By Newman Nahas
Introduction
In 1672, a local synod of Eastern bishops meeting in Jerusalem produced the Acts and Decrees of the Synod of Jerusalem, commonly called the "Confession of Dositheus" after its presiding hierarch and author. It was a point-by-point rebuttal of the Calvinist "Confession of Cyril Lucaris" that had scandalized the Orthodox world.[1]
Eighteen years later, Dositheus published a revised edition of his Confession, admitting he had “written wrongly” in the earlier confession, explaining the need for correction, and even stating "where necessity requires, we shall remove or add certain other things that contribute to the accurate knowledge of the problem."[2]
This alone should end the debate as to whether the 1672 Confession was received as irreformable dogma. It was not, and Dositheus himself was the first to recognize this.
To be sure, the Confession is significant and authoritative, especially as to what it rejects. But significant does not mean irreformable.
Summary of Argument
First, dogmatic status is a function of reception (not just enactment), but the Confession was never received as a primary authority. Rather, the Confession was corrected by Dositheus himself,[3] corrected extensively by St. Philaret with the consent of the synod of the Russian Church,[4] and treated as "particular" synod rather than "ecumenical" by the Patriarchs who transmitted it to the non-Jurors it.[5]
Second, even if the Confession had been received, its authority is limited to what it was received as: a polemical manual subordinate to the touchstones of Tradition (not a touchstone itself). [6]
In the late seventeenth century, Roman Catholics and Calvinists were locked in confessional struggle across Europe, particularly in France. Both sides wanted to demonstrate that the Eastern Orthodox shared their theology. The publication of the Calvinist "Confession of Cyril Lucaris" in 1629 had given the Reformed party apparent evidence of Orthodox sympathy.[1]
France championed Roman Catholic interests; Holland championed the Calvinist cause. Both pressured the Ecumenical Patriarchate to produce statements favorable to them. The Confession of Dositheus emerged in this geopolitical pressure cooker.[2]
In January 1672, yielding to the "insistent demands" of the French ambassador Count de Nointel, a Local Council assembled in Constantinople under Patriarch Dionysius IV. This council had significant representation: four Eastern Patriarchs and approximately forty bishops participated. It produced a tomos condemning Calvinism and repudiating the Confession of Cyril Lucaris. But note: this is not the 1672 synod at issue.[4].
The Confession at issue was produced two months later, as a follow-up document. The Synod's own title page identifies it as "The Local Synod Held in Jerusalem" (Hē en Ierosolymois Topikē Synodos).[5a]The occasion was not a deliberate synod but a liturgical celebration: the consecration of the restored Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Hierarchs and clergy from the Jerusalem Patriarchate had gathered for the festivities.
On March 16, 1672, those assembled signed the document. The only bishops present were from the Jerusalem patriarchate.[6]
When Dositheos presented his Confession at the Council, he explained:
"Having first written the above Confession in Latin, we have now translated it into our own tongue, word by word, as it standeth in the Latin prototype; in which, having used conciseness, we have not presented such an ample treatise as perhaps the nature of the case required. But let this be reserved; for shortly, with God's assistance, we will take care that everyone know that our faith is that which our Lord Jesus Christ delivered..."[6a]
At the end of the proceedings, he also noted:
"Having thus answered in writing those that interrogated us, we conclude... as we have explained in the fear of God and with a good conscience; though the subject, we acknowledge, might have been treated of better."[6b]