The Caroline Divines and the Orthodox Communion

The Seven Non-Juror Bishops of the Tower of London, Scottish National Trust, Glasgow, Scotland 

 By Bp. Joseph Boyd

Introduction

Anglo-Catholics often lament that the Caroline Divines did not return the British Church to the fullness of Holy Orthodoxy through an agreement with the Eastern Patriarchs under the Turkish yoke, as if the simmering wars of religion, foisted on the English people by belligerent Presbyterians and tyrannical Puritans, could have been somehow avoided by a more mild, Hellenic connection. Anglican scholars have written frequently on the ties between the two great civilizations during this time of tremendous political and religious upheaval, noting the similarities of theology and life that existed between Canterbury and Constantinople during the period, and the friendly relationships that blossomed in Oxford between Greek and English scholars in the 1670's during the cultural renaissance of the Restoration. A handful of scholars have shown that this affinity is not merely wishful thinking on the part of Orthodox-minded Englishmen, but, in actuality, a real intercommunion that budded during the time of the Caroline Divines and began to flower under the watchful care of the Non-Jurors, only to unfortunately wither in the 1720's due to an Orthodox Patriarch's secret conversion to Roman Catholicism and the death of one of Russia's most important Tsars. 

A Nascent Communion 

The Caroline Divines believed themselves to be a part of the ancient, catholic and orthodox Church in the West, and approached their own understanding of ecclesiology as if they were already in full communion with the East. It was also implied by Laud in his writings that such was the case in the East, and that intercommunion had already been achieved based on mutual recognition and doctrinal agreement between bishops. This was, indeed, the ancient definition of intercommunion, but would be completely insufficient in the Orthodox world today with the popular theory of intercommunion through synodal reception of an Ecumenical Council. This implied communion can be seen between Bl. Wm. Laud and the St. Pat. Cyril Lucaris in one of the only extant letters between the two heads of their respective Churches, which was recently found and published just two years ago. It shows a great affection, respect and friendship between the English and Greek Churches:

A Letter from William, Archbishop of Canterbury to Cyril Lucaris, Patriarch of Constantinople, AD 1636

To Cyrillus, most beloved of God and most pious, by the grace of God bishop of Constantinople, the New Rome, right honourable primate, ecumenical patriarch and benefactor to the community of the Church universal. This epistle... [we send] you gladly, to be an enduring memorial of gratitude, for so enormously great a service, and as proof of our eternal and sincere friendship and brotherly love, with an embrace in the holy kiss, and begging your pardon for the slow conveyance,

William, by the same grace archbishop of Canterbury, primate and metropolitan of the whole of England and chancellor of the University of Oxford. (Trans. Kenneth Finchman, The Further Correspondence of William Laud, Boydell and Brewer, London, England, Aug. 2020, pgs 136-137)

This mutual recognition is also found in Bl. Jeremy Taylor’s personal correspondence, which were collated in Taylor’s own lifetime, and not destroyed during the Interregnum, available in his “Collected Works of Jeremy Taylor” and quoted by Abba Seraphim in “Ex Oriente Lux.” Witness to this direct connection between the two churchmen is also attested by Oxford’s first Chair of Arabic, Edward Pococke, who was sent by Laud to St. Cyril and was present during the later’s martyrdom, saving his library from destruction only to have it sink in a Dutch ship at port in England. This evidence, along with Bl. Jeremy’s quotes, were used to support Overbeck’s reasoning behind a restored Western Orthodox Church in the report that he made to the Holy Synod of the Russian Patriarchate in the 1880’s, showing that his proposal was actually restoring the original vision of Anglicanism and was not an innovation.

St. Cyril Lucaris, Martyr 

Bl. William Laud, Martyr 

Intercommunion is also found in the letters of Bl. John Cosin’s personal correspondence of 1637, outlining his studies of the Liturgy of St. James with Orthodox Bishops and Priests in Paris, France. As an Anglican Bishop, Bl. John took communion from the hand of Abp. Cyril of Trebizond, then the Greek Orthodox Archbishop in France serving the Turkish Embassy. Later, an acknowledgement of this intercommunion between the English and the Greeks is found in a letter from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, signed by Abp. Joseph of Georgirenes to the Anglican Bishop of Oxford in 1677, officially founding the “Greek College” at Oxford with the blessings of the Patriarch of Constantinople. 

Judith Pennington in her masterful work, “Anglicans and Orthodox”, writes that the Non-Juror Bishops Rose, Campbell, Collier and Spincks negotiated a concordat of communion with the Greeks in 1717, which was later repudiated in 1722 by Pat. Samuel Capasoulis of Alexandria, who was the secretary of the Ecumenical Throne and who had secretly converted to Catholicism through the work of the Jesuits. It was in Roman interests to see that the Anglican Non-Jurors and the Orthodox East remained permanently separated. 

