Category: Global Orthodoxy
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The Condemnation of Unauthorized Orthodox Teachers in 19th Century Greece
The history of Orthodoxy in 19th century Greece is extraordinarily complicated. Beginning with the Greek Revolution in 1821, the Church of Greece began to detach itself from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, declaring itself autocephalous in 1833 — a status that was not recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate until 1850. This newly-independent church dealt with many challenges,…
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A Patriarchate Is Not a Church
The Greek term typically translated as “Church” in the English New Testament (ekklesia, which can also mean “assembly”) is used throughout the Greek Old Testament to refer to the gathering together of the people of Israel. Its meaning is the same as in the New Testament—the Church is the assembly of Israel, God’s people, which…
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Patriarch Athenagoras, the CIA, and the State Department
Last fall, I spoke at a conference at Hellenic College-Holy Cross, commemorating the centennial of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. I’ve already posted my main paper from that conference, on the “barbarian lands” theory of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. At that conference, I also spoke briefly about Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, who, prior to becoming Patriarch,…
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Classified British Documents on Meletios Metaxakis
In the fall, I visited Hellenic College-Holy Cross (where I delivered this paper on the EP’s “barbarian lands” theory), and while I was on campus, I took the opportunity to visit the school’s library and track down an extremely rare collection of 232 once-classified British government documents on Meletios Metaxakis. These documents were compiled by…
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The Unholy Side of Holy Russia
Some people think of nineteenth century Russia as an idealized Orthodox society – Holy Russia, a civilization on par with the golden age of the Byzantine Empire as a bastion of Orthodoxy. The reality of both societies is much more complicated. The nineteenth century as “Holy Russia” is not a fiction. The Russian Church of…
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Romania’s Recognition of Macedonian Autocephaly Has Revived Chambésy
On February 9, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Romania announced its decision to recognize the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in the Republic of North Macedonia. This decision is much more significant than it might seem at first blush; in fact, what Romania has done is to resurrect the pre-conciliar pan-Orthodox process (known…
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Why Is Antioch in Turkey?
Dr. Samuel Noble will be teaching a class on the history of Antioch beginning May 8th. For more details or to sign up, visit the link here. Below is a letter from Dr. Noble about the upcoming course. Just to give a bit of background about myself, I’m a historian specializing in the history of…
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Heresy on the Holy Mountain
In 1907, the Russian Schemamonk Ilarion Domrachev wrote a book about the Jesus Prayer, which was published by the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary, whose abbess was the Grand Duchess and future New Martyr Elizabeth. In the book, Ilarion stated that “the Name of God is God Himself.” The book sold remarkably well, and…
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Do Holy Bishops First Live as Simple Monks?
Recently, on Twitter, a user named @EphraimChrist14 tweeted at our Orthodox History account, “Why are bishops not selected from those living under obedience in a monastery who have gained spiritual experience and are filled with the Holy Spirit? Is that because the bishops and patriarchs are Barlaamites and consider only admin skills and education as…
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The Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Turn of the 20th Century
For over a year now, I’ve been telling the story of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the nineteenth century. Here are the previous articles I wrote on the subject: The Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Mercy of the Sultan (1821 to 1835) The Patriarch Who Defied the Ottoman Empire (1835 to 1840) The Ecumenical Patriarchate on the Eve of…