The Detroit times., 1917-04-14

|. NOLONGER
RESTRICTED
Russia Now Free In
Pursuance of All
Church Faiths
WORLD RESULTS
ARE EXPECTED
Holy Orthodox Church
Is Put Behind New
Democracy
sV THg RELIGIOUS RAMBLER

nv IHE FkLt0lOOS RAMBLER
Bewildering and thrilling as has
been the Russian revolution. rs full
significance Is only now being real.
LEed by specialists who have eonsid.
cred its bearing upon their particu.
lar fields OF interest Religiously.
the revolution Is epochal. II means
tar more than appears upon the sur
lace; for Russia has been really a
church state. with the ecclesiastical
power paramount Only within the
last 10 days have laws imposing ~.
strictions upon other faiths been
abolished.
The Holy Orthodox church, as II
IL commonly caused In Russia, or. to
give IL the full ofhcIal title-"The
Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic
Eastern church"--0is one OF the
three grand divisions OF Christen-
dom, the other two being the Roman
Catholic church and the Protestant
churches.
This church really comprises nine
national churches. each self-govern-
ing: but all are dominated 10 a de.
gree by the Russian church. as the
largest and most virile OF them all.
Politically. Russia has been the
sponsor and protector thruout the
world Of all the Greek churches
Greek" being the colloquial name
for the Holy Orthodox church. The
czar has been the secular head OF
the Russian church-the Little
father on earth. vicegerent OF the
Great Father above. Ecclesiastical
control has been In the hands OF the
Holy Synod. the prccurator OF
which has been a powerful political
force; and. until the revolution, q
rsaetionary. The church has been
the most potent agency OF Pan
Siavism.
Nothing rsyeals the difference be.
tween the saft and the west more
definitely than religion In Amrica
things ecclesiastical are subordinat.
ed In popular interest TO matters
political. Over in Russia the reverse
In the case. Not one reader In To-
600 Of an American newspaper
knows what the "et Filoque" con
troversy Ia: yet the ignorant shep-
herd boys on the hills OF Lebanon
debate about II 10 this very day, tho
the issue is a thousand years old !.
and the one that finally split the
eastern and western churches.
To the average American It seems
like hair-splitting; but the eastern
church Is the inheritor OF the Greek
philosophical state OF mind. and Il
has always been a valiant contender
for theological subtleties. So this
quarrel over what r. technically
called "the Procession OF the Holy
Spirit is really a factor In present
day politics. The eastern church,
which holds 60 the creeds OF the
nrst seven general church councils,
resented the western church's add
ton OF the words "et Foliaue"-"and
from the Son" TO the declaration
that the Holy Spirit proceeds from
the Father. Doctrinal and mystical
Those and the words that stiA
the Russian church.
Glimpses OF the grandeur that
was Rome" come to one as he looks
upon the eastern church. Its pri.
macy was. and Is. at Constantinople,
where Constantine the Great estab-
lished the seat OF the Roman en-
pire: and where Roman civilization
was conserved when the baroariana
ovsrran the city by the Tiber. In
those days. as the council OF Nicea
recognized, there were ave patri.
archs, or supreme heads. OF the
Christian church-the bishops OF
Rome. constantinople. Jerusalem.
and Alexandria. Gradually
the see OF Rome claimed primacy.
which the eastern church denied
To this day the four patriarchs OF
the Holy Orthodox church reside al
Constantinople. Jerusalem, AleXan-
dria and Antioch
Belonging 20 what r. called the
eastern church, but not within the
communion OF the Holy Orthodox
body. are the Gregorians. or Armen-
ians: the HISTORIANS. tho Iacobltes.
the Maronites. the Chaldeans, the
Abysslnians. and the Copts.
Even tho there are q million mem
hers OF the Holy Orthodox church
in North America. the average per.
son In this country leaves them en-.
tirely out OF his thinking upon
things religious. To the American
mind there are only two major
groupings OF Christians s--Protestants
and Roman Catholics.
In all the world. however. there
are 272,S60.O00 Roman Catholics.
lTi,soo.Ooo Protestants. and 100 .O0o.-
900 members OF the eastern
churches.
Between the Greeks" and the
"Latins." az the two bodies are 10
cally called, there are various diver.
sencies. aside from the dootrinal