Eastern Orthodox

Eastern Orthodox

Followers: 300 million worldwide
Date Founded: 1054 A.D.
Location Founded: Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire
Founders: Michael Cerularius
Books Outside the Bible: None
Belief: Arminian

The Eastern Orthodox Church began in 1054, when Pope Leo IX excommunicated Michael Cerularius who was the patriarch of Constantinople, the leader of the Eastern Roman Church. This split the Church into the Western Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox. Although they also have a hierarchy of bishops, priests, and deacons, their beliefs are completely different. The Eastern Orthodox Church follows an Arminian belief system. (see definition on previous page) They believe in sin, grace, the trinity, and salvation, with a focus on communication and unification with God. This denomination has good intentions, but Arminianism is incorrect, and their hierarchy of church positions makes the Church more of an organization than a place of worship. Today, Eastern Orthodox is the main religion in Russia, Greece, Ukraine, Romania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, and Serbia. However, it is only a minor denomination in the United States.

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