Synod of Jerusalem (1672)

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The Synod of Jerusalem is an

Eastern Orthodox synod held in 1672. It is also called the Synod of Bethlehem.[1]

The synod was convoked

confession referred to as the Confession of Dositheus.[3]

Background: Cyril Lucaris

In 1629, a small book in Latin, attributed to

Calvinistic views and asserting that Calvinism was in fact the faith of the Eastern Church. His E. Orthodox defenders claim that the book was a forgery. Cyril did not disavow it in writing.[6]

Cyril Lucaris died in 1638.[2]

Lucaris' Confession was condemned by the 1638 Synod of Constantinople and the 1642 Synod of Jassy.[5]

Name, date and location

The Synod of Jerusalem is also called Synod of Bethlehem, because the synod took place at the

Patriarch Dositheus of Jerusalem summoned it on the occasion of consecrating said Church of the Nativity in 1672.[2][7]

The synod was summoned in March 1672[7] and then took place the same year.[1]

Synod and decisions

The synod rejected the doctrine of the

Protestants". The synod "defined [Eastern] Orthodox dogma in areas at issue in the Western Reformation".[1]

The Synod refuted the Confession of Lucaris article by article.[4]

The synod affirmed "the teaching role of the church and therefore of

Protestant shorter, Hebrew canon".[1] The synod also rejected the theses of unconditional predestination and of justification by faith alone.[7]

The Synod affirmed that the

Holy Ghost proceeds from God the Father alone and not from both Father and Son.[8]

Signing

The

theologians. There are sixty-eight signatures in total. The Church of Russia was represented by a monk, Timothy.[2]

Acts of the synod

The acts of the synod are dated 20 March 1672; they bear the title: Christ guides. A shield of the Orthodox Faith, or the Apology composed by the Synod of Jerusalem under the Patriarch of Jerusalem Dositheus against the Calvinist heretics, who falsely say that the Eastern Church thinks heretically about God and Divine things as they do.[2]

The first part begins by quoting the text: "

Lutherans and Jeremias II of Constantinople are quoted as well as the acts of former synods (Constantinople and Yassy). An elaborate attempt is then made to prove that Lucaris did not really write the famous Confession. To do this the Confession is compared clause by clause with other statements made by him in sermons and in other works.[2]

In chapter ii, the synod declares that in any case Lucaris showed the Confession to no one, and tries to find further reasons for doubting his authorship.[2]

Chapter iii maintains that, even if Lucaris had written the confession attributed to him, it would not thereby become a confession of the faith of the Eastern Orthodox Church, but would remain merely the private opinion of a heretic.[2]

Chapter iv defends the Eastern Orthodox Church by quoting her formularies, and contains a list of anathemas against the perceived heresies of the Confession of Lucaris.[2]

Chapter v again tries to defend Lucaris by quoting various deeds and sayings of his and transcribes the whole decree of the synod of Constantinople of 1639, and then that of Yassy (Giasion) of 1641.[2]

Chapter vi gives the

decrees of this synod in the form of a "Confession of Dositheus". It has eighteen decrees (horoi), followed by four "questions" (eroteseis) with long answers. In these, all the points denied by Lucaris' Confession (relationship between the Church and the Bible, Eastern Orthodox understanding of predestination, cult of saints, sacraments, the Real Presence, the liturgy, liturgy being a real sacrifice, etc.) are maintained at great length and in the most uncompromising way. A short epilogue closes the acts. Then follow the date, signatures, and seals.[2]

Aftermath

Protestant writers say that the strong hostility toward Protestantism of the synod was the product of the Jesuits, of the French ambassador at that time, Olivier de Nointel, and of other Catholics who were undermining the Eastern Orthodox Church.[2]

In their correspondence with the 18th-century Non-Juror Anglican bishops, the Eastern Patriarchs insisted on acceptance of the Synod's teaching on transubstantiation.[9]

Importance

The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica called the confession of the Synod of Jerusalem "the most vital statement of faith made in the Greek Church during the past thousand years."[3]

The

1910 Catholic Encyclopedia states the decrees of the synod "have been accepted unreservedly by the whole [Eastern] Orthodox Church. They were at once approved by the other patriarchs, the Church of Russia, etc.; they are always printed in full among the symbolic books of the [Eastern] Orthodox Church, and form an official creed or declaration in the strictest sense, which every [Eastern] Orthodox Christian is bound to accept."[2] Nevertheless, Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan Kallistos Ware describes the synod as one among many held in the period of the ecumenical councils whose "statements of faith have in part been received [...] but in part set aside or corrected".[10]

Protestant scholar

Jewish Christians."[7]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4051-6658-4
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Jerusalem (After 1291)". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913. Retrieved 2008-07-10.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ a b Rockwell, William Walker (1911). "Jerusalem, Synod of" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 335.
  4. ^
    S2CID 162495558
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4051-6658-4
    .
  6. ^ Cyril I Lucaris at the Wayback Machine (archived 26 January 2020)
  7. ^ a b c d e Schaff, Philip. "Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes. Volume I. The History of Creeds. - § 17. The Synod of Jerusalem and the Confession of Dositheus, A.D. 1672". Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  8. ^ "The Confession of Dositheus". ELCore.Net. Retrieved 2021-11-11. We believe in one God, true, almighty, and infinite, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; the Father unbegotten; the Son begotten of the Father before the ages, and consubstantial with Him; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father, and consubstantial with the Father and the Son. These three Persons in one essence we call the All-holy Trinity, — by all creation to be ever blessed, glorified, and adored.
  9. ^ Langford, H. W. (2001) [1965]. "The Non-Jurors and the Eastern Orthodox". anglicanhistory.org. Retrieved 2021-11-11. They are furious about the Non-Jurors' denial of transubstantiation (after the Bethlehem synod) and they call the Non-Jurors' denial, criticism, even hesitation, blasphemous
  10. ISBN 978-0-141-98063-8
    .

External links
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