Orthodox churches around the world. Chapter III. The inner life of the Christian Church in the I-III centuries. Organization of the Church
In 1054, it became widespread mainly in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Features of Orthodoxy
The formation of religious organizations is closely connected with the social and political life of society. Christianity is no exception, which was especially evident in the differences between its main directions - and Orthodoxy. At the beginning of the 5th century The Roman Empire split into East and West. The eastern one was a single state, while the western one was a fragmented conglomerate of principalities. In the conditions of strong centralization of power in Byzantium, the church immediately turned out to be an appendage of the state, and the emperor actually became its head. The stagnation of the social life of Byzantium and the control of the church by the despotic state led to the conservatism of the Orthodox Church in dogma and ritualism, as well as tendencies towards mysticism and irrationalism in its ideology. In the West, the church gradually took center stage and became an organization striving for dominance in all areas of society, including politics.
Difference between east and west was due to developmental features. Greek Christianity concentrated its attention on ontological and philosophical problems, while Western Christianity focused on political and legal ones.
Since the Orthodox Church was under the auspices of the state, its history is connected not so much with external events as with the formation of dogma. The basis of Orthodox dogma is the Holy Scripture (the Bible - the Old and New Testament) and Sacred Tradition (resolutions of the first seven Ecumenical and local councils, creations of the church fathers and canonical theologians). At the first two Ecumenical Councils - Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381) the so-called Symbol of faith, briefly outlining the essence of the Christian doctrine. It recognizes the trinity of God - the creator and ruler of the universe, the existence of the afterlife, posthumous retribution, the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ, who opened the possibility for the salvation of mankind, on which lies the seal of original sin.
Fundamentals of the doctrine of Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Church declares the main provisions of the faith to be absolutely true, eternal and unchanging, communicated to man by God himself and incomprehensible to reason. Keeping them intact is the first duty of the church. It is impossible to add anything or remove any provisions, therefore the later dogmas established by the Catholic Church are about the descent of the Holy Spirit not only from the Father, but also from the Son (filioque), about the immaculate conception not only of Christ, but also of the Virgin Mary, o the infallibility of the Roman pope, about purgatory - Orthodoxy considers it a heresy.
Personal salvation of believers is made dependent on the zealous fulfillment of the rites and prescriptions of the church, due to which there is communion with Divine grace, transmitted to man through the sacraments: baptism in infancy, chrismation, communion, repentance (confession), marriage, priesthood, anointing (unction). The sacraments are accompanied by rituals, which, together with divine services, prayers and religious holidays, form the religious cult of Christianity. Great importance in Orthodoxy is given to holidays and fasts.
Orthodoxy teaches observance of moral precepts given to man by God through the prophet Moses, as well as the fulfillment of the covenants and sermons of Jesus Christ set forth in the Gospels. Their main content is the observance of universal norms of life and love for one's neighbor, manifestations of mercy and compassion, as well as the rejection of resistance to evil by violence. Orthodoxy emphasizes the uncomplaining enduring of sufferings sent by God to test the strength of faith and cleansing from sin, on the special veneration of the sufferers - the blessed, the poor, the holy fools, hermits and hermits. In Orthodoxy, a vow of celibacy is given only by monks and higher ranks of clergy.
Organization of the Orthodox Church
Georgian Orthodox Church. Christianity began to spread on the territory of Georgia in the first centuries AD. She received autocephaly in the 8th century. In 1811 Georgia became part of Russian Empire, and the church became part of the Russian Orthodox Church as an exarchate. In 1917, at the meeting of Georgian priests, a decision was made to restore autocephaly, which was preserved under Soviet rule. The Russian Orthodox Church recognized autocephaly only in 1943.
The head of the Georgian Church bears the title of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi with residence in Tbilisi.
Serbian Orthodox Church. Autocephaly was recognized in 1219. The head of the church bears the title of Archbishop of Pech, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovapia, Patriarch of Serbia with residence in Belgrade.
