Learning area
The Church Through History
The story of the Church from the apostles through the centuries to the present day.
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Related glossary entries
Almsgiving
Mercy made practical: giving to the poor and sharing what one has. In Christ’s teaching it belongs together with prayer and fasting, and is to be done in secret. The Fathers taught that our possessions are gifts held in trust rather than simply our own.
Apophatic theology
The "negative" way of speaking about God, which describes what God is not in order to guard the truth that God is beyond all human concepts and words.
Apostolic succession
The unbroken handing on of the apostles’ ministry through the laying on of hands, by which the Church’s bishops stand in continuity with the apostles themselves.
Beatitudes
The nine blessings with which Jesus opens the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5.3–12), beginning “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” They are chanted in the Divine Liturgy as the Gospel book is carried in, and are held to be the most concise summary of the spiritual life.
Chrismation
The sacrament that immediately follows Baptism, in which the newly baptised is anointed with holy chrism and receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. It corresponds to what the West calls confirmation.
Communion of saints
The unity of all the faithful in Christ — on earth and in heaven. Because the Church is one body, the saints are near, and we ask their prayers.
Source information
Lessons in this area draw on identified Orthodox Christian sources, especially the four-volume series The Orthodox Faith by Thomas Hopko. Full bibliographic details and rights status are available on the Sources page.
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