Behind Enemy Lines: Ottoman Empire, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Cyril Lucaris | Church History 128
Jul 24, 2026
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Peter's problem with the Russian Orthodox Church was one of who was in charge of Russia, thesar or the patriarch. Now, Peter professed the Christian faith. He quoted scripture. He chanted the liturgy by heart. He even occasionally sang in church choirs. But when patriarch Adrien died in 1700, Peter declined the election of the new patriarch. The post was left vacant for 20 years. Then in 1721, he replaced the patriarchate with a government committee, making the church in effect a department of the state. [00:17:27]
The arrangement was creative. These churches would acknowledge the pope in Rome as their supreme spiritual authority and embrace Catholic doctrine but they would keep the Byzantine lurggical tradition intact including the right of their clergy to marry. It was an attempt to build a bridge between the eastern and western churches by prescribing a form of the east while adopting the authority of the west. And of course, not everyone saw it as a bridge. They saw it as a reason to fight. [00:06:19]
The leader of the old believer resistance was a fiery arch priest named Avakam. He was one of the most remarkable figures in Russian religious history. He was exiled to Siberia, then recalled, exiled again, imprisoned for 14 years in an underground pit in the Arctic wilderness. And still he kept writing letters, sermons, and extraordinary autobiography, smuggled out to his followers across Russia. His was the pen that would not be silenced. [00:15:57]
The tragic irony is that the theological questions that Lucarus raised, the authority of scripture, uh the nature of justification, the role of the church in salvation, those things were never answered. They were simply suppressed. [00:10:59]
They weren't free to live however they pleased. There was a persistent low-grade hostility between Christians and their Turkish overlords punctuated by periods of intense opposition and sometimes outright persecution. The peace was always conditional on the Sultan's mood, on political winds, and how useful the Christians happened to be at that moment. [00:01:20]
Western European governments were for the most part indifferent to the plight of their Eastern Christian brothers living under the Ottoman yolk. They were far more anxious to maintain favorable trade relations with Constantinople. The rich commerce flowing between east and west, you know, things like spices and silk, dyes, precious metals, that was far too lucrative to risk over something as inconvenient as Christian solidarity. [00:03:09]
The scheming and double dealing that went on between the competing nations of Europe for Ottoman trade was a thing of legend. Sadly, it was a prime example of how the desire for wealth trumped deeper humanitarian obligations. A tendency that we should note humanity has entirely overcome in the modern era. I say with utter irony. [00:03:31]
The Senate of Jerusalem in 1672 was convened to repudiate everything that the confession that he was supposed to have written had taught and to draw sharp lines between Orthodoxy and Protestantism. The door that cracked open in Constantinople was nailed shut. [00:11:12]
For three centuries, uni Christians were the target of fierce persecution at Casak hands. During the brutal Casic Polish war of 1648-57, thousands of units were slaughtered. History has a habit of making those who try to stand in some kind of middle ground the first casualties of a conflict. [00:07:07]
But we have to say this was a seismic shift. For centuries, the Russian church had been an extension of and dependent on Constantinople. But now it stood as an equal. It was a moment of enormous significance, one that would shape Russian Orthodox identity for centuries and fuel the ambitions of the Zars who understood that religious prestige and political power are usually intertwined. [00:05:19]
It declared that scripture held authority superior to that of the church. Uh-oh. It taught that sinners are justified by faith alone through Christ's righteousness applied to the repentant believer, not by works, not by the church's sacraments. It rejected icons. accepted only two sacraments and embraced the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. [00:08:32]
From the eastern perspective, the West wasn't a rescuer. It was just another aggressor. That wound hadn't healed. Five centuries of theological estrangement and an ugly crusade caused Eastern Christians to be skeptical of any offers of Western assistance. And for its part, the West, they just stopped offering. [00:04:24]
The Ottomans were, by the standards of that era, of course, relatively pragmatic rulers of conquered peoples. Christians and Jews were organized into what the Turks called millets. Now, these were semi-aututonomous communities given a measure of autonomy and allowed to govern their own internal affairs. They were allowed to practice their own religion and maintain their own courts for matters of personal law. [00:00:42]
You know, we often hear about attempts to heal the breach between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Well, it's interesting to think that there might have been a union between Protestants and Eastern Orthodoxy if Lucarus' ideas had taken hold. [00:11:29]
