Last Things

Death, judgment, resurrection, and the age to come

Orthodoxy confesses Christ's return, the resurrection of the dead, judgment, and the life of the age to come, while distinguishing dogma from pious opinion.

Christ the Teacher surrounded by Evangelists, Apostles, Prophets, and Fathers.

Scripture & Holy Tradition

The apostolic faith written and lived

Orthodoxy receives Scripture within Holy Tradition: the apostolic life of the Church that preserves, interprets, and proclaims the biblical canon.

The restoration of the holy icons at the Second Council of Nicaea.

Iconology

Icons

Theology in color and the incarnational argument

Orthodoxy venerates icons because the invisible God became visible in the flesh; honor given to the image passes to its prototype.

Creation of humanity in the image and likeness of God.

Anthropology

The Human Person

Image, likeness, freedom, and vocation

Orthodoxy teaches that every human person is created in the image of God and called to grow into likeness through communion with Him.

Pentecost as the Church is gathered and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Liturgical Theology

The Church at prayer

Orthodox theology is learned, guarded, and lived in the worship of the Church: the rule of prayer shapes the rule of faith.