Synod of Jerusalem (1672)

TheSynod of Jerusalemis anEastern Orthodoxsynodheld in 1672. It is also called theSynod of Bethlehem.

The synod was convokedand presided over byPatriarch Dositheus of Jerusalem.The synod produced aconfessionreferred to as theConfession of Dositheus.

Background: Cyril Lucaris

In 1629, a small book in Latin, attributed toCyril Lucaris,thePatriarch of Constantinople,and commonly referred to as theConfession of Cyril Lucaris,was published inGeneva.It contained an eighteen-point summary of beliefs that conformed with Calvinist teaching. French, English and German translations appeared in the same year. AGreekversion calledEastern Confession of the Christian Faithappeared in Constantinople in 1631 or 1633.Lucaris was accused of adopting in this bookCalvinistic viewsand 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.

Cyril Lucaris died in 1638.

Lucaris'Confessionwas condemned by the 1638 Synod of Constantinople and the 1642Synod of Jassy.

Name, date and location

The Synod of Jerusalem is also calledSynod of Bethlehem,because the synod took place at theChurch of the NativityatBethlehem.It is also possible that the synod is referred to as Synod of Bethlehem becausePatriarch Dositheus of Jerusalemsummoned it on the occasion of consecrating said Church of the Nativity in 1672.

The synod was summoned in March 1672and then took place the same year.

Synod and decisions

The synod rejected the doctrine of theProtestant Reformers,and also attempted to "articulate the dogmatic heritage of [Eastern] Orthodoxy in face of the dispute betweenCatholicsandProtestants".The synod" defined [Eastern] Orthodoxdogmain areas at issue in the WesternReformation".

The Synod refuted theConfessionof Lucaris article by article.

The synod affirmed "the teaching role of the church and therefore oftraditionagainst Protestantsola scriptura".The synod also affirmed" the role ofloveandgrace,and therefore ofdeeds,injustification".The synod affirmed the sevenmysteries(sacraments) and that those are not "merely symbolic or expressive"; moreover, the synod affirmed that theChrist was truly present in the eucharistand taught this by using theGreekequivalent to theLatintransubstantiatio,metousiosis(μετουσίωσις).The synod also "confirmed thecanonicityof thedeutero-canonical booksof theOld Testament,rejecting theProtestantshorter,Hebrewcanon ".The synod also rejected the theses ofunconditional predestinationand ofjustification by faith alone.

The Synod affirmed that theHoly Ghostproceeds fromGod the Fatheralone and notfrom both Father and Son.

Signing

Theactsof the synod are signed by Dositheus, his predecessor theex-patriarch Nectarius,sixmetropolitansandbishops,theArchimandriteof theHoly Sepulchre,Josaphat, and a great number of other archimandrites,priests,monks,andtheologians.There are sixty-eight signatures in total. TheChurch of Russiawas represented by a monk, Timothy.

Acts of the synod

Theactsof 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.

The first part begins by quoting the text: "There is a time to speak and a time to be silent",which text is explained and enlarged upon at length. It tells the story of the summoning of the synod, and vehemently denies that the Eastern Orthodox Church ever held the opinions attributed to Lucaris. To show this, the relations between theLutheransandJeremias II of Constantinopleare 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 famousConfession.To do this theConfessionis compared clause by clause with other statements made by him in sermons and in other works.

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

Chapter iii maintains that, even if Lucaris had written the confession attributed to him, it would not thereby become aconfession of the faithof the Eastern Orthodox Church, but would remain merely the private opinion of aheretic.

Chapter iv defends the Eastern Orthodox Church by quoting her formularies, and contains a list ofanathemasagainst the perceived heresies of theConfessionof Lucaris.

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.

Chapter vi gives thedecreesof 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, theReal Presence,theliturgy,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.

Aftermath

Protestant writers say that the strong hostility toward Protestantism of the synod was the product of theJesuits,of theFrenchambassador at that time,Olivier de Nointel,and of other Catholics who were undermining the Eastern Orthodox Church.

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

Importance

The 1911Encyclopædia Britannicacalled the confession of the Synod of Jerusalem "the most vital statement of faith made in the Greek Church during the past thousand years."

The1910Catholic Encyclopediastates the decrees of the synod "have been accepted unreservedly by the whole [Eastern] Orthodox Church. They were at once approved by the other patriarchs, theChurch of Russia,etc.; they are always printed in full among thesymbolicbooks 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. "Nevertheless, Eastern Orthodox MetropolitanKallistos Waredescribes the synod as one among many held in the period of theecumenical councilswhose "statements of faith have in part been received [...] but in part set aside or corrected".

Protestant scholarPhilip Schaffwrote: "This Synod is the most important in the modern history of the Eastern Church, and may be compared to theCouncil of Trent.Both fixed the doctrinal status of the Churches they represent, and both condemned the evangelical doctrines ofProtestantism.Both were equally hierarchical andintolerant,and present a strange contrast to thefirst Synod held in Jerusalem,when 'theapostlesandelders,' in the presence of 'the brethren,' freely discussed and adjusted, in a spirit of love, withoutanathemas,the great controversy between theGentileand theJewishChristians. "

External links

• The Confession of Cyril Lucaris
• The Confession of Dositheus(alsohere)
• Robertson, James Nathaniel William Beauchamp, ed. (1899).The acts and decrees of the Synod of Jerusalem, sometimes called the Council of Bethlehem, holden under Dositheus, Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1672.Harvard University. New York, AMS Press.