Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
ORTHODOX EASTERN CHURCH
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: ORC-PAI
del.icio.us it!
|
ORTHODOX EASTERN See also: To these were afterwards added the bishops of Constantinople and Jerusalem. When the empire was divided, there was one patriarch in the See also:West, the bishop of Rome, while in the East .there were at first two, then four and latterly five. This See also:geographical fact has had a See also:great See also:deal to do in determining the See also:character of the Eastern Church. It is not a despotic See also:monarchy governed from one centre and by a monarch in whom plenitude of See also:power resides. It is an See also:oligarchy of patriarchs. It is based, of course, on the great See also:body of bishops; but episcopal See also:rule, through the various grades of See also:metropolitan, See also:primate, exarch, attains to See also:sovereignty only in the five patriarchal thrones. Each patriarch is, within his diocese, what the Gallican theory makes the See also:pope in the universal church. He is supreme, and not amenable to any of his See also:brother patriarchs, but is within the jurisdiction of an See also:oecumenical See also:synod. This makes the Eastern Church quite distinct in government and traditions of polity from the Western. It has ever been the policy of Rome to efface See also:national distinctions, but under the See also:shadow of the Eastern Church national churches have grown and flourished. Revolts against Rome have always implied a repudiation of the ruling principles of the papal See also:system; but the schismatic churches of the East have always reproduced the ecclesiastical polity of the church from which they seceded. The Greek Church, like the Roman, soon spread far beyond the imperial dioceses which at first fixed its boundaries, but it was far less successful than the Roman in preserving The See also:bar-its conquests for Christianity. This was due in the barlan in-See also:main to the differing quality of the forces by which vasions in the See also:area covered by the two churches was respectively astt and invaded. The See also:northern barbarians by whom the Western empire was overrun had See also:long stood in See also:awe of the power and the See also:civilization of Rome, which theyYecognized as See also:superior; the conquerors were thus predisposed to enter into the heritage of the See also:law and the See also:religion of the conquered empire and, whether they were pagans or Arian heretics, became in the end See also:Catholic Christians. In the East it was otherwise. The empire maintained itself long, and died hard; but its decline and fall meant not only the overthrow of the emperors of the East, but largely that of the civilization and Christianity which they represented. The See also:Arabs, and after them the See also:Turks, attacked the empire as the armed missionaries of what they regarded as a superior religion; Christianity survived in the vast territories they Holy Images to the churches after the downfall of Iconoclasm (See also:February 19, 842) ; but it has gradually assumed a wider significance as the celebration of victory over all heresies, and is now one of the most characteristic festivals of the Eastern Church. Twinned Crystals of See also:Orthoclase. conquerai only as a despised and tolerated superstition, its ecclesiastical organization only as a convenient mechanism for governing a subject and tributary See also:population. It is true that the Eastern Church made up in some sort for her losses by missionary conquests elsewhere. Greek Christianity became the religion of the Slays as Latin Christianity became that of the Germans; but the Orthodox Church never conquered her conquerors, and the historian is too See also:apt to enlarge on her past glories and forget her See also:present strength. Early See also:History.—The early history of the Eastern Church is outlined in the See also:article CHURCH HISTORY. Here it is proposed only to give in somewhat more detail the causes of division which led (1) to the formation of the schismatic churches of the East, and (2) to the open rupture with Latin Christianity. The great dogmatic See also:work of the Eastern Church was the See also:definition of that portion of the creed of Christendom which See also:comm. concerns See also:theology proper—the doctrines of the essential versies nature of the Godhead, and the See also:doctrine of the See also:God- and See also:head in relation with manhood in the incarnation, schisms. while it fell to the Western Church to define See also:anthropology, or the doctrine of See also:man's nature and needs. The controversies which concern us are all related to the See also:person of See also:Christ, the Theanthropos, for they alone are represented in the schismatic churches of the East. These controversies will be best described by reference to the oecumenical councils of the ancient and undivided church. All the churches of the East, schismatic as well as orthodox, accept unreservedly the decrees of the first two councils. The schismatic churches protest against the additions made to the See also:creeds of Nicaea and Constantinople by succeeding councils. The Nicaeo-Constantinopolitan creed declared that Christ was consubstantial (6poobnos) with the See also:Father, and that He had become man (EvavOpwarlcas). Disputes arose when theologians tried to explain the latter phrase. These See also:differences took two separate and extreme types, the one of which forcibly separated the two natures so as to deny anything like a real See also:union, while the other insisted upon a mixture of the two, or an absorption of the human in the divine. The former was the creed of See also:Chaldaea and the latter the creed of See also:Egypt; Chaldaea was the See also:home of Nestorianism, Egypt the See also:land of Monophysitism. The See also:Nestorians accept the decisions of the first two councils, and reject the decrees of all the See also:rest as unwarranted alterations of the creed of Nicaea. The See also:Monophysites accept the first three councils, but reject the See also:decree of See also:Chalcedon and all that come after it. The council of See also:Ephesus (A.D. 431), the third oecumenical, had insisted upon applying the term Theotokos to the Virgin See also:Mary, and this was repeated in the See also:symbol of Chalcedon, which says that Christ was See also:born of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, " according to the manhood." The same symbol also declares that Christ is " to be acknowledged in two natures . . . in-divisibly and inseparably." Hence the Nestorians, who insisted upon the duality of the natures to such a degree as to lose sight of the unity of the person, and who rejected the term Theotokos, repudiated the decrees both of Ephesus and of Chalcedon, and upon the promulgation of the decrees of Chalcedon formally separated from the church. Nestorianism had sprung from an exaggeration of the theology of the school of Antioch, and the See also:schism weakened that patriarchate and its dependencies. It took See also:root in Chaldaea, and became very powerful. No small See also:part of the literature and See also:science of the See also:Mahommedan Arabs came from Nestorian teachers, and Nestorian Christianity spread far and wide through See also:Asia (see See also:NESTORIUS and NESTORIANS). The council of Chalcedon (451), the See also:fourth oecumenical, declared that Christ is to be acknowledged " in two naturesunconfusedly, unchangeably," and therefore decided against the opinions of all who either believed that the divinity is the See also:sole nature of Christ, or who, rejecting this, taught only one composite nature of Christ (one nature and one person, instead of two natures and one person). The See also:advocates of the one nature theory were called Monophysites (q.v.), and they gave rise to numerous sects, and to at least three separate nationalchurches—the See also:Jacobites of See also:Syria, the See also:Copts of Egypt and the Abyssinian Church, which are treated under separate headings. The decisions of Chalcedon, which were the occasion of the formation of all these sects outside, did not put an end to Christological controversy inside the Orthodox Greek Church. The most prominent question which emerged in attempting to define further the person of Christ was whether the will belonged to the nature or the person, or, as it came to be stated, whether Christ had two See also:wills or only one. The church in the See also:sixth oecumenical council at Constantinople (68o) declared that Christ had two wills. The See also:Monothelites (q.v.) refused to submit, and the result was the formation of another schismatic church—the Maronite Church of the See also:Lebanon range. The See also:Maronites, however, were reconciled to Rome in the 12th See also:century, and are reckoned as Roman Catholics of the See also:Oriental Rite. Later History.