ISTORIA DIALOGULUI TEOLOGIC DINTRE ANGLICANII NONJURORI SI BISERICA RĂSĂRITEANĂ (1716-1725)
THE HISTORY OF THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN NONJUROR ANGLICANS AND THE EASTERN CHURCH (1716-1725)

Summary/Abstract: The dialogue initiated by the Nonjuror Anglican theologians, envisaging an ecclesiastical union with the Orthodox East, is an enthralling research topic as it involves not only theological considerations – as it appears at first sight –, but also entails matters of political diplomacy. Engaging tsar Peter I in the discussions with the Eastern patriarchs provided the political support that allowed this dialogue to continue even when theological divergences seemed insuperable. Thorough analysis of each document, as well as working hypotheses cautiously put forth, have resulted in a new chronological arrangement of the context of this theological dialogue, so far insufficiently investigated. This approach has also produced a revision of the information presented by well known scholars (Steven Runciman, Chrysostomos Papadopoulos). The four dogmatic documents (two formulated by the Nonjuror Anglicans, and two signed by the Eastern patriarchs) demonstrate, on the one hand, the openness toward dialogue of the British theologians, and on the other hand, the unconditional stance taken by the Orthodox against the slight errors present in the 17th-century confessions of faith. The text authored by patriarch Dositheos II Notaras and attached to the second answer addressed to the Nonjuror theologians, is the only one containing reference to the perpetuation of these errors. The direct meeting of the representatives of British Anglicanism and those of the Russian Orthodox Church, scheduled for the summer of 1725 at Sankt Petersburg or Moscow, would have been an exceptional event. Such a theological debate, totally freed from the constraints posed by the two parties’ different interpretation of certain written phrases, could have overcome the deadlock caused by their dogmatic conversation. However, this debate never took place, as one of its major supporters, tsar Peter I, had died a few months earlier, and the entire correspondence lost interest for the Orthodox party. Moreover, although in Constantinople were spread some rumors about the canonical status of the Nonjuror Anglicans, dissenters from the Church of England, this status has been confirmed in the fall of 1725, which contributed to the ex abrupto cessation of dialogue. The Anglicans’ attraction to the Orthodox East became obvious as early as the 16th century, and continued into the 20th century, when the Ecumenical Patriarchate, supported by several autocephalous Orthodox Churches, acknowledged the validity of Anglican ordination. This attraction was not simply based on the Eastern fascination, although one cannot dismiss this topic, either.

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