Or"tho*dox (?), a. [L.
orthodoxus, Gr. 'orqo`doxos; 'orqo`s
right, true + do`xa opinion, dokei^n to think,
seem; cf. F. orthodoxe. See Ortho-, Dogma.]
1. Sound in opinion or doctrine, especially in
religious doctrine; hence, holding the Christian faith; believing the
doctrines taught in the Scriptures; -- opposed to heretical
and heterodox; as, an orthodox Christian.
2. According or congruous with the doctrines
of Scripture, the creed of a church, the decree of a council, or the
like; as, an orthodox opinion, book, etc.
3. Approved; conventional.
He saluted me on both cheeks in the orthodox
manner.
H. R. Haweis.
&fist; The term orthodox differs in its use among the
various Christian communions. The Greek Church styles itself the
"Holy Orthodox Apostolic Church," regarding all other bodies
of Christians as more or less heterodox. The Roman Catholic Church
regards the Protestant churches as heterodox in many points. In the
United States the term orthodox is frequently used with
reference to divergent views on the doctrine of the Trinity. Thus it
has been common to speak of the Trinitarian Congregational churches
in distinction from the Unitarian, as Orthodox. The name is
also applied to the conservative, in distinction from the "liberal",
or Hicksite, body in the Society of Friends. Schaff-Herzog
Encyc.
