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Eine Griechische Orthodoxe Kirche (= GOK) im strengen Sinne gibt es erst seit 1833, als sich die Kirche in Griechenland aus der Jurisdiktion Konstantinopels löste bzw. seit 1850, als das Patriarchat die kirchliche Unabhängigkeit (Autokephalie) der GOK anerkannte. Bis dahin hatte Griechenland dem Ökumenischen Patriarchat Konstantinopel unterstanden (Orthodoxe Kirchen), mit Thessaloniki aber den nach Konstantinopel zweitwichtigsten Bischofssitz im Bereich des Patriarchats gestellt.Nach der 1460 im Wesentlichen abgeschlossenen osman. Eroberung (Expansionen 2…

1. AllgemeinAls »orth.« (»rechtgläubig«) und gleichzeitig als »kath.« (»allumfassend«) bezeichneten sich bis zur Reformation sowohl die K. des Ostens als auch die des Westens. Noch bis zum Anfang des 20. Jh.s sprach man in der Regel von der »Orth.-Kath. K. des Morgenlandes«. Die allmähliche Fixierung auf das Wort »orth.« in der Selbstbezeichnung der hier behandelten K. hat sich auch nicht überall durchgesetzt, z. B. nicht in der »Apostolischen K. des Ostens« und der »Armen. Apostolischen K.«.Meinte »orth.« ursprünglich v. a. die reichsrechtlich verbindliche Rechtgläu…

1. GeneralUntil the Reformation, both the Eastern and Western churches called themselves both orthodox (“believing correctly”) and catholic (“universal”). Until the beginning of the 20th century, as a rule people still spoke of the “Orthodox Catholic Church of the East.”  The gradual fixation on the word  Orthodox in the self-designation of the churches discussed here did not prevail everywhere – for example not in the Apostolic Church of the East and the Armenian Apostolic Church.If  Orthodox originally referred primarily to the correct faith of the Ecumenical Counc…

A Greek Orthodox Church in the strict sense has existed only since 1833, when the church in Greece withdrew from the jurisdiction of Constantinople or since 1850, when the patriarchate recognized the ecclesiastical independence (autocephaly) of the Greek Orthodox Church. Until then Greece had been subject to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Orthodox churches), though the see of Thessaloniki was second only to Constantinople in importance within the purview of the patriarchate.After the Ottoman conquest (Expansionism 2.), essentially completed in 14…

[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Technique and Material – III. Theological Basis – IV. History I. Terminology The word icon, from Gk εἰκών/ eikṓn (“image, likeness”), is usually associated with egg-tempera paintings on a primed wood panel, used in the cult of the Eastern Orthodox churches (i.e. the churches that have accepted the Council of Chalcedon, but also a few pre-Chalcedonian churches such as the Coptic [Copts] and ¶ Ethiopian Orthodox Churches). Pictures are called icons only if they authentically represent a kind of sacramen…

[German Version] (Mar 11, 1856, Gouvernement Astrachan' – Aug 10, 1929, Leningrad) was the most important representative of Russian critical study of the liturgy. After training and teaching in the Kazan' Spiritual Academy, he was professor of liturgics ¶ and Christian archaeology at the Spiritual Academy of Kiev (1884–1907). His life's work was devoted to the sifting and editing of Greek and Slavic manuscripts of liturgical texts, leading to the three-volume “Description of the Liturgical Manuscripts Preserved in the Libraries of the Orthodox East” ( Opisanie liturgičes kich …

[German Version] The word panichida is based on the Greek παννυχίς/ pannychís (“all night [ sc. service]”); in the Russo-Slavic church, it refers to what the Greek church calls a parastas (from παράστασις/ parastasis), a memorial service. It is modeled on the structure of Matins (Orthros: Worship: II, 7). Very popular with Orthodox churchgoers, today it is a comparatively short (and often further abbreviated) memorial service for the liturgical commemoration of the dead (Memorials to the dead), leading up to a prayer to God for…

[German Version] (born 1878, declared missing in the 1930s) was associate professor at the Clerical Academy of St. Petersburg from 1911 onward. As a liturgical scholar with a strict historical-critical orientation, he interpreted the early Christian Eucharist (Eucharist/Communion: III, 3) as in essence a sacrifice of prayer and praise. The Words of Institution and the epiclesis, on the other hand, he viewed as relatively late, albeit indisputably appropriate expansions of the original order. Karab…

[German Version] is known as the author of a commentary on the liturgy that was probably written by Nicholas, his predecessor as bishop of Andida, prior to 1067 and merely revised by Theodore in the early 12th century. It was the first commentary to interpret the Divine Liturgy (Worship: II, 7) consistently as a representation of Jesus’ life, from his birth to his ascension. Karl Christian Felmy Bibliography R. Bornert, Les commentaires byzantins de la divine liturgie du VIIe au XVe siècle, 1966 P. Plank, LThK 3 IX, 2000, 1409.