—The relation of the See also:Byzantine Church to the Roman may be described as one of growing estrangement from the 5th to the rrth century, and a See also:series of abortive attempts at reconciliation since the latter date. The estrangement and final rupture may be traced to the increasing claims of the Roman bishops and to Western innovations in practice and in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by an alteration of creed. In the early church three bishops stood forth prominently, principally from the See also:political eminence of the cities in which they ruled—the bishops of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch. The See also:transfer of the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople gave the bishops of Rome a possible See also:rival in the patriarch of Constantinople, but the See also:absence of an overawing See also:court and of meddling statesmen did more than recoup the loss to the head of the Roman Church. The theological calmness of the West, amid the violent theological disputes which troubled the Eastern patriarchates, and the statesmanlike See also:wisdom of Rome's greater bishops, combined to give a unique position to the pope, which councils in vain strove to shake, and which in time of difficulty the Eastern patriarchs were See also:fain to acknowledge and make use of, however they might protest against it and the conclusions deduced from it. But this pre-eminence, or rather the Roman See also:idea of what was involved in it, was never acknowledged in the East; to See also:press it upon the Eastern patriarchs was to prepare the way for separation, to insist upon it in times of irritation was to cause a schism. The theological See also:genius of the East was different from that of the West. The Eastern theology had its roots in Greek See also:philosophy, while a great deal of Western theology was based on Roman law. The Greek fathers succeeded the See also:Sophists, the Latin theologians succeeded the Roman advocates (See also:Stanley's Eastern Church, ch. i.). This gave rise to misunderstandings, and at last led to two widely separate ways of regarding and defining one important doctrine—the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father or from the Father and the Son. Political jealousies and interests intensified the disputes, and at last, after many premonitory symptoms, the final break came in 1054, when Pope See also:Leo IX. smote See also:Michael Cerularius and the whole of the Eastern Church with an See also:excommunication. There had been mutual excommunications before, but they had not resulted in permanent schisms. Now, however, the separation was final, and the ostensible cause of its finality was the introduction by the Latins of two words Filioque into the creed.' It is this addition which was and which still remains the permanent cause of separation. Ffoulkes has pointed out in his second See also:volume (ch. 1–3) that there was a resumption of intercourse more than once between Rome and Constantinople after 1054, and that the overbearing character of the See also:Norman crusaders, and finally the horrors of the See also:sack of Constantinople in the fourth crusade
' After the words " and in the Holy See also:Ghost " of the Apostles' Creed the Constantinopolitan creed added " who proceedeth from the Father." The Roman Church, without the See also:sanction of an oecumenical council and without consulting the Easterns, added " and the Son." The addition was first made at See also:Toledo (589) in opposition to Arianism. The Easterns also resented the Roman enforcement of clerical See also:celibacy, the See also:limitation of the right of See also:confirmation to the bishop and the use of unleavened See also:bread in the See also:Eucharist.
Conflict with Rome.
(1204), were the real causes of the permanent estrangement. It is undeniable, however, that the Filioque question has always come The up to bar the way in any subsequent attempts at inter-'•Filioque'communion. The theological question involved is a
~tl very small one, but it brings out clearly the opposing
versy. characteristics of Eastern and Western theology, and so has acquired an importance far beyond its own See also:worth. The question is really one about the relations subsisting between the persons of the Trinity and their hypostatical properties. The Western Church affirms that the Holy Spirit " proceeds from " the Father and from the Son. It believes that the Spirit of the Father must be the Spirit of the Son also. Such a theory seems alone able to satisfy the See also:practical instincts of the West, which did not concern itself with the metaphysical aspect of the Trinity, but with Godhead in its relation to re-deemed humanity. The Eastern Church affirms that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father only, and takes its stand on See also: 26. The Eastern theologian thinks that the Western See also:double procession degrades the Deity and destroys the perfection of the Trinity. The double procession, in his eyes, means two active principles (alriat) in the Deity, and it means also that there is a confusion between the hypostatical properties; a See also:property possessed by the Father and distinctive of the First Person is attributed also to the Second. This is the theological, and there is conjoined with it an See also:historical and moral dispute. The Easterns allege that the addition of the words Filioque was made, not only without authority, and therefore unwarrantably, but also for the purpose of forcing a rupture between East and West in the interests of the See also:barbarian empire of the West. Attempts at reconciliation were made from time to 'time afterwards, but were always wrecked on the two points of papal supremacy, when it meant the right to impose Western Attempts usages upon the East, and of the addition to the creed. as First there was the negotiation between Pope See also:Gregory See also:reunion. IX. (1227-1241) and Germanus, patriarch of Constantinople. The Roman conditions were practically recognition of papal jurisdiction, the use of unleavened bread and permission to omit Filioque if all books written against the Western doctrine were burnt. The patriarch refused the terms. Then, later in the 13th century, came negotiations under See also:Innocent IV. and See also:Clement IV., in which the popes proposed the same conditions as Gregory IX., with additions. These proposals were rejected by the Easterns, who regarded them as attempts to enforce new creeds on their church. The negotiations at the council of See also:Lyons (1274) were, strictly speaking, between the pope and the Byzantine See also:emperor, and were more political than ecclesiastical. Michael See also:Palaeologus ruled in Constantinople while See also:Baldwin II., the last of the Latin emperors, was an See also:exile in Europe. Palaeologus wished the pope to acknowledge his title to be emperor of the East, and in return promised submission to the papal supremacy and the union of the two churches on the pope's own terms. This enforced union lasted only during the lifetime of the emperor. The only other See also:attempt at union which requires to be mentioned is that made at the council of See also:Florence. It was really suggested by the political weakness of the Byzantine empire and the dread of the approach of the Turks. John Palaeologus the emperor, See also:Joseph the patriarch of Constantinople, and several Eastern bishops came to See also:Italy and appeared at the council of Florence—the papal council, the rival of the council of See also:Basel. As on former occasions the representatives of the East were at first deceived by false representations; they were betrayed into recognition df papal supremacy, and tricked into See also:signing what could afterwards be represented as a submission to Western doctrine. The natural consequences followed—a repudiation of what had been done; and the Eastern bishops on their way home took care to make emphatic their ritualistic differences from Rome. Soon after came the fall of Constantinople, and with this event an end to 'the political reasons for the sub-See also:mission of the Orthodox See also:clergy. Rome's schemes for a union which meant an unconditional submission on the part of the Orthodox Church did not cease, however, but they were nolonger attempted on a See also:grand See also:scale. Jesuit missionaries after the See also:Reformation stirred up schisms in some parts of the Eastern Church, and in See also:Austria, See also:Poland and elsewhere large See also:numbers of Orthodox Christians submitted, either willingly or under compulsion to the see of Rome (see ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, See also:section Uniat Oriental Churches). Doctrines and Creeds.—The Eastern Church has no creeds in the See also:modern Western use of the word, no normative summaries of what must be believed. It has preserved the older idea that a creed is an adoring See also:confession of the church engaged in See also:worship; and, when occasion called for more, the belief of the church was expressed more by way of public testimony than in symbolical books. Still the doctrines of the church can be gathered from these confessions of faith. The Eastern creeds may thus be roughly placed in two classes—the oecumenical creeds of the early undivided church, and later testimonies defining the position of the Orthodox Church of the East with regard to the belief of the Roman Catholic and of See also:Protestant Churches. These testimonies were called forth mainly by the protest of Greek theologians against Jesuitism on the one See also:hand, and against the reforming tendencies of the patriarch See also:Cyril See also:Lucaris on the other. The Orthodox Greek Church adopts the doctrinal decisions of the seven oecumenical councils, together with the canons of the Concilium Quinisextum or second Trullan council (592); and they further hold that all these See also:definitions and canons are simply explanations and enforcements of the Nicaeo-Constantinopolitan creed and the decrees of the first council of Nicaea. The first four councils settled the orthodox faith on the doctrines of the Trinity and of the Incarnation; the fifth supplemented the decisions of the first four. The sixth declared against Monothelitism; the seventh sanctioned the worship (SovXeia, not aXnOtvr} Xarpeia) of images; the council held in the Trullus (a See also:saloon in the See also:palace at Constantinople) supplemented by canons of discipline the doctrinal decrees of the fifth and sixth councils.
The Reformation of the 16th century was not without effect on the Eastern Church. Some of the Reformers, notably See also:Melanchthon, expected to effect a reunion of Christendom by means of the Easterns, cherishing the same The Re-n hopes as the modern Old Catholic divines and their and the See also:English sympathizers. Melanchthon himself sent a orthodox Greek See also:translation of the See also:Augsburg Confession to church. Joasaph, patriarch of Constantinople, and some years afterwards See also:Jacob Andreae and See also: The result was that Jeremiah answered in his Censura Orientalis Ecclesiae condemning the distinctive principles of Lutheranism.
The reformatory See also:movement of Cyrillos Lucaris (q.v.), patriarch of Constantinople (1621), brought the Greek Church See also:face to face with Reformation theology. Cyril conceived the See also:plan of reforming the Eastern Church by bringing its doctrines into See also:harmony with those of Calvinism, and by sending able See also:young Greek theologians to See also:Switzerland, See also: doctrine. According to the See also:Christian revelation, God is a Trinity, that is, the Divine Essence exists in Three Persons, perfectly equal in nature and dignity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; THE HOLY GHOST PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER ONLY. Besides the Triune God there is no other See also:object of divine worship, but See also:homage (birepSouXia) may be paid to the Virgin Mary, and reverence (SotAia) to the See also:saints and to their pictures and See also:relics. Man is born with a corrupt See also:bias which was not his at creation; the first man, when created, possessed See also:IMMORTALITY, PERFECT WISDOM, AND A WILL REGULATED BY See also:REASON. Through the first See also:sin See also:Adam and his posterity lost IMMORTALITY, AND HIS WILL RECEIVED A BIAS TOWARDS EVIL. In this natural See also:state man, who even before he actually sins is a sinner before God by See also:original or inherited sin, commits manifold actual transgressions; but he is not absolutely without power of will towards See also:good, and is not always doing evil. Christ, the Son of God, became man in two natures, which internally and inseparably See also:united make One Person, and, according to the eternal purpose of God, has obtained for man reconciliation with God, and eternal See also:life, inasmuch as He by His vicarious death has made See also:satisfaction to God for the See also:world's sins, and this satisfaction was PERFECTLY COMMENSURATE WITH THE SINS OF THE WORLD. Man is made partaker of reconciliation in spiritual regeneration, which he attains to, being led and kept by the Holy Ghost. This divine help is offered to all men without distinction, and may be rejected. In See also:order to attain to salvation, man is justified, and when so justified CAN DO NO MORE THAN THE COMMANDS OF GOD. He may fall from a state of See also:grace through mortal sin. Regeneration is offered by the word of God and in the sacraments, which under visible signs communicate God's invisible grace to Christians when administered cum intention. There are seven mysteries or sacraments. See also:Baptism entirely destroys original sin. In the Eucharist the true body and See also:blood of Christ are substantially present, and the elements are changed into the substance of Christ, whose body and blood are corporeally partaken of by communicants. ALL Christians should receive the bread and the See also:WINE. The Eucharist is also an expiatory See also:sacrifice. The new See also:birth when lost may be restored through repentance, which is not merely (I) sincere sorrow, but also (2) confession of each individual sin to the See also:priest, and (3) the See also:discharge of penances imposed by the priest for the removal of ,the temporal See also:punishment which may have been imposed by God and the Church. See also:Penance accompanied by the judicial See also:absolution of the priest makes a true See also:sacrament. The Church of Christ is the fellowship of ALL THOSE WHO ACCEPT AND PROFESS ALL THE ARTICLES OF FAITH TRANSMITTED BY THE APOSTLES AND APPROVED BY GENERAL SYNODS. Without this visible Church there is no salvation. It is under the abiding See also:influence of the Holy Ghost, and therefore cannot err in matters of faith. Specially appointed persons are necessary in the service of the Church, and they See also:form a threefold order, distinct jure divino from other Christians, of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. THE FOUR PATRIARCHS, OF EQUAL DIGNITY, HAVE THE HIGHEST See also:RANK AMONG THE BISHOPS, AND THE BISHOPS united in a General Council represent the Church and infallibly decide, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, all matters of faith and ecclesiastical life. All ministers of Christ must be regularly called and appointed to their See also:office, and are consecrated by the sacrament of orders. Bishops must be unmarried, and PRIESTS AND DEACONS MUST NOT See also:CONTRACT A SECOND See also:MARRIAGE. To all priests in common belongs, besides the See also:preaching of the word, the See also:administration of the six SACRAMENTS—BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, PENANCE, EUCHARIST, See also:MATRIMONY, See also:UNCTION OF THE SICK. The bishops alone can administer the sacrament of orders.
