There is, in fact, a Reformed Orthodox Church.... in India. They're in communion with the Anglican Church and count a member here on this very forum.
Yes, I'm aware of that - both the existence of a reformed Orthodox Church in southern India (it was named somewhere in a long list of Churches that are adhered among the Malabar Christians), as well as that Flocculencio is a member of that Church. (or actually, I guesstimated that he propably is a member of this Church, since I've seen him post that he's a member of the Anglican Church
and still is associated with the older Churches of the Malabar Christians...)
Two obvious developments, which would interest me very much, are the adoption of the vernacular (a controversial issue even today among the Greek Orthodox) and an Orthodox tradition of Bible scholarship (as opposed to Church history, which is the main intellectual occupation of Orthodox scholars even today).
The adoption of vernacular and Bible scholarship, along with accepting the three sola's (
sola fide - only faith,
sola scriptura - only Scripture and
sola gratia - only [through] mercy) as core principles of the Christian faith would indeed be pretty much inevitable.
Another development that interests me is what effects this Reformation would have on the general attitude towards the other "heretical" Christians, like the Armenians, the Syriacs and the adherants of the Church of the East - will the Byzantine Reformation turn againest them as well, or will the Reformation lead to some degree of heterodoxy and consequently more tolerant view of these other Churches?
I suspect that there would also be missionary activity geared towards winning hearts and minds (as opposed to the historical policies of the Empire).
That is indeed quite likely, or else the Orthodox Church would risk becoming pretty much restricted to being the religion of the aristocracy.
And then there's the issue of the power of the Emperor again, and although it depends on what kind of a person the Emperor on the matter is, he could very well decide to attempt to restore the Orthodox Church by doing someting about the corruption (provided that that is an issue within the Orthodox Church of this particular scenario), perhaps even by accepting a few reforms within the Church, and thus win the hearts and minds of the common people again, thus restoring his own power and authority.
...but like I said, that strongly depends on what kind of Emperor is in charge at that point, since someone's personality can make all the difference on wether he resorts to compromises or brutal tyrrany...
I have a suspicion that it would set in motion the Balkanization of the Empire.
It most propably would, although that too depends on the political situation of the Empire.
For example: are Bulgaria and Serbia strong and stable neighbours of the Empire, or have they been conquered and are they now rebellious provinces?
If these states are independant and on relatively good therms with the Empire, then they'll be pretty much indifferent to the Reformation within the Empire, and these nations propably wouldn't tolerate it if the adherants of this movement started preaching their teachings in their lands as well, since Reformations have a way of upsetting existing power-structures...
However, if Bulgaria and Serbia are occupied by the Byzantines, then the introduction of the Reformation in these lands might just add a religious dimension to the already existing Serbian and Bulgarian nationalism and separatism...
The Greco-Calvanists might schism within their community, over whether its better to be ruled by the Emperor or by the Pope.
They'd reject both of them, yet I think that most Greek Calvinists would rather return to serving the Emperor than turning to the Jesuits.
Seriously, aren't Calvanists the ones who say there are only a set number of pre-determined saved souls? Maybe the Emperor is declared one of them, in return for his patronage (read: in return for not having them all tortured to death)
Some radical Calvinists indeed think so, although most Calvinists agree that the issue of predestination is more like a cascade of events of which God already knows exactly what is going to happen, in the sense of prediction because He perfectly knows what causes are going to lead to what consequences.
...and also keep in mind that the Greek Reformation doesn't
need to adopt John Calvin's teachings; they might as well go for Luther's teachings, and there's even the possebility of a Greek reformer standing up, who creates his own unique doctrine and teachings...
*hoping for no Byzantine Inquisition*
Well, judging from the fact that - in spite of having dealt with countless heretical sects throughout its history - the Byzantine Empire has never formed an Inquisition,
However, wether or not a Byzantine equivalent of the Inquisition is formed depends on wether this Byzantine Reformation remains either a small fringe movement, or wether it is going to have a major impact on the whole Empire. But the response of the Byzantine authorities to this Reformation is largely dependant on internal political and some external factors as well.
For example: suppose the rise of the Byzantine Reformation coincides with a period in which the Greek Orthodox Church greatly suffers from corruption and moral decay among the clergy, along with a tyrannical Emperor that has made a lot of enemies within the Empire, then the Reformation is likely to evolve into some sort of revolutionairy movement, becoming not only a statement againest some incorrect dogma's, but also statement againest the corrupt imperial Church and the tyrrany of the Emperor himself.
(that would be quite an explosive scenario, by the way...)
Thus, the Byzantine Reformation would gain much more momentum and popularity than when it just remains a relatively small movement among the common people that criticises some dogma's that most people aren't concerned with anyway...
...and the existence of a large and growing movement throughout the Empire that is a very real threat to the Emperor and the Orthodox Church
might just be enough for the Byzantine Church and government to form an Inquisition.
Especially if the Emperor at that point
is a ruthless tyrant...
though one thing that occurs to me is that, perhaps in reaction to the Byzantine Reformation, another Orthodox group tries to solifify the Orthodox churches into one orderly line (trying to make the Orthodox structurally more like the Catholics - only with all churches under the Empeor rather than under the Pope)
thoughts?
Such a reaction from the Orthodox would indeed be a possebility, although keep in mind that, as long as the focus is on the Emperor as central figure in the Church, these Orthodox counter-reformations are not likely to have
that much effect on Orthodox Christians outside the Empire, since the Byzantine Emperor is still in the first place the ruler of a powerful imperialistic nation
who just so happens to have quite an important role in the Greek Orthodox Church.
I.e. that would make acknowledging the Emperor as a religious leader pretty much synonymous with acknowledging him as a political leader.....which is something that, for example, the Serbs and Bulgarians might have a little problem with... (and when comparing the Emperor to the Pope; the Pope did not represent a major nation or political power, but mainly exerted his power over the Roman Catholic kings and emperors through his religious authority, which is the opposite of an Emperor who extends his power into his nation's religion...)
Personally, although it depends on what kind of person the Emperor is, I'd expect that he would come up with a more cunning plan, like officially giving up a bit of his visible power within the Church in favor of the Patriarch of Constantinople to appease the people (both within his empire as well as the other Orthodox nations), while behind the scenes, he makes sure that the Patriarch is effectively his puppet.