the Melkite Church of Antioch

137 Pages·2016·0.59 MB·English

by  Elizabeth Ann Reeves

Australian Catholic University
ACU Research Bank
Theses Document Types
December 2006
The Church first called Christian: the Melkite
Church of Antioch
Elizabeth Ann Reeves
Australian Catholic University
Follow this and additional works at:http://researchbank.acu.edu.au/theses
Part of theChristian Denominations and Sects Commons, and theHistory of Christianity
Commons
Recommended Citation
Reeves, E. A. (2006). The Church first called Christian: the Melkite Church of Antioch (Doctoral thesis, Australian Catholic
University). Retrieved from http://researchbank.acu.edu.au/theses/152
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THE CHURCH FIRST CALLED CHRISTIAN: THE MELKITE CHURCH OF
ANTIOCH

Submitted by

ELIZABETH ANN REEVES BA, MA (Theology), Dip Ed

A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Philosophy

School of Theology,
Faculty of Arts

Australian Catholic University
Research Services
Locked Bag 4115
Fitzroy, Victoria 3065
Australia

14 December 2006
AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

Candidate’s Certificate

I certify that the thesis entitled

The Church First Called Christian: The Melkite Church of Antioch

Submitted for the degree of

Master of Philosophy

Is the result of my own research, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this thesis
has not been presented for the awarding of a higher degree at this or any other tertiary
educational institution.

Full name: Elizabeth Ann Reeves

Signed ……………………………………

Date: ……………………………………

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ABSTRACT
The Catholic Church is made up of many church communities of different rites, with the main
classifications being the Roman rites and the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church. With the
influx of migrants especially since the Second World War there has been growth in Australia,
in the number of Catholics belonging to the many Eastern rites including Byzantine Catholics,
Coptic Catholics and Chaldean Catholics. The Second Vatican Council documents
encouraged members of the Catholic Church of the Latin traditions to know and understand
the rich traditions of the Easterners so that the full manifestation of the catholicity of the
Church and full knowledge of its divinely revealed heritage are preserved. One can ask how
familiar are Catholics of the Roman rites with the beliefs, practices, liturgy, devotions and
historical development of the other rites in the Catholic Church?

The aim of this thesis is to give understanding about the Melkite Catholic Church in Australia.
It takes the reader on a journey from Antioch in Syria to Australia in the third millennium,
showing that the Melkites trace their roots to Antioch where believers were first called
Christians. This thesis elaborates on who the Melkites are by firstly looking at the origins of
this church community and thereby establishing the authenticity of this church community
since it was established by the apostles and their co-workers, with the apostles being
empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The thesis enumerates the key aspects of the early
church at Antioch including theology, liturgy and the structure of the church, with these
findings being foundational for the Melkite Church in Australia today. The thesis describes
worship in the Melkite Church with emphasis on the development of this worship especially
for the sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation and the Eucharist. It explains important ritual,
symbols, architecture and artwork and concluded that these express the key beliefs of this
church community. The fundamental dogmas in the Melkite Church are the teachings on the
Holy Trinity and the Incarnation. The thesis elaborates on these dogmas explaining how they
were important in the early church at Antioch and how understanding of them was developed
by important theologians revered in the Melkite Church, in previous eras and today. The
Christian faith is a living faith. In writing this thesis the importance of Tradition for God’s
revelation to His holy people is emphasised.

In its study of the sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation and the Eucharist, the thesis was able
to show that the celebration of these sacraments was linked to the early church at
Antioch. It especially looked at what was happening at the time of St John Chrysostom at
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Constantinople. This time frame saw the beginning of the development of the Byzantine Rite.
There is elaboration on the link between the Byzantine rite (the rite of the Melkites today) and
the Antiochene liturgy. As well the thesis expounded on the understanding of the three fold
ministry of bishop, priest and deacon at Antioch and the importance of the ordained ministry
today. It concluded that the four sacraments discussed above were foundational in the early
church and are essential in worship in the Melkite Church today. The thesis explained
important details about the sacraments of Marriage, Penance and the Anointing of the Sick. It
especially explained the development of the Sacrament of Penance.

The thesis acknowledges the validity of all rites in the Catholic Church and concluded that
encouragement must be given for the preservation of the various rites in the Church. This is
important for the Eastern Church communities as they contain a rich heritage, which is an
integral part of the Church of Christ. An important conclusion was that the development of
the church at Antioch must be understood in the light of Tradition the living and lived faith,
which passes on all that the church believes and celebrates in its worship of the Holy Trinity.
The Melkite Church of Antioch was first called Christian.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the assistance and guidance of many people in writing this thesis,
firstly Most Rev Issam Darwish, Bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Australia
and New Zealand, for welcoming me to the liturgies of the Melkite Church, for
recommending and lending me many books, and for his fruitful discussion on important
topics. I would like to thank the members of staff of the Australian Catholic University for
their assistance especially Rev Dr Lawrence Cross for his supervision, Dr Gideon Goosen for
supervising me earlier in writing the thesis and Dr Boonseng Leelarthaepin who was always
ready to answer my many questions. I extend a special thanks to Leon Aroyan, Bishop
Darwish’s secretary for good advice about practical matters and Archdeacon Anthony
Lawrence for his guidance. Most importantly I acknowledge the encouragement of my
husband, John and my friend Mary, and the prayerful support of my family. I would like to
thank Most Rev Philip Wilson, Archbishop of Adelaide and Most Rev Peter Ingham, Bishop
of the Diocese of Wollongong for their encouragement of my studies.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration ii
Abstract iii
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vi

