TheOriental Orthodox Churches areEastern Christian churches adhering toMiaphysite Christology,[1] with approximately 60 million worldwide.[2][3] However, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, individually, claim approximately 87 million baptized members.[4] The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to theNicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is one of the oldest branches inChristianity.[5]
The majority of Oriental Orthodox Christians live in Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, India,Syria,Turkey and Armenia, with smallerSyriac communities in Western Asia decreasing due topersecution.[5][10][11][12] There are also many in other parts of the world, formed throughdiaspora,conversions, and missionary activity.
The name "Oriental Orthodox Churches" was formally adopted at theConference of Addis Ababa in 1965. At the time there were five participating churches, the Eritrean Church not yet being autocephalous.[13]
Other names by which the churches have been known includeOld Oriental,Ancient Oriental,Lesser Eastern,Anti-Chalcedonian,Non-Chalcedonian,Pre-Chalcedonian,Miaphysite orMonophysite.[14][13] The Catholic Church has referred to these churches as "the Ancient Churches of the East."[15]
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are infull communion with each other, but not with theEastern Orthodox Church or any other churches. Like the Catholics or Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox Churches includes several self-governing churches. Slow dialogue towards restoring communion between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox groups was renewed in the mid-20th century;[16][17] and dialogue is also underway between Oriental Orthodoxy and the Catholic Church, and others.[18] In 2017, for example, the mutual recognition ofbaptism was restored between the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Catholic Church.[19] Also baptism is mutually recognized between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic Church.[20][21]
To the hierarchs who would lead Oriental Orthodoxy, the description of Christ as "one person in two natures" was tantamount to accepting the once-condemned Nestorianism, which expressed itself in a terminology incompatible with their understanding of Christology. Nestorianism was understood as seeing Christ in two separate natures—human and divine—each with different actions and experiences; in contrastCyril of Alexandria advocated the formula "one nature of God the Incarnate Logos"[29] (or as others translate, "one Incarnate nature of the Word").[30]
The Oriental Orthodox Churches were therefore often called "monophysite" by the imperial Roman Christians—although they continually reject this label—as it is associated withEutychian monophysitism; they prefer the term "miaphysite."[34][35] The Oriental Orthodox would later be accused of Eutychian monophysitism byEvangelical Protestants proselytizing in predominantly Eastern and Oriental Orthodox regions.[36]
In the years following Chalcedon, the patriarchs of Constantinople intermittently remained in communion with the non-Chalcedonianpatriarchs of Alexandria andAntioch (seeHenotikon), while Rome remained out of communion with the latter and in unstable communion with Constantinople. It was not until 518 that the new Byzantine Emperor,Justin I—who accepted Chalcedon—demanded that the church in the Roman Empire accept the council's decisions.[37]
During theearly Muslim conquests, Egypt was conquered from the Eastern Romans/Byzantines. According to Coptic bishopJohn of Nikiû, the Muslims "despoiled the Egyptians of their possessions and dealt cruelly with them" whilst also notingAmr ibn al-As "took none of the property of the Churches, and he committed no act of spoilation or plunder, and he preserved them throughout all his days."[38][39] Despite the conquest of Egypt and initial peace between Christians and Muslims, Egypt's Umayyad rulers taxed Christians at a higher rate than Muslims, driving merchants towards Islam and undermining the economic base of the Coptic Church.[40] Although the Coptic Orthodox Church did not disappear, the Umayyad tax policies made it difficult for the church to retain the Egyptian elites.[41]
Since the early Muslim conquests, Oriental Orthodox Christians have endured moments of peace and persecution between themselves and theArab-Islamic communities governing the Middle East and North Africa. TheCopts have endured persecution into the 21st century, with some facing abduction andforced conversion.[43][44] The Armenian and Syriac Orthodox churches also faced persecution and genocide, with the one Syriac scholar stating, "Oriental Christianity was literally decimated finally through the cruel representative of the Mongolian-Islamic fanaticism."[45][46]
By 862, the Armenian Apostolic and Syriac Orthodox churches held theCouncil of Shirakavan with the Eastern Orthodox Church in efforts to seek Christian unity and clarify Christological positions.[47] By the 12th century, theCouncil of Hromkla was held between the Armenians and the Greeks, to finalize an attempted union with the Eastern Orthodox Church.[48][49]
