Oriental Orthodoxy - Occasional Confusions

Occasional Confusions

The Assyrian Church of the East is sometimes incorrectly described as an Oriental Orthodox church, though its origins lie in disputes that predated the Council of Chalcedon and it follows a different Christology from Oriental Orthodoxy. The historical Church of the East was the church of Persia, and declared itself separate from the state church of the Roman Empire in 424 – 27 years before Chalcedon. Theologically, the Church of the East was affiliated with the dyophysite doctrine of Nestorianism, and thus rejected the First Council of Ephesus, which declared Nestorianism heretical in 431. The Christology of the Oriental Orthodox churches in fact developed as a reaction to Nestorian Christology, which emphasizes the distinctness of the human and divine natures of Christ.

There are many overlapping ecclesiastical jurisdictions in India, mostly with a Syriac liturgical heritage centered in the state of Kerala. The autonomous Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church, which comes under the Syriac Orthodox Church is quite often confused with the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church as the latter uses a similar name.