A Warning from Joseph Bryennios and Its Relevance to the Church Today
There is a particularly penetrating observation attributed to the Byzantine theologian Joseph Bryennios:
"Many who have abandoned the Faith or fallen away from religion endeavour to make others stumble as well, lest they should remain alone in their disgrace."— Joseph Bryennios, The Surviving Works, Volume II (from the Greek).
These words capture a spiritual reality witnessed throughout the Church’s history. There are people who, having abandoned the Orthodox Faith, do not simply depart quietly. Instead, they make it their concern to persuade others to follow the same path. Their departure becomes not merely a personal decision but an active effort to undermine the faith of those who remain.
Why does this happen?
The desire not to stand alone
When a person abandons something that he once professed to be true, he must somehow come to terms with the contradiction between his former convictions and his present position. This can be particularly difficult when the Faith he has abandoned is not simply an intellectual opinion but something that demands repentance, obedience, sacrifice, and a lifelong commitment.
One way of escaping this inner contradiction is to persuade oneself that the Faith was never true in the first place.
But there is another step: persuading others to abandon it too.
If many people follow the same course, the individual may feel less accountable for his own departure. What might otherwise appear to be a personal spiritual failure can be presented as enlightenment, progress, liberation, or even courage.
Thus, the effort to make others stumble can become a means of justifying one’s own stumbling.
The Apostle Paul warns us that there would be those who would depart from the Faith:
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits, and teachings of the demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1).
Notice that the Apostle does not describe departure from the Faith as an innocent change of opinion. He warns of spiritual deception, false teaching, and the abandonment of the truth.
From personal apostasy to the corruption of others
There is an important distinction between someone who struggles, falls into error, or experiences doubts and someone who actively seeks to lead others away from the truth.
The Church has always called sinners to repentance. Even those who have fallen into serious error are not beyond the possibility of returning. The door of repentance remains open to everyone who sincerely desires to return to Christ.
However, there is something particularly dangerous about turning one’s own departure into an instrument for the spiritual destruction of others.
The Apostle Peter speaks of false teachers who introduce destructive heresies and, through their actions, bring the way of truth into disrepute (2 Peter 2:1-2).
The danger is not simply that someone has ceased to believe correctly. It is that he begins to make his error contagious.
This is why the Holy Fathers have always distinguished between those who fall through weakness and those who deliberately propagate falsehood. The former need healing and restoration; the latter must be recognised and resisted for the protection of the faithful.
The contemporary relevance of this warning
The observation of Joseph Bryennios is especially relevant in an age when the boundaries of Orthodox confession are increasingly blurred.
The faithful are frequently told that doctrinal distinctions are unimportant, that ecclesiastical unity must take precedence over fidelity to the truth, and that resistance to innovations is an outdated attitude.
Yet the Orthodox Church has never understood unity as a matter of institutional convenience or mere external association.
True unity is unity in the Apostolic Faith.
The Church cannot preserve her identity by abandoning the very truths that define her. Nor can Christians demonstrate their love for one another by pretending that doctrinal differences do not matter.
Throughout history, the confessors of Orthodoxy have often found themselves isolated, opposed and even condemned by those who held positions of ecclesiastical authority. Nevertheless, the truth was not determined by the number of those who accepted it, nor by the influence or prestige of those who rejected it.
Saint Mark of Ephesus stands as a particularly powerful example. He refused to accept the false union of Florence, despite the enormous political and ecclesiastical pressure surrounding him. His fidelity demonstrates that the preservation of Orthodoxy sometimes requires the courage to stand apart from those who would compromise it.
The lesson is not that we should delight in separation or despise those who have departed. Rather, we must understand that faithfulness to Christ cannot be subordinated to the desire for human approval.
The courage to remain faithful
The observation attributed to Joseph Bryennios reminds us of a sad but enduring reality: some who have fallen away do not wish to remain alone in their fall.
They seek companions, agreement and affirmation. They attempt to persuade others that the path they have chosen is not a departure from the truth but a necessary step forward.
But the truth of the Orthodox Faith is not determined by how many people abandon it, nor by how persuasively they attempt to justify their departure.
Our task is not to follow the multitude, nor to seek reassurance in numbers. It is to remain faithful to Christ and to the Apostolic Tradition which the Church has received and preserved.
Let us therefore pray for those who have departed, resist every attempt to corrupt the Faith, and remember that the salvation of our souls is infinitely more important than the approval of men.
For it is better to stand faithfully with the truth, even when standing alone, than to find companionship in a departure from Christ.