The Legacy of the 13th Apostle: Origins of the East Christian Conceptions of Church and State Relation - J.A. McGuckin

1. Introduction.

It is remarkable to consider how much has been written on the notion of the early Christian and Byzantine attitudes to political theory relying on the singularly useless concept of caesaro-papism. It illuminates nothing, apart from the standing-point of the user. It was, in origin, a term of disparagement, comparable in its intent to the scornful use of Byzantinism to signify all that was corrupt and devious. This bigoted Gibbonesque apologetic, so beloved of Protestant and Catholic theorists alike in their mutually conflicting critiques of Eastern Christian political theology, should by now have fallen into desuetude though a surprising amount of authors have still continued to use it well into the modern era; apparently unaware of the theological ‘animus' that gave birth to the word, and even more so of the fact that it is hopelessly anachronistic. To try to explain the complexity of the Eastern Christian attitudes to political theory with such a term is doomed from the outset. One presumes from the context in which the word ‘caesaro-papism' has largely figured, that it is supposed to connote ‘sacral autocracy'; but the whole point of any serious investigation would surely be to consider just how the dimension of religion overlaid itself onto political theory in antiquity, and how this went on, through the stimuli of controversy and considered reflection, to arrive at any kind of consensus in regard to a theory of church-state relations in Byzantium. Papism is hardly appropriate for the highly extended systems of episcopal collegiality and autonomy practised in the eastern churches , and the use of the designation ‘Caesar' to connote autocracy is something that demands such extensive qualification as to make it all but useless as a definition. The Byzantine inheritors of the imperial title remained ‘Supreme Autocrat of the Romans' to the end, but the amazing amount of those ‘Emperors dear to God' who died prematurely and violently, more than demonstrated that the autocracy of a late Roman Emperor was ‘not as the world knows it'. The imperial power in Byzantium was, arguably, even more so than in the times of the pre-Christian empire, radically circumscribed by a volatile aristocracy, the stability of the city populations, the capacity to demonstrate fiscal and military success, and to some extent the pressures of the bishops and monastics who represented a considerable traditionalist consensus but who brought their influence to bear largely through indirect means.

The Serbian Orthodox faithful of Boise, Idaho received for the first time Bishop Maxim

The Serbian Orthodox faithful of Boise, Idaho finally received for the first time their diocesan bishop, Bishop Maxim of Western America, who made a archpastoral visit on Saturday, December 27, 2008. Visiting with the bishop was V. Rev. Blasko Paraklis.

Bishop Maxim officiated that day at the Divine Liturgy at the local Greek Orthodox Church. Assisting the bishop were Fr. Nektarios Serfes and Fr. Blasko Paraklis. Some sixty people actively attended and participated in this eucharistic event. A lunch was served following the liturgy. The faithful were overjoyed with the bishop's archpastoral visit which signified a beginning of a more active church life for them in their city of Boise.

SVS Church School highlights charity during Nativity season

Developing a church school program for children of seminarians and faculty of St. Vladimir's Seminary (SVS) can be challenging: How do you spark the minds and shape the souls of students who already are immersed in church services, a rhythm of fasts and feasts, and a family life preoccupied with all things religious? To meet the challenge, SVS Church School Coordinator Katrina Bitar, herself a "PK" (priest's kid) and a 2nd-year seminarian in the Master of Arts program at SVS, decided to punctuate the season of Advent with a series of activities centered on charity.

Russian Orthodox mission has first service in Belfast

Russian Orthodox mission in Belfast has had its first Orthodox Communion service - known as the divine liturgy.
It was celebrated in Slavonic and English by Father George Zavershinsky, right, and Deacon Nikolai from the Moscow Patriarchate parish of St Peter & St Paul in Dublin.

The liturgy took place on Saturday, December 20, in the St George's church in the city centre, made available by the Church of Ireland.