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Essential Orthodox Christian Beliefs
The Orthodox FaithThe Orthodox Faith
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    • Copyright
    • A Letter from His Beatitude, The Most Blessed Tikhon
    • Acknowledgements
    • Foreword
  • Proskomedia: Blessed is the Kingdom
    • • Proskomedia
    • • Blessed is the Kingdom
    • • The Scriptures of Israel
    • • The Fall of Humanity
    • • Choosing the Creature Rather than the Creator
    • • Genesis: The Continued Reverberations of the Fall
    • • A Kingdom of Priests
    • • Prophets and Kings: Restoring Correct Worship
    • • Jesus Christ the Messiah
    • • The Orthodox Temple: Returning to Paradise
  • The Kingdom of God and the World
    • • The Nature of the Kingdom
    • • Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...
    • • The Peace of God
    • • The Great Litany
    • • The World
    • • An Object of God’s Love
    • • A Rival to God
    • • In the world, but not of the World
    • • An Introduction to Prayer
  • God, Jesus, and the Christian Life
    • • The Three Antiphons
    • • The Living God
    • • Jesus
    • • The Christian Life: Living the Beatitudes
    • • The Christian Life: Living in the Resurrection with the Saints
    • • The Christian Life: The Psalter as Hymnbook
    • • Conclusion
  • Worship
    • • Introduction
    • • God and Worship
    • • Man and Worship
    • • Individual and Corporate Worship
    • • Worship: Spiritual and Physical
    • • The Liturgical Year
    • • The Liturgical Week
    • • The Liturgical Day
    • • Conclusion
  • The Communion of Saints in the Orthodox Church
    • • Introduction
    • • The Resurrection of Christ
    • • Who are the Saints?
    • • Saints with a capital “S”
    • • Local Saints
    • • How Do the Saints Help Us?
    • • The Place of the Theotokos in the Communion of Saints
    • • The Lives of the Saints
    • • Icons of the Saints
    • • The Relics of the Saints
    • • Conclusion
  • The Holy Trinity
    • • Introduction
    • • The Father
    • • The Son
    • • The Holy Spirit
    • • The Holy God as Trinity
    • • Baptism and the Holiness of God
    • • Baptism in the Church
    • • Conclusion
  • The Scriptures in the Orthodox Church
    • • Introduction
    • • The Centrality of the Scriptures
    • • The Creation of the Old Testament
    • • The Place of the Old Testament in Jewish Life
    • • The Creation of the New Testament
    • • The Authority of the Scriptures
    • • What Authority is not
    • • The Old Testament Canon
    • • Christology
    • • The Place of the Septuagint
    • • The Scriptures in the Liturgy of the Church
    • • Interpreting the Scriptures
    • • The Place of the Fathers
    • • Reading the Scriptures
  • Meeting Christ, Understanding, and Being Transformed
    • • What is a Gospel?
    • • The Unique Character of the Gospels
    • • The Unique Message of the Gospels
    • • The Particularity of Each of the Gospels
    • • What is the Good News?
    • • Good News for the Churches
    • • Components of the Written Gospels Genealogies and Beyond
    • • Birth narratives
    • • Miracles, Healings and Exorcisms
    • • Parables
    • • Controversies
    • • Theological Discourses
    • • Narrative of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection
    • • Ascension and Promised Return
    • • What Does Hearing the Gospel Entail?
    • • Conclusion
  • The Church
    • • Litanies
    • • The Church as the Body of Christ
    • • Spiritual Gifts are Given to All
    • • Ordained Clergy: Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons
    • • Specific Functions of Ordained Clergy
    • • The Church and Eschatology
    • • Monasticism
    • • The Ascetical Life
    • • The Remembrance of Death
    • • Conclusion
  • The Cherubic Hymn
    • • Introduction
    • • Man’s Original Vocation
    • • The Advent of Christ
    • • Christ the King
    • • Christ the High Priest
    • • Christ the Prophet
    • • The Restoration of Our Calling
    • • The Old Man
    • • Becoming a King
    • • Becoming a Priest
    • • Becoming a Prophet
    • • Conclusion
  • The History of the Church
    • • The Church as Israel
    • • The Martyric Church
    • • The Peace of Constantine
    • • Schism with the West
    • • The Rise of Islam and the Fall of the East
    • • Byzantium after Byzantium: The Modern Age
    • • Ecumenism
    • • How Orthodoxy Understands Other Christian Communities
    • • How Orthodoxy Understands Non-Christian Religions
    • • Conclusion
  • The Anaphora
    • • Introduction
    • • Thanksgiving, Creation, and the Fall
    • • Thanksgiving
    • • Creation
    • • The Fall
    • • The Son’s Offering to the Father and Sacrifice
    • • Atonement
    • • Christ’s Sacrifice
    • • The Work of the Holy Spirit
    • • Remembering the Saints with Thanksgiving
    • • Naming
    • • The Riches of the Anaphora
  • The Mother of God
    • • Hymn to the Theotokos
    • • The Mother of God and Our Salvation
    • • Veneration of Mary as the Mother of God
    • • The Life of the Theotokos
    • • Mary’s Virginity
    • • Communion Between the Living and the Departed
    • • Prayers for the Departed
    • • The Last Judgment
    • • Conclusion
  • The Lord’s Prayer
    • • Introduction
    • • The Lord's Prayer
    • • Our Father who art in heaven
    • • Hallowed be Thy Name
    • • Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done
    • • Give Us This Day our Daily Bread
    • • Forgive Us our Trespasses
    • • Lead Us Not into Temptation, but Deliver Us from Evil
    • • For Thine is the Kingdom
  • The Sacraments
    • • Rituals and Sacraments
    • • Baptism and Chrismation
    • • Eucharist
    • • Holy Matrimony
    • • Holy Orders
    • • Holy Unction
    • • The Sacrament of Confession
    • • The Burial of the Dead
    • • Conclusion
  • The Fellowship of the Faithful and Our Witness to the World
    • • Introduction
    • • The Fellowship of the Faithful
    • • Koinonia
    • • One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
    • • Bearing One Another’s Burdens
    • • Death and the Cross
    • • The Necessity of Fellowship
    • • Our Witness to Christ in the World
    • • The Knowledge of a Witness
    • • Watchfulness
    • • The Role of a Witness
    • • The Witness of Christ

The World

The Biblical understanding of the world is two-fold. The term, in Greek kosmos, can mean either the world and all it contains as created by God, or the world in its present state of rebellion against God. It is important to distinguish which of these meanings the biblical authors intend.

Read more: Creation (opens in a new tab), The World and the Flesh (opens in a new tab)

• The Great Litany• An Object of God’s Love
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