February 1156-1169 A.D. Luke Chrysoberges—Constantinople’s 116th; Atonement Issues; Several Theological Synods Convoked;
Bogomils, Paulicians & Monophysiticism;
Caesaro-Papalism
Luke Chrysoberges
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
During Luke's patriarchate
several other major theological controversies occurred. In 1156–1157 the
question was raised, whether Christ had offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world to the Father and to the Holy Spirit only, or also to the Logos (i.e., to himself).[1] In the end a synod held at Constantinople in 1157 adopted a compromise formula, that the Word made flesh offered a double
sacrifice to the Holy Trinity, despite
the dissidence of Patriarch of Antioch-elect Soterichus Panteugenus.[2] During his term the theological issue of the relation between the Son and the Father in the Holy Trinity first appeared. The issue was created due to the explanation that one
Demetrius of Lampi (in Phrygia) gave to the phrase of the Gospel of John «ὁ Πατήρ μου μείζων μου ἐστίν», which means my Father
is bigger than me (John,
XIV.29). Chrysoberges, at the behest of the Emperor Manuel I, convened several meetings of
the synod in 1166 to solve the problem, which condemned as heretical the
explanations of Demetrius and the laity that followed him.[3] Those who refused to submit to the synod's decisions had their property
confiscated or were exiled.g[›] The political dimensions of this controversy are apparent from the fact
that a leading dissenter from the Emperor's doctrine was his nephew Alexios
Kontostephanos.[4]
Other heresies continued to
flourish in Byzantine possessions in Europe, including Bogomils, Paulicians, and Monophysites which Luke
and his successors had difficulty in suppressing.[5]
Luke was also involved in a
process of the Church trying to extract itself from too close an association
with the secular life of the state. In 1115, the patriarch John IX Agapetos had sought to prevent clerics acting as advocates in lay courts. In
December 1157, Chrysoberges extended this prohibition to all
"worldly" occupations. In a still-extant cannon, he wrote: "we
have observed that some of those enrolled in the clergy have uncanonically
involved themselves in worldly affairs. Some have taken on posts as curators or
overseers of aristocratic houses and estates; others have undertaken the
collection of public taxes... others have accepted dignities and magistracies assigned
to the civil establishment.... we enjoin such people to desist from now on from
all the aforesaid occupations, and to devote themselves to ecclesiastical
exigencies...."[6] Such a separation of church and state was key to preserve the church from
undue secular influence over matters it considered strictly clerical. This was
especially key at the time as the rule of the Emperor Manuel I Comnenos was noted for its autocratic style and caesaropapism, and
though idiosyncratic, generally made the patriarchate subservient directly to
the needs of the state.[7]
Sources
-
J.M. Hussey. The Orthodoox
Church in the Byzantine Empire. Oxford: University Press, 1986.
Kurtz, Johann Heinrich (1860). "Dogmatic
Controversies, 12th and 14th Centuries". History of the Christian
Church to the Reformation. T. & T. Clark.
Paul Magdalino. The Empire
of Manuel Komnenos. Cambridge: University Press, 1993.
References
1. Jump up^ J.H. Kurtz, History of the Christian
Church to the Restoration, 265–266
2. ^ Jump up to:a b Hugh Eteriano, Janet Hamilton,
Sarah Hamilton e Bernard Hamilton (2004). Contra Patarenos. BRILL. p. 114. Retrieved
September 4, 2011.
4. Jump up^ P. Magdalino, The Empire of Manuel I
Komnenos, 217
No comments:
Post a Comment