Christianity · macro
Eastern Orthodoxy
Shares the Catholic creedal core but reads salvation as theosis — genuine participation in the divine energies — rather than as a legal remedy. Correspondingly more immanent, more ascetic, and less interested in defining what it has not had to define.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- E1 Exclusivityone true pathFurther toward "one true path" than most traditions in the matrix.
- E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional actFurther toward "an intentional act" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixedFurther toward "revealed and fixed" than most traditions in the matrix.
- C3 The human conditionleaning fallen and in need of rescueFurther toward "fallen and in need of rescue" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 1.00 | 0.03 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | a personal being one can addressConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.95 | 0.05 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | leaning strictly oneConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.18 | 0.10 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | between wholly beyond the world and fully present within itConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.62 | 0.12 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | revealed and fixedConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.12 | 0.09 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning literal and bindingConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.30 | 0.13 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | clergy and tradition decideConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.05 | 0.06 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | continues in some formConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.98 | 0.02 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | one life, then judgmentConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.02 | 0.03 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning fallen and in need of rescueConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.28 | 0.12 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | leaning given as graceConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.32 | 0.12 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | essential and prescribedConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.03 | 0.04 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | leaning to be disciplinedConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.22 | 0.12 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | one true pathConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.14 | 0.12 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | an intentional actConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.02 | 0.03 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | leaning a people, inheritedConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.35 | 0.14 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacredConfession of Dositheus (1672) and the Philokalia | 0.52 | 0.14 |
Further reading
- The Philokalia, vol. 1 — The ascetic tradition that pulls D3 toward discipline and A4 toward immanence at once.
- Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church — The essence/energies distinction, which is what A4 is actually measuring here.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.