IV.   Theology

Orthodoxy is the 4th Century CE dogma of conforming to the established norm, accepted custom or traditional faith of a Religion or Cult. Orthodoxy comes from the Greek word orthodoxos which means literally “having the right, true or correct opinion”.

Orthodoxy was created by Imperial Christianity at the same time in the 4th Century CE as the word heterodoxy which means any opinion or doctrine at variance with an official and therefore “orthodox” belief and standard.

The strength of Orthodoxy as a dogmatic principle is that not only does the concept establishes the claim by a particular Religion or Cult that their practices are superior, but that all other practices are abnormal and do not follow accepted custom and tradition. As Custom is traditionally seen as a basis for justifying a particular law, a practice is not orthodox is implied by such terminology as being “unlawful”.

Almost all major religions claim their rituals and customs as being Orthodox, even though there are widely differing views.