Oxford history of the christian church

Religious life.

Theology. The basis of Orthodox teaching was hammered out in the general councils, two of which (by Orthodox reckoning) fell within this period, i.e. Constantinople III (680) and Nicaea II (787). The vital Trinitarian and Christological problems were constantly coming to the surface. An introduction to these problems in their historical setting is given by H.-G. Beck, Kirche und theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich (Munich, 1959), pt. 3; this is an indispensable reference book and pt. 4 contains notes on theologians and theological literature of the middle ages.

An introduction to the seventh century can be found in H. A. Wolfson, The Philosophy of the Church Fathers, vol. 1, 3rd edn. (Cambridge, Mass., 1970). The theological teaching of Orthodoxy in Byzantium is outlined by J. Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, 2nd edn. (New York, 1979), pt. II, Doctrinal Trends; like some other theologians (but unlike Lossky) he has reservations on the supposed influence of Pseudo-Dionysius on Orthodox teaching, cf. V. Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (London, 1957; 2nd edn., New York, 1975).

Problems connected with Orthodox teaching abounded in the middle ages, e.g. iconoclasm (see above), or dualist heresies, see the general survey by M. Loos, Dualist Heresy in the Middle Ages (Prague, 1974). The best introduction to Byzantine heresies is J. Gouillard, “L'Hérésie dans l'empire byzantin des origines au XII^e siècle,” Travaux et Mémoires, 1 (1965), 299-324.

Liturgy. Orthodox theology found its expression in the public worship of the Church; its theology is reflected in the liturgy, both the eucharist and the daily offices. The best introduction on its development is R. Taft, How Liturgies grow: The Evolution of the Byzantine “Divine Liturgy, Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 43 (1977), 355-78. The eucharist itself was a complex service and in some respects it varied with the day and season of the Church's year. There are various translations of the immovable part of the liturgy, e.g. Athenagoras Kokkina, The Liturgy of the Orthodox Church, Greek text and English trans. (London and Oxford, 1979). For the additions proper to certain festivals or periods of the year see the translations of Mother Mary and K. Ware, The Festal Menaion (London, 1969) and The Lenten Triodion (London and Boston, 1978). E. Wellesz gives an excellent introduction to the music and hymns used in the services in A History of Byzantine Music and Hymnography, 2nd edn. (Oxford, 1961). The Orthodox liturgy is not easy to follow but the constructive course is to abandon an armchair approach and be present at the actual services.

Discipline of the interior life. The best approach is twofold. First through the advice given on leading a spiritual life. Many writers are published (with trans.), some in the series Sources Chrétiennes, e.g. Pseudo-Macarius, or Symeon the New Theologian, writing for monastic circles, or, writing for a wider circle, Nicholas Cabasilas, Life in Christ, trans. C. J. de Catanzaro (New York, 1974), significantly linked to his work on the liturgy. Then, secondly, much can be gained from the lives of the saints which reflect the impact on ordinary laity of monks trying to put this spiritual discipline into practice. There are a number of lives translated, e.g St Peter of Atroa, ed. and trans. V. Laurent (Brussels, 1956), or the seventh-century John the Almsgiver, in Three Byzantine Saints, trans. E. Dawes and N. H. Baynes (Oxford, 1948). See also relevant comments on different aspects of religious life in The Byzantine Saint, ed. S. Hackel (London, 1981). The Philokalia, a collection of spiritual texts widely used in the Orthodox world, has been translated from the Greek by G. E. H. Palmer, P. Sherrard, and K. Ware (London, 1979-84).

Monasticism. The regulations governing monastic life are comprehensively dealt with by P. de Meester (see under reference works), but it needs a good deal of reconstruction to get a satisfactory picture of monastic life from his formidable detail. A better initial approach would be by way of D. J. Chitty, The Desert a City (Oxford, 1966) as background introduction, then passing on to consider one or two cenobitic houses as revealed in their foundation charters. See P. Lemerle, Cinq études sur le XI^e siècle byzantin (Paris, 1977) on the well-endowed houses of Pacurianus and Attaliates. See also Pacurianus typicon, ed. and trans. P. Gautier, REB, 42 (1984), 5-145. On the spiritual targets aimed at see above on the interior life. There is no single work satisfactorily covering the whole period. In a sense Orthodox monasticism is more difficult to deal with since unlike the Latin Church it did not differentiate into distinct orders but knew only a single ordo or way of life, and this was flexible in that monks often moved freely from community to eremitic life and sometimes back again. This comes out clearly in the saints' lives; in this respect the Life of Symeon the New Theologian, ed. I. Hausherr and G. Horn (Rome, 1928) is particularly instructive.