Page:Orthodox Eastern Church (Fortescue).djvu/402

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364
THE ORTHODOX EASTERN CHURCH

philosophy he favoured (God is the "Demiurgos" of all things, there are three "Idiomata" in God), and he avoids calling the three Persons "Prosopa," possibly so as not to shock the Mohammedan. 2. The next document is the Orthodox Confession of Peter Mogilas (p. 250). It was translated from Latin into Greek, accepted by the Patriarchs and the Synod of Jerusalem in 1672, and is published with prefaces by Nektarios of Jerusalem and Parthenios of Constantinople.[1] This "Orthodox Confession of the faith of the Catholic and Apostolic Eastern Church" is a very long document in three parts, drawn up as a catechism in the form of question and answer. The first part (one hundred and twenty-six questions and answers) goes through the Nicene Creed, the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, the commandments of the Church, and the seven Sacraments; the second part (sixty-three) speaks of prayer, the Our Father and the Beatitudes; the third part (seventy-two) discusses good works, different kinds of sin, the ten commandments, worship of Saints, relics and holy pictures. This Confession, having been accepted and promulgated by the Synod of Jerusalem, may be considered as part of its Acts. However, when that synod is quoted, the other Acts, in two parts, are meant. The first part contains the rejection of all Cyril Lukaris's protestantizing ideas and a long argument to prove that he did not really write his Confession. The second part, or appendix, is (3) the Confession of Dositheos (Nektarios's successor at Jerusalem), consisting of eighteen decrees and four questions and answers, each drawn up in opposition to the eighteen decrees and four questions of Lukaris's Confession.[2] 4. The Confession of Metrophanes Kritopulos, Patriarch of Alexandria († 1641, p. 250), is the last of these symbolic books. It is, however, only a private confession that has not been officially recognized by the other Patriarchs, and so it has less authority than that of Mogilas. It is also slightly influenced by Protestant theology.[3]

  1. Kimmel, i. pp. 45-324; Michalcescu, pp. 26-122.
  2. Kimmel, i. pp. 325-487; Michalcescu, pp. 126-182. The history of the Synod of Jerusalem above (p. 267).
  3. Kritopulos was sent by Lukaris to England to bring the Codex Alexandrinus to Charles I. He was a friend of Lukaris and studied at Protestant