[German Version] (Gk τὸ ζέον, “something hot, boiling”), hot water mixed with the consecrated wine immediately before communion in the Byzantine liturgy (VI), to warm it to the temperature of life-giving blood. The ceremony is one of the few that was never based on a practical need. First attested in Constantinople in 582, it was in use even earlier in the Syrian church. Nikolaos Kabasilas saw it as representing the descent of the Holy Spirit on the church. This interpretation (probably secondary) is based on the formula in the textus receptus of the Divine Liturgy that is recited wh…

[German Version] (Aug 16, 1812 Kostroma, Russia – Oct 11, 1875 Sergiyev Posa, Russia). In 1832 he became professor, in 1862 – without having taken monastic vows, as was usual at the time – rector of the Moscow Spiritual Academy, which under him blossomed and achieved highest rank among the Russian academies. Gorsky was the most important initiator of the historical school of Russian theology, which largely on the basis of his work adopted the critical methods of Western theology. His importance as…

[German Version] (Sep 16, 1754, Michailov – Apr 2, 1829, Rjazan'), Russian lay theologian, teacher of Hebrew and Greek, and, finally, lecturer with the rank of collegiate assessor. His most important work is the first Russian commentary on the divine liturgy (VI) on a historical-critical basis (still current at the end of the 20th cent.) with a marked, Catholic emphasis on the sacrificial character of the liturgy and a rich, always well-documented use of Western literature. The author revised the commentary a number of times, and it continues to be reprinted. Karl Christian Felmy Bibliog…

[German Version] (Boris Dorofeevich Jarushevich; Dec 31, 1891, Kovno – Dec 13, 1961, Moscow), Russian metropolitan. In 1922 Nikolai became bishop of Peterhof; in 1940, archbishop of Wolhynien and Luck; in 1941, metropolitan of Kiev; in 1944, metropolitan of Kruticy; in 1946, head of the church foreign office. Nikolai gave full support to Stalin’s foreign policy but worked domestically as an important popular preacher and defender of Orthodoxy. When support of Soviet policy under Nikita Khrushchev …

[German Version] (Dec 1, 1861, Svyatoe Ozero, Ryazan’ Oblast – Nov 26, 1941, Irpen’), archpriest, professor of apologetics at the University of Kiev (not at a seminary). As one of the most creative theologians of the period of awakening prior to 1917 and the first among strictly academic theologians to oppose the ideas of A. Ritschl, he argued for discarding a onesidedly juridical doctrine of redemption; in later years, he sought to protect the doctrine from the opposite extreme of a purely subjec…

[German Version] (1845, Governorate of Moscow – Jul 14, 1908, Moscow), earned his Dr.theol. at the Moscow Spiritual Academy (Moscow: II) in 1879 with a dissertation on “The Ecumenical Councils of the 4th and 5th Centuries.” He was professor of the history of the Early Church at the Academy from 1874 to 1896 and accepted an appointment at the University of Moscow in 1908. Lebedev is one of the most prominent representatives of the Historical School of Russian theology (A. Gorsky). In his patristic …

[German Version] In the Byzantine and Armenian liturgies (Liturgy: VI), the Cherubim Hymn or Cherubikon is sung at the Great Entrance, when the eucharistic gifts are brought to the altar from the table of oblations: “We, who mystically represent the Cherubim, And chant the thrice-holy hymn to the Life-giving Trinity, Let us set aside the cares of life That we may receive the King of all, Who comes invisibly escorted by the Divine Hosts. Alleluia, alleluia, allelu…

[German Version] (Gk παροιμίαι/ paroimíai) are the Old Testament lections of the Orthodox Liturgy of the Hours (IV). While the usual Sunday Vespers does not include lections, on the eves of feasts of Christ, the Theotokos, and saints, up to three paroemia are generally read, which often interpret OT events as types of the saving events of the New Testament. On the eve of Christmas eight paroemia are read, on Epiphany 13, and on Holy Saturday 15. On feasts of the apostles, they are replaced with readings from the Apostolos. OT par­oemia are also read during morning worship (II, 7) on…

[German Version] (Dec 6, 1863, Kičmengskij Gorodok, Vologda province – Mar 18, 1937, Sofia) was professor of New Testament at St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy from 1894 to 1918, at the University of Petrograd in 1918, and at the Theological Institute there from 1919 to 1921. As professor.of New Testament in Sofia from 1923, Glubokovsky was involved in the formation of the ecumenical movement (Stockholm, 1925). His highly knowledgeable publications in the field of biblical studies, notably with reg…

[German Version] (Nov 20, 1860, Ilinsky Pogost, Russia – Jul 4, 1911, Sergiyev Posad, Russia). Golubchov was appointed lecturer at the Moscow Theological Academy in 1887; in 1893 he became professor of Christian archaeology and liturgics. Unlike earlier Russian liturgiologists, his historical criticism also bore on the history of doctrine: he noted the diminishing role of the laity in worship (II, 7) and changes in the understanding of the liturgy's sacrificial nature. Karl Christian Felmy Bibliography Obituary: Bogoslovskii vestnik, 7–8, 1911, 1–40 K.C. Felmy, Die Deutung der …

[German Version] since the 11/12th century, the most important order of the liturgy in Constantinople, which widely superseded the liturgy of St. Basil, which was celebrated only ten times a year, after adopting many of the latter's features. A redaction of an Antiochene precursor to the Chrysostom Liturgy, or its silent prayers, by John Chrysostom cannot be ruled out in view of numerous points of agreement with his work, though not to the extent evidenced in the Liturgy of Sa…