Between 649 and 787, the Bishops of Rome accepted only the first fifty Apostolic Canons (Rules), believing the last thirty five had been tampered with by heretics. Later however, all 85 were universally approved at the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787:
Second Council of Nicaea, 787, Canon I. That the sacred Canons are in all things to be observed. The pattern for those who have received the sacerdotal dignity is found in the testimonies and instructions laid down in the canonical constitutions, which we receiving with a glad mind, sing unto the Lord God in the words of the God-inspired David, saying: "I have had as great delight in the way of thy testimonies as in all manner of riches." "Thou hast commanded righteousness as thy testimonies for ever." "Grant me understanding and I shall live." Now if the word of prophesy bids us keep the testimonies of God forever and to live by them, it is evident that they must abide unshaken and without change. Therefore Moses, the prophet of God, speaketh after this manner: "To them nothing is to be added, and from them nothing is to be taken away." And the divine Apostle glorying in them cries out, "which things the angels desire to look into," and, "if an angel preach to you anything besides that which ye have received, let him be anathema." Seeing these things are so, being thus well-testified unto us, we rejoice over them as he that hath found great spoil, and press to our bosom with gladness the divine canons, holding fast all the precepts of the same, complete and without change, whether they have been set forth by the holy trumpets of the Spirit, the renowned Apostles, or by the Six Ecumenical Councils, or by Councils locally assembled for promulgating the decrees of the said Ecumenical Councils, or by our holy Fathers. For all these, being illumined by the same Spirit, defined such things as were expedient. Accordingly those whom they placed under anathema, we likewise anathematize; those whom they deposed, we also depose; those whom they excommunicated, we also excommunicate; and those whom they delivered over to punishment, we subject to the same penalty. And now "let your conversation be without covetousness," crieth out Paul the divine Apostle, who was caught up into the third heaven and heard unspeakable words.
How do we know the canon above recognizes all 85 Apostolic Canons? First, because they have been accepted by all the faithful Patriarchs and Bishops of the Church. Second, because they were later included in the Roman canon record, as found Gratian's Decretals (e.g., Corpus Juris Canonici, Gratian's Decretum, Pars I., Dist. XVI, c. VII). Third, the Acts of Nicaea II document Pope Hadrian's acceptance of the canons of Trullo, which includes the tacit approval of all 85 Apostolic Canons:
Nicaea II, Session II Acts, Pope Hadrian's Letter to Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople: For you there say, "I receive all the holy six synods I receive with all their canons, which rightly and divinely were promulgated by them, among which [Trullo Canon 82] is contained that in which reference is made to a Lamb being pointed to by the Precursor as being found in certain of the venerable images."
Pope Hadrian points to Trullo's canon 82 as a canon of the six Ecumenical Councils. In this, he accepts the Canons of Trullo as being "rightly and divinely promulgated". This includes canon 2 which, though regretfully conceding that the Apostolic Constitutions had been tampered with, specifically approves all 85 Apostolic Canons:
Council of Trullo, Canon 2: It has also seemed good to this holy Council, that the eighty-five canons, received and ratified by the holy and blessed Fathers before us, and also handed down to us in the name of the holy and glorious Apostles should from this time forth remain firm and unshaken for the cure of souls and the healing of disorders. And in these canons we are bidden to receive the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles [written] by Clement. But formerly through the agency of those who erred from the faith certain adulterous matter was introduced, clean contrary to piety, for the polluting of the Church, which obscures the elegance and beauty of the divine decrees in their present form. We therefore reject these Constitutions so as the better to make sure of the edification and security of the most Christian flock; by no means admitting the offspring of heretical error, and cleaving to the pure and perfect doctrine of the Apostles. But we set our seal likewise upon all the other holy canons set forth by our holy and blessed Fathers...
