Eastern Orthodox Christianity: the essential texts

478 Pages·2016·15.69 MB·English

by  Orthodox Eastern Church;Geffert, Bryn;Stavrou, Theofanis G

Eastern Orthodox Christianity
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Eastern Orthodox
Christianity
The Essential Texts
Bryn Geffert and Theofanis G. Stavrou
New Haven and London
Published with assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.
Copyright © 2016 by Bryn Geffert and Theofanis G. Stavrou.
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Contents
List of Sources in Eastern Orthodox Christianity:
Supplemental Texts xiii
Preface xxi
Acknowledgments xxv
Map of the Concentration of Eastern Othodoxy, 2010 xxvii
Part I Origins and Metamorphoses
Beginnings, Scripture, and Patristics 3
New Sect 7
Letter of Ignatius to the Smyrnians (ca. 107–110) 8
Governor Pliny to Emperor Trajan on “Christians”
(ca. 112) 11
New Church—Constantine and Constantinople 15
Eusebius, Life of Constantine (late 330s) 26
Incarnational Theology and Arian Controversies 40
Theodoret’s (ca. 393–457) Account of the Arian
Controversy 42
Arius Explains His Doctrine to Alexander of
Alexandria (320) 49
Athanasius on the Incarnation (ca. 318–335) 50
The Creed of Nicaea (325) 59
v
vi Contents
Reaction 62
Julian the Apostate (361–363) Mocks Christianity 62
Trinitarian Debates 72
Gregory of Nyssa on the Trinity (ca. 390) 73
Priests and Bishops 81
John Chrysostom on the Role of Priests (ca. late 370s–
early 380s) 81
Early Monasticism 87
Sayings of the Desert Fathers (mid-500s) 91
The Life of Pachomius (n.d.) 98
St. Basil (ca. 330–379) to Gregory of Nazianzus on Monastic
Ideals (n.d.) 105
Communal vs. Solitary Life in the “Lausiac History”
(ca. 419) 108
Christianity and the Byzantine State 111
Justinian on Imperial Authority over the Church
(ca. 535) 111
Maximus Confessor (ca. 580–662) on Imperial Power and
the Church 114
Patriarch Photios on the Powers of the Patriarch
(ca. 880) 115
Basil I’s Epanagoge on the Rights of Emperor and Patriarch
(ca. 880) 116
Holy Fools 119
Life of the Holy Fool Father Simeon (ca. 642–649) 120
Eastern Trends in Christian Theology 130
Dionysius the Areopagite (400s–500s) on Knowledge of
the Godhead 134
Maximus Confessor on the Incarnation and Unity with God
(early 640s) 140
Maximus Confessor on the Purpose of God’s Church
(ca. 628–630) 145
Marriage and Women in the Early Church 147
Tertullian to His Wife (ca. 200–206) 149
John Chrysostom on Women 152
Holy Women 156
Life of St. Maria/Marinos (500s or 600s) 157
Life of St. Maria of Egypt (ca. 600s) 161
Contents vii
Part II Growth and Schisms
Holy Objects 171
Tale of the Holy Places, of the City of Constantine
(ca. 1389–1391) 172
Miracle of the True Cross (ca. 545) 174
Relics in Constantinople (ca. 1105 or 1106) 176
St. Sophia as a Miraculous Church (early 1200s) 177
Missions to the North: Balkans and Rus’ 178
Kliment Okhridski (ca. 840–916) on Kirill, Missionary to
the Slavs 187
The Glagolitic Alphabet 190
Iconoclastic Controversy 192
John of Damascus (ca. 676–749) Defends Icons 194
The Iconoclastic Views of Leo V (813–820) 204
Hesychasm 206
Gregory Palamas (1296–1359) on Hesychasm, Prayer,
and Deifi cation 209
Great Schism 218
Claims of the Roman See 222
St. Jerome to Pope Damasus on the Chair of
St. Peter (375) 224
Council of Rome on the Bishop of Rome’s Role in Legal
Disputes (378) 225
Gregory Nazianzus on the Bishop of Rome (382) 226
Council of Rome on the Primacy of Rome (382) 226
