A learner’s guide
- Christian family
- Ancient apostolic communion
- Historical setting
- Egypt, Syria, Armenia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and India; a separate family after 451
Historical origin
Where this tradition came from
These churches did not receive the Council of Chalcedon in 451. They include the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Malankara Orthodox churches. The agreed statements of the Eastern Orthodox–Oriental Orthodox joint commission (1989 and 1990) concluded that the two families hold the same Christological faith in different terms, and that many of the old disputes arose from language and historical mistrust. Communion with Eastern Orthodoxy and with Rome has not been restored.
Authority
How teaching is discerned
Scripture is read within apostolic Tradition, especially the Nicene faith, the first three ecumenical councils, liturgy, fathers, and the teaching of bishops in synod. Each member church governs itself while sharing faith and sacramental communion with the others.
Salvation
How God saves and transforms
Salvation is union with Christ, forgiveness, renewal, and growth into holiness by divine grace. The incarnation is central: the Word truly became human so humanity might be healed and share in God’s life.
The church
Leadership and belonging
Episcopal and synodal. Each ancient church has its own patriarch or catholicos and synod of bishops. No single hierarch exercises universal jurisdiction over all Oriental Orthodox churches.
Sacraments and ordinances
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Baptism
Infants and adult converts are baptised, ordinarily by immersion, in the Trinitarian name. Chrismation and first Communion commonly follow as a unified rite of initiation.
Communion / Eucharist
The bread and wine truly become Christ’s body and blood. The Eucharist stands at the centre of the church’s sacramental and liturgical life and is normally received within full ecclesial communion.
Gathered life
What worship may feel like
Ancient liturgies in Coptic, Ge’ez, Armenian, and Syriac, alongside Arabic, Malayalam, and other modern languages. Fasting is extensive, and worship uses chant, incense, and icons within full calendars of saints and feasts.
Distinctive emphases
- The first three ecumenical councils
- Miaphysite Christological language
- Ancient non-Chalcedonian liturgies
- Fasting and ascetic spirituality
- Continuity with African, Middle Eastern, and Indian Christianity
Read with care
Internal diversity and a common misconception
Where members differ
The member churches have different liturgical families, languages, calendars, and disciplines. ‘Oriental Orthodox’ names a communion of churches, not a single ethnicity or administrative institution.
Do not assume
Oriental Orthodox Christians are not monophysites who deny Christ’s humanity. They confess Jesus Christ as fully divine and fully human, his divinity and humanity united without mingling, confusion, or alteration and never separated, and they prefer the Cyrilline language of one incarnate nature.
Go to the source
Read this tradition in its own words
These links lead to confessions, catechisms, or teaching resources produced by churches within this tradition. They open in a new tab so you can keep this guide available.