Ryan
27-09-2006, 08:50 PM
In a number of places, such as John Karmiris Synopsis of the Dogmatic Theology of the Orthodox-Catholic Church and Bishop Ware's The Orthodox Church I have encountered lists of "symbolical books" (which are not symbolic in the strict sense) which have been composed by local councils, usually in response to Papist or Protestant claims. At the end of the list are the Patriarchal encyclicals of the 20th century pertaining to the ecumenical movement. Does listing these books indicate some kind of general agreement with them, or are they simply listed as official statements of the church hierarchy, irrespective of their doctrinal content?