By the 19th century, French-born former CatholicJules Ferrette was allegedly ordained into the episcopacy byIgnatius Peter IV of Antioch to establish an Oriental Orthodox mission in theWest.[51][52]
By the early 20th century, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church re-established theCatholicos of the East. Syriac Orthodox patriarchIgnatius Abded Mshiho II enthroned Murimattathil Paulose Ivanios as Baselios Paulose I, Catholicos of the East, on the Apostolic Throne of St. Thomas at St. Mary's Church in Niranam on 15 September 1912.[57] The Malankara Orthodox Syrian and Jacobite Syrian Church disputed ecclesiastical authority over the Indian subcontinent.[58]
In 1932, following controversies surrounding Ferrette and Vilatte, and clergy claiming apostolic succession through them,Ignatius Aphrem I of Antioch issued a notice which stated, amongst other things:[59]
"[T]o all whom it may concern that there are in theUnited States of America and in some countries ofEurope, particularly inEngland, a number ofschismatic bodies which have come into existence after direct expulsion from official Christian communities and have devised for themselves a commoncreed and a system ofjurisdiction of their invention."
"To deceive Christians of the West being a chief objective of the schismatic bodies, they take advantage of their great distance from theEast, and from time to time make public statements claiming without truth to derive their origin and apostolic succession from some Apostolic Church of the East, the attractiverites and ceremonies of which they adopt and with which they claim to have relationship."
"[W]e deny any and every relationship with these schismatic bodies [...]. Furthermore, our Church forbids any and every relationship and, above all, allintercommunion with all and any of these schismatic sects and warns the public that their statements and pretentions as above all altogether without truth."
In 1943, a group of clergy descending from Ferrette and Vilatte held the Council of London, which repudiated Aphrem's decree.[59] These would merge into theCatholicate of the West, which by the end of 20th century became the British Orthodox Church.[60][61]
Haile Selassie of Ethiopia opening the Conference of the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches at theAfrica Hall, Addis Ababa
In 1959, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was granted autocephaly by Coptic popeCyril VI,[62] and by 1965, theAddis Ababa Conference was held between the autocephalous Oriental Orthodox churches. After the Addis Ababa Conference, the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches was established.[63]
Amongst the Oriental Orthodox, ecumenical dialogue increased with other Christians in the 20th century; and from several meetings between the authorities of theHoly See and Oriental Orthodoxy, reconciling declarations emerged in the common statement of Syriac patriarch MarIgnatius Zakka I Iwas and the Roman popeJohn Paul II in 1984:
The confusions and schisms that occurred between their Churches in the later centuries, they realize today, in no way affect or touch the substance of their faith, since these arose only because of differences in terminology and culture and in the various formulae adopted by different theological schools to express the same matter. Accordingly, we find today no real basis for the sad divisions and schisms that subsequently arose between us concerning the doctrine of Incarnation. In words and life we confess the true doctrine concerning Christ our Lord, notwithstanding the differences in interpretation of such a doctrine which arose at the time of the Council of Chalcedon.[64]
However, despite the progress made in ecumenical dialogue, many Oriental Orthodox authorities likePope Shenouda III remained skeptical about the Chalcedonian churches, continuing to view their Christology asNestorian.[29]
In 1986, the Copts and Romans created a common formula expressing an official Christological agreement between one another.[65] In 1990, another Christological agreement was formulated between the Malankara Orthodox Syrians and Romans.[66] In 1996, another common declaration was declared by the Armenians and Romans.[67] The Oriental Orthodox have also signed similar Christological declarations with the Greek Orthodox churches of Alexandria, Antioch, and Romania; however, the remainder of mainstream Eastern Orthodoxy has either sought further clarification or rejected dialogue.[68]
In 1993, the Eritrean Church achieved its autocephaly after independence from Ethiopia.[69] Its autocephaly was granted by Shenouda III. By 2015, the British Orthodox Church departed from the Coptic Church as a non-canonically recognized church.[70]
