Eastern Christianity

Eastern Christianity is a broad category of Christian traditions. These traditions developed during classical and late antiquity. Most began in the Eastern Mediterranean region. They also spread to Western Asia, Eastern Europe, and Northeast Africa. Some reached as far as the Malabar coast in South Asia. This term does not describe one single church. Instead, it includes many different church families and denominations.

These churches are often distinguished from Western Christianity. Western Christianity includes traditions that developed further west. The divide between East and West has several causes. It mirrors a cultural divide between the Hellenistic East and the Latin West. It also reflects the political division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD. Later, the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century changed the landscape. After this, the term "Eastern Church" often referred to the Greek Church in Constantinople. This was in contrast to the Latin Church in Rome.

Eastern Christianity includes several major branches. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the largest body. It has a worldwide population of approximately 220 million people. The Oriental Orthodox communion is the second largest. This group has about 60 million followers.

There are also the Eastern Catholic Churches. They consist of about 16 to 18 million members. These churches are in communion with Rome. They maintain their own Eastern liturgies. Other groups include the descendants of the Church of the East. The Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East have about 400,000 members combined.

Different traditions use different liturgical rites. A rite is a specific way of conducting worship. Common rites include the Byzantine Rite and the Alexandrian Rite. Other rites are the Armenian, East Syriac, and West Syriac Rites.

Many Eastern churches share certain practices. For example, parish priests may marry before their ordination. They also administer the sacrament of chrismation to infants after baptism. These practices are part of their unique religious identity.

History shows how these groups separated over time. The Church of the East declared independence in 424 AD. This happened at a general council. Oriental Orthodoxy separated after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. They did not form separate patriarchates until the 6th century. The split between the Roman Church and the Orthodox Church is a major event. It is often called the East-West Schism. While some date this to 1054, the process was actually very complex. This schism reflected deep cultural and political divisions in the Middle Ages.

The Church of the East was once very widespread. It spread from Assyria to India and even China. It was the only Christian church recognized by the Sassanid Persia. Later, it flourished under the Abbasid Caliphate. It also expanded under the Mongol Empire. However, the church began to decline in the 14th century. Much of it became confined to the Assyrian homeland.

In the 16th century, the church split into two rival groups. One group became the Chaldean Catholic Church. The other became the Assyrian Church of the East.

Many of these churches share a common theological foundation. Most regard themselves as "orthodox," which means following correct beliefs. They also consider themselves "catholic," meaning universal. They often point to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 AD. This creed lists the Four Marks of the Church. These marks are one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Even with many differences, these traditions are linked by these ancient ideas. They represent a vast and diverse part of global religious history.