Romanian Orthodox Church. Christianity entered the territory of Romania in the II-III centuries. AD In 1865, the autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church was proclaimed, but without the consent of the Church of Constantinople; in 1885 such consent was obtained. The head of the church bears the title of Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church with residence in Bucharest.
Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Christianity appeared on the territory of Bulgaria in the first centuries of our era. In 870 the Bulgarian Church received autonomy. The status of the church has changed over the centuries depending on the political situation. The autocephaly of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was recognized by Constantinople only in 1953, and the patriarchy only in 1961.
The head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church bears the title of Metropolitan of Sofia, Patriarch of All Bulgaria with residence in Sofia.
Cypriot Orthodox Church. The first Christian communities on the island were founded at the beginning of our era by St. Apostles Paul and Barnabas. Widespread Christianization of the population began in the 5th century. Autocephaly was recognized at the III Ecumenical Council in Ephesus.
The head of the Cypriot Church bears the title of Archbishop of New Justiniana and all of Cyprus, his residence is in Nicosia.
E.yadskaya (Greek) Orthodox Church. According to legend, the Christian faith was brought by the Apostle Paul, who founded and established Christian communities in a number of cities, and St. John the Evangelist wrote "Revelation" on the island of Patmos. The autocephaly of the Greek Church was recognized in 1850. In 1924, it switched to the Gregorian calendar, which caused a split. The head of the church bears the title of Archbishop of Athens and all Hellas with residence in Athens.
Athens Orthodox Church. Autocephaly was recognized in 1937. However, due to political reasons, contradictions arose, and the final position of the church was determined only in 1998. The head of the church bears the title of Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania with residence in Tirana. The peculiarities of this church include the election of the clergy with the participation of the laity. Divine services are performed in Albanian and Greek.
Polish Orthodox Church. Orthodox dioceses have existed on the territory of Poland since the 13th century. However, for a long time they were under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. After Poland gained independence, they left the subordination of the Russian Orthodox Church and formed the Polish Orthodox Church, which in 1925 was recognized as autocephalous. Russia accepted the autocephaly of the Polish Church only in 1948.
Divine services are conducted in Church Slavonic. Recently, however, the Polish language has been used more and more. The head of the Polish Orthodox Church bears the title of Metropolitan of Warsaw and all of Polynia, with residence in Warsaw.
Czechoslovak Orthodox Church. The mass baptism of the people on the territory of modern Czech Republic and Slovakia began in the second half of the 9th century, when the Slavic enlighteners Cyril and Methodius arrived in Moravia. For a long time these lands were under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church. Orthodoxy was preserved only in Eastern Slovakia. After the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, an Orthodox community was organized. Further development events led to division within the Orthodoxy of the country. In 1951, the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church asked the Russian Orthodox Church to accept it into its jurisdiction. In November 1951, the Russian Orthodox Church granted her autocephaly, which the Church of Constantinople approved only in 1998. After the division of Czechoslovakia into two independent states, the church formed two metropolitan provinces. The head of the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church bears the title of Metropolitan of Prague and Archbishop of the Czech and Slovak Republics with residence in Prague.
American Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy came to America from Alaska, where from the end of the 18th century. the Orthodox community began to operate. In 1924 a diocese was formed. After the sale of Alaska to the United States, Orthodox churches and land were left in the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1905, the center of the diocese was transferred to New York, and its head Tikhon Belavin elevated to the rank of archbishop. In 1906, he raised the question of the possibility of autocephaly for the American Church, but in 1907 Tikhon was withdrawn, and the issue remained unresolved.
In 1970, the Moscow Patriarchate gave autocephalous status to the metropolis, which was called the Orthodox Church in America. The head of the church has the title of Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, with residence in Syosset, near New York.
