mosaic of
John Chrysostom (
Hagia Sophia) – The controversy of 1156–1157 was about the interpretation of John's liturgy for the
Eucharist, "Thou art He who offers and is offered and receives". In the end, a
synod held at Constantinople in 1157 adopted a compromise formula, that
the Word made flesh offered a double sacrifice to the
Holy Trinity, despite the dissidence of Patriarch of Antioch-elect Soterichus Panteugenus. During his term the theological issue of the relation between
the Son and
the Father in the Holy Trinity first appeared. The issue was created due to the explanation that one Demetrius of
Lampi (in
Phrygia) gave to the phrase of the
Gospel of John , which means
my Father is bigger than me (John, XIV.29), Chrysoberges, at the behest of the Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos, convened several meetings of the synod in 1166 to solve the problem, which condemned as heretical the explanations of Demetrius and the laity that followed him. Those who refused to submit to the synod's decisions had their property confiscated or were exiled. The political dimensions of this controversy are apparent from the fact that a leading dissenter from the Emperor's doctrine was his nephew Alexios Kontostephanos. Other heresies continued to flourish in Byzantine possessions in Europe, including
Bogomils,
Paulicians, and
Monophysites which Luke and his successors had difficulty in suppressing. Luke was also involved in a process of the Church trying to extract itself from too close an association with the secular life of the state. In 1115, the patriarch
John IX of Constantinople had sought to prevent clerics acting as advocates in lay courts. In December 1157, Luke extended this prohibition to all "worldly" occupations. In a still-extant cannon, he wrote: "We have observed that some of those enrolled in the clergy have uncanonically involved themselves in worldly affairs. Some have taken on posts as curators or overseers of aristocratic houses and estates; others have undertaken the collection of public taxes... others have accepted dignities and magistracies assigned to the civil establishment... we enjoin such people to desist from now on from all the aforesaid occupations, and to devote themselves to ecclesiastical exigencies..." Such a separation of church and state was key to preserve the church from undue secular influence over matters it considered strictly clerical. This was especially key at the time as the rule of the Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos was noted for its autocratic style and
caesaropapism, and though
idiosyncratic, generally made the patriarchate subservient directly to the needs of the state. == Notes and references ==