The Apostolic Canons in the original Greek can be found here:
Ἱεροὶ Κανόνες τῶν Ἁγίων καὶ Πανσέπτων Ἀποστόλων
Holy Canons of the Holy and All-Respected Apostles
The Apostolic Canons' approved English translation is found in The Rudder:
The Rudder (Pedalion), Saint Nicodemos the Hagiorite, With Agapios the Hiermonk
https://www.gocinna.com/_files/ugd/cf7db8_62932e6f7e42413eb34f2d38b6fbe9fe.pdf
Canon 1: Two or three other Bishops are needed to ordain a Bishop
Canon 2: A Priest must be ordained by a single Bishop, and so must a Deacon and other Clergymen.
Canon 3: If any Bishop or Priest, contrary to the Lord’s ordinance relating to sacrifice, offers anything else at the sacrificial altar, whether it be honey, or milk, or artificial liquor instead of wine, chickens, or any kind of animal, or vegetables, contrary to the ordinance, let him be deposed: except ears of new wheat or bunches of grapes, in due season. Let it not be permissible to bring anything else to the sacrificial altar but oil for the lamp, and incense at the time of the holy oblation.
Canon 4: Let all other fruit be sent home to the Bishop and Priests as first fruits, but not to the sacrificial altar. It is understood that the Bishop and Priests shall distribute a fair share to the Deacons and other Clergymen.
Canon 5: No Bishop, Priest, or Deacon shall divorce his own wife under pretext of reverence. If he divorces her, let him be excommunicated; and if he persist in so doing, let him be deposed.
Canon 6: A Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon must not undertake worldly cares. If he does, let him be deposed
Canon 7: If any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon celebrate the holy day of Pascha before the vernal equinox with the Jews, let him be deposed.
Canon 8: If any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon, or anyone else in the clerical list, fail to partake of communion when the oblation has been offered, he must tell the reason; and if it is a good excuse, he shall receive a pardon. But if he refuses to tell it, he shall be excommunicated, on the ground that he has become a cause of harm to the laity and has instilled a suspicion against the one offering of it, that the latter has failed to present it in a sound manner.
Canon 9: All those faithful who enter and listen to the Scriptures, but do not stay for prayer and Holy Communion must be excommunicated, on the ground that they are causing the Church a breach of order.
Canon 10: One who prays with the excommunicant, shall himself be excommunicated.
Canon 11: A clergyman who prays in company with a deposed clergyman shall also be deposed.
Canon 12: If any clergyman, or laymen, who has been excommunicated, or who has not been admitted to repentance, shall go away and be received in another city, without commendatory letters, both the receiver and the one received shall be excommunicated.
Canon 13: If he has been excommunicated let his excommunication be augmented, on the ground that he has lied and that he has deceived the Church of God.
Canon 14: A Bishop shall not abandon his own parish and go outside of it to interlope to another one, even though urged by a number of persons to go there, unless there be a good reason for doing so, on the ground that he can be of greater help to the inhabitants there, by reason of his piety. And even then he must not do so of his own accord, but in obedience to the judgment of many Bishops, and at their urgent request.
Canon 15: If any Priest, or Deacon, or anyone at all on the list of clerics, abandoning his own province, departs to another, and after deserting it entirely, sojourns in another, contrary to the mind of his own Bishop, we bid him to officiate no longer; especially if his Bishop summons him to return, and he has not obeyed and persists in his disorderliness; however, he may commune there as layman.
Canon 16: On the other hand, if the Bishop with whom they are associating, admits them as clergymen in defiance of the deprivation prescribed against them, he shall be excommunicated as a teacher of disorder.
Canon 17: Whoever has entered into two marriages after baptism, or has possessed himself of a mistress, cannot be a Bishop, or a Priest, or a Deacon, or anything else in the list of clerics.
Canon 18: No one who has taken a widow, or a divorced woman, or a harlot, or a housemaid, or any actress as his wife, may be a Bishop, or a Priest, or a Deacon, or hold any other position at all in the Clerical List.
Canon 19: Whoever marries two sisters, or a niece, may not be a clergyman.
Canon 20: Any Clergyman that gives himself as security shall be deposed.
