Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Russia and the Greek Church. The Rev. Elias Newman - II. The Russian Church - III. Doctrine
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
220 Russia and the Greek Church
religious profession throughout the empire. Dissent therefore in all
its forms has not only been discouraged, but in many cases rigorously
and cruelly repressed.
m. Doctrine
The Eastern Church, beyond the Nicene Creed, has no general doc-
trinal tests, no oath like that of Pope Pius IV., no symbolical books,
strictly speaking, like those of the Protestant and Reformed churches;
such as the Augsburg Confession of the Lutherans, or the Westmin-
ster Confession of the Presbyterians, or the Thirty-nine Articles of
the English Church. But still she is not the less provided with
sufficient security that the true faith shall be held. This security
lies, first, in the fact that the Bible is the one rule of faith; and, sec-
ondly, in the terror which Eastern Christians feel of being excommu-
nicated. While it is well known that the Church at Rome has so
abused and profaned her power of excommunication as to make it
ridiculous, in the Eastern Church excommunication is as much
dreaded as in the days of Chrysostom and Ambrose. Thus is pre-
served from age to age a living spirit of orthodoxy and whatever is
felt or known to form part of the faith of the church is received with
implicit veneration by her children. And on the doctrine felt and
known to have this sanction of the church rests the authority of
the Catechism. The Nicene Creed is still recited in the beautiful
Greek tongue by the Russian Church, and is the culminating point
of the service. The great bell of the Kremlin tower at Moscow used
to sound the whole time that its words were chanted. It was repeated
aloud in the presence of the assembled people by the emperor at his
coronation; it is worked in pearls on the robes of the highest digni-
taries of Moscov/. Every separate article of this creed is taught by
pictures which exhibit each several point of it. And we are all aware
that the great point of discussion between the Eastern and Western
Churches was the introduction by the latter into the ancient creed
of the clause which declares that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Son, as well as from the Father.
Besides the Nicene Creed, the Eastern Church holds with ourselves
to the Athanasian Creed as a symbol of the faith—so far that it is
inserted in the Book of Hours of Russia. It forms, however, no part
in the public service as in the case of the Anglican Church, but is
treated as Presbyterians treat it, as an interesting document of
religion.
The Apostles’ Creed is peculiar to the Western Church and has
never been current in the East.
The Russian Church reverences the same Holy Bible as we do;
and what is more, they do all they can to encourage the reading of it
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
