Hello everyone! Just read the ‘life of Avvakum’ and was confused with the translation. In the translation, there is a reference to the Greeks. I have little knowledge about Christianity and was genuinely confused by what the word orthodoxy meant in the translations. Is it catholic orthodoxy or something else ? And what’s the difference between Russian orthodoxy and Greek ?
Russian Orthodoxy had its roots in Greek Christianity and quickly spread in lands of Rus during reign of prince Vladimir, in late 10th century. Some parts of Rus resisted Christianization, but pretty soon vast majority of the state converted. At first, Russian Orthodoxy was very tightly connected to the Greek (Byzantine) one, but with few notable differences: first, some paganic elements still remained and were reimagined as "proper" Christian holidays (for example, Maslennitsa), and second, with Catholic pressure on Byzantine growing ever more and Byzantine itself later collapsing under Ottoman assault in 1453, Russian church became de facto independent and began its own unique development, with unique standarts and tropes: like depiction of St. Christophore with horse's head which to my knowledge is unique to Russia. Despite major differences developed throughout centuries, Russian church still considered itself as the bringer of "The one true Greek faith" and thus by their own opinion didn't differ much from "original" Orthodoxy.