The Church of the Ancient Councils: The Disciplinary Work of the First Four Ecumenical Councils

352 Pages·2000·7.151 MB·English

by  Peter L'Huillier

THE CHURCH OF THE ANCIENT COUNCILS

ARCHBISHOP PETER L’HUILLIER
THE CHURCH OF THE
ANCIENT COUNCILS
The Disciplinary Work of the First Four
Ecumenical Councils
ST VLADIMIR’S SEMINARY PRESS
CRESTWOOD, NEW YORK 10707
2000
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
L’Huillier, Peter, 1926-
The church of the ancient councils : the disciplinary work of the first four
ecumenical councils / Peter L’Huillier.
p. cm.
Based on the author s thesis (doctoral)—Theological Academy of Moscow.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-88141-007-1
1. Canon law—Sources. 2. Canon law—History. 3. Church
discipline—History—Early church , ca. 30-600. 4. Councils and synods,
Ecumenical. 5. Council of Nicea (1st: 325). 6. Council of Constantinople
(1st: 381). 7. Council of Ephesus (431). 8. Council of Chalcedon (451). I.
Title.
LAW
262.9.22—dc20 95-50117
CIP
Copyright © 1996 St Vladimir s Seminary Press
575 Scarsdale Rd., Crestwood, NY 10707
1-800-204-2665
All Rights Reserved
ISBN 0-88141-007-1
First printing 1979
Second printing 2000
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Table of Contents
ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................VII
FOREWORD___i........................................................................................................... IX
PREFACE .......................................................................................................................... XI
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 1
Chapter I
THE COUNCIL OF NICEA.............................................................................................. 17
SECTION 1: THE BACKGROUND AND PROCEEDINGS .................................... 17
SECTION 2: THE CANONS OF THE COUNCIL .................................................... 31
CANON 1 ...................................................................................................................... 31
CANON 2 ....................................................................................................................... 32
CANON 3 ........................................................................................................................ 34
CANON 4 ........................................................................................................................ 36
CANON 5 ........................................................................................................................ 41
CANON 6 ........................................................................................................................ 45
CANON 7 ..................................................................................................................... . 53
CANON 8 ....................................................................................................................... 56
CANON 9 ........................................................................................................................ 62
CANON 10 ..................................................................................................................... 63
CANON 11 .................................................................................................................... 65
CANON 12 ..................................................................................................................... 67
CANON 13 ...................................................................................................................... 68
CANON 14 .................................................................................................................... 69
CANON 15 ...................................................................................................................... 70
CANON 16 ...................................................................................................................... 74
CANON 17 ...................................................................................................................... 75
CANON 18 ...................................................................................................................... 76
CANON 19 .................................................................................................................... 78
CANON 20 .................................................................................................................... 83
Chapter II
THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE .................................................................... 101
SECTION 1: THE BACKGROUND AND PROCEEDINGS...................................101
SECTION 2: THE CANONS OF THE COUNCIL ....................................................113
CANON 1 ........................................................................................................................113
CANON 2 ........................................................................................................................117
CANON 3 ........................................................................................................................121
CANON 4 .......................................................................................................................124
CANON 5 ........................................................................................................................125
CANON 6 ................................................................................................................... 127
CANON 7 ........................................................................................................................133
V
VI JTS
Chapter III
THE COUNCIL OF EPHESUS ...................................................... 145
SECTION 1: THE BACKGROUND AND PROCEEDINGS 145
SECTION 2: THE CANONS OF THE COUNCIL .............. 156
CANON 1 ........................................................................................... 156
CANON 2 ........................................................................................... 157
CANON 3 ........................................................................................... 158
CANON 4 .......................................................................................... 159
CANON 5 ........................................................................................... 159
CANON 6 ........................................................................................... 160
CANON 7 ........................................................................................... 161
CANON 8 .......................................................................................... 165
Chapter IV
THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON .............................................. 183
SECTION 1: THE BACKGROUND AND PROCEEDINGS 183
SECTION 2: THE CANONS OF THE COUNCIL ...... 183
CANON 1 208
CANON 2 218
CANON 3 220
CANON4 221
CANON 5 224
CANON 6 225
CANON 1- 227
CANON 8 230
