Greek Church
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Greek Church. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the Eastern Church, that of the old Eastern Empire, which, prior to the Turkish conquest, had its metropolis at Constantinople, as distinguished from the Western Church, which had its capital at Rome; the church of the people speaking the Greek language rather than that of the Roman nation. History. That the Eastern and Western Chu Churches would first disagree, and then separate, was insured from the first by the difference in their mental constitution. The Greeks were notable for intense intellectual acuteness, which they used to frame hair-splitting subtleties of doctrine. The Romans, on the contrary, who had the imperial instinct employed the new faith as a means of building up again a world-embracing dominion, with the "eternal city" as its capital. The first variance between the East and the West arose in the 2d century regarding the time of keeping Easter. The disputes which succeeded were chiefly as to personal dignity. As long as Rome was the metropolis of the empire, the Bishop of Rome had indisputably the most important see in the Church; but when, on May 11, 330, Constantine removed the seat of government to Byzantium (Constantinople), the bishop of the new metropolis became a formidable rival to his ecclesiastical brother at Rome. In the second General Council, that of Constantinople, 381, the Bishop of Constantinople was allowed to sit next to the Bishop of Rome; by the 28th canon of the Synod of Chalcedon, 403, he was permitted to enjoy an equal rank. In 588, John, Patriarch of Constantinople, assumed the title of ecumenical or universal bishop, for which he was denounced by Pope Gregory the Great. Disputes in the 8th century about image-worship widened the breach, as did the continued rejection by the Greek Church of the word Filioque, asserting the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son as well as from the Father, introduced by the second Council of Constantinople, 381. The last General Council in which the Churches of the East and the West were united was the Seventh, or Second Council of Nice, 787. The feud continued through the 9th and Vol. IV-Cyc-Z on to the 11th century. In the 13th an effort was made by Michael Palæologus to promote a reunion of the two great Churches at the Council of Florence, but all was in vain. They have remained separate till now. Efforts are said to be on foot looking to the union of the Greek and Roman Churches.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a branch of the Christian church. It was originally the church of the Byzantine or eastern empire, having its seat at Constantinople. The Greek language and traditions bear much the same relation to the Greek Church that is sustained by the Latin language in the Roman Catholic church. The theological differences are not serious. Both churches are Trinitarian. Each has seven sacraments. The priests of the Greek Church, however, are required to be married before ordination. If the wife of a priest dies, he is required to resign his charge and go into a cloister. The Greek Church rejects the doctrine of purgatory. It allows no carvings, graven, nor cast images, but permits painted images of Christ, Mary the mother, and the saints. This rule is not observed in Russia, however. The people of Greece, Russia, and the small countries of the lower Danube are members, chiefly, of this church. Among adherents elsewhere are 30,000 in Catholic Italy, onefourth of the population of Hungary, and many congregations in Turkey and Asia Minor . The members of the Greek Church would not accept the Gregorian or reformed calendar. Wherever found, even in the United States , they follow their ancient ritual and observe the old dates, so that their dates are twelve days behind ours. Instead of kneeling at prayer, they stand with the face toward the east. The Greek Church has no one head. The Orthodox Greek Church numbers 98,000,000 followers. See Russia ; Czar