Synod of Jerusalem
Convened under Patriarch Dositheus of Jerusalem, the synod answered Calvinizing propositions in the confession attributed to Cyril Lucaris and issued the Confession of Dositheus on Scripture, the Church, grace, and the mysteries.
Historical context
The decrees belong to seventeenth-century Orthodox engagement with Protestant and Roman Catholic polemics. Their terminology should be read in that setting rather than treated as an exhaustive statement of every later Orthodox formulation.
Reception
No ecumenical authority in Oriental Orthodoxy is assigned here. Read the named witnesses and differences in reception.
Perspective note
Comparative historical/source study. The original author's or church's reception is retained; inclusion does not make every claim Oriental Orthodox teaching. Historical documents retain their original claims. The reception label follows the selected church perspective; library access does not imply assent.
Key points
- The synod's eighteen decrees answer corresponding articles in the confession attributed to Lucaris.
- The decrees address biblical authority, grace and free will, the Church, and the mysteries.
- Jerusalem 1672 is a major local synod, not one of the seven ecumenical councils.
Scripture
- 2 Timothy 3:16–17 — Paul describes Scripture as God-breathed and useful for teaching and formation.
- 1 Timothy 3:15 — The Church is called the pillar and ground of the truth.
Primary sources
The synod confesses:
Decree II begins its account of authority by affirming that the Scriptures are God-taught.
We believe the Divine and Sacred Scriptures to be God-taught; and, therefore, we ought to believe the same without doubting
Passage context and translation
Decree II answers a dispute about Scripture and ecclesial interpretation; the excerpt opens the decree's positive account before its polemical application.
After the excerpt
yet not otherwise than as the Catholic Church hath interpreted and delivered the same
Sources and further reading
- Dositheus II and the Synod of Jerusalem — Confession of Dositheus
Decree II - The Acts and Decrees of the Synod of Jerusalem (English translation, 1899)
- Reception: Eastern-Oriental Orthodox Joint Commission · Second Agreed Statement
Joint commission agreement. Section 8 explicitly distinguishes the families' reception of later councils; section 10 submits recommendations to churches for action. - Reception: Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church · Encyclical
A 2016 Orthodox conciliar reception witness naming 1341, 1351 and 1368; not the original definition of each meeting.