GREEK CHURCH 219 ' every foreign authority ; and in 1850 this in- dependence was recognized by Constantinople. A great commotion within the Greek church of Turkey was subsequently caused by the Bulgarian nationalists, who objected to the ap- pointment of non-Bulgarian bishops over Bul- garian dioceses. The Turkish government at length yielded to their demands, and organized a number of Bulgarian dioceses into an exarch- ate. A synod held in Constantinople in 1872, and attended by the patriarchs of Constanti- nople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, ex- communicated the entire Bulgarian church or- ganization, which, however, had the sympathy of the Russians. Dogmatic controversies rare- ly occurred, and a formation of new sects took place only in Russia, called forth not so much by doctrinal differences as by opposition to liturgical and hierarchical changes in the state church. With regard to other Christian de- nominations, as well as to Mohammedanism, paganism, and Judaism, the Greek church has kept itself almost exclusively on the defensive. In Russia, however, the government has suc- ceeded in converting a large number of its non- Christian population, especially in Siberia, to the Greek church. The theological literature of the Greek church is not extensive ; none of its works have ever been of marked in- fluence on Roman Catholic or Protestant the- ology. During the present century, however, the number of ecclesiastical seminaries has considerably increased, and the periodical lit- erature is also multiplying. The Greek church recognizes the Bible and tradition as rules of faith ; the latter, however, only so far as it is in accordance with the first seven oecumenical councils and the synods held at Constantinople in 692 (known among Latin canonists as the " council in Trullo " or Quinisextum), and in 879-880, presided over by Photius. A system of the doctrines of the Greek church, more complete, and, on account of its application of Aristotelian formulas, more scientific than any similar work in the Latin church up to that time, was compiled by the monk John Damas- cene (died about 760). The most important confessions of faith are : 'Op066o^ 'Qpotoyia 1% IHcrewf r?jg "KadohiKfa ^KCU ' AiroGTolmtfa 'E/c/cA^d/af rrjq 'AvaroAi/c^f, or Confessio Orthodoxa, by Petrus Mogilas, metropolitan of Kiev (also called the Russian catechism), published in 1640) ; and'AdTUf 'Op6o66jta^ or Sy nodus Hier- osolymitana, under Dositheus, in 1672. The former, which in 1643 was signed by all the Greek patriarchs, and solemnly recognized at the synod of Jerusalem in 1672 as the confes- sion of faith of the oriental church (published in Greek and Latin, Amsterdam, 1662; Leip- sic, 16.95 ; in German by L. Frisch, Frankfort, 1727), has everywhere, especially in Russia, symbolic authority. The latter was signed by 67 bishops and clergymen. None of the other books sometimes regarded as symbolical (e. g., the two confessions of the patriarch Gennadios in Constantinople, and the confession of the patriarch Jeremiah of 1580) has obtained so general a symbolic authority, and the confes- sion of Metrophanes Kritopulos of 1661 is only a private letter. (See Kimmel, Libri Symbolici Ecclesice Oriental, Jena, 1843, and appendix to this work by .Weissenborn, 1850.) Plato, a Russian archbishop and president of the acad- emy of St. Petersburg, was the author of a catechism which in many points differs from that of Petrus Mogilas, and is less hostile to Protestantism. The Greek church holds in common with the Roman Catholic the doctrines of seven sacraments, of the sacrifice of the mass, of the veneration of the Virgin Mary, the saints, images, and relics, of the meritorious- ness of fasting and other works, the hierarchi- cal degrees of ecclesiastical orders, and monas- ticism. Its peculiar tenets are mainly the fol- lowing : It disowns the authority of the pope, and, in controversies of faith, acknowledges the infallibility of oecumenical councils. At Con- stantinople baptism by immersion only is ad- mitted as valid ; but the Russian church con- siders baptism by immersion as a matter of rite, not of dogma. It administers the Lord's sup- per in both kinds, and gives confirmation and communion to children immediately after bap- tism. It denies the existence of a purgatory, yet prays for the dead, that God would, have mercy on them at the general judgment. It maintains that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father, as principal, through the Son as medium. It admits of no images in relief or em- bossed work, but uses paintings and engravings in copper or silver. It approves of the marriage of priests, provided they enter into that state be- fore their admission into holy orders; it con- demns second marriages of priests, and fourth marriages of laymen. It keeps four fasts in the year more solemnly than the rest. The churches are mostly built in the form of a cross. The altar stands toward the east under a vault which is higher than the nave, and separated from it by a partition board contain- ing three doors, the middle of which is called the sacred door, and when opened permits the altar to be seen. At the beginning of the canon of the mass the doors are closed, and are not opened again until after the communion of the priest and deacon. Benches are not used, as the people stand during divine service, using a kind of crutch as a support. The princi- pal act of worship is the mass, which all are bound to hear every Sunday. Only one mass a day is said in each congregation, and that before the rising of the sun. The liturgy used at the mass is known as that of the apostle James and Basil the Great. This work was again abridged by Chrysostom, and in this shorter form, which, however, has likewise undergone some changes in the course of time, it is used on common days, while the longer liturgy of Basil is still used at some of the higher festi- vals. The sermon, which is considered unes- sential, was formerly very rare, and consisted generally of a homily read from old collections.
