Abstract
This chapter focuses on the distinctive features of Eastern Christianity, it is also important to emphasize that the history of Eastern Christianity, particularly in the first millennium, is closely intertwined with the history of Western Christianity. Many North Americans view Christianity primarily as a Western religion and are familiar only with its Catholic and Protestant expressions, which have dominated the Western world. The chapter discusses the Eastern Orthodox churches, which accept the teachings of seven ecumenical councils. It explores two other forms of Eastern Christianity: the Assyrian Church of the East and the non-Chalcedonian churches. In the fifth century, the western half of the divided empire collapsed under the pressure of war and invasion, mostly by Germanic tribes pushed west by invading Huns from central Asia. The primary form of Christianity that emerged in the eastern part of the Roman Empire is today known as Eastern Orthodoxy.