By the first quarter of the 21st century, the Supreme Court of India ruled in favor of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church's legitimacy following centuries of administrative dispute amongst Malankara Christians.[58][71] As of 2025, administrative disagreements continued between the two churches. These disagreements extended between the Malankara Orthodox, the Coptic Orthodox, and the Catholicate of Cilicia.[72][73]
Oriental Orthodoxy does not have a magisterial leader like theCatholic Church, nor does the communion have a leader who can convene ecumenical synods or have collective honorary primacy like theEastern Orthodox Church. Meanwhile its ecumenical dialogues and internal church relations are led by the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches, which acts as the permanent representative council of its member churches.[75]
Below is a list of the six autocephalous Oriental Orthodox churches forming the mainstream body of Oriental Orthodox Christianity, and their associated liturgicalritual families. Based on the definitions, the list is in the alphabetical order, with some of their constituent autonomous churches and exarchates listed as well. Amongst the Oriental Orthodox, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church's autocephaly has been primarily disputed by the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and its autonomous Jacobite Syrian Church of India;[58][72][73] the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is not a recognized member of the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches, the regional conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches in North America.[76]
Distribution of Oriental Orthodox Christians in the world by country:
Main religion (more than 75%)
Main religion (50–75%)
Important minority religion (20–50%)
Important minority religion (5–20%)
Minority religion (1–5%)
Tiny minority religion (below 1%), but has localautocephaly
According to theEncyclopedia of Religion, Oriental Orthodoxy is the Christian tradition "most important in terms of the number of faithful living in the Middle East", which, along with otherEastern Christian communions, represent anautochthonous Christian presence whose origins date further back than the birth and spread ofIslam in the Middle East.[77] In 2018, Oriental Orthodox population was estimated at more than 50 million.[78] Collectively, the Oriental Orthodox Churches claim to have approximately 87 million members.[79]
Oriental Orthodoxy is a prevailing religion inEthiopia (43.1%), while Protestants account for 19.4% and Islam – 34.1%.[83] It is most widespread in two regions inEthiopia:Amhara (82%) andTigray (96%), as well as the capital city ofAddis Ababa (75%). It is also one of two major religions inEritrea (40%).[84]
It is a minority inEgypt (<20%),[85]Syria (2–3% out of the 10% of total Christians),Lebanon (10% of the 40% of Christians in Lebanon or 200,000 Armenians and members of the Church of the East) andKerala,India (7% out of the 20% of total Christians in Kerala).[86] In terms of total number of members, the Ethiopian Church is the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches, and is second among all Orthodox churches among Eastern and Oriental Churches (exceeded in number only by theRussian Orthodox Church).
Also of particular importance are the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople in Turkey and theArmenian Apostolic Church of Iran. These Oriental Orthodox churches represent the largest Christian minority in both of these predominantly Muslim countries,Turkey andIran.[87][88]
In Oriental Orthodoxy, the sacrament of baptism is performed by both immersion and sprinkling;[91]: 82 the ordained are considered "participants in the one priesthood of Christ" and "When a man is selected to become a member of the diaconate, priesthood or bishopric, he officiates sacraments not on account of a priesthood intrinsic to him but rather as one who derives his functionality from his participation in the priesthood of Christ."[91]: 90 Oriental Orthodoxy accepts baptisms and ordinations from the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, and considers their understanding ofsacramental character "the middle path forged byBasil the Great."[91]: 70–78
The primary theological difference between the two communions is the differing Christology. Oriental Orthodoxy rejects theChalcedonian Definition, and instead adopts themiaphysite formula,[34][35] believing that the human anddivine natures of Christ are united in one incarnate nature. Historically, the early prelates of the Oriental Orthodox Churches thought that Chalcedonianism implied a possible repudiation of theTrinity, or a concession toNestorianism.
The break in communion between the imperial Roman and Oriental Orthodox churches did not occur suddenly, but rather gradually over two to three centuries following the Council of Chalcedon.[92] Eventually the two communions developed separate institutions, and the Oriental Orthodox did not participate in any of the later ecumenical councils.
The schism between Oriental Orthodoxy and the adherents of Chalcedonian Christianity was based on differences in Christology.[1] TheFirst Council of Nicaea, in 325, declared that Jesus Christ isGod, that is to say, "consubstantial" with the Father.[24][25] Later, the third ecumenical council, theCouncil of Ephesus, declared that Jesus Christ, though divine as well as human, is only one being, or person (hypostasis). Thus, the Council of Ephesus explicitly rejectedNestorianism, the Christological doctrine that Christ was two distinct persons, one divine (theLogos) and one human (Jesus), who happened to inhabit the same body.[26]
Twenty years after Ephesus, theCouncil of Chalcedon reaffirmed the view that Jesus Christ was a single person, but at the same time declared that this one person existed "in two complete natures", one human and one divine.[28][93]
Ritual purification plays a major role in worship across the autocephalous and autonomous Oriental Orthodox churches.[96][97] Before praying, they wash their hands and face in order to be clean before and to present their best to God;shoes are removed in order to acknowledge that one is offering prayer before a holy God.[98][99] In this Christian tradition, it is customary for women to wear aChristian headcovering when praying.[100]
TheAssyrian Church of the East is sometimes incorrectly described as an Oriental Orthodox church,[115][116][117] though its origins lie in disputes that predated the Council of Chalcedon and it follows a differentChristology from Oriental Orthodoxy. The historicalChurch of the East was the church ofGreater Iran and declared itself separate from thestate church of the Roman Empire in 424–427, years before the Ecumenical Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon. Theologically, the Church of the East was affiliated with the doctrine ofNestorianism, and thus rejected theCouncil of Ephesus, which declared Nestorianism heretical in 431. The Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in fact developed as a reaction against Nestorian Christology, which emphasizes the distinctness of the human and divine natures of Christ.
^"Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century".Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 8 November 2017.Oriental Orthodoxy has separate self-governing jurisdictions in Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Armenia and Syria, and it accounts for roughly 20% of the worldwide Orthodox population.
^Roberson, Ronald G. (1995).Oriental Orthodox-Roman Catholic Interchurch Marriages: And Other Pastoral Relationships. USCCB Publishing. p. 81.ISBN978-1-55586-097-4.
^Jenkins, Phillip (2017-07-05)."More than 60 million Christians belong to churches that rejected the Chalcedonian Creed".The Christian Century. Retrieved2025-06-06.Chalcedon was widely rejected in those ancient Eastern churches that had the best claim to direct continuity from the apostolic age. In Egypt, Syria, and Armenia, hatred of Chalcedon sparked protests, riots, and even civil war. Dissident churches rejected the empire's official position, and these anti-Chalcedonian bodies claimed the support of large majorities of the population. The divisions fatally weakened the Roman Empire in the East, making possible the Muslim conquests of the seventh century.
^abHaddon, Hazel (2012-03-24)."Egypt's other Christians".Ahram Online. Retrieved2025-06-06.In 451 AD, theological disagreements led the Egyptian Church to split from most of the other churches of the time. The Egyptian church, which went on to become the Coptic Orthodox Church and to represent the majority of Egyptian Christians, disagreed with the decisions of the Chalcedon church council.
^"Egyptian church History".Evangelical Times. 2000-09-01. Retrieved2025-06-06.The eastern church, in turn, was further divided. Some followed the Council of Chalcedon's teaching, which declared that Christ enjoyed distinct divine and human natures. Others embraced the heterodoxy of the Monophysites, who claimed that Christ had only a single, divine nature, albeit clad with his human nature. The Egyptian churches embraced the latter error, rejecting Chalcedon and separating from the Byzantine churches. Gradually all churches, eastern and western, lost their focus on the Bible and the gospel. The biblical tradition of Athanasius gave way to liturgy, formalism and superstition. Those who were true Christians found themselves isolated and persecuted by both Roman and Byzantine churches.
^"A Short Overview of the Common History".Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese for the Eastern United States. Retrieved2025-06-06.Oriental Christianity was literally decimated finally through the cruel representative of the Mongolian-Islamic fanaticism.
^Anson, Peter F. (2006) [1964]. "Jules Ferrette, Mar Julius, Bishop of Iona, and alleged Patriarchal Legate of the Syrian Jacobite Church for Western Europe".Bishops at Large. Independent Catholic Heritage. Apocryphile press.ISBN0-9771461-8-9.
^Appolis, Émile (1963). "En marge de la Séparation: les associations culturelles schismatiques" [Margins of Separation: religious associations' schismatics].Revue d'Histoire de l'Église de France (in French).49 (146):47–88.doi:10.3406/rhef.1963.1719.ISSN2109-9502.
^Brandreth, Henry R. T. (1987) [First published in 1947].Episcopi vagantes and the Anglican Church. San Bernardino, California: Borgo Press.ISBN978-0-89370-558-9.
^"About the church". Niranam St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church. 2009. Archived fromthe original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved2025-06-06.
^abAnson, Peter F. (2006) [1964]. "Churches Claiming the Ferrette Succession".Bishops at Large. Independent Catholic Heritage. Apocryphile press.ISBN0-9771461-8-9.
^Anson, Peter F. (2006) [1964]. "The Catholicate of the West (Catholic Apostolic Church), otherwise known as The United Orthodox Catholic Rite and The Celtic Catholic Church".Bishops at Large. Independent Catholic Heritage. Apocryphile press.ISBN0-9771461-8-9.
^Clarke, Peter (2004)."Independent episcopal churches".Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. Routledge. p. 301.ISBN978-1-134-49970-0.As Mar Georgius (and with tites including Patriarch of Glastonbury, Apostolic Pontiff of Celtia, etc.), he was the leader of the Catholicate of the West, which became the Orthodox Church of the British Isles. Under Newman's nephew and successor, William Newman Norton, this Church was eventually brought under the legitimate jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Cairo in 1994. Following a common schismatic pattern in such Churches, some of its priests rejected this new alliance and split off to form the British Eparchy of the Celtic Orthodox Church, giving their allegiance to a French Primate. Both of these British Churches are tiny.
^"The Eritrean Orthodox Church".CNEWA. Retrieved2025-06-06.In July 1993, with the support of the government, the Eritrean Orthodox appealed to Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church for separation from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and autocephalous status. In early September 1993 Ethiopian Patriarch Paulos and Archbishop Philippos of Asmara sanctioned jointly the separation of their churches, while stating their desire to work closely together. On September 28, 1993, the Coptic Holy Synod responded favorably to Eritrea's request and authorized the training in Coptic monasteries of as many as ten future bishops for the Eritrean Church. In February 1994 the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches signed an agreement in Addis Ababa that reaffirmed the autocephalous status of both churches, and recognized a primacy of honor of the Coptic Church among the Oriental Orthodox churches in Africa. On June 19, 1994, Pope Shenouda ordained five new Eritrean bishops in Cairo.
^H. Bulzacchelli, Richard (2006).Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.University Press of America. p. 19.ISBN9780761835011.
^Cecil, Lady William (1906).A Sketch of Egyptian History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Methuen. p. 399.Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.
^Ibn Assal, Al Safy (1996)."The Collection Of Safey Ibn Al-Assal"(PDF).stmary-church.com. Retrieved2025-07-19. In the new Testament, circumcision (of the flesh) is a custom/tradition not a commandment because it already has been replace with baptism. In the old testament circumcision had to be performed on the eighth day after birth to be legal, but in the new such is not required.
^Ibn Assal, Al Safy (1996)."The Collection Of Safey Ibn Al-Assal"(PDF).stmary-church.com. Retrieved2025-07-19. About food, nothing is forbidden except those which were forbidden by the Apostles in the Book of Acts and their Cannons in which they said: “That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.”.