As we wrap up this episode, I want to ask you to take note that as we survey the religious landscape of the 18th century, we're watching a process of fragmentation the Roman Catholic leadership had feared would happen the moment Luther posted his thesis. If people are free to read scripture for themselves and reach their own conclusions, or so the argument went, the church would shatter into a thousand pieces. They were wrong. [00:21:05]
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The arrangement was creative. These churches would acknowledge the pope in Rome as their supreme spiritual authority and embrace Catholic doctrine but they would keep the Byzantine lurggical tradition intact including the right of their clergy to marry. It was an attempt to build a bridge between the eastern and western churches by prescribing a form of the east while adopting the authority of the west. And of course, not everyone saw it as a bridge. They saw it as a reason to fight. [00:06:19]
The leader of the old believer resistance was a fiery arch priest named Avakam. He was one of the most remarkable figures in Russian religious history. He was exiled to Siberia, then recalled, exiled again, imprisoned for 14 years in an underground pit in the Arctic wilderness. And still he kept writing letters, sermons, and extraordinary autobiography, smuggled out to his followers across Russia. His was the pen that would not be silenced. [00:15:57]
The tragic irony is that the theological questions that Lucarus raised, the authority of scripture, uh the nature of justification, the role of the church in salvation, those things were never answered. They were simply suppressed. [00:10:59]
They weren't free to live however they pleased. There was a persistent low-grade hostility between Christians and their Turkish overlords punctuated by periods of intense opposition and sometimes outright persecution. The peace was always conditional on the Sultan's mood, on political winds, and how useful the Christians happened to be at that moment. [00:01:20]
Western European governments were for the most part indifferent to the plight of their Eastern Christian brothers living under the Ottoman yolk. They were far more anxious to maintain favorable trade relations with Constantinople. The rich commerce flowing between east and west, you know, things like spices and silk, dyes, precious metals, that was far too lucrative to risk over something as inconvenient as Christian solidarity. [00:03:09]
The scheming and double dealing that went on between the competing nations of Europe for Ottoman trade was a thing of legend. Sadly, it was a prime example of how the desire for wealth trumped deeper humanitarian obligations. A tendency that we should note humanity has entirely overcome in the modern era. I say with utter irony. [00:03:31]
The Senate of Jerusalem in 1672 was convened to repudiate everything that the confession that he was supposed to have written had taught and to draw sharp lines between Orthodoxy and Protestantism. The door that cracked open in Constantinople was nailed shut. [00:11:12]
For three centuries, uni Christians were the target of fierce persecution at Casak hands. During the brutal Casic Polish war of 1648-57, thousands of units were slaughtered. History has a habit of making those who try to stand in some kind of middle ground the first casualties of a conflict. [00:07:07]
But we have to say this was a seismic shift. For centuries, the Russian church had been an extension of and dependent on Constantinople. But now it stood as an equal. It was a moment of enormous significance, one that would shape Russian Orthodox identity for centuries and fuel the ambitions of the Zars who understood that religious prestige and political power are usually intertwined. [00:05:19]
It declared that scripture held authority superior to that of the church. Uh-oh. It taught that sinners are justified by faith alone through Christ's righteousness applied to the repentant believer, not by works, not by the church's sacraments. It rejected icons. accepted only two sacraments and embraced the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. [00:08:32]
From the eastern perspective, the West wasn't a rescuer. It was just another aggressor. That wound hadn't healed. Five centuries of theological estrangement and an ugly crusade caused Eastern Christians to be skeptical of any offers of Western assistance. And for its part, the West, they just stopped offering. [00:04:24]
The Ottomans were, by the standards of that era, of course, relatively pragmatic rulers of conquered peoples. Christians and Jews were organized into what the Turks called millets. Now, these were semi-aututonomous communities given a measure of autonomy and allowed to govern their own internal affairs. They were allowed to practice their own religion and maintain their own courts for matters of personal law. [00:00:42]
You know, we often hear about attempts to heal the breach between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Well, it's interesting to think that there might have been a union between Protestants and Eastern Orthodoxy if Lucarus' ideas had taken hold. [00:11:29]
As we wrap up this episode, I want to ask you to take note that as we survey the religious landscape of the 18th century, we're watching a process of fragmentation the Roman Catholic leadership had feared would happen the moment Luther posted his thesis. If people are free to read scripture for themselves and reach their own conclusions, or so the argument went, the church would shatter into a thousand pieces. They were wrong. [00:21:05]
David Guzik
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