Orthodox History

The Condemnation of Unauthorized Orthodox Teachers in 19th Century Greece

The history of Orthodoxy in 19th century Greece is extraordinarily complicated. Beginning with the Greek Revolution in 1821, the Church of Greece began to detach itself from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, declaring itself autocephalous in 1833 -- a status that was not recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate until 1850. This newly-independent...

Fr Seraphim Rose and “Corrective Baptism”

There is not universal agreement about the manner in which converts are received into the Orthodox Church. In some Orthodox jurisdictions, all converts are received via baptism and chrismation, regardless of whether they were previously baptized in a heterodox tradition. Others receive these types of converts via chrismation only, provided...

A Patriarchate Is Not a Church

The Greek term typically translated as “Church” in the English New Testament (ekklesia, which can also mean “assembly”) is used throughout the Greek Old Testament to refer to the gathering together of the people of Israel. Its meaning is the same as in the New Testament—the Church is the assembly...

Patriarch Athenagoras, the CIA, and the State Department

Last fall, I spoke at a conference at Hellenic College-Holy Cross, commemorating the centennial of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. I've already posted my main paper from that conference, on the "barbarian lands" theory of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. At that conference, I also spoke briefly about Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras,...

Classified British Documents on Meletios Metaxakis

In the fall, I visited Hellenic College-Holy Cross (where I delivered this paper on the EP's "barbarian lands" theory), and while I was on campus, I took the opportunity to visit the school's library and track down an extremely rare collection of 232 once-classified British government documents on Meletios Metaxakis....

Murder in San Francisco? The Mysterious Death of Fr Paul Kedrolivansky

Fr. Paul Kedrolivansky died on the evening of June 18, 1878, in the prison hospital in San Francisco, the victim of an apparent blow to the head. Since December 1870, Kedrolivansky had been the dean of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in San Francisco. In what must have been an awkward...

The Unholy Side of Holy Russia

Some people think of nineteenth century Russia as an idealized Orthodox society – Holy Russia, a civilization on par with the golden age of the Byzantine Empire as a bastion of Orthodoxy. The reality of both societies is much more complicated. The nineteenth century as “Holy Russia” is not a...

Romania’s Recognition of Macedonian Autocephaly Has Revived Chambésy

On February 9, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Romania announced its decision to recognize the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in the Republic of North Macedonia. This decision is much more significant than it might seem at first blush; in fact, what Romania has done is to resurrect...

Why Is Antioch in Turkey?

In the early hours of Monday morning, February 6, a devastating earthquake struck southern Turkey and Syria, leveling buildings and killing thousands. Among the cities most affected was Antakya, Turkey – that is, Antioch. At the time of Christ, Antioch was one of the three great cities in the Roman...

Heresy on the Holy Mountain

In 1907, the Russian Schemamonk Ilarion Domrachev wrote a book about the Jesus Prayer, which was published by the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary, whose abbess was the Grand Duchess and future New Martyr Elizabeth. In the book, Ilarion stated that “the Name of God is God Himself.” The...