^Al-Makari, Athanasius (July 2002).معجم المصطلحات الكنسية (in Arabic). p. 29. Retrieved23 July 2025.إلا أنه قد جرت العادة عند الأقباطحتى اليوم أن يتم ختان الذكر قبل تعميده بغية منفعة صحية، وليس تتميمًا لشريعة دينية. وتذكر قوانين البابا كيرلس ابن لقلق (1235-1243 م) هذا الأمر
^Bausi, Alessandro (2022)."The Confession of King Gälawdewos (r. 1540–1559): A Sixteenth-Century Ethiopian Monophysite Document against Jesuit Proselytism".ResearchGate.And concerning circumcision, we are not circumcised as the Jews, because we know the words of Paul the spring of wisdom, who saith, 'Circumcision availeth not, and uncircumcision availeth not, but rather a new creature, which is, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.' And again he saith to the men of Corinth, 'He that hath received circumcision, let him not receive uncircumcision.' All the books of the doctrine of Paul are in our hands, and teach us concerning circumcision and uncircumcision. But the circumcision that is practised amongst us is according to the custom of the country, like the tattooing of the face in Ethiopia and Nubia and the piercing of the ear amongst the Indians. And what we do (we do) not in observance of the Law of Moses, but according to the custom of men.
^Bausi, Alessandro (2022)."The Confession of King Gälawdewos (r. 1540–1559): A Sixteenth-Century Ethiopian Monophysite Document against Jesuit Proselytism".ResearchGate.And concerning the eating of swine's flesh we are not prohibited from it, as the Jews are, by observance of the Law. Him also who eats thereof we do not abhor, and him who eats not thereof we do not compel to eat, as our Father Paul wrote to the Church of Rome, saying, 'Let not him who eateth despise him who eateth not; and, God receiveth all'. The Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, all is clean to the clean, but it is evil for a man to eat with offence. And Matthew the Evangelist saith, 'There is nothing that can defile the man except that which cometh forth from his mouth, but that which is in the belly goeth forth and is contained in the draught, and is cast out and poured forth; and (thus) He maketh all meats clean'.
^Daoud, Marcos (2015) [1959].The Liturgy of the Ethiopian Church. Kingston, Jamaica: Ethiopian Orthodox Church. p. 41.ISBN151886466X.Henceforth, let us not be circumcised like the Jews. We know that He who had to fulfil the law and the prophets has already come.
^Appiah, Anthony; Gates, Henry Louis (2005).Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. Oxford University Press. p. 566.ISBN978-0-19-517055-9.It emphasizes the dietary laws and rules of circumcision found in the Old Testament of the Bible, and in addition to the Christian Sunday Sabbath, Ethiopia Christians observe the traditional Jewish Saturday Sabbath, as do the Ethiopian Jews.
^H. Bulzacchelli, Richard (2006).Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.University Press of America. p. 19.ISBN9780761835011.The Ethiopian and Coptic Churches distinguishes between clean and unclean meats, observes days of ritual purification, and keeps a kind of dual Sabbath on both Saturday and Sunday.
^N. Stearns, Peter (2008).The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World.Oxford University Press. p. 179.ISBN9780195176322.Uniformly practiced by Jews, Muslims, and the members of Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Orthodox Churches, male circumcision remains prevalent in many regions of the world, particularly Africa, South and East Asia, Oceania, and Anglosphere countries.
^Bryner, Erich (2004)."Die orthodoxen Kirchen von 1274 bis 1700"(PDF).www.eva-leipzig.de. Retrieved2023-02-12. S. 114 ff: "Die Orientalischen Orthodoxen Kirchen" (miaphysitische und dyophysitische Kirchen)
^Johannes Oeldemann:Konfessionskunde, 2017, Kap. 2:Die Orthodoxe Kirche und die Orientalisch-Orthodoxen Kirchen enthält drei Unterkapitel:Die Orthodoxe Kirche,Die Assyrische Kirche des Ostens undDie Orientalisch-Orthodoxen Kirchen d.h. dieAssyrische Kirche des Ostens gehört sowohl zu denOrientalisch-Orthodoxen Kirchen als auch nicht zu denOrientalisch-Orthodoxen Kirchen.
^artin Tamcke: Orientalische orthodoxe Nationalkirchen. In:Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (RGG). 4. Auflage. Band 6, Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2003, Sp. 653
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