Introduction 1
1. Antioch: The Birthplace of the Melkite Church 5
1.0 Introduction and aims
1.1 The Early Church at Antioch in Syria
1.1.1 The Development of the Church at Antioch
1.1.2 Problems for the Antiochene Church
1.1.3 Legitimising the Gentile Church at Antioch
1.1.4 St Peter at Antioch
1.2 St Ignatius of Antioch and the Antiochene Church
1.2.1 St Ignatius and Tradition
1.3 Other Development in the Church
1.3.1 Further Missionary Activity in the Church
1.3.2 The Alexandrian School
1.4 Conclusions
1.4.1 The Characteristics of the Early Church at Antioch
1.4.1.1 Theology
1.4.1.2 Structure
1.4.1.3 Sacraments and Liturgy
1.4.2 Overview of Chapter One and the following chapters

2. The Contribution of Great Theologians to the Theological Tradition
of the Melkite Catholic Church 23
2.0 Introduction and aims
2.1 The Importance of understanding Tradition
2.2 St Athanasius
2.2.1 Teachings on the Incarnation
2.2.2 Teachings on the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity
2.2.3 Athanasius’ contributions to understanding the monastic life
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2.3 St Basil the Great
2.3.1 Theological contributions on the Incarnation, Pneumatology and the Trinity
2.3.2 St Basil and the monastic life
2.4 St Gregory of Nazianzus
2.5 St Gregory of Nyssa
2.6 Conclusions

3. Worship in the Melkite Catholic Church 34
3.0 Introduction and aims
3.1 The Melkites and the Byzantine Rite of Worship
3.1.1 The Byzantine Rite
3.1.2 The Holy Trinity
3.1.3 Words and ideas to convey an understanding of God
3.1.4 Distinctive Melkite Theology
3.1.5 The Deification of Humanity and Melkite Spirituality
3.1.6 Worshipping the Holy Trinity
3.2 On entering a Melkite Church
3.2.1 The Architecture of the Church
3.2.1.1 The Sanctuary
3.2.1.2 The Nave
3.2.1.3 The Solea
3.2.1.4 The Iconostasis
3.3 Revelation of God to His people
3.4 The nature and importance of icons
3.4.1 Creating an icon
3.4.2 Lessons from the theology of icons
3.4.3 Icons as part of the living Tradition of the Church
3.4.4 Debate about the validity of icons in worship
3.4.4.1 Historical perspectives
3.4.5 Reverence shown for important theologians in the Melkite Church through the use
of icons
3.5 Conclusions

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4. Putting on Christ, The Holy Mysteries of Baptism, Chrismation and the Eucharist 53
4.0 Introduction and aims
4.1 The Holy Mysteries
4.1.1 Sacramental Theology
4.1.2 Worship and the Holy Mysteries
4.1.3 Putting on Christ in Baptism, Chrismation and the Eucharist
4.1.4 Biblical Context of Anointing with Oil
4.2 The Sacrament of Baptism
4.2.1 Biblical Perspectives and the Feast of Theophany
4.2.2 Theology of Baptism
4.3 The Sacrament of Chrismation
4.3.1 Biblical Perspectives
4.3.2 Theological Perspectives
4.4 Description of the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation today
4.4.1 Part One, the Reception of a Catechumen
4.4.2 Part Two of this celebration
4.4.3 Part Three, the Sacrament of Chrismation
4.5 Early development of the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation
4.5.1 The New Testament and Baptism
4.5.2 History
4.5.3 The Development of the Byzantine Rite of Baptism and Chrismation
4.6 Understanding the Sacraments in light of Tradition
4.7 The Eucharist
4.7.1 Theology and Biblical Perspectives
4.7.2 Celebrating the Eucharist
4.7.3 Historical Perspectives
4.8 Conclusions

5. Life in Christ, The Sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick,
The Sacraments of Holy Orders and Marriage 84
5.0 Introduction and aims
5.1 The Sacrament of Penance
5.1.1 Explanation of this sacrament and why it is important
5.1.2 Biblical Perspectives
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5.1.3 Forgiveness of sin in the Old Testament
5.1.4 Historical Perspectives
5.1.5 What does this sacrament effect?
5.2 The Anointing of the Sick
5.2.1 What is the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and why is it important?
5.2.2 Biblical basis for this sacrament
5.2.3 What does this sacrament effect?
5.3 Holy Orders
5.3.1 What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders?
5.3.2 Significant symbols in this sacrament
5.3.3 Early evidence for the three-fold ministry at Antioch
5.3.4 Development of the three-fold ministry using New Testament sources
5.3.5 Episkopoi, Presbyteroi and Diakonoi
5.3.6 What does this sacrament effect?
5.4 The Sacrament of Marriage
5.4.1 The marriage union is the domestic church
5.4.2 Important ritual in the marriage ceremony
5.5 Conclusions

6. Important Issues Pertaining to the Melkite Church in Australia Today 109
6.0 Introduction and aims
6.1 Preserving the Eastern Rites
6.1.1 Keeping a close relationship with the Patriarch
6.1.2 The Importance of Evangelisation
6.1.2.1 Evangelisation and the Christian Community
6.1.2.2 The Importance of Language
6.1.2.3 The Importance of Education
6.1.2.4 Icons and Evangelisation
6.1.3 Ecumenism
6.1.3.1 The Second Vatican Council Document, Decree on Ecumenism
6.1.3.2 The Melkites and Ecumenism
6.2 Conclusions

7. Summary and Conclusions 118
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