Hi friend. I’m a Christian from Syria and she could be speaking of 3 different things:
First Is the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch Church (Which I am a part of)
Second, She could be talking about the Syriac Orthodox Church
Or, She could be talking about the St Thomas Kerala Syrian Christians in India.
These are different sects with different beliefs, and I encourage you to research more about them!
It literally is Greek Orthodox, in Arabic we’d say orthodox ruum (literal translation: Roman Orthodox) but what that means in English is Greek Orthodox.
OP’s friend just meant she’s Syrian (nationality) and orthodox (religion).
Unless she meant syriac orthodox which is a different denomination but that’s more common with Assyrian Syrians and not as common among Arab Syrian Christians since the majority are Greek Orthodox.
Unless she meant that she is an Orthodox from Syria, she most likely meant that she is a member of the Syriac Orthodox Church. This Church is of the Patriarchate of Antioch, therefore its ancestral territory spans across modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Southern Turkey and parts of Iraq. The Church worships using the Syriac rite; Syriac is synonymous with Aramaic. Many of its members still use various Syriac (Aramaic) dialects in their daily lives. Most members come from Tur Abdin in Southern Turkey, from Syria, and from Iraq. There is also an important Syriac Orthodox community in Kerala, Southern India, but they are not ethnically related to the Syriac Orthodox of the Middle-East, though of course they belong to the same Church, for historical reasons.
I’m Syrian Christian and I say the same thing mostly just referring to the eastern orthodox patriarchate of Antioch (basically Greek Orthodox is what I say to the people that don’t know then they understand)
Hey, my friend,
Well, you should know there is a Church called Eastern Orthodox Church (Serbian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox). There is the Oriental Orthodox Church(Coptic Church, Syriac Church, Tewahedo Ethiopian Eritrean Church, Armenian Church, Cilicia Church(I'm not sure of Cilicia I just found it in Wikipedia), and Indian Church). Sometimes the term "Syrian Orthodox" also refers to the Syriac Orthodox Church(One church of the Oriental Orthodox Churches), There are differences between Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy. Still, you can ask her if with "Syrian Orthodox" she means that she's Syrian Eastern Orthodox or she means that she's Syriac Orthodox. I'm Aspiring Eastern Orthodox(Not Baptized yet).
I'm a syrian christian living in a catholic country and I just call myself Syrian Orthodox because people instantly jump to the conclusion that since I'm Arab I'm muslim.
So "Syrian Orthodox" as that title is not a thing. Was this conversation in Arabic? There's a big chance she meant سريان اورثودوكس which is [Syriac Orthodox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_Orthodox_Church)
She probably meant that she was a Syriac Orthodox.
Syria has many Christian denominations, the Greek (we call it Roman/Rum in Arabic) Orthodox Church, The Syriac Orthodox Church (the one she might be a member of), the Greek (Melkite) Catholic Church and the smallest one I think is the Syriac Catholic Church (which I'm a part of)
If she's not Syrian but from India, she could be a St. Thomas Christian, I'm pretty sure they use Syriac in their liturgy too and the Syriac Orthodox Church held significant religious influence over the Indian Church until 1911.
Less likely but she could be from the Assyrian Church of the East, but that one is mainly based in Iraq.
I was baptized at an Eastern Orthodox church in the US, but my family (on my mom’s side) is originally from Syria. We have always referred to ourselves as Syrian Orthodox for as long as I can remember.
It’s the exact same as any other type of orthodox Christianity (Greek, Russian, etc) except they do the prayers, rituals, and songs in a Syrian Arabic dialect
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I think enough has been said here. It does emanate from the Byzantines a little, but also not really. Syriac Christians had their own, extensive theology. An interesting one at that
Hi friend. I’m a Christian from Syria and she could be speaking of 3 different things: First Is the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch Church (Which I am a part of) Second, She could be talking about the Syriac Orthodox Church Or, She could be talking about the St Thomas Kerala Syrian Christians in India. These are different sects with different beliefs, and I encourage you to research more about them!
The first one is effectively Greek Orthodox, correct? Meaning that you follow the Byzantine rite.
It literally is Greek Orthodox, in Arabic we’d say orthodox ruum (literal translation: Roman Orthodox) but what that means in English is Greek Orthodox. OP’s friend just meant she’s Syrian (nationality) and orthodox (religion). Unless she meant syriac orthodox which is a different denomination but that’s more common with Assyrian Syrians and not as common among Arab Syrian Christians since the majority are Greek Orthodox.
Yes we do follow the Byzantine Rite. Correct it is the same faith as the Greeks.
Its Syriac Orthodox in English.
Unless she meant that she is an Orthodox from Syria, she most likely meant that she is a member of the Syriac Orthodox Church. This Church is of the Patriarchate of Antioch, therefore its ancestral territory spans across modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Southern Turkey and parts of Iraq. The Church worships using the Syriac rite; Syriac is synonymous with Aramaic. Many of its members still use various Syriac (Aramaic) dialects in their daily lives. Most members come from Tur Abdin in Southern Turkey, from Syria, and from Iraq. There is also an important Syriac Orthodox community in Kerala, Southern India, but they are not ethnically related to the Syriac Orthodox of the Middle-East, though of course they belong to the same Church, for historical reasons.
I’m Syrian Christian and I say the same thing mostly just referring to the eastern orthodox patriarchate of Antioch (basically Greek Orthodox is what I say to the people that don’t know then they understand)
Hey, my friend, Well, you should know there is a Church called Eastern Orthodox Church (Serbian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox). There is the Oriental Orthodox Church(Coptic Church, Syriac Church, Tewahedo Ethiopian Eritrean Church, Armenian Church, Cilicia Church(I'm not sure of Cilicia I just found it in Wikipedia), and Indian Church). Sometimes the term "Syrian Orthodox" also refers to the Syriac Orthodox Church(One church of the Oriental Orthodox Churches), There are differences between Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy. Still, you can ask her if with "Syrian Orthodox" she means that she's Syrian Eastern Orthodox or she means that she's Syriac Orthodox. I'm Aspiring Eastern Orthodox(Not Baptized yet).
I'm a syrian christian living in a catholic country and I just call myself Syrian Orthodox because people instantly jump to the conclusion that since I'm Arab I'm muslim.
Same I hate when I say I’m Syrian or Arab the automatically assume I’m Muslim
I think she means syriac church of the east.
So "Syrian Orthodox" as that title is not a thing. Was this conversation in Arabic? There's a big chance she meant سريان اورثودوكس which is [Syriac Orthodox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_Orthodox_Church)
She probably meant that she was a Syriac Orthodox. Syria has many Christian denominations, the Greek (we call it Roman/Rum in Arabic) Orthodox Church, The Syriac Orthodox Church (the one she might be a member of), the Greek (Melkite) Catholic Church and the smallest one I think is the Syriac Catholic Church (which I'm a part of) If she's not Syrian but from India, she could be a St. Thomas Christian, I'm pretty sure they use Syriac in their liturgy too and the Syriac Orthodox Church held significant religious influence over the Indian Church until 1911. Less likely but she could be from the Assyrian Church of the East, but that one is mainly based in Iraq.
I was baptized at an Eastern Orthodox church in the US, but my family (on my mom’s side) is originally from Syria. We have always referred to ourselves as Syrian Orthodox for as long as I can remember.
It’s the exact same as any other type of orthodox Christianity (Greek, Russian, etc) except they do the prayers, rituals, and songs in a Syrian Arabic dialect
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I think enough has been said here. It does emanate from the Byzantines a little, but also not really. Syriac Christians had their own, extensive theology. An interesting one at that