Early Church teachings

In the years after Jesus’ Resurrection, apostles and missionaries traveled throughout the known world spreading the Gospel. Soon five major locations were established as centers for the faith: Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Alexandria, and Constantinople. In the year 1054 the Roman church broke from this united Church, and five hundred years later Protestant churches began breaking away from Rome. But the original Church has remained united in the Apostolic Faith since the first century. This is Orthodoxy.

One of the tasks of the early Church was explicating and defending Orthodox theology against the battering waves of heresies. These heresies often appeared in disputes over the nature of the Trinity, or the nature of Jesus the Christ as being both God and Man. Church Councils were called to search the Scriptures and put into words the common faith, forming a bedrock of certainty that could stand for all ages.

The Orthodox churches preserves the worship practiced in the first centuries. Our worship is based to a great extent on passages from holy Scripture. We sing most of the service, joining our voices in simple harmony to ancient melodies.

Our worship is focused on God, not on our own en­joyment, fulfillment, or fellowship. We come into the presence of God with awe, aware of our fallenness and His great mercy. We seek forgiveness and rejoice in the great gift of salvation so freely given. Orthodox worship is filled with repentance, gratitude, and unend­ing praise.

We try, as best we can, to make our worship beautiful. The example of Scripture shows us that God’s design for the Old Testament tabernacle and temple worship (Exodus 25, 26) in­cluded gold, silver, precious stones, blue and purple cloth, embroidery, incense, bells, and anointing oil. Likewise, in Saint John’s vision of heavenly worship (Revelation 4) there are precious stones, gold, thrones, crowns, white robes, crystal, and incense. From the beginning to the end of Scripture, worship is offered with as much beauty as possible. While a new mission’s finances may call for simple appointments, our hearts come to worship seeking to pour out at the feet of Christ all the precious ointment we possess.

The Christian Church was founded in 33 A.D. in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Virtually all Christians believe that. But what may come as a surprise, is that this original Church has continued throughout history until today. There is one body in Christendom which has kept intact the faith as revealed in the New Testament. That body is the Orthodox Christian Church, the second largest Christian Church in the world (approximately 250 million people).

IF ORTHODOXY IS THE SECOND LARGEST CHRISTIAN GROUP IN THE WORLD, WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE ALL THE ORTHODOX?

The Church founded by Christ quickly expanded beyond Jerusalem. The first large number of Gentiles were converted to Christianity in Antioch (Acts 11:19-26). Indeed, the first time the disciples were called Christians was in Antioch (Acts 11 :26). Midway through the first century the Church spread from Antioch to many other countries through her missionary efforts. Our parish, Saint Anthony Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, is a direct descendant of that ancient Church. But only in about the last 200 years has the Orthodox Church come to America through immigrants. Many Orthodox Churches have been relatively isolated within the ethnic communities they served, often with services (Divine Liturgy) being offered only in their native language. Today, however, The Holy Orthodox Church, because of widespread interest by scholars, students and members of other denominations, is growing dramatically in America. Increasingly The Divine Liturgy is offered in English. Such is the case here at St. Anthony.