History of the Christian Orthodox Church

1. The concept of Church history 2. The subject of Church history 4. Dividing Church History Spread of the Church in the first centuries. The period of the heyday of Christianity and Ecumenical Councils. The Fall of the Roman Church and the Rise of Protestantism. Christianization of Slavic Peoples. Russian Church. The history of the Church is a connected and consistent narrative about its beginning, spread, life and activity in the human race. In a general and broad sense, the history of the Church embraces the entire existence of the human race, starting from the creation of the world. In a particular and specific sense, it embraces the time from the beginning of the Christian Church proper to the present time. The foundation of the Christian Church was laid by the Lord Jesus Christ, but its life and activity were fully revealed on the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, from which its history begins. The narrative of the destinies of the Church before this great event is better known under the name of sacred history because information about these destinies is drawn almost exclusively from the sacred books of the Old and New Testaments. Church history only at the beginning of its narratives uses this sacred source and then draws information from records and evidence of general historical origin and significance. The subject of the history of the Church is the manifestation of the grace-filled powers that are given to the Church for the assimilation of salvation to people, the gradual expansion of its boundaries and its transformation of people’s lives, according to the teachings and commandments of Christ, its struggle with the enemies of our salvation and victory over them. The Church, with its saving influence, penetrates the deepest foundations of human life - personal, family, social and state, and the light of its teaching extends to all ends of life. The forces of heaven take an active part in the fight against the enemies of the Church. Therefore, in all its fullness and depth, the destinies of the Church are indescribable and known to the one God. But over time, more or less clearly, the victorious actions of the Church were revealed, many of her enemies were exposed and defeated, her defenders and patrons became glorified, and all this constitutes the heritage of her history. The history of the Church aims to present the past destinies of the Church and to clarify, if possible, the environment in which it now acts for the good and salvation of people. The revelation of the past destinies of the Church will indicate the immutability of the divine promises given to the Church by its Divine Founder, will clarify the greatness of the grace-filled forces operating in the Church, will present numerous examples of the great virtues of the apostles, saints, holy martyrs and martyrs, confessors and other devotees of the faith, will also present the insignificance of the opponents of the Church, and all this should serve to strengthen faith, hope and love in those who still bear the burden of the struggle with enemies of salvation and who still have the good fortune to enjoy the gifts of grace operating in the Church and its maternal protection. In the history of the Christian Church, three periods are clearly distinguished, with a gradual lengthening in time: During the first three centuries after its founding, the Church waged primarily an external struggle against Judaism and paganism in the powerful and considered universal Roman Empire and established itself in the world (34–323). Established in the Roman Empire, the Church for more than five centuries has been waging a predominantly internal struggle against heresies and schisms and triumphing over them in the victory of the Orthodox faith (323–842). With the establishment of Orthodoxy, the separation of the Western Church from the Universal Church begins and the gradual distortion of faith and violation of church decorum in the West begins, until the almost impoverishment of faith noticed there in our days. The Orthodox Eastern Church, overwhelmed by various misfortunes and bearing the heavy yoke of Islam for five centuries, has the task of preserving the Orthodox faith and the improvement established by the Ecumenical Councils. This period has not yet ended, although it is apparently nearing its end, and the unexpected awakening of the peoples of the Far East marks a new era in the history of the Christian Orthodox Church. From the first years of the third period begins the history of the Slavic Churches, and in particular the Russian Church, which the Lord called, as it were, to replenish the West that had fallen away from the Ecumenical Orthodox Church and which, apparently, outlines the great task of preserving and spreading the Orthodox faith in subsequent centuries. The history of the Russian Church is conveniently divided into three periods, the names of which are given by those capital cities in which its administration was concentrated: Kiev, from the beginning of Christianity in Rus' to the invasion of the Mongols, who ravaged the ancient capital of Kyiv to the ground; Moscow, when the high priests of the Russian Church, who retired from the south to the north of Russia, settled in Moscow after a short stay in Vladimir. This period is divided in duration into the following sections: a) from the resettlement of the metropolitans to Vladimir and then to Moscow to the recognition of the independence of the Moscow Metropolitan and its independence from the Patriarch of Constantinople under Metropolitan Jonah; b) from Metropolitan Jonah to the establishment of the patriarchate in the Russian Church; c) from the establishment of the patriarchate until the end of the period. The third period, from the establishment of the Holy Synod under Emperor Peter I to the present time, can be called St. Petersburg. A short textbook does not allow us to trace the life and activities of the Church through the periods of its history outlined above. He gives only fragmentary and brief answers to the questions posed by the program. You might be interested in: