Eastern Orthodox History

• From: Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Church

Early History

• Ignatius (c. 100): Center of community the city with bishop who performs the Eucharist; countryside tied to city

• Cyprian (c. 250): All bishops share a common Episcopate; foundation of the idea of councils

– Local councils held at provincial level

– Chaired by bishop of provincial capital who was given title of Metropolitan

– Wider gatherings held in main cities like Alexandria, Antioch

Early History (cont.)

• First 3 centuries marked by persecutions, martyrdom; foundation of later asceticism

– 312: Constantine has vision which prompts his conversion to Christianity

– 313: Edict of Milan--tolerance for Christianity

– 323: Constantine convenes and presides over first Ecumenical Council at Nicea

– 324/330: Capital moved to Constantinople

– 380 Theodosius proclaims Christianity sole religion of the Empire

Seven Ecumenical Councils

• Defined church teaching and organization

• Largely led by Eastern theologians

• Theological issues

– First set of councils (Nicea, 323; Constantinople, 381) focused especially on the nature of the Trinity

– Second set of councils (Ephesus, 431; Chalcedon, 451; Constantinople, 553, 680-681) dealt with Christology, especially the relation between Christ’s humanity and divinity

– Final council (Nicea, 787) dealt with the iconoclastic controversy

Byzantine History

• Close relationship between secular and religious authority, popular interest in religious questions

– In practice, government a dyarchy

– Around 1000 AD, Byzantine Empire more advanced civilization that in the West

– Political borders Naples, Danube River, Palestine; decreased after battle of Manzikert (1071) when empire lost most of Anatolia

– Ecclesiastical influence extended into Russia; some disruption after sacking of Kiev by the Mongols (1240)

– Secular influence limited to some internal autonomy under the Ottomans (1453-1821), but religious influence continued

Byzantine History (cont.)

• Center of religious life the Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople (constructed 6th century)

• Monasticism prominent

– Types, but no orders

• Ermetic (solitary):

• Cenobitic (communal): Pachomius (286-346); rules of Pachomius and Basil

• Semi-ermetic: Nitria (Ammon) and Scetis (Macarius, Evagrius, Arsenius)

– Less focused on active work

– Rules included that of Pachomius (early 4th century), Basil; also Studite Rule

Byzantine History (cont.)

• Later monastic influence

– Since 10th century, focus of monasticism at Mt. Athos (group of monasteries on peninsula and mountain in northern Greece)

– Source of hesychast (quiet) theology: ascetic spirituality can lead to vision of the uncreated light of God (Gregory Palmas)

– Along with continuation of traditional liturgy, monastic spirituality helped preserve Orthodoxy during Ottoman occupation

Byzantine History (cont.)

• Missionary expansion

– 9th century Bulgaria, Balkan peninsula

• First under control of Constantinople

• Serbia and Bulgarian churches became independent in 13th century during Latin occupation of Constantinople, reduced with advent of the Ottoman Empire

• Renewed independence for Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian churches in the 19th century with shrinking of the Ottoman empire; tension between ecumenism and nationalism becomes evident

• Move to new ecclesiastical calendar produced some schisms in the early 20th century

Byzantine History

– 10th century Kiev, later rest of Russia

• by 14th century head of Russian church had moved to Moscow; in 1458 Russians began electing their own Metropolitan and were independent

• 14th century monastic revival headquartered in Russia

• In the 17th century, the Kiev regions was influenced by Roman Catholicism for a time

• Eventually, Russian monarchs took over the title of emperor (Ivan IV “Terrible” crowned Tsar in 1547; head of Russian church elevated to level of Patriarch in 1589 (after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem in importance); head of church secondary in importance to head of state

Byzantine History (cont.)

• Relations with West

– 9th century: on and off disagreements about the Filioque clause of the Nicene Creed (Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son)

– 11th century: Filioque clause reintroduced (1014), mutual excommunication after negotiations fail (1054)

– Relations worsen during Crusades

• Crusaders appoint Latin prelates in Antioch and Jerusalem (1098-1099)

• Constantinople taken and sacked, Latin prelate appointed (1204); recaptured 1261-1453

– Attempts at reunion persisted through 13th-15th centuries, eventually ending when the Turks captured Constantinople

Later Russian Orthodoxy

• 17th century reform of liturgy led to schism with the “Old Believers”

• Peter the Great instituted secular, Western reforms, abolished the Patriarchate in 1721 and established a department in the government bureacracy to deal with religious affairs

• Translation of Philokalia into Russian by Paissy Velichkovsky (1722-94) fueled 19th century monastic hesychast revival

Later Russian Orthodoxy (cont.)

• Late 19th century, move from Roman Catholicism to Orthodoxy in areas of Russia and Poland

• Move to re-establish the Patriarchate begun early 20th century, finalized at the time of the Russian Revolution (1917)

• Communism and the church

– in the 1920s and 1930s, especially under Stalin, led repression of the church; some schism occurred over amount of governmental cooperation

– relaxation of persecution in the 1940s and 1950s

– renewed persecution under Khruschev around 1960

– eased again in 1980s and with collapse of USSR (1991)

Orthodoxy since WW I

• Traditional centers of Orthodoxy

– Greek-Turkish war in 1922 resulted in resettlement of Greeks in Turkey to Greece; this diminished the role of Constantinople

– Alexandria center of Orthodox explosion in Africa

• Religious forms more interesting to some African groups, especially in East Africa

• No connection with colonialism

– Antioch center of the largest Arab Christian group

– Jerusalem custodian of most holy Christian sites in the city

Orthodoxy since WW I (cont.)

• US Orthodoxy

– Originally administered from Russian mission in Alaska

– Considerable fragmentation eased with formation of Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops (SCOBA) established 1960; Russian proposals for independent American church blocked by objections from Constantinople, partly over use of English in the liturgy

– Numbers increased by emigration from Russian and Eastern Europe; this emigration also increased Orthodoxy in Commonwealth countries

Great Figures

• Fathers of the Early Church and the Councils

– Alexandrian Fathers: Clement (c. 160-220), Origen (c. 185-253), Athanasius (c. 296-373)

– Cappadocian Fathers: Basil (329-379), Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-c.395), Gregory Nazianzus (c. 329-c.390); with Athanasius, principle figures at Council of Constantinople (381) and writers of Nicene creed

– John Chrysostom (334?-407)

• The Three Theologians

– St. John

– Gregory Nazianzus

– Simeon the New Theologian (949-1022)

Great Figures (cont.)

• Dionysius the Areopagite (c. 500): major exponent of apophatic theology

• Maximos Confessor (580-662)

• John of Damascus (c. 675-749): defender of icons

• Gregory Palamas (1296-1359): author of Hesychastic theology

• St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (1748-1809): edited the Philokalia

Distinctives and Themes in Eastern Orthodox Theology

• From: Lossky, Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

Distinctives of Eastern Theology

• Mysticism: “That which shows forth the divine mystery.”

– No sharp division between mysticism and theology--understanding and transformation should support and complete each other

– In progression, mystical experience and knowledge go together; as we progress, we gain knowledge of the unity of all things

Distinctives (cont.)

• Ultimate end of theology is theosis or deification

– Deification through Christ and the Church are the point of contact for the union of all things

– Won’t be fully realized until the “age to come”

• Theology can be expressed through material means, e.g. icons

• Acceptance of richness of local traditions

• Importance of monasticism as a contemplative endeavor

Distinctives (cont.)

• Emphasis on apophatic (rather than kataphatic) mysticsm

– Any representation or expression is incomplete

– Some things cannot be expressed by concepts or language; experience is the only teacher

– Union with God implies deification as the end of a process

• Different than beatitude, which is a more intellectual vision

• We become “partakers of the divine nature”

– Kataphatic mysticism a “ladder of theophanies” that are manifestations of God in creation

Distinctives (cont.)

• Union is union with the Trinity

– Trinity as absolute stability and perfection; no interior process or dialectic

– One substance (ousia)

– Three persons (hypostases) differentiated by their origin; differences are incomprehensible; they represent different modes of the intentionality of God

• Father is “unbegotten”; primordial cause

• Son is “begotten or generated”; operating cause

• Spirit “proceeds”; perfecting cause

Distinctives (cont.)

– Eastern thought goes from three persons to one substance; Western from one substance to three persons

– Monarchy of the Father: unique source of the Godhead and principle of unity

Distinctives (cont.)

• God in essence is unknowable; we only know God through the “energy” or activity of the members of the Trinity

– “God is communicable in what He imparts to us; but He is not communicable in the incommunicability of his essence” (Maximos Confessor)

– Energies are the mode of existence of the Trinity outside of its essence

– Energies, not the essence of God, abide in created beings

– Distinction between essence and energy is ineffable; essence is present in energies “as in a mirror”

Distinctives (cont.)

• Nature of man

– Eastern theology reasons from what we know about God to man; Western theology (e.g. Augustine) from what we know about man to God

– Since God is unknowable, it is impossible to define the divine image in man

– Image of God refers to the whole of man in its entirety

– Difference between God and man is that in man the image is created

– Distinction between image and likeness

Distinctives (cont.)

• The work of the Trinity

– Christ as transfigured humanity; integrated with us through kenosis (self-emptying), unifies and sanctifies us; a general work

– Holy Spirit has a specific, individual work that diversifies, e.g. through gifts; Pentecost represents the beginning of the spiritual life

– Both works take place through the Church, whose goal is the “union of each human person with God”

Distinctives (cont.)

• Spiritual life and growth

– Dependent on grace and human freedom

– Begins with conversion, renouncing the world

– Requires two stages, action (praxis) and contemplation (thoria); praxis leads to detachment (apatheia)

• alternate scheme: penitence, purification, perfection

• prayer key to praxis, hesychastic prayer to contemplation

– Development involves ascent to likeness, imitation, love, unity

Distinctives (cont.)

• Division of the person

– Heart (kardia): center of the active facilities of intellect, will

– Spirit (nous): contemplative faculty by which we seek God

• Importance of light

Appendix

• Details on the Councils

Councils (cont.)

• Nicea (323)

– Against Arian views of the Trinity: Christ less than God

– Answer: Christ one essence with the Father (homoousios)

– Rome, Alexandria and Antioch the three great centers

Councils (cont.)

• Constantinople (381)

– More on Arianism and Trinitarian theology

– Answer: Son proceeds from the Father; one substance (homoousios) but three persons (hypostases); expanded and adopted the Nicene Creed

– Rome, Constantinople and Alexandria the three great centers

Councils (cont.)

• Ephesus (431)

– Against Nestorian views of Christ: Division of human and divine natures

– Answer: Affirmed title of Mary as “Mother of God” (Theotokos)

Councils (cont.)

• Chalcedon (451)

– Against Monophysitism: Christ has only one nature, so not truly human

– Answer: Christ “truly God and truly human”

– Established the Pentarchy of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Asserted primacy of Constantinople over Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem

• Constantinople (553) reaffirmed Chalcedon

Councils (cont.)

• Constantinople (680-681)

– Against Monothelites: Christ had only one will

– 632: Mohammed dies

Councils (cont.)

• Nicea (Seventh Council, 787): Affirmed the use of icons

– Iconoclastic controversy (726-780; 815-843)

– John of Damascus

– Representations that can be venerated, have teaching value