Ecclesiastical ceremonies. are part of the divine service; most of them have apostolic origin; and those connected with the sacrament must not be omitted by priests under See also:pain of mortal sin.
See also:Liturgy and Worship.—The ancient liturgies of the Eastern Church were very numerous, and have been frequently classified. J. M. See also:Neale makes three divisions—the liturgy of Jerusalem or of St See also: Both sacred See also:languages differ from the language of the See also:people, but it cannot be said that inthe Eastern Church worship is conducted in an unknown See also:tongue —" the actual difference," says Neale, " may be about that between See also:Chaucer's English and our own." There are eleven chief service books, and no such compendium as the Roman See also:breviary. See also:Fasting is frequent and severe. Besides Wednesdays and Fridays, there are four fasting seasons, Lent, See also:Pentecost to SS. Peter and See also:Paul, See also:August 1—15 preceding the Feast of the See also:Sleep of the Theotokos, and the six See also:weeks before See also:Christmas. Indulgences are not recognized; an intermediate and purificatory state of the dead is held but not systematized into a doctrine of See also:purgatory. The Virgin receives homage, but the See also:dogma of her Immaculate Conception is not admitted. While ikons of the saints are found in the churches there is no " graven See also:image " apart from the crucifix. There is plenty of singing but no instrumental See also:music. See also:Prayer is offered See also:standing towards the East; at Pentecost, kneeling. The celebration of the Eucharist is an elaborate symbolical See also:representation of the Passion. The consecrated bread is broken into the wine, and both elements are given together in a See also:spoon. The See also:ritual generally is as magnificent as in the West, but of a more archaic type. (For the liturgical See also:dress see See also:VESTMENTS and subsidiary articles.)
Monastic Life.—See also:Monasticism is, as it has always been, an important feature in the Eastern Church. An Orthodox monastery is perhaps the most perfect extant relic of the 4th century. The See also:simple idea that possesses the monks is that of fleeing the world; they have no distinctions of orders, and though they follow the rule of St Basil object to being called Basilians. A few monasteries (Mt See also:Sinai and some on Lebanon) follow the rule of St See also:Anthony. K. See also:Lake in Early Days of Monasticism on See also:Mount See also:Athos (1909) traces the development through three well-defined stages in the 9th and loth centuries—(a) the See also:hermit See also:period, (b) the loose organization of hermits in lauras, (c) the stricter rule of the monastery, with definite buildings and fixed rules under an 2'7yoiµevos or See also: The monks are, for the most part, ignorant and unlettered, though in the dark days of Mahommedan persecution it was in the monasteries that Greek learning and the Greek See also:nationality were largely preserved. Since priests must be married and bishops must not, only monks are eligible for See also:appointment to bishoprics in the Eastern Church. See further, MONASTICISM. The Branches of the Church.—In addition to the ancient churches which have separated themselves from the Orthodox faith, many have ceased to have an independent existence, owing either to the conquests of See also:Islam or to their absorption by other churches. For example, the church of Mount Sinai may be regarded as all that survives of the ancient church of northern See also:Arabia; the See also:autocephalous Slavonic churches of See also:Ipek and Okhrida, which derived their ultimate origin from the See also:missions of Cyril and See also:Methodius, were absorbed in the patriarchate of Constantinople in 1766 and 1767 respectively; and the Church of See also:Georgia has been part of the Russian Church since 18oI-1802. At the present See also:day, then, the Orthodox Eastern Church consists of twelve mutually independent churches (or thirteen if we reckon the Bulgarian Church), using their own language in divine service (or some ancient form of it, as in Russia) and varying not a little in points of detail, but standing in full communion with one another, and united as equals in what has been described as one great ecclesiastical federation. However, in using such language it must be remembered that we are not dealing with bodies which were originally separated from one another and have now entered into fellowship, but with bodies which have grown naturally from a single origin and have not become estranged. A. THE FOUR ANCIENT PATRIARCHATES 1. The Patriarchate of Constantinople or New Rome.—The ancient patriarchate of Constantinople included the imperial dioceses of See also:Pontus, Asia, See also:Thrace and Eastern Illyricum—i.e. speaking roughly, the greater part of Asia See also:Minor, See also:European See also:Turkey, and See also:Greece, with a small portion of Austria. The imperial diocese of Pontus was governed by the exarch of Caesarea, who ruled over thirteen metropolitans with more than 100 suffragans. Asia was governed by the exarch of Ephesus, who ruled over twelve metropolitans with more than 350 See also:suffragan bishops. In Asia Minor the church maintains but a small remnant of her former greatness; in Europe it is other-See also:wise. The old outlines, however, are effaced wherever the Christian races have emancipated themselves from the See also:Turkish rule, and the national churches of Greece, See also:Servia and See also:Rumania have re-organized themselves on a new basis. Where the Turkish rule still prevails the church retains her old organization, but greatly impaired. Still, the Oecumenical Patriarch, as he has been called since early in the 6th century, is the most exalted ecclesiastic of the Eastern churches, and his influence reaches far outside the lands of the patriarchate. His jurisdiction extends over the dominions of the See also:Sultan in Turkey, together with Asia Minor and the Turkish islands of the See also:Aegean; there are eighty-two metropolitans under him, and the " monastic See also:republic of Mount Athos. He has great privileges and responsibilities as the recognized head of the Greek community in Turkey, and enjoys also many See also:personal honours which have survived from the days of the Eastern emperors. The patriarch under the old See also:Ottoman system had his own court at Phanar, and his own See also:prison, with a large civil jurisdiction over, and responsibility for, the Greek community. In ecclesiastical affairs he acts with two governing bodies—(a) a permanent Holy Synod ('Isph Mbvo os rig 'EKKArlTias KwVO"raVrwovr6AEwS), consisting of twelve metropolitans, six of whom are re-elected every See also:year from the whole number of metropolitans, arranged in three classes according to a fixed See also:cycle; (b) the Permanent National Mixed Council (iLapshs 'E9vLKbv MLKrbv ua$ouXwv), a remarkable See also:assembly, which is at once the source of great power by introducing a strong See also:lay See also:element into the administration, and of a certain amount of weakness by its liability to sudden changes of popular feeling. It consists of four metropolitans, members of the Holy Synod, and eight laymen. All of these are chosen by an electoral body, consisting of all the members of the Holy Synod and the National Mixed Council, and twenty-five representatives of the parishes of Constantinople. The See also:election of the patriarch is also, to a considerable extent, popular. An electoral assembly is formed for the purpose consisting i of the twelve members of the Holy Synod, the eight lay members of the National Mixed Council, twenty-eight representatives of as many dioceses (the remaining dioceses having only the right to nominate a See also:candidate by See also:letter), ten representatives of the parishes of Constantinople, ten representatives of all persons who possess political rank, ten representatives of the Christian trades of Constantinople, the two representatives of the secretariat of the patriarchate, and such metropolitans, to the number of ten but no more, as happen to be in Constantinople at the time for some canonical reason (rapsrt1f/Lo yr S). On the death or deposition of the patriarch, the Holy Synod and the National Mixed Council at once meet and elect a temporary substitute for the patriarch (Torornp,7r#ii). See also:Forty days afterwards the electoral assembly meets, under his See also:presidency, and proceeds to make a See also:list of twenty candidates (at the present day they must be metropolitans), who may be proposed either by the members of the electoral assembly or by any of the metropolitans of the patriarchate by letter. This list is sent to the sultan, who has by See also:prescription the right to strike out five names. From the fifteen which remain the electoral assembly chooses three. These names are then submitted to the clerical members of the assembly, i.e. to the members of the Holy Synod and the rapEre5na avres, who meet in church, and, after the usual service, make the final selection. The patriarch-elect is presented to the See also:Porte, which thereupon grants the See also:berat or diploma of See also:investiture and several customary presents; after which the new ruler is enthroned. The patriarch has the assistance and support of a large See also:household, a survival from Byzantine times. Amongst them, actually or potentially, are the grand steward (&Eyas oiKbvoµos), who serves him as See also:deacon in the liturgy and presents candidates for orders; the grand visitor (dyas eaKEAAaptos), who superintends the monasteries; the sacristan (o,svo4sbXas); the See also:chancellor (xapro¢bXal), who superintends ecclesiastical causes; the See also:deputy-visitor (b Tou" o"a,sXXLou), who visits the nunneries; the protonotary (rpilTOVOraptos) ; the See also:logothete (AoyoNens), a most important lay officer, who represents the patriarch at the Porte and elsewhere outside; the censer-See also:bearer, who seems to be also a See also:kind of See also:captain of the guard (Kavrrpiatos or Kaverp7/V(7LOS) ; the referendary (be spev-Saptos) ; the secretary (urs/lvn,uoypafrrov) ; the chief See also:syndic (rpurhe ucOS), i The numbers have varied from time to time.who is a See also:judge of lesser causes; the See also:recorder (tepopv, iwv); and so on, down to the cleaners of the lamps (Aaµrabaptot), the attendant of the See also:lights (weptstespxb/uevo,), and the bearer of the images ($aerayaptos ) and of the holy ointment (µupobbrr/s). 2. The Patriarchate of Alexandria, consisting of Egypt and its dependencies, was at one time the most powerful, as it was the most centralized, of all, and the patriarch still preserves his ancient titles of " pope " and " father of fathers, pastor of pastors, See also:arch-priest of archpriests, thirteenth apostle, and oecumenical judge." But the See also:secession of the greater part of his church to Monophysitism [COPTIC CHURCH], and the Mahommedan See also:conquest of Egypt, have See also:left him but the shadow of his former greatness; and at the present time he has only the bishop of See also:Libya under him, and rules over some 20,000 people at the outside, most of whom are settlers from elsewhere. 3. The Patriarchate of Antioch has undergone most changes in extent of jurisdiction, arising from the transfer of See also:sees to Jerusalem, from the progress of the schismatic churches of the East and from the conquests of the Mahommedans. At the height of his power the patriarch of Antioch ruled over 12 metropolitans and 250 suffragan bishops. In the time of the first crusade 153 still survived; now there are scarcely 20, 14 of which are metropolitan sees. The patriarch, though he is " father of fathers and pastor of pastors," thus retains little of his old importance. His jurisdiction includes See also:Cilicia, Syria (except See also:Palestine) and See also:Mesopotamia. See also:Cyprus has been independent of Antioch since the council of Ephesus. 4. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem.—In the earlier period of the church, ecclesiastical followed civil divisions so closely that Jerusalem, in spite of the sacred associations connected with it, was merely an See also:ordinary bishopric dependent on the metropolitan of Caesarea. Ambitious prelates had from time to time endeavoured to advance the pretensions of their see, but it was not until the council of Chalcedon, in 451, that Jerusalem was made a patriarchate with jurisdiction over Palestine. From this time on to the inroad of the See also:Saracens the patriarchate of Jerusalem was highly prosperous. It ruled over three metropolitans with eighty suffragans. The modern patriarch has under his jurisdiction 5 archbishops and 5 bishops. The chief importance of the patriarchate is derived from the position of Jerusalem as a See also:place of See also:pilgrimage. B. THE NINE NATIONAL CHURCHES
G. See also:Finlay, in his History of Greece, has shown that there has been always a very See also:close relation between the church and national life. Christianity from the first connected itself with the social organization of the people, and therefore in every See also:province assumed the language and the usages of the locality. In this way it was able to command at once individual See also:attachment and universal power. This feeling died down to some extent when Constantine made use of the church to consolidate his empire. But it revived under the persecution of the Arian emperors. The struggle against Arianism was not merely a struggle for orthodoxy. See also:Athanasius swas really at the head of a national Greek party resisting the domination of a Latin-speaking court. From this time onwards Greek patriotism and Greek orthodoxy have been almost convertible terms, and this led naturally to revolts against Greek supremacy in the days of Justinian and other emperors. See also:Dean Stanley was probably correct when he described the heretical churches of the East as the ancient national churches of Egypt, Syria, and See also:Armenia in revolt against supposed innovations in the earlier faith imposed on them by Greek supremacy. In the East, as in See also:Scotland, the history of the church is the See also: For this very reason Orthodox Eastern Christians of See also:alien race See also:felt compelled to resist Greek domination by means of independent ecclesiastical organization, and the structure of the church rather favoured than interfered with the coexistence of separate national churches professing the same faith. Another circumstance favoured the creation of separate national churches. While the Greek empire lasted the emperors had a right of investiture on the election of a new patriarch, and this right was retained by the Turkish sultans after the conquest of Constantinople. The Russian people, for example, could not contemplate with calmness as the head of their church a bishop appointed by the hereditary enemy of their See also:country. In this way the jealousies of race and the necessities of nations have produced various national churches which are independent or autocephalous and yet are one in doctrine. i. The ancient Church of Cyprus (see CYPRUS, CHURCH OF). 2. The Church of Mount Sinai, consisting of little more than the famous monastery of St See also:Catherine, under an See also:archbishop who freuently resides in Egypt. It has, however, a few See also:branch houses (µerbxta) in Turkey and Greece. The archbishop is chosen, from a list of candidates submitted by the monks of St Catherine, by the patriarch of Jerusalem and his Synod; and the patriarch consecrates him. 3. The Hellenic Church.—The constitution of the Church of Modern Greece is the result of the See also:peculiar position of the patriarch of Constantinople. The See also:war of liberation was sympathized in, not merely by the inhabitants of Greece, but by all the Greek-speaking Christians in the East. But the patriarch was in the hands of the Turks; he had been appointed by the sultan. and he was compelled
by the Turkish authorities to See also:ban the movement for freedom. When the Greeks achieved See also:independence they refused to be subject ecclesiastically to a patriarch who was nominated by the sultan (See also:June 9, 1828); and, to add to their difficulties, there were in the country twenty-two bishops who had been consecrated by the patriarch, twelve bishops who had been consecrated irregularly during the war, and about twenty bishops who had been deprived of their sees during the troubles—i.e. fifty-three bishops claimed to be provided for. In these circumstances the government and people resolved that there should be ten diocesan bishops and forty additional provisional sees. They also resolved that the church should be governed after the See also:fashion of the Russian Church by a synod; and they decreed that the See also: The Rumanian Church.—The fall of the church of Okhrida in 1767 had made See also:Moldavia and Wallachia ecclesiastically subject to Constantinople. On the union of the two principalities under See also: In this way the Russian Church became autocephalous, and its patriarch had immense power. In 1700 Peter the Great forbade the election of a new patriarch, and in 1721 he established the Holy Governing Synod to See also:supply the place of the patriarch. This body now governs the Russian Church, and consists of a See also:procurator representing the emperor, the metropolitans of Kiev, Moscow and St See also:Petersburg, the exarch of Georgia and five or six other bishops appointed by the emperor. There are altogether some 90 bishops and about 40 See also:auxiliary bishops called vicars. There are 481 monasteries for men and 249 convents of nuns. The Church of Georgia, which has existed from a very early period, and was dependent first on the patriarch of Antioch and then on the patriarch of Constantinople, has since 1802 been incorporated in the Russian Church. Its head, the archbishop of See also:Tiflis, bears the title of exarch of Georgia, and has under him four suffragans. A See also:petition was presented to the emperor by the Georgians in 1904 asking for the restoration of their church and their language, but nothing came of it. 9. The Bulgarian Church, unless indeed it be classed with the separated churches. It differs from the national churches already mentioned in that it had its origin in a revolt of Turkish subjects against the patriarchal authority. From the earliest times the Bulgarians had occupied an anomalous position on the See also:borders of Eastern and Western Christendom, but they had ultimately become subject to Constantinople. The revival of Bulgarian national feeling near the See also:middle of the 19th century led to a movement for religious independence, the leaders of which were the See also:archimandrite Neophit Bozveli and the bishop Ilarion Mikhailovsky. The Porte espoused the cause of the Bulgarians, partly to pacify them, but still more to strengthen its hold on all the Christians of Turkey by fosteringwho desired to join it within the vilayet of the See also:Danube (i.e. the subsequently-formed principality of See also:Bulgaria), and those of See also:Adrianople, See also:Salonica, See also:Kossovo and See also:Monastir (i.e. part of See also:Macedonia, Eastern See also:Rumelia and a See also:tract farther See also:south). The members of this Church were to constitute a See also:millet or community, enjoying equal rights with the Greeks and Armenians; and its head, the Bulgarian exarch, was to reside at Constantinople. Naturally, this was resented by the patriarch Anthimus, who stigmatized the racial basis of the Bulgarian Church as the See also:heresy of Phyletism. A See also:local synod at Constantinople, in August 1872, pronounced it schismatical; Antioch, Alexandria and Greece followed suit; Jerusalem pronounced a modified condemnation; and the Servian and Rumanian churches avoided any definite expression of See also:opinion. Russia was more favourable. It never actually acknowledged the Bulgarian Church, and Bulgarian prelates may not officiate publicly in Russian churches; on the other hand, the Holy Synod of Moscow refused to recognize the patriarch's condemnation, and Russian ecclesiastics have secretly supplied the Bulgarians with the holy oil. Above all, when Prince Boris,. the See also:heir-apparent of the principality, was received into the Bulgarian Church on 14th February 1896, the emperor of Russia was his godfather. The position is further complicated by the fact that many Bulgarians, both within and without the See also:kingdom of Bulgaria, still remain subject to the patriarch. Nevertheless, the Bulgarian Church has made great headway both in Bulgaria itself and in Macedonia. The curious thing is that, the Russian Church is in communion with both sides. The patriarch of Constantinople dares not excommunicate Russia, but the chief of its many grievances against that country is its patronage of the Bulgarian exarchate. The Bulgarians of course say they are not schismatics, but a national branch of the Church Catholic, using their sacred right to See also:manage their own affairs in their own way. They have never excommunicated the Patriarchists. On the whole it seems likely that the patriarch will ultimately have to yield, irr spite of the strong Greek feeling against the Bulgars.1 Present Position of the Orthodox Church.