The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-08-02 00:00:00

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THE GREEK CHURCH.

To the EDITOR of re LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
SIR,—As the all-prevailing topic of con
the present time to turn upon the probability of
Russia, and as there seem to be events about transpiring
which cast their shadows before, some information upon the

ersatio

pture witl

rise, pro;

ss, and tenets

urch may be not

unacceptable to many readers of your widely-circulated pape

In the year 324, Constantine the Great founded the new capital
of his dominions; and the rise of that city invested the bishops of
Constantinople with an independent, and, ultimately, a superior

influence. The five cities which were the strongholds of
Christianity were Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, and
Constantinople, the spiritual government of which was invested
in five bishops. Not content with the pure precepts taught by
our Lord, worldly ambition and the promptings of a self-

aggrandising spirit marked their actions. Questions of prece-
dence were hotly conte,ted, Alexandria yielded her claim to
the primacy of the East, and Constantinople, the youngest of
the patriarchites, ranked second only to Rome. Space will not
allow to enter into the various disputes which considerably
widened the breach between the Eastern and Roman churches.
A long interval of time frequently occurred ; and, at one time,
68 years elapsed without any communion between the two
churches. Another separation occurred in the year 451, after
the Council of Chalcedon, which was convened for the condem-
nation of those who held unsound opinions concerning the per-
son of Christ. In the seventh and eighth centuries the question
of image worship arose, and, during the agitation of this point,

another controversy was raised, concerning the procession of
the Holy Spirit. In the ninth century the deposition of Igna-
tius, and the elevation of Photus, a layman, to the episcopal
dignity, through the influence of Michael 111, produced another
quarrel between the Roman See and that of Constanti-
nople; but the most important dispute—a dispute that entirely
separated the Greek Church from that of Ram

as that of

Romanists (1953) making use of unleavened bread in the cele-
bration of the Eucharist. The negotiations from Rome failing
in producing a reconciliation, the Roman legates placed on
the great altar of Sophia the written deed of anathema cutting
off Michael and alt his adherents from fellowship with Rome.
This act of excommunication proved a lasting separation of the
Eastern from the Roman Church. Frequent attempts were
made for a reconciliation between the two churches during the
space of SOO years which have since elapsed, but all attempts
have been perfectly useless. In the fifteenth century the fearful
inroads of the Turks induced John Palm°logos, on account of
the imminent danger of his empire, to endeavour to form a
re-alliance with the Latins, but the Greeks, indignant at the
concessions made by their brethren to the Romans, returned
with increased pertinacity to their own faith. At the close of
the following century a more prolonged union was established.
The annexation of Lithuania to Foland in the year 1366
introduced into the latter a considerable leaven of
Popish influence ;—a jesuit college was established at Wilna,
and renewed efforts were put forth to bring the Polish Greeks
Under the sway of Rome. In the year 1596, under the auspices
of Sigismund 3rd, and headed by their hierarch, the metropo-
litan of Kieff, great numbers of the Greeks in Galicia, Hungary.
Poland, and Little or Red Russia, agreed to all the terms pro-
posed by the Council of Florence, excepting that which referred
to the " Filiogue." The Romanists are still desirous to win
over the Greeks, and leave nothing undone to effect that object ;
and though they have gained a few, still they are repulsed by
the many. The last official communication on record between
the Eastern and Western Churches took place soon atter the
accession of Pio Nino, who, in January, 184 S, forwarded a letter
to the Christians of the East, in :which he exhorted them to
return to the unity of the Church, repeating the usual argu-
ments in favour of the Papal system. The Greek Church
answered the above epistle from Pio Nino, and brought forward
their reasons for protesting against the Western doctrine of the
double precession and the Western innovations respecting
baptism, holy orders, and the communion of the laity in one
kind only. At the present time the rancour and un-
abated antagonism of the Greek Church against the Romish
still exists. The Greeks have a firm belief in the present day
of the ultimate overthrow and downfall of Papal power,—and
now the struggle appears to be, on the part of Russia, religious
domination and the extension of their faith. How this may be
accomplished is known only to Him who has the disposal of all
things. Turkey may be conquered
.by the grasping power of
Russia or their internal dissensions. Already it appears that
the fanatical zeal of the Mussulman has been .the means c/
raising a conspiracy against the Sultan. There are, certainly'
political events about taking place in the horizon which are
well worthy the attention of the thoughtful and serious, and it
may be that the crescent of the Turk may ultimately give place
G.B.H.

to the cross
Birkenhead, July 28th, 1853.
P.S.—I purpose next week to give the tenets of the Greek

Church