Alexander Schmemann

4. Byzantium (22 pages)

From Schmemann's A History of the Orthodox Church

Page 12

Late Byzantine Theocracy — The Church’s Version.

The theocratic conception of the Byzantine Church is expounded best of all in the Epanagoge, an introduction to the code of laws published at the close of the ninth century by Emperor Basil I the Macedonian, which was to remain until the end of the empire the fundamental law on relations between Church and state. A comparison with Justinian’s ideas shows the change that had taken place in the state’s understanding of itself.
The Epanagoge also has as its starting point the parallel position of emperor and patriarch — ”the most exalted and the most necessary members of the realm” — and the obligations of each are defined.

The task of the Emperor is to safeguard and secure the strength of the nation by good governance, to restore this strength when it is impaired through watchful care, and to obtain new strength by wisdom and by just ways and deeds. The aim of the Patriarch is first of all this — that he is to preserve in piety and purity of life those people whom he has received from God; . . . he must, where there is opportunity, convert all heretics to Orthodoxy and the unity of the Church . . . further, he must lead unbelievers into adopting the faith, astounding them with the splendor and the glory and the wondrousness of his own devotion . . . The Emperor must perform beneficial acts, wherefore he is also called benefactor . . . The aim of the Patriarch is the salvation of the souls entrusted to him; he must live by Christ and strive wholeheartedly for peace . . . The Emperor must be of the highest perfection in Orthodoxy and piety . . . versed in the dogmas concerning the Holy Trinity and in the definitions concerning salvation through the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . It is natural for the Patriarch to be a teacher and to treat high and low alike without restraint . . . and to speak of the truthfulness and safeguarding of dogmas before the face of the Emperor without confusion . . .
The Patriarch alone must interpret the maxims of the ancients, the definitions of the Holy Fathers, and the statutes of the Holy Councils . . . It is for the Emperor also to support, first, all that is written in Holy Scripture, then all dogmas established by the seven Holy Councils, and also selected Roman laws.[25]

 

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Reference address : https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/schmemann-orthodoxy-4-byzantium.asp?pg=12