Excerpts from the “The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy” By Alexander Schmemann Translated by Lynda W. Kesich (Please get the full version of this book at your bookstore) Content: 1. The Beginning of the Church. Acts of the Apostles. Community in Jerusalem — The First Church. Early Church Organization. Life of Christians. Break with Judaism. The Apostle Paul. The Church and the Greco-Roman World. People of the Early Church. Basis of Persecution by Rome. Blood of Martyrs. Struggle of Christianity to Keep its Own Meaning. The New Testament. Sin and Repentance in the Church. Beginnings of Theology. The Last Great Persecutions. 2. The Triumph Of Christianity. Conversion of Constantine. Relations between Church and State. The Arian Disturbance. Council of Nicaea — First Ecumenical Council. After Constantine. The Roman Position. Countermeasures in the East. End of Arianism. New Relation of Christianity to the World. The Visible Church. Rise of Monasticism. State Religion — Second Ecumenical Council. St. John Chrysostom. 3. The Age Of The Ecumenical Councils. Development of Church Regional Structure. The Byzantine Idea of Church and State Constantinople vs. Alexandria The Christological Controversy — Nestorius and Cyril. Third Ecumenical Council. The Monophysite Heresy. Council of Chalcedon (Fourth Ecumenical Council). Reaction to Chalcedon — the Road to Division. Last Dream of Rome. Justinian and the Church. Two Communities. Symphony. Reconciliation with Rome — Break with the East. Recurrence of Origenism. Fifth Ecumenical Council. Underlying Gains. Breakup of the Empire — Rise of Islam. Decay of the Universal Church Last Efforts: Monothelitism. Sixth Ecumenical Council. Changing Church Structure. Byzantine Theology. Quality of Life in the New Age. Development of the Liturgy. Veneration of the Virgin Mary. Reflection of Theology and Asceticism in the Services. 4. Byzantium. Significance of the Byzantine Period. Background of Iconoclasm. Icons in the Seventh Century. Iconoclastic Movement. Seventh Ecumenical Council. Persecution by the Iconoclasts. Church and State in the Eighth Century — The Issue of Monasticism. Victory for the Monastic Principle. Late Byzantine Theocracy — The Church‟s Version. Outward Signs. Inherent Weaknesses. The Conservative Trend. Official Theology. A Vital Liturgy. New Hellenization. Monastic Theology. Mt. Athos. The Mystical Root of Theology. Basic Church Unity. Elements of Misunderstanding with Rome. Deepening Divergence. Loss of Communication. Schism of 1054. Alienation Completed. Cyril and Methodius. Rise of the Bulgarian Empire. Bulgarian Orthodoxy. The Serbian Empire. Early Slavic Orthodoxy. 5. The Dark Ages. Turkish Conquest. Christians Under Turkish Rule. Rise of Religious Nationalism Greek Control of Outlying Orthodox Areas. Cultural Decline. Silence of Orthodox Theology. The Precious Core. Liberation. 6. Russian Orthodoxy. Conversion in Kiev — St. Vladimir. Quality of Kievan Christianity. Kievan Culture. Shallows and Hidden Darkness. Tatar Conquest Beginning of Moscow Kingdom. Early Russian Monasticism — St. Sergius. Consolidation of Russian Lands under Moscow. Independence from Byzantium — Messianic Theocracy. Muscovite Domination of the Church. Inner Crisis and Turmoil. Conservatism and Ritualism. Western Leanings and Resistance to Them. True Holiness. The Seventeenth Century. Encounter with the West. Schism of the Old Believers. Reforms of Peter the Great. The “Synodal Period.” Culture Under Peter the Great. Bridge and Unifier. Tragic Halt. Short Biliography History. Doctrine, Spirituality, Liturgy. 1. The Beginning of the Church. Acts of the Apostles. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles is the cornerstone of Church history. Written by the evangelist Luke as the sequel to his own Gospel, it tells us of the Church‟s first years, of the ini- 2 tial events in her life.1 It describes the first Christian community in Jerusalem and its persecution by the Judean authorities, the preaching of the apostles — especially that of St. Paul — and final- ly the spread of Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome. The historical value of this account has often been challenged; indeed, at first sight it may seem remote from the modem conception of the functions and methods of history. There are many “blank pages” in Acts, many things passed over in silence. Sometimes it is more like a commentary than a simple narrative of events. But in reading it we need to remember that, just as the content of the Gospels is not exhausted by the description of the life of Christ, so Acts was not intended to be merely a historical chronicle. This account, later a book in the New Testament, was written at a time when the Church, after emerging from the first stage of her development and establishing herself in many major centers of the Roman Empire, was