Synod of Jerusalem (1672) - Refutation of Calvinism

Refutation of Calvinism

The Synod refuted the Confession of Lucaris article by article, seeking to put an end to the Calvinists' theses of unconditional predestination and of justification by faith alone, and to reassert traditional Orthodox doctrines about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the fate of the soul after death, which some commentators have regarded as substantially the same as the Roman Catholic views of transubstantiation and personal eschatology.

Against both the Roman Catholic Church and most Protestants, the Synod affirmed that the Holy Ghost proceeds from God the Father alone and not from both Father and Son. This rejection of the Filioque clause was not unwelcome to the Turks, though it does not mean that the decisions were made under political pressure from the Ottoman Empire. Protestant writers say that the eastern hostility to Calvinism had been fanned by the Jesuits.

In the Synod's decrees, called the Confession of Dositheus, it reaffirmed existing Orthodox beliefs incompatible with Calvinist doctrines, restating that apostolic succession of bishops is necessary, that good works done with faith are required for salvation, that there are seven sacraments, that the Eucharist is both sacrament and sacrifice, offered for the dead as well as for the living.

The Synod refused to believe that the heretical confession it refuted was actually by a former patriarch of Constantinople, contending that the Confession of Cyril was a forgery.

In their correspondence with the 18th-century Non-Juror Anglican bishops, the Eastern Patriarchs insisted on acceptance of the Synod's teaching on transubstantiation.