What do you think?
Rate this book
Protestant Patriarch: The Life Of Cyril Lucaris, 1572-1638, Patriarch Of Constantinople
***The Sawyer Compendium takes care of it's customers.***
160 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1961
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 14, 2017
A great adventure involving Turkish Sultans, scheming Jesuits, a corrupt Pope; but faithful Protestant Dutch and English diplomats and clergy, centring on the life of Cyril Lucaris, Patriarch of Constantinople , exponent of calvinistic theology, and eventual martyr.
December 5, 2019
The book is informative about life and time of Patriarch Cyril, but biased in evaluating his friends and enemies
October 30, 2014
This is an excellent book on one of the wild cards of Church history. Cyril Lucaris was a Patriarch of Constantinople who held to Calvinist doctrines. He rejected the invocation of the saints, derided Transubstantiation and sought a simplified worship. Only in his views on baptism would he be regarded as suspect by evangelicals. His efforts were noble, leading to a better educated Orthodox clergy and many theological works and the New Testament itself being translated into modern Greek.
As the previous reviewer noted, this book has a wonderful narrative flow. The French politicos and Catholic schemers are depicted as villains while the Protestants and Cyril himself are portrayed positively (readers must remember that Cyril's life and reign took place within the midst of the Counter-Reformation, which led Rome to be particularly heavy-handed as they sought to solidify their influence and exert influence in regions that were not under Catholic control) . What is fascinating is Cyril's correspondence with figures such as the Archbishop of Canterbury and, interestingly for me, Uytenbogaert, a friend of Jacob Arminius and leader of the Remonstrants (further, Hugo Grotius, an Arminian himself, criticized Cyril's theological beliefs as being motivated by political aims; that Cyril was both praised and rebuked by Arminians is fascinating to me). One of Cyril's pupils, Nathaniel Conopius, later studies in England and he was the one who introduced and popularized coffee in that country.
As the previous reviewer noted, this book has a wonderful narrative flow. The French politicos and Catholic schemers are depicted as villains while the Protestants and Cyril himself are portrayed positively (readers must remember that Cyril's life and reign took place within the midst of the Counter-Reformation, which led Rome to be particularly heavy-handed as they sought to solidify their influence and exert influence in regions that were not under Catholic control) . What is fascinating is Cyril's correspondence with figures such as the Archbishop of Canterbury and, interestingly for me, Uytenbogaert, a friend of Jacob Arminius and leader of the Remonstrants (further, Hugo Grotius, an Arminian himself, criticized Cyril's theological beliefs as being motivated by political aims; that Cyril was both praised and rebuked by Arminians is fascinating to me). One of Cyril's pupils, Nathaniel Conopius, later studies in England and he was the one who introduced and popularized coffee in that country.
May 16, 2020
I finished it a few hours ago. It's brilliance lies in it's description of Roman, Jesuit, French, and HRE antics in trying to convince Constantinople to enter union with Rome, and the author admittedly portrays it in an entertaining, nearly comical way. I am not sure how accurate it is.
As a biography of a saint, it is absolute insanity. It asserts that none of the Protestant affirmations of teachings are forged, while anything Rome did was absolutely false. It is a sick, twisted version of Hagiography that desperately wants to present St. Cyril as an Eastern Luther.
There are a lot of contradictions and clear misrepresentations of Orthodox teachings in this book, and I do not doubt most the correspondence he draws his research from are forgeries themselves. It treats Orthodox praxis and doctrine in a very shallow way, often entirely mistaking teachings or presenting them in a way so absurd I question how familiar the author is with Orthodoxy. Overall, a stupid and blasphemous book but I cannot say it didn't keep my attention. It's imagery and description of Rome as the enemy of St. Cyril makes the entire Latin church seem like the Three Stooges in lace.
As a comedic and storytelling endeavor, it passes. As an accurate, unbiased, and faithful book of history - it fails miserably. It is only worth it for the description of St. Cyril's enemies.
As a biography of a saint, it is absolute insanity. It asserts that none of the Protestant affirmations of teachings are forged, while anything Rome did was absolutely false. It is a sick, twisted version of Hagiography that desperately wants to present St. Cyril as an Eastern Luther.
There are a lot of contradictions and clear misrepresentations of Orthodox teachings in this book, and I do not doubt most the correspondence he draws his research from are forgeries themselves. It treats Orthodox praxis and doctrine in a very shallow way, often entirely mistaking teachings or presenting them in a way so absurd I question how familiar the author is with Orthodoxy. Overall, a stupid and blasphemous book but I cannot say it didn't keep my attention. It's imagery and description of Rome as the enemy of St. Cyril makes the entire Latin church seem like the Three Stooges in lace.
As a comedic and storytelling endeavor, it passes. As an accurate, unbiased, and faithful book of history - it fails miserably. It is only worth it for the description of St. Cyril's enemies.
Read
September 12, 2025Church history stuff. You got the Catholics coming out of Rome (and other places). You got the Protestants coming out of Holland (in this episode). You've got the Eastern Orthodox coming out of Greece (this time around). What you see is powerplay, in-fighting, politics, bribes, murder, the importance of the printing press, and the rolling tide of history.
Cyril Lucaris was 1572-1638.
The Renaissance was happening, but it hadn't fully reached its stride.
Medieval/Dark Ages was seeing its end.
Alas, this guy was a casualty. I think the standout things to me were the importance of the printing press and the role of education. I won't comment too much on theology, but it was interesting. A little textbook-y.
Cyril Lucaris was 1572-1638.
The Renaissance was happening, but it hadn't fully reached its stride.
Medieval/Dark Ages was seeing its end.
Alas, this guy was a casualty. I think the standout things to me were the importance of the printing press and the role of education. I won't comment too much on theology, but it was interesting. A little textbook-y.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews