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Ordinary Time

Orthodoxy & Error

Orthodoxy

OR-tho-dox-eenoun

Right belief — teaching that matches the historic Christian faith as defined by Scripture and the ecumenical creeds.

Also called: right belief, the catholic faith

Not To Be Confused With

Orthodoxy is right BELIEF; orthopraxy is right PRACTICE. (Capital-O “Orthodox” also names the Eastern Orthodox communion — a different use of the word.)

Orthodoxy comes from Greek orthos (“right, straight”) + doxa (“opinion,” and also “glory/worship”) — so it means both right belief and right worship. In practice it names the core Christian faith confessed by the whole Church: the Trinity, the full deity and humanity of Christ, the resurrection, salvation by grace — the things defined at Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon.

Theologos uses “orthodoxy” for the shared Nicene faith that Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians hold in common — not for any one tradition's distinctives. Disagreements inside that shared faith are intramural, not a breach of orthodoxy.

Related Terms

Related Word Studies

Orthodoxy — Definition | Theologos Media