Ethiopian Orthodox?

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How are the Jacobites (Syriac Orthodox and offshoots) different from the other Oriental Orthodox?

As for the various different Ukrainian Churches, I think they fall pretty squarely within the Eastern Orthodox praxis and tradition, despite not being canonically recognized as yet. 🤷

Peace and God bless!
 
Harpazo said:
These little passive, snide comments that many ECs seem to drop all the time in their replies… But it’s not germane to this thread …
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The OP asked, “Where does the Ethiopian Orthodox church fit into the Orthodox world … Is it party of the Orthodox family of churches”? The posts of Aramis and Ghosty were true, germane, and informative responses to the OP’s question. Why do you consider them snide?
I am finding more of these little remarks … as going out of their way to push people away from Orthodoxy.
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It seems like a paranoia, really.
 
Ghosty said:
Yep, but when people see “Ethiopian Orthodox” they aren’t likely to think we’re talking about a Catholic Church, while they might very well think we’re talking about a part of the Eastern Orthodox Communion. It’s a point worth clarifying when confusion begins to crop up, as it did in the OP when he said “the Orthodox family of Churches” (since, in fact, there are two distinct “Orthodox families of Churches” and not one).

Again, this isn’t in anyway an attack on Eastern Orthodoxy, and I don’t see how it could be. For what it’s worth, your post said essentially the same thing as Aramis’ and was even more informative. You weren’t called out by your fellow Orthodox for highlighting the distinction between the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox, however. 🤷

Peace and God bless!
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Yes, there are two distinct Orthodox families of Churches. And yes, it should be clarified that Ethiopian Orthodox (or any other Oriental Orthodox Church) is not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox family of Churches.

The polite disagreement I have is with Aramis’ contention that the word “Orthodox” is an inadequate and useless designation since it is used by different churches not in communion with each other. In my post I used “Christian” to demonstrate that just because there is not immediate clarity as to what a person means when he/she says it, does not make the term useless. I may have applied the same to the term “Catholic.” There are ecclesial groups that call themselves “Catholic”–e.g. Old Catholics, Traditionalist Catholics, Independent Catholics, Polish National Church Catholics, etc.-- and each group has its own distinct understanding of what it means to be a “Catholic.” Conceivably, someone may be thinking of the Roman Catholic Church when they hear about the Polish National Catholic Church. From another angle, a Melkite Catholic might tell someone he is “Catholic,” and that person may without further clarification think of him as a “Roman Catholic” (Latin Catholic). Qualification here would be necessary–“No, I don’t attend Mass; I attend Divine Liturgy”; “Yes, I’m Catholic, under the Pope, but I belong to the Eparchy of _____ instead of the Roman Catholic Diocese of ______”; “no we generally don’t have statues, but we have icons,” etc. All this, however, does not make “Catholic” a useless term.

I do not mean this as a attack on Catholicism.

Regarding the distinction between Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox as two separate communions, I do not see why this would be offensive to someone.
 
In the case of the term Orthodox, however, it applies to several disparate groups, the mainstreams of which consider (or at least until the very recent past, considered) the other such groups heretics and beyond salvation. All of whom are frequently mistaken for each other.

When one asks “What do the Orthodox believe?” WHich? The Alexandrians? The Tehwado? The Armenians? The Jacobites? The Eastern Orthodox?

As a blanket term, its about as useful as… actually, I can’t really think of much else as often misinterpreted in meaning, except maybe “government agent”…
 
Aramis said:
In the case of the term Orthodox, however, it applies to several disparate groups, the mainstreams of which consider (or at least until the very recent past, considered) the other such groups heretics and beyond salvation. All of whom are frequently mistaken for each other.

When one asks “What do the Orthodox believe?” WHich? The Alexandrians? The Tehwado? The Armenians? The Jacobites? The Eastern Orthodox?

As a blanket term, its about as useful as… actually, I can’t really think of much else as often misinterpreted in meaning, except maybe “government agent”…
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Why don’t you include Catholics in this list?

Everyone thinks they are orthodox, including you.

If they didn’t think they were orthodox, they would change to be whatever they thought orthodox was. The same applies to the term Catholic.

So members of the Holy Orthodox church could hypothetically say “What do the Catholics believe?” Which? The Alexandrians? The Tehwado? The Armenians? The Jacobites? The Latins?

But they would never really say that, because members of the Holy Orthodox church know fully well they are orthodox Catholics themselves.
 
Aramis said:
Four families, Ghosty…
Eastern Orthodox
Oriental Orthodox (Miaphysites)
Jacobite Orthodox
Ukrainian Non-Canonical Orthodox (UOC-KP, AUOC, UAOC, UOC-USA, etc)

The Ukrainians being pretty much the same belief and praxis as the EO’s Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, but clearly NOT in communion with the EOC churches… and some of them have intercommunion with each other.

And then there are the “Independent Orthodox” …
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The Jacobites are the Orientals. They are called Jacobites because Jacob Baradaeus ordained bishops and priests in the end of the sixth century to ensure the survival of the Oriental Orthodox Church, which seemed to be disappearing. It was with the support of the Alexandrian patriarch (Theodosius?) that he did this.
 
I’ve read of the churches carved right out of the bedrock. Sounds like an absolutely beautiful place to visit.
 
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