"Greek Orthodox" is short for "Greek Orthodox Christian". The Greek is a national designation -- both cultural and linguistic -- for one portion of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which includes also Orthodox of Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Antiochian, etc. designations.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is also called the Orthodox Catholic Church, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and the Orthodox Christian Church. The Orthodox Church and today's Roman Catholic Church were one Church -- then called simply the Catholic Church -- for over 1000 years. Orthodoxy began at the inception of the Church; it was not "created" later at some political or religious event.
One becomes Orthodox by accepting the Orthodox Christian faith as expressed in the Nicene Creed (without Rome's addition of "filioque" - "and the Son" - one of the reasons for the split between Rome and the four other Christian patriarchates), and by being formally received into the church at the hand of a priest (or, rarely, a bishop.)
The Church is and always has been Trinitarian - God the Father is the source of all, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. There are One God in three persons.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God (the Son) incarnate: John 1:1-14, God in human flesh John 20:24. He was born of the virgin Mary, was crucified for our salvation, rose again from the dead, and is seated now at the right hand of the Father. He will come again as the great Judge of the world.
See http://www.goarch.org/chapel/liturgical_...
You are "getting into" authentic Christianity, not a pop American religious make-it-up-as-you-go inspirational club.
Forgive me.
/Orthodox
About Orthodox Christianity: http://www,goarch.org/ourfaith/introduct...
http://www.antiochian.org/discover
http://saintnicholas.ucoz.com/index/intro_to_orthodoxy/0-14
You have already 2 answers that are partially correct. The Orthodox Church is indeed the first established Christian one which the disciples of Christ established and spread around the then known ancient world.
In the course of the centuries it has evolved in some of its doctrines but remains absolute in the Holy Trinity and only some small differences in practice and non acceptance of some of the Holy Mysteries make it distinct from Catholicism.
The differences between Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox is mainly that they follow different calendars in their celebrations. G.O. uses the Gregorian while R.O. uses the Julian, which practically means a 14 days difference.
It is considered that Orthodoxy is closer to the original rules set by the Disciples and the Holy Fathers
The official name is: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church.
People may unofficially say greek Orthodox or russian Orthodox etc. This just points to the jurisdiction of the church. The Orthodox Church is One and the faith is the same in all parishes.
The Orthodox Church is the first church created, established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the disciples around 2,000 years ago. It is also the only church today that can claim that it is has remained unchanged form the beginning till today.
It's a branch of Christianity that began when the Roman Empire split into eastern and western empires.
