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named various temporary administrators till his scheme should be ready. "First the Metropolitan of Sary, then the Metropolitan of Ryazan administered the patriarchatedurinj; tliis period of twenty-one years. Peter did not allow either of tliem to make any new laws or take any steps of importance. Meanwhile he himself reorganized the Church, like his army and his government, on a German model. He abohshed many monasteries, brought the control of all ecclesiastical property under the State, modified the atlministration of dioceses, appointed, deposed, and transferred Ijishops as he liked. At last on 25 Jan., 1721, the ukase ap- peared, abolishing the patriarchate and establishing a Most Holy Directing Synod in its. place. The idea of this synod (obviously a quite different thing from the traditional synods that met at intervals to examine some special question), like most of Peter's reforms, came from Germany. Luther had proposed com- missions of pastors and lajTnen to be sent by the head of the State (the Elector of Saxony in the first instance, 1527) to hold visitations of districts in the interest of the sect. Out of these commissions grew the Consistories. They are meant to take the place of bishops and to have episcopal authority, as far as such a thing is possible in Lutheranism. They judge "all cases which belonged to ecclesiastical jurisdic- tion of old" (Richter, " Gesch. der evangel. Kirchen- verfassung", p. S2), can excommunicate, and could in the eighteenth century punish by torture, fines, and prison. They are appointed by the secular govern- ment, have a state official, the " Kommissarius" or procurator, at their head, with a notary, and consist of superintendents, pastors, theologians, and lawyers, all appointed by the Government. The Russian Holy Synod is an exact copy of this. Its object was to bring the Church into absolute dependence on the State. Under this synod the Russian Church is cer- tainly the most Erastian religious body in the world. As soon as he had established the synod, Peter wrote to Jeremias III of Constantinople announcing its erec- tion, demanding his recognition of it, and that it should be recognized equally by the other patriarchs. Jere- mias made no difficulty. In 1723 he published an encyclical declaring that the Russian Synod "is and is named our brother in Christ, a holy and sacred Council. It has authority to examine and determine questions equally with the four apostolic holy Patri- archs. We remind and exhort it to respect and follow the laws and customs of the seven holy General Coun- cils and all other things that the Eastern Church observes" (Silbemagl, p. 102). So the principle of a Holy Directing Synod was accepted by the Orthodox Church. It was to take the place of a patriarch and to have patriarchal authority. Such was not, how-ever, the tsar's idea. When the Russian Inshops petitioned him to restore the Patriarchate of Moscow he struck his breast and exclaimed: " Here is your Patriarch" (Kattenbusch, p. 190, note). Nor has any Holy SjTiod in Russia ever been allowed any sort of inde- pendent authority over the Church. The synod is always the agent of the State's power.

II.' The Russi.\n Holy Synod. — This is the model of the others. The ukase of 1721 is still the law de- termining its rights and duties. An examination of this will show how radically Erastian the whole ar- rangement is. The ukase begins by explaining what the sj-nod is and giving the reasons for its establish- ment. The government of many is better than that of one; moreover, if the Church has one head it is difficult for the State to control it. Countless abuses in the Russian Church have made tliis reform not only desirable but absolutely necessary. The second part of the ukase describes what causes are subject to the jurisdiction of the synod. The general ones are that It has to see that all things in Russia take place accord- ing to the law- of Christ, to put dowTi whatever is con- trary to that law, and to watch over the education of

the people. The special categories subject to the .■^ynod are five: (1) bishops; (2) priests, deacons, and all the clergy; (3) monasteries and convents; (4) schools, masters, students, and also all preachers; (5) the laity inasmuch as they are affected by churcli law (questions of marriage, etc.). The third part of the document describes the duties, rights, and methods of the synod (Gondal, "L'Eglise russe", p. 42; Katten- busch, p. 191). The synod meets at Petersburg. Its members are partly ecclesiastical persons, partly laymen. All are appointed by the tsar. Originally there were to be twelve ecclesiastical members; but this number has been constantly changed at the tsar's pleasure. A ukase of 1763 determined that there should be at least six ecclesiastical memljers. The Metropolitans of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, and the Exarch of Georgia are always members (the.se per- sons, as all bishops, areappointed by the Government); one or two other archbishops, a titular metropolitan, the tsar's confessor, the head chaplain of the army and navy, and some other bishops make up the number. Bishops who have dioceses may only attend the meet- ings of the synod for half the year. During the other half they must return to their sees. The lay members consist of the procurator (Oberprocuror) and a number of commissioners. The eldest metropolitan present is chairman but has no more authority than any other bishop. In spite of the protests of Russian theolo- gians it is evident that the real head of the synotl is the procurator. He is always a layman, generally an officer in the army. He sits as representing the Gov- ernment, and must be present at all meetings. The procurator has to prepare and examine beforehand all questions to be discussed; he can quash any proceed- ings at once, can forbid any law to be passed till he has consulted his — and the .synod's — imperial masterabout it. lie is a.ssisted in his work by a chief secretary, an "executor", two secretaries, and other officials, all of cour.se lajTnen like himself. So obvious is it that the procurator is really the hea<l of the synod that Rus- sians themselves (except the theologians who write to defend their Church from the charge of Erastianism) are quite conscious of it. When Mr. Palmer was in Russia it was a common joke to point to the procura- tor in his officer's uniform and say: "That is our patriarch" (Palmer, "Visit to the Russian Church", 1.S95, pp. 48, 73, 221). Every member of the Holy Synod before taking his place in it has to swear this oath: "I swear by the Almighty and by His holy Go.spel that I will do my duty in all assemblies, de- cisions and discussions of the Spiritual law-giving Synod, that I will seek only truth and justice, that I will act according to mv conscience without respect of persons, according to tlie laws of the Synod approved by his Imperial Majesty. I swear liy the living God tliat I will undertake all business of the law-giving Synod with zeal and care. I promise as servant and suliject fidelity and obedience to my true and natural master the Tsar and Emperor of all Russia and his illustrious successors, and to those whom he may ap- point by virtue of his undoubted right in this matter. / acknowledge him as supreme judge in this spiritual assembly. I swear by the all-knowing God that I understand this oath according to the full force and meaning which the words have to all who read or hear them" (Silbernagl, op. cit., pp. 104-105).

Of the Erastian nature of the Ru.ssian Holy Synod, then, it would seem that there can be no doubt; and since the whole Church of Russia, every bishop, mon- astery, and school, is submitted absolutely and with- out appeal to the synod, it is not unjust to describe it as the most Erastian religious body in the world. This statement, however, much offends many modern Russian theologians. A centurj- or so ago they ac- cepted the tyranny of the tsar over Church as well as over State as a matter of course; nor did they seem to be much distressed by it. Now, contact with Western