Orthodoxy (translated from the Greek word "orthodoxy") was formed as the eastern branch of Christianity after the division of the powerful Roman Empire into two parts - Eastern and Western - took place at the beginning of the 5th century. This branch took shape to the end after the split of the churches into Orthodox and Catholic in 1054. The formation of various kinds of religious organizations is almost directly connected with the political and social life of society. Orthodox churches began to spread mainly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Features of Faith
Orthodoxy is based on the Bible and Holy Tradition. The latter provides for the adopted laws of the Ecumenical and of which there have been only seven for all time, as well as the works of the holy fathers of the church and canonical theologians. To understand the features of faith, you need to study its origins. It is known that in the first 325 and 381 years. The Creed was adopted, which summarized the whole essence of the Christian doctrine. The Orthodox Churches called all these basic provisions eternal, unchanging, incomprehensible to the mind of an ordinary person and communicated by the Lord Himself. Keeping them intact became the main duty of religious figures.
Orthodox churches
The personal salvation of the human soul depends on the fulfillment of the ritual prescription of the Church, thus, there is communion with Divine grace, given through the sacraments: priesthood, chrismation, baptism in infancy, repentance, communion, wedding, unction, etc.
Orthodox churches spend all these sacraments in divine services and prayers, they also great importance attach to religious holidays and fasts, teach to keep the commandments of God, which the Lord himself gave to Moses, and the fulfillment of his precepts described in the Gospel.
The main content of Orthodoxy lies in love for one's neighbor, in mercy and compassion, in the refusal to resist evil with violence, which, in general, constitutes understandable universal norms of life. The emphasis is also placed on enduring the meek suffering sent by the Lord in order to be cleansed from sin, pass the test and strengthen faith. The saints of the Orthodox Church are in special reverence with God: the sufferers, the poor, the blessed, the holy fools, hermits and hermits.
Organization and role of the Orthodox Church
There is no single head in the church or spiritual center in Orthodoxy. According to religious history, there are 15 autocephalous churches, independent in their management, of which 9 are headed by patriarchs, and the rest by metropolitans and archbishops. In addition, there are autonomous churches independent of autocephaly according to the system of internal government. In turn, they are divided into dioceses, vicariates, deaneries and parishes.
Patriarchs and metropolitans lead the life of the church together with the Synod (under the patriarchy, a collegiate body of the highest church officials), and they are elected for life at Local Councils.
Control
Orthodox churches are characterized by a hierarchical principle of government. All the clergy are divided into lower, middle, higher, black (monasticism) and white (others). The canonical dignity of these Orthodox churches has its own official list.
Orthodox churches are divided into universal (world) Orthodoxy, which includes the four most ancient patriarchates: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, and the newly formed local churches: Russian, Georgian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Cypriot, Helladic, Athenian, Polish, Czech and Slovak, American.
Today there are also autonomous churches: the Moscow Patriarchate has the Japanese and Chinese, the Jerusalem Patriarchate has the Sinai, the Constantinople has the Finnish, Estonian, Cretan and other other jurisdictions not recognized by world Orthodoxy, which are considered non-canonical.
History of Russian Orthodoxy
After baptism in 988 Kievan Rus Prince Vladimir, the formed Russian Orthodox Church for a long time belonged to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and was its metropolis. He appointed metropolitans from the Greeks, but in 1051 a Russian became the head of the ROC.
The Moscow diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church (also called the Moscow Orthodox Church) was established in 1325, today it has more than one and a half thousand churches. There are 268 chapels belonging to the monasteries and parishes of the diocese. Numerous districts of the diocese are united in 1153 parishes and 24 monasteries. In the diocese, in addition, there are three parishes of the same faith, fully subordinate to the bishop of the Moscow diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna Juvinaliy.
About the structure of the Orthodox Church without fiction - teacher of the Kyiv Theological Academy Andrei Muzolf.
– Andrei, who is the head of the Orthodox Church?