Canon 21: A Eunuch, whether he became such by influence of men, or was deprived of his virile parts under persecution, or was born thus, may, if he is worthy, become a Bishop.
Canon 22: Let no one who has mutilated himself become a clergyman; for he is a murderer of himself, and an enemy of God’s creation.
Canon 23: If anyone who is a clergyman should mutilate himself, let him be deposed, for he is a self-murderer
Canon 24: Any layman who has mutilated himself shall be excommunicated for three years, for he is a plotter against his own life.
Canon 25: Any Bishop, or priest, or Deacon that is taken in the act of committing fornication, or perjury, or theft, shall be deposed, but shall not be excommunicated, for Scripture says: “You shall not exact revenge twice for the same offense.” The same rule applies also to the rest of clergymen.
Canon 26: As to bachelors who have entered the clergy, we allow only readers and Chanters to marry if they wish to do so
Canon 27: As for a Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon that strikes believers for sinning, or unbelievers for wrong-doing, with the idea of making them afraid, we command that he be deposed. For the Lord has nowhere taught that; on the contrary, He Himself when struck did not strike back; when reviled, He did not revile His revilers; when suffering, He did not threaten.
Canon 28: If any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon, who has been justly deposed for proven crimes, should dare to touch the Liturgy which had once been put in his hands, let him be cut off from the Church altogether.
Canon 29: If any Bishop become the recipient of this office by means of money, or any Priest, or any Deacon, let him be deposed as well as the one who ordained him, and let him be cut off entirely even from communion, as was Simon the Sorcerer by me Peter*.
Canon 30: If any Bishop comes into possession of a church by employing secular rulers, let him be deposed, and let him be excommunicated, and also all those who communicate with him.
Canon 31: If any Priest, condemning his own bishop, draws people aside, and sets up another altar, without finding anything wrong with the Bishop in point of piety and justice, let him be deposed, on the ground that he is desirous of power. For he is a tyrant; and let the rest of the clergymen and all those who abet him be treated in the same manne. But let the laymen be excommunicated. Let these things be done after one, and a second, and a third request of the Bishop.
Canon 32: If any Bishop excommunicates any Priest or Deacon, these men must not be received by anyone except the one who excommunicated them, unless by a coincidence the Bishop who excommunicated them should decease.
Canon 33: None of the foreign Bishops, Priests or Deacons shall be received without commendatory letters. Even when they bear such, they shall be examined. And if they really are preachers of piety, they shall be received; but if they are not, after furnishing them with any necessities, they shall not be admitted to communion. For many things are done with a view toward plunder.
Canon 34: It befits us bishops of every nation to know the one among them who is the premier or chief, and to recognize him as their head, and to refrain from doing anything superfluous without his advice and approval: but, instead each of them should do only whatever is necessitated by his own parish, and by the territories under him. Let not even such a one do anything without the advice, consent and approval of all. For thus will there be concord, and God will be glorified through the Lord in Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Canon 35: A Bishop shall not dare to confer ordinations outside of his own boundaries, in cities and territories not subject to him. If he is proved to have done so against the wishes of those having possession of those cities or territories, let him be deposed, as well as those whom he ordained.
Canon 36: In case any Bishop who has been ordained refuses the office and the care of the laity, which has been entrusted to him, he shall be excommunicated and remain so until such time as he accepts it. This also applies to a Priest and Deacon. But if upon departing, he fail to accept it, not contrary to his own inclination, but because of the spitefulness of the laity, let him be a bishop, but let the clergy of that city be excommunicated, since no one can correct such an insubordinate laity.
Canon 37: Twice a year let a synod of bishops be held, and let them examine one another in regards to dogmas of piety, and let incidental ecclesiastical contradictions be eliminated: the first one, in the fourth week of Pentecost; the second one, on the twelfth of Hyperberetaeus** (October).
Canon 38: Let the Bishop have the care of all ecclesiastical matters and let him manage them, with the understanding that God is overseeing and supervising. Let him not be allowed to appropriate anything from this or to give God’s things to his relatives. If they be indigent, let him provide for them as indigents, but let him not trade off things of the Church under this pretext.
