Antwort auf die Fragen von A.M. Ritter nebst einigen weiteren Anmerkungen

Abstract

In response to A.M. Ritter the influence of the Byzantine emperor upon the church is stressed: It is the emperor who appoints and dismisses the patriarchs, convokes synods and takes responsibility even for dogmatic decisions. In the later time, pentarchy, however, is nothing but an idea. Against Ohme a immediate reception of the Seventh Ecumenical Council in the Latin West should be doubted, for nearly 700 years the council was quite unknown to the West. Finally, we should take into account that the proceeding of the councils are rather different as nowadays - and, of course, this should be assumed even for the use of testimonies of the fathers.