The Concordat Between the Orthodox and the Nonjurors

1. The Non-Jurors accept the Creed of Nicaea and Constantinople. They repudiate the teachings and creed of Pius IV and the 12 additional articles imposed by Rome.
2. They affirm the consubstantiality of the Holy Trinity, and that God the Father is the source and ground of the Godhead.
3. The procession of the Holy Spirit is understood as "from the Father, sent by the Son", as in Scripture.
4. The Scriptures are inspired and preserved by the Holy Spirit within the Orthodox Church.
5. The Holy Spirit is present and leads the bishops into His truth during an Ecumenical Council, which is ratified by the acceptance of particular Councils and Synods around the world.
6. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, their nature, number, and place within the Church are all agreed upon in conformity to the teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church. 
7. Christ is the foundation of the Church. The authority of other leaders within the Church is derived from Christ. Bishops have a representative and pastoral headship. The Non-Jurors declare that they hold the Apostolic Church of England in independence of secular authority, as a charge given by God.
8. Every baptized Christian is expected to submit to the rightful authority of the Church. Therefore, the Church must keep and maintain the right to discipline its members for the protection of the flock and the maintenance of true religion and virtue. 
9. The Holy Eucharist must always be taken in two kinds, Body and Blood, and not separated as the Romans have erroneously practiced. 
10. Baptism and the Holy Eucharist necessary for salvation. The other sacraments are to be celebrated with reverence and Orthodox use.
11. Purgatory is repudiated as a Roman innovation and intercession for souls in Purgatory condemned, but the intermediate state of the soul awaiting judgment is affirmed.
12. Jerusalem is the spiritual center of Orthodox Christendom and is given a primacy of honor. 
13. The Non-Jurors desire to have Jerusalem as the See to which they make all final appeals. 
14. The Pentarchy is recognized as the original Orthodox Church, with which the Non-Jurors consider themselves in communion. 
15. Constantinople is the Second Rome and is now equal to Rome since the Latin Church left Orthodoxy.
16. The Orthodox British Church, the Non-Jurors, claims direct descent from Jerusalem in ancient times through the founding of St. Joseph of Arimathea. 
17. The Churches canons on Church Discipline, Rule, and Order are all affirmed and accepted by the British Church.
18. The Non-Jurors seek conformity to the ancient liturgical tradition in its native English variants. 
19. The Ancient Liturgy of St. James in its Scottish Non-Juror translation is submitted to the Eastern Synods for ratification.
20. The Non-Juring Fathers commit to use the Homilies of St. John Chrysostom and other Fathers as a model for their preaching and teaching. 
21. The Non-Jurors pray for the Hierarchs of the Eastern Churches in their Liturgies. 
22. The Non-Jurors ask the Orthodox Churches in the East to pray for them and all their faithful.
23. Finally, a mechanism for maintaining good communication between the bishops is proposed. 

(This concordat was reconstructed by the author from the works of Judith Pennington, H. W. Langford, Jean-Baptiste Martin, Louis Petit, and George Williams. Although the original concordat does not survive and is mainly quoted in unreliable ways by enemies of the Non-Jurors, enough of its features are mirrored in all of the sources that a fairly accurate picture of its contents begins to emerge.)

Abp. Feofan Prokopovich, Architect of a Post-Patriarchal Russian Orthodox Church 

The Non-Juror’s concordat of communion was then taken to Russia, where it received favorable treatment by Abp. Feofan Prokopovich, author of “Truth about the Monarch’s Will” and the “Spiritual Regulation,” and who would later become famous for instituting Peter the Great’s wide-sweeping ecclesial reforms. The Russians ultimately deemed themselves unable to properly receive the Non-Jurors, since they no longer had a Patriarchate, Constantinople was compromised, and their Tsar had just died. After this, the Non-Juror’s Concordat lapsed into oblivion. 

Bp. Thomas Deacon, Nonjuring Scholar and Historian

Bp. Thomas Deacon wrote of these unfortunate events in the 1740’s in personal correspondence, his "A Full True and Comprehensive History of Christianity", and in "The Compleat Collection of Devotions" (which was also printed as "The Prayerbook for the Orthodox British Church"). It is clear from these writings that, based upon a previous understanding and respect that the East had with the Caroline Divines, the Orthodox had been inclined to help the Non-Jurors, but with their own house being out of order, and the aggressions of Post-Restoration Protestant Bishops (especially Archbishop Wake’s letters to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, denouncing the Non-Jurors as illegal and invalid), the Holy Synod of Constantinople lost all interest in the project. Bp. Deacon faithfully transcribed and published the English version of the Liturgy of St. James, which the Blessed Jeremy Taylor and John Cosin had translated and edited, tried to pass on the vision of a fully Orthodox Western Church in England and Scotland to young clergymen through his writings; and, with the help of another Non-Juror, Fr. William Law, discipled the spirituality of a young man interested in Greek Patristics - The Rev. John Wesley.

The Rev. John Wesley, Anglican Priest, Popularizer of Greek Theology in the West