Canon 39: Let Priests and Deacons do nothing without the consent of the Bishop. For he is the one entrusted with the Lord’s people, and it is from him that an accounting will be demanded with respect to their souls.
Canon 40: Let the Bishop’s own property (if indeed he has any) be publicly known, and let the Lord’s be publicly known. In order that the Bishop may have authority to dispose of his own property when he dies, and leave it to whomever he wishes and as he wishes. And lest, by reason of any pretext of ecclesiastical property, the property of the Bishop be mixed and buried therein and that he may have a wife and children, relatives or house servants. For it is only just with God and men that neither the church should suffer any loss owing to ignorance of the Bishop's property, nor the Bishop, or his relatives, should have their property confiscated on the pretext that it belonged to the church.
Canon 41: We command that the Bishop have authority over the property of the church. For if the precious souls of men ought to be entrusted to him, there is little need of any special injunction concerning money; so that everything may be entrusted to be governed in accordance with his authority, and he may grant to those in need through the priests and deacons with fear of God and all reverence; while he himself may partake thereof whatever he needs (if he needs anything) for his necessary needs, and for brethren who are his guests, so as not to deprive them of anything, in any manner.
Canon 42: If any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon wastes his time by playing dice, or getting drunk, either let him desist from this or let him be deposed.
Canon 43: Let any Subdeacon, or Readers, or Psalti, who does similar things either desist or be excommunicated. This applies to any layman.
Canon 44: Let any Bishop or Priest or Deacon who demands interest on money lent to others either cease doing so or be deposed.
Canon 45: Let any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon that only joins in prayer with heretics be suspended, but if he has permitted them to perform any service as clergy let him be deposed.
Canon 46: We order any Bishop or Priest, that has accepted any heretic’s baptism or sacrifice be deposed; for “what consonance has Christ with Belial? Or what part has the believer with an unbeliever?”
Canon 47: If a Bishop or Priest baptize anew anyone that has had a true baptism, or fail to baptize anyone that has been polluted by the impious, let him be deposed, on the ground that he is mocking the Cross and Death of the Lord and for failing to distinguish priests from pseudo-priests.
Canon 48: If any layman who has divorced his wife takes another, or one divorced by another man, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 49: If any Bishop or Priest baptize anyone not into the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in accordance with the Lord’s ordinance, but into three beginningless beings or into three sons or into three comforters, let him be deposed.
Canon 50: If any Bishop or Priest does not perform three immersions (baptisms) in making one baptism, but only a single immersion (baptism) that given into the death of the Lord, let him be deposed. For the Lord did not say, Baptize into my death, but, “Go you and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”
Canon 51: If any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon, or anyone at all on the holy list, abstain from marriage, or meat, or wine, not as a matter of mortification, but out of an abhorrence thereof, forgetting that all things are exceedingly good, and that God made man male and female, but blasphemously misrepresenting God’s work of creation, either let him correct and purge his ways or let him be excluded from the Church. The same applies to a layman.
Canon 52: If any Bishop or Priest shall refuse to welcome back anyone returning from sin, but on the contrary, rejects him, let him be deposed, since he grieves Christ, who said: “There is joy in heaven over a single sinner who repents.”
Canon 53: If any Bishop, Priest or Deacon, on the days of feasts will not partake of meat and wine, because he loathes these things, and not on account of asceticism, let him be deposed, on the ground that he has his own conscience seared and has become a cause of scandal to many.
Canon 54: If any clergyman be discovered eating in a tavern let him be excommunicated, except only in case it he happens to be at a wayside inn where he puts up out of necessity
Canon 55: If any Clergyman should insult the Bishop let him be deposed. For “you shall not speak badly about your people’s ruler”
Canon 56: If any Clergyman should insult a Priest or a Deacon, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 57: If any Clergyman ridicules the lame, or the deaf or the blind or the crippled, let him be excommunicated. The same applies to a layman.