—Although the signs of weakness which have characterized the past are still present, there are some indications of improvement. The encyclical on unity of Pope Leo XIII. (1895) called forth a reply from the patriarch Anthimus V. of Constantinople and his Synod, which was eminently learned, dignified and charitable.2 The theological school of the patriarchate, at Halke, is not undistinguished, and the university of See also:Athens has a good See also:record. Whilst the parochial clergy are still as unlearned as ever, there are not a few amongst the higher clergy who are distinguished for their learning beyond the limits of their own communion: for ex-ample, the metropolitan Ph. Bryennios, who discovered and edited the See also:Didache; the archbishop N. Kalogeras, who discovered and edited the second part of the commentary of Euthymius Zigabenus (d. c. 1118) on the New Testament; the archimandrite D. Latas, author of a valuable work on Christian See also:archaeology (Athens, 1883); and the logothete S. Aristarchi, who edited a valuable collection of 83 newly discovered homilies of the patriarch See also:Photius. This was published in 'goo at the Phanar press, erected as a memorial to See also:Theodore of See also:Tarsus, archbishop of See also:Canterbury, by Greek and English churchmen, which was set up by the patriarch Constantine V. in 1899. An authorized version of the Scriptures in ancient Greek is also one of the See also:works undertaken by this institution. On the other hand, the attempt made in 1901 by the Holy Synod at Athens, with the co-operation of See also:Queen See also:Olga of Greece (a Russian princess), to circulate a modern Greek version of the Gospels was resented as a symptom of a See also:Pan-Slavist See also:conspiracy, and led to an ebullition of popular feeling which could only be pacified by the withdrawal of the See also:obnoxious version and the See also:abdication of the metropolitan of Athens. The patriarch Constantine V. was deposed on the 12th of See also:April 1901, and was succeeded on the 28th of May by See also:Joachim III. (and V.), who had previously occupied the patriarchal See also:throne from 1878 to 1884, when he was deposed through the See also:ill-will of the Porte and banished to Mount Athos. His re-election had therefore no little importance. His progressive sympathies, illustrated by his proposals to reform the monasteries and the See also:calendar, to modify the four long fasts and to treat for union (especially with the Old Catholics), were not very well received, and in 1905 an attempt was made to depose him. The sultan Abd-ul-Hamid, to whom the different parties appealed, i H. Brailsford in Macedonia (See also:London, 1906) brings a crushing See also:indictment against the Patriarchist party. their differences. Ultimately, on 28th February 187o, the sultan 2 For a different opinion see A. See also:Fortescue, The Orthodox Eastern issued a See also:firman constituting a new church, including all Bulgarians 1 Church, 435 sqq. lectured them on charity and See also:concord! The patriarch's great rival was Joachim of Ephesus. Undoubtedly the question of the most pressing importance with regard to the future of Eastern Christendom is the relation between Russia and Constantinople. The Oecumenical Patriarch is, of course, officially the superior; but the Russian Church is numerically by far the greatest, and the tendency to regard Russia as the head, not only of the Slav races, but of all orthodox nations, inevitably reacts upon the church in the form of what has been called pan-Orthodoxy. The Russian Church is the only one which is in a position to display any missionary activity. It has been a powerful See also:factor in the development of several of the churches already spoken of, especially those of Servia and Montenegro, which are usually very much subject to Russian influences (`PwacrOcpoves or `Pw r ,4 rXot). It has taken great See also:interest in non-orthodox churches, such as those of See also:Assyria, See also:Abyssinia and Egypt. Above all, it has shown an increasing tendency to intervene in the affairs of the three lesser patriarchates. In See also:America the Russian archbishop, who resides in New See also:York, has (on behalf of the Holy Synod) the oversight of some 152 churches and chapels in the United States, See also:Alaska Orthodox and See also:Canada. He is assisted by two bishops, one for church in Alaska residing at See also:Sitka, one for Orthodox Syrians America. residing in See also:Brooklyn. There are 75 priests and 46,000 registered parishioners. The English language is increasingly used in the services. The increase of Orthodox communities has been very marked since 1888 owing to the See also:immigration of See also:Austrian Slavonians. Those of Greek nationality have churches in New See also: The question of union was, for instance, more than once discussed at the unofficial conferences connected with the Old Catholic movement (see OLD CATHOLICS). These and other discussions could have no definite result, but they led to an increase of good feeling and of personal intercourse. Thus, on the See also:coronation of the emperor See also:Nicholas II. of Russia in 1895, Dr See also:Creighton, bishop of See also:Peterborough, as representative of the English Church, was treated with peculiar distinction, and the compliment of his visit was returned by the presence of a high dignitary of the Russian Church at the service at St Paul's in London on the occasion of Queen See also:Victoria's " See also:diamond " See also:jubilee in 1897. In 1899 there was further an interchange of courtesies between the archbishopof Canterbury and Constantine V., patriarch of Constantinople. To promote the " brotherly feeling between the members of the. two churches," for which the patriarch expressed a See also:desire, a See also:committee was formed under the presidency of the Anglican bishop of See also:Gibraltar. On this question of reunion see A. Fortescue, The Orthodox Eastern Church, 257 sg9t., 429 sqq. See also J. Pargoire, L'Eglise Byzantine de 527 d 847 (See also:Paris, 1905) ; I. Silbernagl, Verfassung u. gegenwartiger Bestand samtlicher Kirchen des Orients (1865; 2nd ed., See also:Regensburg, 1904); W. F. Adeney, The Greek and Eastern Churches (See also:Edinburgh, 1908) ; See also:Adrian Fortescue, The Orthodox Eastern Church (London, 1907), with a full bibliography; F. G. See also:Cole, See also:Mother of All Churches (London, 1908); and M. Tamarati, L'Eglise Georgienne, des origines jusqu'd nos jours. An interesting estimate of the Orthodox Church is given by A. See