Nikon#s Views on the Relationship between the State and the Church were set forth in a lengthy Statement he wrote sometime after August 15, 1662, entitled #A Refutation or Demolishment by the Most Humble Nikon, Patriarch by the Grace of God, of the Questions Which the Boyar Simeon Streshnev Addressed to Paisius Ligarid, Metropolitan of Gaza, and Paisius#s Answers#. In spiritual Matters which are of concern to all, the supreme Bishop (the Patriarch) is higher than the Tsar, and all the Orthodox owe obedience to the Bishop because he is our Father in the Orthodox faith, and the Orthodox Church is entrusted to him.