Oriental Orthodox Churches

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/oriental-orthodox-churches

1. What is the number of oriental orthodox churches?
2. What is the defining theological doctrine?
3. What is an Oriental Orthodox Church?
4. Why do Oriental Orthodox Churches use languages like Coptic, Ge'ez, Syriac, and Armenian?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the number of oriental orthodox churches?Five autocephalous churches constitute the Oriental Orthodox communion
2. What is the defining theological doctrine?Miaphysitism, affirming one unified nature of the Incarnate Word
3. What is an Oriental Orthodox Church?It is an ancient Christian church that believes Jesus has one united nature, both divine and human, all mixed together.
4. Why do Oriental Orthodox Churches use languages like Coptic, Ge'ez, Syriac, and Armenian?They use these languages in their prayers and services to keep a close link to their long history and the places where they began.

Autocephalous: Self-governing churches, independent of external ecclesiastical authority.
Hypostatic Union: Theological doctrine describing the union of divine and human natures in the person of Jesus Christ.
Theosis: The Eastern Christian concept of deification or becoming like God through grace.
Diaspora: The dispersion of a people from their original homeland.