also:Harnack in What is Christianity? For the festivals of the Greek Church see Mary See also: Additional information and CommentsHISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN TRUE ORTHODOX CHURCH The Early Foundation of Orthodoxy in Russia According to tradition, St. Andrew, the first called Apostle, stopped at the hills of what would become the great city of Kiev while preaching the Gospel. It would, however, take nearly one thousand years before Christianity would begin to take hold of the region. In 954 Princess Olga of Kiev was baptized. But it was her grandson, Prince Vladimir, whose baptism in 988 would forever establish Orthodoxy as the principal religion of Russia. The Orthodox faith grew and flourished throughout the Russian Empire and served as a unifying force in the lives of the Russian people. Not only did the Church provide spiritual strength and nourishment for its people, but it became a center of educational enrichment as well. The Russian Orthodox Church had forever become an inseparable part of the life of the people and Russia itself. The unprecedented growth and stability of this Church inevitably led to the establishment of a new patriarchate within orthodoxy, with Metropolitan Job of Moscow becoming the first Patriarch of Russia in 1589. Following the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700, the Church remained without a Patriarch for more than two hundred years. At the insistence of Peter I, a collective administration, known as the Holy and Governing Synod, was established in 1721. This form of governance lasted until 1917 at which time the All-Russian Council restored the patriarchal office and elected Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow as Patriarch. Orthodoxy in Russia in the Early Twentieth Century The joy of the election of Patriarch Tikhon would be short lived, as Russia entered a very difficult period in its history. The Bolsheviks, who had come into power in 1917, saw the Russian Orthodox Church as an enemy to be destroyed as resolutely as the tsarist institution. This period saw the repression of the church as well as the imprisonment of many of its bishops, priests, monastics and laypeople. Patriarch Tikhon was himself imprisoned a little more than a year. Upon his release he found a Church embattled by division and an ever-increasing persecution by the government. He continued to be a source of unification among the people and fought vigorously to uphold the faith and traditions of the Church, but the strain of these years weighed heavily upon him. His death in 1925 dealt a severe blow to Russian Orthodoxy and the stability of the Church. Orthodoxy in the Post-Tikhon era Following the death of Patriarch Tikhon unrest settled over the Russian Orthodox Church. The designated successors of Patriarch Tikhon were arrested by the civil authorities and Metropolitan Sergiy was named "locum tenens" of the Patriarchate. In 1927 Metropolitan Sergiy, in a formal declaration to all members of the Church, called for loyalty toward the Soviet government. This event sparked division among the hierarchy, clergy and laity and led to the formation of the True Orthodox Church in Russia. Those who opposed Metropolitan Sergiy were not simply opposed to his political concessions, which they felt were too extreme, but were also at variance with him on a number of canonical and theological issues. His alliance with the authorities allowed him to turn over to the civil authorities all hierarchs and clergy who were at odds with him on political issues as well as purely church-related issues. While the True Orthodox Church in Russia was never a single organization, many of its followers were labeled "Josephites", after Metropolitan Joseph of Leningrad, the leader of its largest branch. A considerable part of the Church in Russia stood in opposition to Metropolitan Sergiy and took the stand of the True Orthodox Church. The opposition, however, remained primarily on a church-related basis. The overwhelming majority of the True Orthodox Church tried to observe the Soviet laws. This, however, was not enough. The authorities had taken their stand in the church dispute and were prepared to use whatever means necessary to bring the bishops under the obedience of Metropolitan Sergiy. This tragic resolve on the part of the Soviet government caused the numerous True Orthodox Church eparchies and communities to go underground for the length of the Soviet period. The Emergence from the Underground and the Establishment of the Russian True Orthodox Church - Metropolia of Moscow In the period from the 1970s-80s, many of the True Orthodox Church communities had lost their last bishops and much of their clergy. Many of these groups were forced to exist and celebrate services in the absence of a priest. After the change in political conditions in the late 1980s, the True Orthodox Church began to emerge from the underground. Various churches solved the question of their future existence in different ways. Some of the communities joined the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which by that time had begun to open communities within Russia. Others renewed their episcopacy and clergy through arrangements made with other jurisdictions. The Russian True Orthodox Church - Metropolia of Moscow chose the latter. In 1996 an initiative group of Russian orthodox clergy and laity approached Patriarch Dimitriy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, asking him to assist them in the canonical restoration of a hierarchy for the True Orthodox Church. It was decided that the name for the restored church would be the Russian True Orthodox Church. In June of 1996, with the blessing of Patriarch Dimitriy, Archbishop Roman and Bishop Methodiy of the UAOC ordained Hieromonk John a bishop of the Russian True Orthodox Church in order to restore apostolic succession. In December of 1996 Bishop John and Bishop Methodiy ordained Archimandrite Stefan a bishop for the Russian True Orthodox Church. These two bishops, John and Stefan, would pass the apostolic succession to the rest of the bishops of the Russian True Orthodox Church. In 2000 the Russian True Orthodox Church officially added "Metropolia of Moscow" to its name in order to distinguish it from other groups within Russia. Today, the Church is led by Metropolitan Vyacheslav of Moscow and Kolomensk together with Archbishop Mikhail of Bronitsk and Velensk, Archbishop Alexy of Minneapolis and Chicago, Bishop Haralampos (Western Rite) and Bishop Vladimir. The Church strives to live the Gospel of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ through adherence to the Holy Scriptures, Holy Tradition, the Canons of the Ecumenical Councils, and regulations of the Church Councils of the Orthodox Church. Its desire is to serve the needs of its faithful through spiritual nourishment and with compassion and understanding.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] ORTHOCLASE |
[next] ORTHOGRAPHY (from Gr. Opeoc, correct, right or stra... |