On some features of Theodore Abu Qurrah’s ecclesiology

Abstract

Тhis article examines the ecclesiological views of the Melkite theologian Theodore Abu Qurra, namely his doctrine of church councils and the special role of bishops of Rome in the life of the church. The author of the article raises the question about the sources of Theodore’s doctrine of the special authority of the bishops of Rome and of the reasons for his interest in this subject. Abu Qurra tried to show that the ecumenical councils are the only way to discover the truth; this way was established by Scripture itself and, moreover, it reveals the true meaning of Scripture. In order to support this view, Theodore needed to neutralise the argument directed against the validity of the ecumenical councils. This argument was used by both Muslims and the non-Orthodox, who claimed that the councils were a phenomenon in the political life of Byzantium and therefore their statutes have no religious authority. In this situation, the doctrine of the Roman bishops as successors of Apostle Peter who received special powers from Christ himself, have the exclusive right to convene ecumenical councils, are endowed with the charisma to preserve intact the truth formulated by the councils and teach the faith to their fellow-bishops, appeared to be convincing enough to demonstrate that the ecumenical councils were under an external religious jurisdiction independent of the authority of emperors and affi rmed by Scripture itself.

Keywords

• Christian Arabs
• Melkits
• ecclesiology
• primacy
• ecumenical councils
• bishops of Rome