– The head of the Orthodox Church is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Her Founder. However, at the same time, each Local Church has its Primate (literally, the one who stands in front), elected from among the highest, episcopal, clergy. In different Churches, this may be either a Patriarch, or a Metropolitan, or an Archbishop. But at the same time, the Primate does not possess any higher grace, he is only the first among equals, and all the main decisions that are made within the Church are approved mainly at a special Bishops' Council (a meeting of bishops of a particular Church). The primate can, for example, initiate, propose this or that action, but without its conciliar approval, it will never be valid. An example of this is the history of the Ecumenical and Local Councils, at which the fundamentals of Christian doctrine were accepted only by conciliar reason.
– What is the hierarchy among the clergy?
– In the Orthodox Church, the division of clergy into three categories or degrees is customary: hierarchal, priestly, and deacon. We can see the prototype of such a division in the Old Testament Church, whose clergy, being exclusively representatives of one tribe - Levi, had the following gradation: high priest (acted as the chief priest with certain powers), priests and Levites. IN Old Testament such a division was established by God Himself and taught through the prophet Moses, and the indisputability of this establishment was proved by many miracles (the most striking of them is the flourishing rod of the high priest Aaron, as well as the death of Korah, Dathan and Aviron, who disputed God's chosenness of the Levitical priesthood). The modern division of the priesthood into three categories has its basis in the New Testament. The holy apostles, chosen by the Savior Himself to serve the Gospel and performing the functions of bishops, ordained bishops, priests (presbyters) and deacons.
– Who are deacons, priests, bishops? What is the difference between them?
Bishops (bishops) are the highest degree of priesthood. Representatives of this degree are the successors of the apostles themselves. Bishops, unlike priests, can perform all divine services and all Sacraments. In addition, it is the bishops who have the grace to ordain other people for their priestly ministry. Priests (presbyters or priests) are clergy who have the grace to perform, as already mentioned, all divine services and Sacraments, except for the Sacrament of the Priesthood, therefore, they cannot convey to others what they themselves received from the bishop. Deacons - the lowest degree of the priesthood - do not have the right to independently perform either divine services or the Sacraments, but only to participate and help the bishop or priest in their performance.
– What does white and black clergy mean?
– It is more correct to say: married clergy and monastics. The married clergy, as is already clear from the name itself, are those priests and deacons who, prior to their ordination to the priesthood, entered into marriage (in Orthodox tradition Marriage for clergy is allowed only before ordination; after ordination, marriage is prohibited). The monastic clergy are those clergy who were tonsured monks before consecration (sometimes after consecration). In the Orthodox tradition, only representatives of the monastic clergy can be ordained to the highest priestly degree - episcopal.
– Has anything changed in the 2000 years of Christianity?
– Since the existence of the Church, nothing has fundamentally changed in Her, because Her main function – to save a person – is the same for all time. Naturally, with the spread of Christianity, the Church grew both geographically and, consequently, administratively. So, if in ancient times the bishop was the head of the local Church, which can be equated with today's parish, over time, bishops began to lead groups of such parish-communities that formed separate church-administrative units - dioceses. Thus, the church structure, due to its development, has become more complex, but at the same time the very goal of the Church, which is to bring a person to God, has not changed.
– How do elections take place in the Church? Who decides the issues of "career growth"?
– If we are talking about elections to the highest priestly degree – episcopal – then they, for example, in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, take place at a special meeting of bishops – the Holy Synod, which, after the Council of Bishops, is the highest body of church administration (the Council of Bishops is a meeting of all bishops of a given Church, while the Synod is an assembly of only individual bishops who, on behalf of the Council, are authorized to resolve certain church issues). In the same way, the consecration of a future bishop is performed not by any one bishop, even if it is the Primate, but by a council of bishops. The issue of "career growth" is also decided at the Synod, but such a decision is more correctly called not " career”, but obedience to the voice of the Church, because the appointment to this or that church ministry is not always associated with growth in our understanding. An example of this is the story of the great teacher of the Church, Gregory the Theologian, who, before his appointment to the Metropolitan See of Constantinople, was assigned to the small town of Sasima, which, according to the memoirs of the saint himself, causes only tears and despair in his heart. Nevertheless, despite his personal views and interests, the theologian fulfilled his obedience to the Church and eventually became the bishop of the new capital of the Roman Empire.
