Church History

With a Focus on Orthodoxy

“The true Orthodox way of thought has always been historical, has always included the past, but has never been enslaved by it. . . [for] the strength of the Church is not in the past, present, or future, but in Christ.”

-- Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann

Icon of the Holy Napkin
by Reader Jameel Abraham
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad

The Great Schism of 1054 - Parish Life, June 1996. From the web site of St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral (ROCOR), Washington, DC.

Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity - By Walter Bauer [German original, copyright J.C.B.Mohr, Truumlbingen, 1934]. From a web site maintained by Alan Humm, instructor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Introduction Part 1 - Edessa Part 2 - Egypt Part 3 - Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna; Macedonia and Crete Part 4 - Asia Minor Prior to Ignatius Part 5 - Rome and Christianity Outside of Rome Part 6 - Polemical Tactics Part 7 - The Confrontation Between Orthodoxy and Heresy: General Characteristics and Operating Procedures Part 8 - The Use of Literature in the Conflict Part 9 - The Old Testament, the Lord, and the Apostles Part 10 - The Beginnings Appendix 1 - On the Problem of Jewish Christianity Appendix 2 - The Reception of the Book

The Sack of Constantinople - By Nicholas A. Cooke, communicant of St. Michael’s Orthodox Church, Concord, CA. A brief but detailed account of the rape of Orthodox Christians and pillage of the City of Constantinople by the Roman Catholic Church’s Fourth Crusaders during Holy Week in the year 1204 AD.

A Time Line of Church History

A History of the Orthodox Church - By Aristeides Papadakis, Ph.D. From the web site of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America.

Russian Orthodox Church, Historical Background - From the web site of the Canonical Church of Russia, Moscow Patriarchate.

The Orthodox Church - A brief overview of the Eastern Orthodox Church's history and teaching. Some contemporary moral questions. The church building. A final note.

Concise History of the Orthodox Church

From the web site of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren, Decani Monastery,  Serbia, Yugoslavia

1. The Apostolic Church

The Church as a Eucharistic Community | The First Persecutions and Martyrs
The Councils as the Manifestation of the Church Unity

2. The Church of the Ecumenical Councils (323-843 A.D.)

The Establishment of the Imperial Church | Fighting against the heresies
1. Nicaea - The Defeat of Arianism
2. Constantinople - The Teaching upon the Holy Spirit
3. Ephesus - The Victory over Nestorianism
4. Chalcedon - The Triumph of the Orthodox Christology
5 & 6. Constantinople - Chalcedon Confirmed - The Victory over Monotheletism - 
The Dispute over the Holy Icons
7. Nicea - The Victory of the Iconophiles and the Final Triumph of Orthodoxy

3. The Church of Imperial Byzantium

Byzantine Christianity About AD 1000 | Relations Between Church and State
The Development of Monasticism
Relations With the West | The Crusades | The Mongol Invasion
Attempts at Ecclesiastical union
Relations With the Western Church | Theological and Monastic Renaissance

4. Orthodoxy Under the Ottomans (1453-1821)

The Christian Ghetto | Relations With the West

5. The Church of Russia (1448-1800)

Origin of the Muscovite Patriarchate | Relations Between Patriarch and Tsar
The Reforms of Peter the Great (Reigned 1682-1725)

6. The Orthodox Churches in the 19th Century

Autocephalies in the Balkans | In Greece | In Serbia | In Romania | In Bulgaria
The Church in Imperial Russia

7. The Orthodox Church Since World War I

The Russian Revolution and the Soviet period
The Balkans and Eastern Europe
The Orthodox Church in the Middle East | Orthodoxy in the United States
The Orthodox Diaspora and Missions

Other Articles of Interest

Byzantium - From the University of Michigan. This exhibition celebrates the University of Michigan’s long involvement in the recovery of the material culture of Byzantium, by highlighting the University's collections of artifacts and the University’s participation in the expeditions mounted to document and retrieve those artifacts.

Byzantine and Medieval Studies Sties - Links to sites featuring Byzantine Studies.

Christian Catacombs of Rome - The catacombs as historical evidence of the life and martyrdom of the early Church.

The Chronicle of Nestor - Includes an account of the Baptism of Russia.

Dumbarton Oaks - Byzantine Studies page.

History of Christianity in Egypt - The role of various saints in Christian Egypt.

Nicetas Choniates: The Sack of Constantinople (1204) - From Fordham University’s Medieval Sourcebook.

The Novgorod Chronicle: Selected Annals

Romiosini - Hellenism in the Middle Ages; Church and secular history of the last centuries of Byzantium.

history@aggreen.net

Copyright © 2006 aggreen.net. All rights explicitly reserved worldwide.

General web site disclaimer.