A careful look at a map of the world will indicate the puzzling and perplexing situations in which the churches of Eastern Orthodoxy find themselves. (The term Eastern-Orthodoxy as used here includes the three basic branches of Eastern Christendom: (1) the Byzantine or Chalcedonian churches, the most numerous, (2) the “monophysite” or non-Chalcedonian churche's, and (3) the Eastern Catholic or Uniate churches, the least numerous.) In approximate terms the Eastern churches seem to be facing two contrasting contexts—communism and Islam. Whether it be communism or Islam, the Eastern churches are confronted with alien and competitive systems of thought which threaten their survival. How has the contemporary—and the historic stance —of Eastern Christians prepared them to face this threat, which finds support in the state?