Interviewed by Natalya Goroshkova
About the structure of the Orthodox Church without fiction - teacher of the Kyiv Theological Academy Andrei Muzolf.
– Andrei, who is the head of the Orthodox Church?
– The head of the Orthodox Church is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Her Founder. However, at the same time, each Local Church has its Primate (literally, the one who stands in front), elected from among the highest, episcopal, clergy. In different Churches, this may be either a Patriarch, or a Metropolitan, or an Archbishop. But at the same time, the Primate does not possess any higher grace, he is only the first among equals, and all the main decisions that are made within the Church are approved mainly at a special Bishops' Council (a meeting of bishops of a particular Church). The primate can, for example, initiate, propose this or that action, but without its conciliar approval, it will never be valid. An example of this is the history of the Ecumenical and Local Councils, at which the fundamentals of Christian doctrine were accepted only by conciliar reason.
– What is the hierarchy among the clergy?
– In the Orthodox Church, the division of clergy into three categories or degrees is customary: hierarchal, priestly, and deacon. We can see the prototype of such a division in the Old Testament Church, whose clergy, being exclusively representatives of one tribe - Levi, had the following gradation: high priest (acted as the chief priest with certain powers), priests and Levites. In the Old Testament, such a division was established by God Himself and taught through the prophet Moses, and the indisputability of this establishment was proved by many miracles (the most striking of them is the flourishing rod of the high priest Aaron, as well as the death of Korah, Dathan and Aviron, who disputed God's chosenness of the Levitical priesthood). The modern division of the priesthood into three categories has its basis in the New Testament. The holy apostles, chosen by the Savior Himself to serve the Gospel and performing the functions of bishops, ordained bishops, priests (presbyters) and deacons.
– Who are deacons, priests, bishops? What is the difference between them?
Bishops (bishops) are the highest degree of priesthood. Representatives of this degree are the successors of the apostles themselves. Bishops, unlike priests, can perform all divine services and all Sacraments. In addition, it is the bishops who have the grace to ordain other people for their priestly ministry. Priests (presbyters or priests) are clergy who have the grace to perform, as already mentioned, all divine services and Sacraments, except for the Sacrament of the Priesthood, therefore, they cannot convey to others what they themselves received from the bishop. Deacons - the lowest degree of the priesthood - do not have the right to independently perform either divine services or the Sacraments, but only to participate and help the bishop or priest in their performance.
– What does white and black clergy mean?
– It is more correct to say: married clergy and monastics. Married clergy, as is already clear from the name itself, are those priests and deacons who, prior to their ordination to the priesthood, entered into marriage (in the Orthodox tradition, marriage for clergy is allowed only before ordination, after ordination it is forbidden to marry). The monastic clergy are those clergy who were tonsured monks before consecration (sometimes after consecration). In the Orthodox tradition, only representatives of the monastic clergy can be ordained to the highest priestly degree - episcopal.
– Has anything changed in the 2000 years of Christianity?
– Since the existence of the Church, nothing has fundamentally changed in Her, because Her main function – to save a person – is the same for all time. Naturally, with the spread of Christianity, the Church grew both geographically and, consequently, administratively. So, if in ancient times the bishop was the head of the local Church, which can be equated with today's parish, over time, bishops began to lead groups of such parish-communities that formed separate church-administrative units - dioceses. Thus, the church structure, due to its development, has become more complex, but at the same time the very goal of the Church, which is to bring a person to God, has not changed.
– How do elections take place in the Church? Who decides the issues of "career growth"?
