The aim of this paper is to show the attitude of the Orthodox Church towards
extra-marital relationships. This approach is based on two pillars of the Church: theology
and the Canon Law, where the second one is subjected to the first one. In the
Orthodox Church the sacrament of marriage is neither a contract nor a promise, but
it is the beginning of a new community that orthodox theology describes as a Little
Church. Just as Christians cannot live outside the community and truly be Christians,
so does the believing husband or wife, living without the sacramental marriage, cannot
be a true Christian [email protected] w Białymstok
