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Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake - Website
Our
church is called the "Greek Orthodox Church" because
Greek was the first language of the ancient Christian Church.
The New Testament was written in Greek, as were the early
writings of Christ's followers. The word "Greek"
is used not to describe just the Orthodox Christian peoples
of Greece and other Greek speaking people, but raher to describe
the Christians who originated from the Greek speaking early
Christian Church.
"Orthodox" is derived from two Greek words, "orthos"
meaning "correct" and "doxa" meaning belief or glory.
Originally there was one Christian Church which developed around five centers
located in Rome, Constantinople (modern day Istanbul), Jerusalem, Antioch
and Alexandria. The latter four centers, headed by Patriarch of Constantinople
considered "first among equals." A rift began in 863 AD between
the Western Church (Rome) and the Eastern Church (Constantinople) which
culminated in the final break or "Greak Schism" of 1054 AD.
The Orthodox Church preserves the classical forms of Christian life and
belief. In traditional Orthodox countries, it is difficult to separate religious
and secular life. In fact, Orthodoxy is the national religion of these countries,
including Greece.
The first Greek colonists landed at St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city
in America, on June 26, 1768. The fist permanent Greek Orthodox community
was founded in New York City in 1892. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of
American is based in New York City. It has 540 parishes, 800 priests and
approximately 1.5 million members. |
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