Orthodoxy

Orthodoxy

The word orthodox, from Greek orthos ("right", "true", "straight") + doxa ("opinion" or "belief", related to dokein, "to think"), is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion. In the narrow sense the term means "conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the creeds of the early Church".

Orthodox Churches in Slavic-language countries (Bulgaria, Russia, Serbia, Macedonia, etc.) use a word derived from Old Church Slavonic, Правосла́виѥ (pravosláviye) to mean orthodoxy. The word derives from the Slavonic roots "право" (právo, true, right) and "славить" (slávit, to praise, to glorify), in effect meaning "the right way to praise God".

The earliest recorded use of the term "orthodox" is in the Codex Iustinianus of 529-534, but "heterodoxy" was in use from the beginning of the first century of Christianity.

Orthodoxy is opposed to heterodoxy ("other teaching") or heresy. People who deviate from orthodoxy by professing a doctrine considered to be false are called heretics, while those who, perhaps without professing heretical beliefs, break from the perceived main body of believers are called schismatics. The term employed sometimes depends on the aspect most in view: if one is addressing corporate unity, the emphasis may be on schism; if one is addressing doctrinal coherence, the emphasis may be on heresy.

Apostasy is a violation of orthodoxy that takes the form of complete abandonment of the faith. A deviation lighter than heresy is commonly called error, in the sense of not being grave enough to cause total estrangement, while yet seriously affecting communion. Sometimes error is also used to cover both full heresies and minor errors.

The concept of orthodoxy is prevalent in many forms of organized monotheism, but orthodox belief is not usually overly emphasized in polytheistic or animist religions, in which there is often little or no concept of dogma, and varied interpretations of doctrine and theology are tolerated and sometimes even encouraged within certain contexts. Syncretism, for example, plays a much wider role in non-monotheistic (and particularly, non-scriptural) religion. The prevailing governing idea within polytheism is often orthopraxy ("right practice") rather than "right belief".