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In a recent Outlook editorial, Laird Stuart, co-moderator of the Covenant Network, writes about "dueling orthodoxies" in the PCUSA.  His use of "orthodoxy" in this editorial is not really incorrect, but he does mean something different from the way we use "orthodox" in "Voices of Orthodox Women."

Mr. Stuart is basically talking about dueling ideologies, or sets of beliefs.  This is not far from one of the definitions of "orthodox" found in the Microsoft Encarta World English Dictionary: "following the established or traditional rules of social behavior, a philosophy, or a faith."¹  An orthodoxy, as Mr. Stuart uses the word, is an established philosophy.  So with this meaning of the word, he can refer to the theology of progressives as an orthodoxy, even when it has departed greatly from the previous twenty centuries of Christian theology.

On the other hand, when VOW uses "orthodox," we mean one of the definitions found in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: "adhering to the Christian faith as expressed in the early Christian ecumenical creeds."²  Voices of Orthodox Women adheres to the Christian faith as expressed in the Bible (which gave birth to those creeds).  With this meaning of the word, there can be only one orthodoxy.

Historically, beliefs that contradict orthodox theology have been called heterodoxy.  Many of the views of progressives are at variance with historically established Christian doctrine.  Those views are therefore heterodox, and not orthodox.

But because of the way Mr. Stuart has used the word "orthodoxy", there is a risk that people who read his editorial may think that the theology that VOW advocates is just one of two or more equally valid viewpoints.   However, VOW's theology is completely subject to the authority of the Bible.  VOW thus stands firmly with the theology that has been accepted by Christians for two millennia.  This is why we call ourselves orthodox women.
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1.  Encarta® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All   rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

2.  The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language © 1992, Houghton Mifflin.