already fully conscious of her mission and was beginning to crystallize in writing her earliest experiences. St. Luke, more than all other New Testament writ- ers, may be called a historian in our sense of the word; nevertheless, he did not focus his atten- tion on history alone, or on history as such. His theme is the Church, as the culmination of the New Testament, as the fulfillment in the world — that is, in human society and in history — of the work Christ has accomplished. The subject of Acts is not simply the history of the Church, but her essential nature and living image as they were revealed in the very first years of her exis- tence. The book also contains the first doctrine of the Church, with the facts of her life as illustra- tions; it therefore includes only facts that are of service to this teaching and vital to its under- standing. All succeeding generations of Christians have interpreted this book doctrinally, for they have seen in the community at Jerusalem, in the apostles‟ preaching, and in the life and teaching of St. Paul the pattern that set the standard of Church life for all time, and the inspiring beginning that laid the foundations of the Church‟s entire subsequent history. Acts begins its account with events which, for the historian, are still only on the threshold of Church history: the Ascension and Pentecost. But in St. Luke‟s perspective the Church is based on these events; they are what gives meaning to her existence, which the succeeding chap- ters of Acts portray. A small group of disciples — fishermen (“simple men, without learning” as St. Luke de- scribes them), women, a few relatives and friends of the Master — here in its entirety was the “little flock” left behind after Jesus of Nazareth. What is it that will make them fearless preachers and lead them to the ends of the world? It is the descent of the Holy Spirit, the mysterious trans- formation after which all that Jesus did and taught will become their own strength. Thereafter He Himself will act through His disciples and in them His presence on earth will continue. But what is the content of this witness? Before beginning the actual history of the Church, we should recall to mind — in very general terms, of course — that Gospel, or “good news,” which is the basis of Church life and Christian preaching to the world. In the days of His earthly ministry Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God to men. And the meaning of His preach- ing and His works was this: that His coming is also the beginning of this kingdom, that the Son of God has come to reveal the kingdom to men and bestow it upon them. Although they have been torn away from God by sin, have been subject to evil and death, and have lost their true life, 1 Since pronominal references to the Church in the major languages other than English are usual- ly feminine, a compromise was effected in the style of this work, with the Church as “she” in its earliest period, and “it” starting with its growing incarnation and institutionalization. Cf. “The Church and the Greco-Roman World,” pp. 25 and following. (Editor‟s Note.) 3 through faith in Christ men may again come to know the one true God and His love for the world; in union with Him they may inherit the new, eternal life for which they were created. Je- sus taught that the world does not accept the kingdom of God, because the world “lieth in evil” and has loved the darkness more than the light. The Son of God, therefore, has brought to men not only true doctrine and knowledge of the kingdom, but also salvation. He has conquered evil and sin, which ruled over mankind. By His whole life He showed us the type of the perfect man, that is, of a man utterly ob- edient to God. The authority and power by which He forgave sins, healed the sick, and raised the dead existed only through this love and obedience. In His own Person He revealed the kingdom as complete union with God, as the power of love and sacrifice for God and men. He was deli- vered up to a shameful death and abandoned by all, yet remained the image incarnate of com- plete self-surrender, perfect love, and absolute humility. By this surrender of self, love has tri- umphed over hate, and life has conquered death, for God raised Christ from the dead. The evil of the world and the forces of disintegration that rule it have proved powerless, and in one Man they have been overcome. In one Man the kingdom of God — of love, goodness, and eternal life — has penetrated the realm of sin and death. Christ did not win this victory for Himself, but for all men — to save them all and lead them into that kingdom which He brought into being. Therefore, at the very outset of His work, He chose twelve witnesses — men who were with Him continually, who heard His teachings and beheld His works, who were to be witnesses of His death, resurrection, and glorification.