New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-25
CREEDS IN ISLAM LAND.
4 CURIOUS MEDLEY OF CHRISTIAN AND
OTHER sECTS.

all
sword Thus Mahomet and his immediate su''''
.or. Thought to convert the world. II was not
an original scheme The propagandists Oh o.
faiths had tiled IT, ard have trled IL siiVe'
hans the Mahometans had larger measure Va
succsss with II than any one else has ever mao ID
81 we NAV credit the fact to their pnysicai PRIV"
ess. their surprising va!or ana their spr,u'.
enthusiasm which for time had scarcely rNa.
in the word. Howbeit. for all tha' is'ah mas az"
succeeded in imposing its faith upon an ho' eve"
upon all In its especial land It's camp" i"''
over fragments OF many tribes and nations SUD
dued beneath the Ottoman yoke But rehgon -
stronger than politics. and all the scourgngs ana
savings since the time of .he hrst Muia" nov
not suficed to make a uniformity OF creeu lh'ous"
out the empire Half dozen or more 'h''s''"
s.cts have maintained their independence 'hroush
all the centuries as stubbornly and as Warranty
"a ISLANDER held UP the standard OF free 'ro'a
And a stern retrbutiOn has through these cum.
upon the Ottoman power For as the! "e'e o'0'e
under that power politically by war; 50 NV, :"
turn have brought war again ana again upo" ','''
oppressor. The wars OF the last century "e
the Turk have been religious wars ana "heh
the Ottoman Empire goes down in final rum II
will doubtless be in struggle provoked 10y am
mosites OF rival creeds
The present troubles in Armenia and elsewhere
have such an origin. and they have served 10 can
renewed attention TO the strange mixture OF creeus
which the Caiiph and the Sheik-ul-lslam unwhl-
,,olv tolerate I'm the Ottoman domnions. III Is
a circumstance Of interest to those who look LOT
apt Condolences and poetic justice tha' "os' VI
these sects formed by those very schisins
in The cary Eastern Church which Slapped both the
sprituaI and tempora, strength or the byzantine
Ep,ire and made j; an easy prey to the aggressive
hosts OF Islam; Interesting, too, that the seat OF
the trouble is in Armenia on the very SOIL ""eio'
under the renowned Erugruhl, the ottoman u!
nasty was founded. But the Armenian Church -
only one OF many that refuse TO conform with
lyiSh
,izes no fewer than seven, all of which are IN
vested with the privilege of having thelr own
ecclesiastical rue These are the Latins' FRANKS
ar Roman Catholics: the Greeks, the Armenihhs'
the Svrans and United Chaldeans. the Maronltes'
the Protestants and the Jews. These names IN
clude but do not adequately represent all the
non-Nabometan sects I'm the land OF Islam. Tor
there are subdivisions of some OF them "hhe
Others are really eagued together under a common
head. Thus. there are at least three os'iho''
branches of the Greek Church. and. on the other
hand. the Maronites are a part Of the Roman
Catholic Church Besides all these, too. there are
The Drlses who blend into one strange creed
parts Of the systems of Christ. Moses, Buddha'
Zoroaster. and Mahomet.
THE GREEK CHURCH
The Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church TO give
its full title to what we vaguely term the N'eeM
Church. is by no means unit Each country III
which Il exists has its own National Chnrch' ana
these are not only Independent OF eacA olher' u"'
fer not a little in faith and discipline There are
Russian. Rumanian, Bulgarian, Servian, Montene-
grin Greek and Austro-Hungaran organizations OF
:, besides the I'niates or United Greeks who'
heing subject 10 the sultan. may Dc ''Vh
oned a Church without country NOT are d"
these confined to the countries whose names ''e!
hear The Russian Greek and Bulgarian churches
have hosts Of adherents in European Turkey anu
their conflicting Gains have had not little TO 90
with politlcal intrigues and disturbances in recent
wears Macedonia and Western Thessaly are 'helr
espocal field OF operations and the serious conP'-
cations Of few years ago over the bera's OF 'ne
Rulearan Bishops are still remembered Greece
claims ecclesiastical dominion there because OF inc
ancient relationship between Greece proper anu
Macedonia Bulgaria claims it. too, because or her
ambition for a Big Bulgaria that shall come COW"
10 the Aegean and to the Adriatic ard besides tne
peop.e are as much Bu gar az Greek. AS lor nus
sa she claims il the easy ground OF universal
authority deeming herself the righ!ui heir Of I'll
Ryzantiuln. There also many tniaies ~ tha'
same territory but "a they have political backing
their claims are disregarded.
Speaking OF all these branches az OF the Greek
Church-or Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church-
as a whole. its story and characteristics may pe
briefly sketched 1t began 10 be estranged from 'he
Roman See about So. when the latter began TO
enforce such innovations as clerical ceibacy ana
the use OF unleavened bread in the Eucharist Inc
actual rupture came in the next century over ."e
words "FiIioqre" in the Creed. The Romaniss IN
sisted upon putting them there. and upon the doc
tline thus expressed. that the Third Person OF 'he
Trinity proceeded from the First and Second and
not from the First alone From this the Greeks dis-
sented and were therefore, communicated by the
Pope of Rome in 4A Since then there nave oeeh
a few attempts at reunion, but general estrahse-
rnent and hostility. and not few outbreaks OF IN
describable savagery The doctrines OF the creek
Church incuoe seven sacraments. differing now
In ipNraf f4vf
Rome Baptism is administered by triple I'M
,nersion Confirmation follows Immediately upon
baptism. Penance does not require anTicular con,
fesslon In the Eucharist leavened bread Is useu'
and both the Elements administered 10 All COM
municants Marriage dssoiuble by ecclesiastical
authority for VOCATION of the Seventh 'ommahu-
nent but on.v after a probationary period and Ell
forts at reconciliation. Unction is administered put
not 'ln extremis" Holy orders do not require
celibacy. but, on tne contrary the pafochi "a
clergy must be married But remarrlage OF
marriage after ordination Is forbidden Mona as.
tcsm Is gacsed by Da e9h seNe orig mated SO
far Christianity i concerned in the Ea asii
Church Worship is urgcal IN 'o gorbden in the
churches but the Crucifix is freely used anu me
Holy Scriptures in the vernaeuar are placed IN
the hands OF all believers, ana the reaulhs anu
study OF them commended.
THE HISTORIANS
The first important schsm in the Greek Church
occurred before the actual rupture between 'he
Eastern and Western churches and is largely 10
be charged against Cyril Of Alexandra. THAT con-
secrated rufian not merely the murderer or
Hypatia. lie the violent opponent ana
anathematize- OF Nesorus. at the Council OF
Ephesus In 4Sl. The eloquent and devout Nestorius
espoused the doctrine Of Anastasius that In Christ
the human was absorbed and lost in the Divine.
and that therefore there was only one person IN
the Goldman ard that. moreover, Chrlsts BODY
was free from the ordinary limitations OF matter,
and thus not 10 be delineated or counterlelted
in an image. Cyril Jealous in denouncng
this 'damnable heresy' as he had been in having
Hypatia fayed alive with oystor-shels on The steps
OF the altar and finally succeeded IN having Nes-
torius cohdemned and deposed from his Patrarcha,e
(of Constantinople The latter spent the rest OF his
life In exile. but left name incomparaby greater
than that OF his arch-en-my.
The adherents OF NestCrus belonged largely 10
the Armenian and Syrian races. They were at first
called Chaldears. and then HISTORIANS; but other
names were given 10 them in other lands. And