Note 104 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
‘The Greek Church has had a fossilised aversion to change; boasting that it follows the doctrines and practices of the Apostolic Church, it believes that it has no need of reform.’ Eighteen Centuries of the Orthodox Greek Church, by Rev. A. H. Hore, p. 553 (Jas. Parker & Co.: London, 1899).
The expression ‘fossilised aversion’ is perhaps too strong, though I should be prepared to admit that the Eastern non possumus was at least as obstinate as the Western. The Orthodox Church in countries where it is free, as in Greece and Russia, shows signs of growth, and therefore hardly deserves the adjective ‘fossilised.’ Since 1453 in Turkey it has been comatose.