The state of mind, the forms of worship, the spirituality and theology of the Eastern Church are not merely a matter of rite: they imply a specific vision of life and eternity, uniting Easterners of many different backgrounds: Melkites, Ukrainians, Ruthenians and other Slavs in one Church, under one Lord, Jesus Christ. The Eastern Church was highly influenced, originally, by the thinking and philosophy of Greeks, Syrians, Semites and even Egyptians.

The Eastern Church and its culture are not truly Eastern, although born and developed in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. The words East and Eastern are historical and geographical terms designating a rather nebulous    reality with uncertain contours. They encompass nations and cultures from the Bosphorus to the Far East, passing through Asia, China and Japan, and from the Ural Mountains in Russia to the peninsula of Kamtchatka on the Pacific Ocean.

For Americans, these words are so confusing that when applied to the Byzantine Church, they may submerge its identity in a shadow of unreality, since in our language these terms are generally applied to Far Eastern countries and not to the Near-East, or Levant to which this Church belongs.

It is the Near-Eastern nations, or Levantines, which Hellenic civilization penetrated, without dispossessing them completely of their original ethnic characteristics. Both Syria and Palestine, which occupied very special places and positions in the formation of the Byzantine Church, used the Syriac language, which was later replaced by Arabic. Georgia and Armenia spoke the Armenian language. Near-Eastern nations, with their particular cultures, were in some way united by a common element, the Greek language, without becoming Greek themselves. In later   history, they all converged on Byzantium to contribute to its formation and development without making it Eastern. The definitive history of Byzantine science and philosophy, literature and theology has yet to be written, but the main lines stand out in sufficient details to reveal their attractive beauty and diversity in their harmonious unity.

It should be noted that each of the ethnic groups that have become encompassed by the Byzantine Church have, especially in terms of spirituality, added to the original Byzantine approach. The temperament of each   ethnic group has added to the expression of the faith as originally received from Byzantium.

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