– If we are talking about elections to the highest priestly degree – episcopal – then they, for example, in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, take place at a special meeting of bishops – the Holy Synod, which, after the Council of Bishops, is the highest body of church administration (the Council of Bishops is a meeting of all bishops of a given Church, while the Synod is an assembly of only individual bishops who, on behalf of the Council, are authorized to resolve certain church issues). In the same way, the consecration of a future bishop is performed not by any one bishop, even if it is the Primate, but by a council of bishops. The issue of “career growth” is also decided at the Synod, however, it is more correct to call such a decision not “career growth”, but obedience to the voice of the Church, because appointment to a particular church ministry is not always associated with growth in our understanding. An example of this is the story of the great teacher of the Church, Gregory the Theologian, who, before his appointment to the Metropolitan See of Constantinople, was assigned to the small town of Sasima, which, according to the memoirs of the saint himself, causes only tears and despair in his heart. Nevertheless, despite his personal views and interests, the theologian fulfilled his obedience to the Church and eventually became the bishop of the new capital of the Roman Empire.
Interviewed by Natalya Goroshkova
Without organization there is no society. The Church is a Christian society; therefore it must have one or the other organization. Without a well-established organization, society cannot develop correctly and successfully. In view of this, we consider the question of organization to be the first question in the exposition of the history of a known society.
The question of organization, management, and the establishment of lawful norms and forms of life in individual Churches, as well as in the Church, is extremely difficult to resolve, both in view of the lack of completely definite historical material, and as a result of religious disputes regarding various church institutions, especially regarding the “monarchist episcopate. ” The Orthodox and Catholic doctrine of the origin of the hierarchy is imbued, so to speak, with an aristocratic spirit, while Protestantism breathes with democracy. According to the teachings of the former, the church hierarchy was established by order from above, by the commandment of God, independently of the Christian people; and all hierarchical degrees are reduced in their origin to a direct relationship with the apostles, and through them with Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:11; cf. 1 Cor. 12:23). According to the Protestant idea, the life of the primordial Church is deeply democratic: charismatic gifts were the property of all Christians, all kinds of church services arose according to the needs of the community, were formed gradually in the historical development of life.
Now let's turn to historical data. There is no doubt that Christian communities were organized in Jerusalem and throughout Palestine in general (“the Jewish country”), under the influence of the Jerusalem liturgical system, and in dispersion, outside the borders of Palestine, in connection with the synagogues. The great apostle of tongues always began his preaching work in the synagogue. The Jerusalem Church considers itself to be at the head of all the Jewish churches. The Jerusalem Church sends Barnabas to oversee the lives of the newly converted Christians of Antioch (Acts 11:22). Silas and Judas are sent on behalf of the Jerusalem community to Antioch to convey to her the definitions of the Jerusalem Church (Acts 15:22-32). The Christian community in Jerusalem conducts reasoning and makes a decision for all Judeo-Christian communities. Ap relation. Paul to the Jerusalem community, his return to Jerusalem, as if with a report after each missionary journey, his concerns for the Jerusalem community are well known. In view of the close connection of the Judeo-Christian communities with the Temple or the synagogue, they embarked on the path of complete independence much later than the linguistic-Christian communities, since the time of St. Paul, who began to develop a Christian type or way of structure and life (Compare in the esp. 1st Epistle to Cor.), of course, to a certain extent under the influence of Hellenism, of course, much less significant than the influence of Judaism on Judeo-Christian