Not many days ago, I received a letter from a friend in Syria, in which amongst other things he informs me of the wonderful fact that the son of a Mufti had just been converted from Mahommedanism to the doctrines of the Orthodox Church, notwithstanding this law, and that he had been received into the bosom of the Church at Syra, in Greece, in order to prevent the fact from becoming known to the fanatic.
The gentleman, who has just given so striking an illustration of the power of truth, is a scholar of some repute, a man of more than average intellectual powers, and naturally of an inquiring turn of mind. Dissatisfied with the faith of his fathers, he quietly made himself acquainted with the doctrines of the leading Christian churches in the East; and after a searching investigation into their relative merits, after lengthened arguments with several priests of both churches, and after a close study of the holy Scriptures, he finally resolved upon renouncing his allegiance to the Prophet, and upon joining a church which accepts the mediation of the Saviour.
His mind once made up, he immediately announced his desire to be received into the bosom of the Orthodox Eastern Church to the priest in his own neighbourhood, who, however, declined to receive so distinguished a convert, from fear of incurring persecution, and perhaps of bringing the obnoxious law into fresh operation. Nothing daunted by this refusal, the conviction of the necessity of his reception into a Christian church having taken so deep a root in
his mind, he at once endeavoured to succeed in other places.
With this object in view, he wandered from town to town, traversing nearly all Syria in search of a priest, who would dare to hear his recantation of Mahommedanism, and to receive his profession of faith in our Lord; but all was in vain. Wherever he went he was met by a refusal, on the same grounds as had been assigned by the priest to whom he had at first applied. Eventually he was under the necessity of leaving his wife, his family, and his property, to the care of Providence, while he proceeded to Syra, in Greece, where he happily encountered no further obstacle to the attainment of his heart’s desire. Many centuries, I believe, have elapsed since any instance occurred of this severe law being enforced. He is now settled in Constantinople, without suffering any molestation on this account.
How great, therefore, the claims of the Orthodox Eastern Church upon, and how close its affinity to, the Protestant Churches of Western Europe! Oppressed by its rulers, neglected by its brethren in the faith, suffering under the general impoverishment of the country, maligned by many who upon a closer investigation would have declared themselves its warmest friends, the Orthodox Eastern Church, the “Thistle of Lebanon,” still stands forth a monument of the enduring force of truth and faith. It is not easy to make an accurate computation of the numbers of its adherents, since, like those of every other church in the East, they are not concentrated in any one district, but are scattered over the whole of Syria, living chiefly, however, in the plains. Next to the Mahommedans, they are the most numerous, and I should say, including the
Holy Land, that in round numbers they may safely be estimated at more than three hundred thousand.
At the head of the Orthodox Eastern Church are four patriarchs; one at Constantinople, one at Jerusalem, one at Cairo, and one at Damascus. The latter are in some degree subordinate to the first; but their relations are ill defined, the power of the chief patriarch being in a great measure nominal. Whenever a bishop is appointed by one of the patriarchs in Syria or Egypt, the intervention of the patriarch in Constantinople is appealed to, to procure the sanction of the Turkish government. This sanction, I may mention, has never been withheld by the successive sultans—a degree of toleration hardly to have been expected from the fanatical followers of Mahommed.
The patriarch in Damascus is called Patriarch of Antioch, the patriarchal see having remained in Antioch until that city was destroyed by earthquakes and revolutions. Each patriarch can, within his own province, suspend members of the priesthood, though they should have attained the dignity of bishop; but cases of this kind occur very rarely indeed. Considering the number of its adherents, this church cannot be said to be wealthy. It is true that it has great landed possessions; but they are most inefficiently managed, so that its chief sources of revenue are collections made in the church during the service; the fees paid for marriages and burials, and for reading prayers with the sick, and for visits which the priests make every month to the several houses, sprinkling the apartments with holy water, in order to drive out any evil spirit that may have taken up his abode there. No one thinks of inhabiting a new house, or one whose last occupier
was a heretic, without this ceremony being performed. These, however, are all voluntary payments.