Canon 58: If any Bishop or Priest neglects the Clergy or the laity, and neglects to instruct them in piety, let him be excommunicated: but if he persists in his negligence and indolence, let him be deposed.
Canon 59: If any Bishop or Priest fails to supply necessities when any of the clergy is in want, let him be excommunicated. If he persists, let him be deposed, as having murdered his brother
Canon 60: If anyone reads to the public in churches, the books of impious writers bearing false inscriptions and purporting to be holy, to the injury of laity and clergy, let him be deposed.
Canon 61: If a charge of fornication, or of adultery, or of any other forbidden act be brought against one of the faithful, and be proved, let him not be promoted to the clergy.
Canon 62: If any Clergyman, for fear of any man, whether a Jew or a Greek or a heretic, should deny the name of Christ, let him be cast out; or if he deny the name of clergyman, let him be deposed; and if he repent, let him be accepted as a layman.
Canon 63: If any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon, and all on the clerical list, eat meat in the blood of its soul, or that which a wild beast has killed, or that which has died a natural death, let him be deposed. For the Law has forbidden this. But if any layman do this, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 64: If any Clergyman is found to be fasting on the Lord’s Day (Sunday), or on Saturday with the exception of one only, let him be deposed. If he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 65: If any Clergyman, or Layman, enter a synagogue of Jews or of heretics to pray, let him be both deposed and excommunicated.
Canon 66: If any Clergyman strikes anyone in a fight, and kills by a single blow, let him be deposed for his insolence. But if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 67: If anyone is keeping a virgin whom he has forcibly raped and who is not promised to another, let him be excommunicated. And let it not be permissible for him to take another, but let him be obliged to keep her whom he has made his choice even though she happens to be indigent.
Canon 68: If any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon accepts a second ordination from anyone, let him and the one who ordained him be deposed, unless it be established that his ordination has been performed by heretics. For those who have been baptized or ordained by such persons cannot possibly be either faithful Christians or clergymen.
Canon 69: If any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon, or Subdeacon, Readers, or Psalti fails to fast throughout the forty days of the Great Fast, or on Wednesday, or on Friday, let him be deposed, unless he has been prevented from doing so by reason of bodily illness. If, on the other hand, any layman fail to do so, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 70: If any Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, or anyone at all who is on the list of clergymen, fast together with Jews, or celebrates a holiday together with them, or accepts from them holiday gifts or favors, such as unleavened wafers, or anything of the like, let him be deposed. If a layman do likewise, however, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 71: If any Christian conveys oil to a temple of heathen, or to a synagogue of Jews, in their festivals, or lights lamps for them, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 72: If any Clergyman, or Layman, takes a wax candle or any oil from the holy church, let him be excommunicated and be compelled to give back what he took, together with a fifth part of its value as well.
Canon 73: Let no one appropriate any longer for his own use any golden or silver vessel that has been sanctified, or any cloth: for it is unlawful to do so. If anyone be caught in the act, let him be punished with excommunication.
Canon 74: When trustworthy men have accused a Bishop of something, Bishops must summon him; and if he answers and confesses, or is found guilty, let the penalty be fixed. But if when summoned he refuses to obey, let him be summoned a second time by sending two Bishops to him.
If even then he refuses to obey, let him be summoned a third time, two Bishops again being sent to him; but if even then he shows contempt and fails to answer, let the synod decide the matter against him in whatever way seems best, so that it may not seem that he is getting the benefit by evading a trial.
Canon 75: No heretic shall be accepted as a witness against a bishop, but neither shall one faithful alone: for “every charge shall be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses”
Canon 76: It is decreed that no Bishop shall be allowed to ordain whomsoever he wishes to the office of the Episcopate as a matter of concession to a brother, or to a son, or to a relative. For it is not right for heirs to the Episcopate to be created, by subjecting God’s things to human passion; for God’s Church ought not to be entrusted to heirs. If anyone shall do this, let the ordination remain invalid and void, and let the bishop himself be penalized with excommunication.
