Crucifixion and Resurrection Mystery
Crucifixion and Resurrection Mystery Orthodox Christianity is characterized by a mystical, allegorical interpretation of the Christian story and a view of the various events as mysteries[1]. Without a doubt, the…
Early Christianity in Jerusalem
Christians in Aelia Capitolina After the destruction of the Temple during the Great Revolt, the city of Jerusalem was in ruins, but this probably did not prevent Jews and Christians…
Early Christian Saints
Monastic Life Christian mysticism was prominent in Cappadocia and Alexandria in the fourth century, in the monasteries on Mount Sinai in the sixth century, and in Byzantium and on Mount…
The Syrian Church
Monophysite Churches Monophysite means “one nature” (mono = one, physis = nature). The Monophysite movement includes all those who believe in the single nature of Jesus, in contrast to the…
Coptic and Ethiopian Christianity
The Coptic Church The Apostle Mark, in whose house the Syrian Church is located, was one of Jesus’s 70 disciples and a key figure in the Jerusalem of the early…
Armenian and Georgian Christianity
Saint Nino and the Holy Robe Saint Nino (296–340) is the founder of Georgian Christianity. This is a unique case of a national religion being founded by a woman. She…
The Spiritual Meadows
The Works of Justinian The sacred planning of Byzantine Jerusalem was initiated by Constantine and completed by Justinian, the greatest of the Byzantine builder-emperors (reigned 527–565), who extended the Cardo…
Iconography and John of Damascus
Iconography and John of Damascus Alongside the establishment of Islam in the Land of Israel, the rise of the Umayyad Empire, the construction of the Dome of the Rock and…
Crusader Spirituality
Christian Messianic Expectation Towards the end of the first millennium, Christian messianic expectation intensified, especially in Catholic Europe, with a concrete anticipation of Jesus’ return. This led to a renewed…