Byzantine Symphonia

In Eastern Orthodox Christian nations, the relationship between church and state is characterized by the system of harmonic symphony, a doctrine stemming from the Byzantine times. The idea behind this concept is that the temporal (profane) and divine (sacred) powers should and need to work together in harmony with the end result that the contemporary ties between religion and nation are much more pronounced and organic in the Orthodox tradition than in the West (Byrnes 2006). As John Meyendorff states, ‘the great dream of Byzantine civilization was a universal Christian society, administered by the emperor and spiritually guided by the Church’(Meyendorff 1979). According to this vision, the empire was considered the kingdom which would last

This article will also review the ways and means that symphonia or harmony have evolved over times and expressed itself in different incarnations starting from the Byzantine times all the way to the millet system of the Ottoman Empire and to the contemporary state-church relations in Orthodox countries and societies. The legacy of the symphonia survives in the countries even though the modern political and cultural systems have also undergone to a large extent the process of secularism. The symphonic harmony between the religious and the secular in Orthodox countries is reflected in many privileged and hegemonic partnerships between the church and state and in the ways public administration had developed and established

Gregory Nyssa (335–395), one of the Cappadocian Fathers and Bishop of Nyssa expressed the classical understanding of the symphonia in the belief that if the emperor followed the will of God and the people had faith as well, then God would bless the affairs of the empire and its subjects with his safe keeping. A symphonia of earth and heaven would result, especially seen in the protection of the Christian empire from its enemies. This reflects the belief based on the biblical idea of God’s protection of his covenant people (McGuckin 2003).

John Chrysostom (349–407), Archbishop of Constantinople and early Church Father also tried to describe symphonia in terms of a clear delineation between the proper roles of church and state. He regularly uses the example of the King Osias who was afflicted with leprosy for his impertinence in offering priestly incense to God. He succinctly describes the two limits in his Oration to the