History

The following history of the Church is not intended to be a specifically dated presentation, but more of an outline of events that were taking place in the life of the Church and the interrelation of those events. We should be aware of the major milestones in the life of the Church and how they had an effect on one another and the whole life of the Church.

The Church began with the descent of the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost in Jerusalem. The Apostles tended to the new flock in Jerusalem and slowly began to spread out their preaching and teaching about Jesus Christ. Finally, the great missions of St. Paul and the other Apostles planted the seeds of the Church in towns all around the northern part of the Mediterranean and into the capital of the empire itself. For the most part, the Eastern portion of the Empire was an Empire of small cities linked together by an excellent road and transportation system. Within a very short time, there were small Christian communities in all of the major trade centers of the Empire. Each of these communities as we know from Holy Scripture was headed by a bishop and he was assisted by priests and deacons¹. The Church in the cities was the basic unit of the Christian community, and the groups of believers in the countryside, depended on the Church in the city. The Empire at this time was an Empire of cities in the East. The Church was scattered like seeds of creeping ground cover flowers. As the tiny communities of believers grew in strength and numbers, these tiny communities scattered so freely over the face of the Empire eventually grew together, meeting one another. The emphasis of this very embryonic Christian Church was the Eucharistic local community. Where the flock gathered to share the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, there was the Church. The connection of believers then as now was the universal sharing of the Sacraments, especially the Body and Blood of Our Lord. The Apostolic Church set another model for us in approximately 50 AD when the bishops of the Church, and others, met in Jerusalem² to discuss points of practice and standardize what the Church was doing with regard to receiving gentiles throughout all of the Christian Church. This served as the model for the Ecumenical councils, first convened in 325 AD in Nicea. These gatherings of the bishops, clergy and others from all the local Churches, and the eventual agreement of every bishop in the Church on matters of doctrine lent the name Ecumenical to the title of these Seven Councils.

Few things in this life come without effort to obtain these things. Our Salvation, while a gift from God, is not offered to us unless we extend some effort to show God that we love and respect Him through our intentions, and actions. Remember that Faith is the sum total of who we are, what we say, do, and believe. Thus our intentions, beliefs, and actions in this life are a mark of our Faith.

Sin is separation from God. In this condition of separation, our thoughts, actions, and desires are no longer united with God. True Humanity is as God created us- i.e. in the Image and Likeness of God. If individual Human Beings (and collective humanity as well) are separated from God, through sin, and the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, we are not truly Human. Therefore, we are not living in the Image and Likeness of God. This is the consequence of our separation from God – i.e., our sin. What are the effects of this separation? Our minds are darkened, our reasoning is cloudy, the things we desire are often perverted, our will is weak, and our actions are disoriented – in short, we go wrong. The Holy Church provides a way of healing this distortion through the Sacrament of Penance.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/april-10-2009/orthodox-chanting/2625/