The Nicene Creed:

I [We] believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
And on the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father;
And He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets;
And I believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.
I look for the Resurrection of the dead,
And the Life of the world to come. Amen.

The Nicene Creed summarizes what the Eastern Orthodox Church believes. It was written during the First and Second Ecumenical Councils in the years 325 and 381 respectively.

We believe that there is one Godhead, a Trinity, made up of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All three are eternal and from everlasting. The three persons of the Trinity reveal themselves in different ways in the Holy Scriptures, but are all of one will, the will of the Father; although they are all equal.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was incarnate through the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit around the year 4 B.C. He is fully God, yet fully Man. It is only through His death and Resurrection that the fallen nature of mankind (referring to the fall of Adam and Eve from Paradise) was restored.

The Virgin Mary, according to Orthodox teachings, is a Virgin before Christ’s birth, during His life, and after His death and Resurrection. This is to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel [God with us].” The Virgin mother is NOT a god or one of the Godhead, but she is given special adoration since she bore God in her womb. We declare her to be “More honorable than the Cherubim; and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim.” We often offer our prayers to God through her because as the mother of Christ, she has special intercessory ability as was demonstrated at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.

The teachings of the Orthodox Church are based on both Scripture and Holy Tradition. The scripture is a collection of Old and New Testament, canonical books. Our Holy Tradition comes from the findings of the Holy Fathers and Theologians, the Seven Ecumenical Councils, Icons, Hymnography, all of which come from inspiration from the Holy Spirit which was distributed to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, and has been passed down through the Bishops of the Orthodox Church throughout the years to our priests, deacons and lay people.

There are heads of the Orthodox Church known as Patriarchs. The sees that are lead by the Patriarchs are (in order of seniority): Constantinople (New Rome), Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russia, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The Pope of Rome was the Ecumenical Patriarch until the Emperor Constantine the Great moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople in the early 4th Century. The new Ecumenical Patriarch, or the Patriarch of Constantinople, does not have any authority over the other Patriarchs. He is known as the “First among equals.” Under each Patriarch, there are Metropolitans, Archbishops and Bishops who are the administrators of the churches throughout the world. All of the Orthodox Priests are under a bishop. No Orthodox Priest or Church serves at its own pleasure or discretion, or under its own authority. This is what keeps each Orthodox Church in communion with the other churches throughout the other jurisdictions in the world.