Canon 77: If any cripple, or anyone with a defect in an eye or in a leg, is worthy of the episcopate, let him be made a bishop, for it is not an injury to the body that defiles one, but a pollution of the soul.
Canon 78: Let no one that is deaf nor anyone that is blind be made a Bishop, not on the ground that he is deficient morally, but lest he should be embarrassed in the exercise of ecclesiastical functions.
Canon 79: If anyone is possessed of a demon, let him not be made a Clergyman, nor even be allowed to pray in company with the faithful. But after he has been cleansed from it, let him be received, and if worthy be made one .
Canon 80: It is not right to ordain a man a bishop immediately after he has joined the Church and been baptized, if he has hitherto been leading a heathenish life, or has been converted from wicked behavior. For it is wrong to let one without experience become the teacher of others, unless in some special case this be allowed as a matter of divine favor and grace.
Canon 81: We have said that a Bishop, or a Priest, must not descend himself into public offices, but must attend to ecclesiastical needs. Either let he be persuaded, therefore, not to do so, or let him be deposed. For no one can serve two masters, according to the Lord’s injunction.
Canon 82: We do not permit house servants to be ordained to the clergy without the consent of their masters, to the sorrow of the masters owning them. For such a thing causes an upheaval in the households. But if any house servant should appear to be worthy to be ordained to any rank, as our own Onesimus did, and their masters are willing to permit it, and grant them their freedom (by liberating them from slavery), and allow them to leave home, let him be so ordained.
Canon 83: If any Bishop, or Priest, or Deacon is engaged in military matters, and wishes to hold both a Roman (i.e.; civil) and a holy office, let him be deposed. For "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
Canon 84: If anyone insults an emperor or king, or any other ruler, contrary to what is right and just, let him pay the penalty. Accordingly, if he is a clergyman, let him be deposed; but if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.
Canon 85: To all you Clergymen and Laymen let the following books be venerable and holy: Of the Old Covenant, the five of Moses, namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; the one of Jesus of Nave (commonly called Joshua in English); the one of Judges; the one of Ruth; the four of the Kingdoms; two Chronicles of the Book of Days; two of Esdras; one of Esther; three of the Maccabees; one of Job; one Psalter (Psalms); three of Solomon, namely, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs; twelve of the Prophets; one of Isaiah; one of Jeremiah; one of Ezekiel; one of Daniel; outside of these it is permissible for you to recount in addition thereto also the Wisdom of very learned Sirach by way of teaching your younger folks. Our own books, that is to say, those of the New Covenant, comprising four Gospels, namely, that of Matthew, of Mark, of Luke, and of John; fourteen Epistles of Paul; two Epistles of Peter, three Epistles of John; one of James; one of Jude; two Epistles of Clement; and the Injunctions addressed to you Bishops through me, Clement, in eight books, which ought not to be divulged to all on account of the secret matters they contain) and the Acts of us Apostles.
-------
[Blog owner's personal observations:]
* "by me Peter": It was Saint Peter who condemned Simon Magus; who, then, would doubt these canons came from the Apostles?
** "Hyperberetaeus": This Greek name for October, used in the original Greek Canons, is derived from the ancient Macedonian calendar. Those foolish men who say it is a sin of apostasy to use the common names for months found within the various languages, must then condemn the Apostles themselves.
Ancient Macedonia and its Calendars, Danezis et. al.
https://nancybiska.com/ancient-macedonia-and-its-calendars/"The Macedonian calendar happened to be the most widespread among the luni-solar Greek calendars. Indeed, this calendar was widely circulated in Asia and Egypt down to the Arabian Peninsula in the South and over to India in the East during the conquests of Alexander the Great and his descendants.
...the twelfth Macedonian month, Hyperberetaeus, originates in the known epithets of Zeus: Hyperaibetes, Hyperberetes or Hyperpheretes."
No comments:
Post a Comment