“Those who repulse the Spirit from themselves do not, of course, have this power”: some considerations on the issue of confession in the early and middle Byzantine periods

In this article the existence of a special attitude towards confession in the early and middle Byzantine period is argued. It’s framework presumed that the requirements to the person hearing someone’s confession consisted not in his hierarchical degree, but in his spiritual authority. Following evidences are analyzed: that of St. Isidore of Pelusium (5th century) stating that an unworthy priest can perform the Eucharist and Baptism, but cannot hear confession and give absolution is being analyzed; that of St. Anastasius of Sinai (VII-VIII century) about confessing to a “spiritual men” or directly to God; that of Pseudo-Anastasius (IX century), who showed a significant evolution of the idea, but not a break with the tradition of the latter; that of St. Simeon the New Theologian (X-XI century); that of Peter Chartophylax (XII-XIII century), who incorporated the text of Anastasius into his questions and answers; that of his entourage (patr. Nicholas Grammaticus, Nikephoros Chartophylax), which also attests the existence of such a practice during the Komnenoi. The article examines the scope of the concept of “spiritual men” in relation to confession and shows that in most cases it meant spiritually experienced monks, who rather not belong to clergy. At the same time, the observation is made that this logic was not in itself anticlerical, and its bearers respected the clergy or were even its representatives. The traces of a conflict between the clergy and monasticism based on confession issues are not detected. Additionally, the historical evidence testifies to the validity of the speculation of pre-revolutionary researchers of this issue N.S. Suvorov and S.I. Smirnov, rather than the position of their opponents A.S. Pavlov and N.A. Zaozersky.