‘Garasanin’, whoever he or she is, has sent us the following comment:
Hi,
I've been browsing through the internet recently looking for Orthodox blogs and have come across your one. You have some really insightful commentary that I have enjoyed reading.
One area I look to clarify with Orthodox sites that I come across is which branch of the broader Orthodox church the author belongs to. I haven't yet come across any of your posts that mention this. I apologise if I'm asking about something that you don't feel a need to share but I was hoping to know whether you are part of a community that belongs to a SCOBA jurisdiction?
‘Garasanin’ is smart. He or she is checking to make sure that he or she doesn’t get into trouble relying on something on the Internet that presents itself as ‘Orthodox’ without proper credentials. We heartily encourage all our readers to exercise a healthy scepticism on the Internet.
That having been said, in this post we gave this brief explanation of who we are:
First of all let us clarify our terminology. Ordinary usage, as can easily be verified by searching the Web, makes ‘Eastern Orthodox’ refer to members of churches in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. These churches are often known by their national appellations: Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and so on. Ordinary usage makes ‘western Orthodox’ refer to a person who belongs to an Eastern Orthodox church but who follows a western rite, whether Episcopalian or other. Nowadays, a phrase, ‘Oriental Orthodox,’ is sometimes used to refer to members of churches not in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople, churches which the ‘Eastern Orthodox’ have traditionally referred to as Monophysite or Nestorian. These churches are often known by their national appellations: Armenian Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Chaldean Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East and so on.
...
For the record, ‘Orthodox Monk,’ the author of this blog, is a member in good standing of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is a canonically tonsured monk of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He belongs to a canonical Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction. He follows the traditional Orthodox rite of his jurisdiction, not a western rite. By preference he uses ‘Orthodox’ instead of ‘Eastern Orthodox;’ throughout this blog the two are synonyms.
Sorry, that’s all we can say about ourselves.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
—Orthodox Monk
