Orthodoxy = “Right Opinion”

Yesterday I wrote about the Eastern Orthodox Church and today I want to say a word about  the meaning of the word orthodoxy.  Orthodoxy is derived from the Greek word orthodoxia, which means being of and having the “right opinion.”  The word means adhering to the correct or accepted creeds when used by religious groups. There are Orthodox Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims. The word catholic used in Roman Catholic Church has both a Latin and Greek root:  catholicus and katholikos.  Both roots can be translated as “universal,” or “according to the whole,” which comes close to being of and having  the “right opinion” or orthodoxy.  Have you ever met a person who is not orthodox—someone who feels, believes and  thinks that they do not have the “RIGHT opinion?” 

Orthodoxy is used as opposed to heterodoxy (“other teachings, ideas, expressions”) or heresy.  People who deviate from orthodoxy by adhering to some other teaching, idea, or expression are called heretics, and those who break away from the main body of the “orthodox” to form their own group of adherents are called schismatics. There are other “orthodoxies” other than religious ones.  There are scientific, artistic, social, political and economic orthodoxies.  Orthodoxy can and is used to refer to any commonly held beliefs (dogmas) in any field which is being challenged by heterodoxy (“other teachings, ideas, expressions”).  

The word orthodoxy is also used in a broader sense to mean things other than beliefs or ideas.  A new way of thinking, or a new expression, or a new way of doing something is often referred to as “unorthodox” while the old way or normal way is referred to as “orthodox.”

Are you among the “orthodox?”  Are you a “schismatic?”  Or are you a “heretic?” There are many Christians who are not connected to the Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic Churches who claim to be more “orthodox” than the Orthodox.  Currently in our political, economic and social situation we are being told by those who believe they have the “right opinion” that those who oppose them are heretics (unpatriotic, anti-tariff, bleeding hearts, etc.) and/or schismatics.