Pope Innocent on the Prerogatives of the Roman
Church (416) 227
Theodore the Studite (759–826) on the Pentarchy and
Roman Authority 228
Archbishop Niketas on Roman Primacy (1136) 230
Thomas Aquinas on Papal Power (1258–1264) 231
Pope Boniface VIII on the Spiritual Authority of the
Papacy (1302) 232
Filioque 234
Patriarch Photios Condemns Rome over the
Filioque (867) 235
Charlemagne and the Pope Assert Themselves 236
Charlemagne to Pope Leo III on Relations with the
Papacy (796) 240
viii Contents
Account of Charlemagne Being Crowned Emperor
(late 900s) 241
Einhard on Charlemagne, Constantinople, and Rome
(ca. 817–836) 242
Anathemas of 1054 242
Cardinal Humbert’s Anathema against Patriarch Michael I
(1054) 244
Edict of Michael I and the Synod of Constantinople
(1054) 246
Fourth Crusade 248
Anna Komnenos on the Franks (ca. 1148) 249
Crusader’s Criticism of the Greeks (ca. 1148) 250
Niketas Choniates (ca. 1155–1215) on the Sack of
Constantinople 251
Council of Ferrara-Florence 255
Patriarch of Constantinople Objects to Kissing the
Pope’s Foot (1438) 257
Resolutions of the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1439) 258
Greek Participant at Florence Describes Disputes (1438
or 1439) 260
Muscovite Reaction to Ferrara-Florence (1437–1441) 261
Fall of Constantinople 263
Account of the Ottoman Siege of Constantinople
(early 1600s) 263
Rise of Islam and Turkish Expansion 266
Muslims Appear in Palestine (ca. late 700s to early 800s) 271
Apocalyptic Prediction of the Rise of Islam (ca. 640) 272
Fictional Disputation between a Monk and an Arab
(early 700s) 273
Pact between Christians and Their Muslim Occupiers
(800s) 275
Rise of the Moscow Patriarchate 277
Filofei Argues That Moscow Is the Third Rome (ca. 1510) 279
Muscovite Response to the Fall of Constantinople
(ca. 1533–1541) 280
Account of Establishing the Moscow Patriarchate
(1589) 281
Patriarch Jeremiah on the Glory of the Moscow
Patriarchate (1653) 282
Contents ix
Part III Modernity and Upheavals
Byzantine Rite Catholics 287
Konstantin Ostrozhsky on the Union of Brest (1595) 291
Metropolitan Ragoza’s Edict on Brest (1596) 291
Edict of the Orthodox Dignitaries at Brest (1596) 294
Letter from a Participant at Brest (1596) 294
Edict of Mikhail Ragoza (1596) 295
Peter the Great’s Reorientation of Russian Orthodoxy 297
Patriarch Ioakim on Prerogatives of the Church (1690) 297
Manifesto Creating the Ecclesiastical College or Holy
Synod (1721) 299
Oath of the Holy Synod (1721) 301
Ecclesiastical Regulation (1721) 302
Engaging the West through Creeds 306
Confession of Patriarch Dositheos and the Synod of Jerusalem
(1672) 312
Popular Piety and Popular Practices 322
Parish Issues a Certifi cate of Election for a New
Priest (1684) 324
Agreement between Church Elders and a Priest (1686) 325
Village Priests’ Reports on Religious Practices of the
Peasantry (1853) 325
Reports on Peasant Action against Witches (1879) 330
A Critique of the Rural Clergy (1858) 333
Ivan Pryzhov Ridicules Holy Fools (1865) 337
Anthropological Account of Religious Practices among the
Peasantry (1906) 340
Orthodoxy under Ottoman Rule 347
Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) 354
Complaints about Corruption and Oppression in the
Church (1796) 356
Patriarch Anthimos of Jerusalem Demands Allegiance to the
Ottomans (1798) 357
English Chaplain Recounts the Conversion of a
Muslim (1819) 359
The Greek Revolution and Orthodox Nationalism 362
The Greek Government to the Christian Powers of
Europe (1822) 363