History of Oriental Orthodoxy

Oriental Orthodoxy is a branch of Christianity that dates back to the 5th century. It is an Eastern Christian tradition that began in the early part of the Church history. It is still around today and is practiced by about 60 million people. The name comes from the geographical region that it originated from, which was known as the Orient (the countries in and near the Middle East). The main beliefs of Oriental Orthodoxy are that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human, they believe in one God that is three persons in one, the Trinity, and they have a central focus on the use of icons (images) and prayer. The history of Oriental Orthodoxy is long and complex, but it began when early Christians split over a disagreement about one of the teachings of Jesus Christ. This disagreement became known as the 'Council of Chalcedon' in 451 AD and it divided the Christianity of the time into two branches: the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church. The Oriental Orthodox Church eventually spread to many different countries and regions, and was the focus of religious life in several of those countries. Today, there are six main churches which make up Oriental Orthodoxy—the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. They all have slightly different views and practices, but all share the same core beliefs.