communities. Judeo-Christian communities after the destruction of Jerusalem (69-70). not only the Jerusalem community itself, which moved to Pella, but also all the Judeo-Christian communities associated with the synagogues, were faced with the need to completely take an independent path. For in the destruction of Jerusalem, for Christians, God's rejection of His people was clearly expressed. However, when deciding how much and how the original organization of the Christian Church was influenced by Judaism and how much by Hellenism or the old Roman traditions, it is difficult to say anything positive, firm, undoubted. For in the Jewish and Greek areas of religious life, elements and forms extremely similar to each other and even coinciding in names were encountered. Then, the Christian community creates, on its own initiative and will, some organizations, which, meanwhile, coincided with those available in Judaism or paganism. “Under such circumstances,” remarks Prof. Harnack (R.E. XX, 51) “it is often impossible to say with certainty where a given institution came from, whether it was formed (similarly) according to the Jewish or Greek type - or the eye is original. ”
The first Christian community in Jerusalem was ruled by the apostles (cf. Acts 2:42); then, as if to help them, 7 overseers are chosen at the tables, so that the apostles can stay " In prayer and ministry of the word” (Acts 6:1-6, cf. 4). However, this arrangement did not last long. After the 1st persecution of the Jerusalem Church, the Lord's brother James with a college of presbyters becomes its head (Acts 11:29-30; 15:2-6; 21:17), and then Simeon. As for the linguistic-Christian communities founded by St. Paul, then from the very beginning, even before the Apostolic Council, presbyters were ordained (Acts 16:23, cf. 20:17 esp. 28), and then bishops with deacons (cf. Phil. 1.1). Timothy and Titus in their epistles receive detailed instructions on how to govern the Church of God. Consequently, which was fully formed by the end of the 2nd century and then precisely expressed in certain terms, κληρος λαός - the difference between clergy and laity actually took place from the very beginning of Christian life (κληρος is found for the first time in Acts 1:17: “έλαχεν τον κληρον της δι ακονίας ταύτης ”- “you took the lot of sowing service.” Κληρος is actually that through which something is obtained, and then the most obtained, acquired - a part, a place, a position, finally, denotes a group of those who received a part or service. [The expression of Acts. 17:4 "προσεκληρώθησαν τω Παύλω" - "the netians... adhering to Paul" - does not matter for clarifying the meaning of the word. ρον αλλά τύποι γινόμενοι του ποιμνιου - not like possessing a parable, but form a flock” (1 Pet. 5:3) - the word κληρος is applied to the flock and corresponds to ποιμνιου, flock]; already Clement Romans has a saying 1, XI, 5: ς προστάγμασιν δέδεται a worldly person obeys worldly orders. The restriction of the word κληρος only to ecclesiastical additions took place only at the end of the 2nd century. Even in the epistle of the Gallic churches it reads: “ο κληρος των μαρτύρων” (Eus. C. I. V, 1). But shortly after 180, the distinction between "clergy and laity" begins to be terminologically established. Clement Alex, writes: “(Strom. III, 12) καν πρησβυύτερος, η καν διάκονος, καν λαϊκός - V, 6” Λαϊκη απιστία See Tertullian - De fuga XI, Debapt. XVII, Hippolytus at Euc. C. I. V, 28; phillos. IX, in Irenaeus I, 27; III, 3-2; III, 2-3, - λαϊκός is such (m.l. λαϊκός) because he is not chosen from the people. The Greek word κληρος corresponds to the Latin - ordo). Over time, this order became more complex, expanded, but in principle remained the same. We do not see attempts on him by the laity. The expression of St. Irenaeus: “omnes enim justi sacerdotalem habent ordinem” (Adv. haer. IV.20), can be understood in a moral sense: all the faithful (believers) have a priestly inheritance. In Tertullian - De exhort castitatis p. VII it is written: “Vani erimus, si putaverimus, quod sacerdotibus non liceat, lacis licere. Nonne et laci sacerdotes sumus?”
After all, it is strange to think that the laity is allowed what is not allowed to the priests. Are we laymen not priests? But this is written by Tertullian - the chronicler. When he was in the bosom of the Church, he himself condemned the heretics, mainly the Gnostics, for the disorder that they observed in the confusion of sacred and ecclesiastical offices (on prescriptions, p. 41).
