ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the emergence of a distinct religious tradition of Christian Orthodoxy in the context of Christianity’s fragmentation. The spread of Christianity was part of a wave of historical globalization that involved the rise and expansion of world religions across the globe. This wave entailed both Christianity’s spread and its fragmentation. Inevitably, discussing the emergence of Christian Orthodoxy as a religious tradition requires a comparison with developments in the western part of the Mediterranean. To a degree, the emergence of Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity was shaped by their interactions. Through their contact, these two branches gained reflexive self-awareness, and in some ways, they defined themselves through mutual opposition. However, a complete comparative historical analysis of this relationship would require a full comparative history of Christianity covering nearly a millennium. This is clearly an impossible task. Hence, for current purposes, attention is focused more on the historical trajectory of Christianity’s Orthodox branch.