CANON9 231
CANON 10 238
CANON 11 239
CANON 12 241
CANON 13 242
CANON 14 243
CANON 15 245
CANON 16 249
CANON 17 253
CANON 18 254
CANON 19 256
CANON20 257
CANON21 258
CANON22 259
CANON23 260
CANON24 261
CANON25 262
CANON 26 264
CANON27 265
CANON28 267
CANON29 296
CANON 30 299
INDEX 329
PRINCIAL ABBREVIATIONS
A CO ........................... Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, ed. E. Schwartz,
Strasbourg, 1914-.
Acta Selecta ............... Patriarchates Constantinopolitani Acta Selecta, ed. (=
Pontificia Commissione per la Redazione del Codice di
Diritto Canonico Orientale, Fonti, Sr. II, fasc. 4, pt. 2).
BTr.............................. Bogoslovskie Trudy, Moscow.
BZ................................ Byzantinische Zeitschrift, Leipzig, 1892ff., Munich, 1950.
CCL ........................... Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, Tumhout.
C J........................... Codex Justinianus (= CJC vol. 2).
CJC ........................... Corpus Juris Civilis, 3 vols., Berlin, 1954-59.
COeD......................... Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Deer eta, Freiburg-in-Br.,
1962.
CT ............................. Codex Theodosianus, Berlin.
CSEL ......................... Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum.
DDC........................... Dictionnaire de Droit Canonique, Paris, 1935-1965.
DGA ......................... Discipline generate antique, ed. P.P. Joannou (= Ponti­
ficia Commissione per la Redazione del Codice di Diritto
Canonico Orientale, Fonti, fasc. IX), 2 vols. Grottafer-
rata, 1962-64.
DOP........................... Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Cambridge, Mass., then Wash­
ington, D.C.
DTC............................ Dictionnaire de Theologie Catholique, Paris.
EQ .............................. Echos d’Orient, Paris.
GCS ..................... Die griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei
Jahrhunderte.
Hefele-Leclercq ______ C. J. Hefele and J.M. Leclercq, Histoire des conciles.
HTR........................... Harvard Theological Review, Cambridge, Mass.
JTS .............................. Journal of Theological Studies, London.
Lexicon....................... A Patristic Greek Lexicon, ed. G.W.H. Lampe, Oxford.
Lexilogion ................. E. Roussos, Lexilogion ekklesiastikou dikaiou (byzan-
tinon dikaion), Athens.
MGH ......................... Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Mansi ......................... J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima
collectio, Florence and Venice, 1759 ff.
Messager__________ Messager de YExarchat du Patriarche russe en Europe
occidentale, Paris.
Monumenta ............... Eeclesiae occidental monumenta antiquissima, ed. C.H.
Turner, Oxford, 1899-1930.
OCA ............................ Orientalia Christiana Analecta, Rome, 1935 ff.
OCP........................... Orientalia Christiana Periodica, Rome, 1935 ff.
VII
VIII ABBREVIATIONS
Oxford Dictionary ... Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church.
PBE ........................... Pravoslavnaia Bogoslovskaia Entsiklopedia, Petrograd,
1900-1910.
PG ............................. Patrologia series graeca, ed. J.P. Migne, Paris, 1857-66.
PL................................ Patrologia series latina, ed. J.P. Migne, Paris, 1844-55.
Pravila ....................... Nikodim Milash, Pravila Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi s Tolko-
vaniami, St. Petersburg.
Pauly-Wissowa........... Pauly, Wissowa, Kroll, Realencyclopaedie der Classischen
Altertumswissenchaft, Stuttgart, 1894-1980.
RDC........................... Revue de Droit Canonique, Strasbourg, 195 Iff.
REB ........................... Revue des Etudes Byzantines.
Regestes ..................... Les Regestes des actes du Patriarcat de Constantinople,
vol. I: Les actes des patriarches, fasc. 1-7, I932ff. 2 ed.,
rev. 1972-.
Rhalles-Potles............. T.A. Pa>AT]-M. IloT^fj, Zvvrayjua rcbv Odcov Kai iepcbv
Kavovcov, I-VI, Athens, 1852-9.
RHE........................... Revue d’Histoire Ecclesiastique, Louvain, 1900ff.
RSPT......................... Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Theologiques, Paris.
SC............................... Sources chretiennes.
Beveridge ................... Beveridge, Synodikon, sive Pandectae, Oxford, 1672.
Strewe......................... A. Strewe, Die Canonessammlung des Dionysius Exiguus
in der ersten Redaktion, Berlin, 1931.
Synagoga ................... Joannis Scholastici Synagoga L. Titulorum, ed. V. Bene-
sevic, Munich.
Syntagma ................... Syntagma XIV Titulorum sine scholiis secundum versio-
nem Palaeo-Slovenicam, ed. V. Benesevic, St. Peters­
burg, 1906.
T.S.C.B. ..................... Textus selecti ex operibus commentatorum byzantino-
rum, ed. (= Pontificia Commissione per la Redazione del
Codice di Diritto Canonico Orientale, Fonti, ser. 1 v. fasc.
9), Grottaferrata.
Th.ith.E. ..................... 0pt|GK£i)Tticf| Kai ’H0iKr| ’EyKUKtamaiSsla, Athens.
TU .............................. Texte und Untersuchungen.
VV .............................. Vizantiiskii Vremennik, St. Petersburg, then Moscow, 1894-
1927.
Zepos ......................... J. and P. Zepos, Jus Graecoromanum, Athens, 1931.
ZK ............................. Zeitschrift fiir Kirchengeschichte, Stuttgart, 1876ff.
ZhMP......................... Zhurnal Moskovskoi Patriarkhii, Moscow, 193Iff.
FOREWORD
“Just as the four books of the holy gospel, so also I confess to
receive and venerate four councils.” With these words Pope St. Gregory
the Great of Rome (Ep. 1.24) expressed his respect for the authority of
the four most ancient ecumenical councils: Nicea (325 AD), Constan­
tinople (381), Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451). These councils not
only defined trinitarian and christological dogma in terms which ever
since have been regarded as normative by the major Christian confes­
sions of East and West. They also laid down canons and disciplinary
decrees which constitute a milestone in the history of church order,
signaling as they do a shift from the multifarious customary law of
earlier centuries to a written law universally applicable throughout the
Church. But these ancient canons have more than merely historical
interest. Their continuing influence can still be felt in the modern codifi­
cations of the Roman Catholic Church and elsewhere among Western
Christians. For the Orthodox East, their importance is even greater.
Constituting the core of the corpus canonum common to all the
Orthodox Churches, these canons remain the primary point of refer­
ence for their institutional life.
Given the great importance of these canons of the ancient ecumenical
councils, what precisely do they say and mean? What was the intention
of their authors, the fathers of those councils? With the present work,
His Eminence Archbishop Peter (L’Huillier) has given the English-
speaking world authoritative answers to such questions. After provid­
ing an historical overview of each of the four councils, he meticulously
examines their canons one by one. He translates them into clear and
readable English on the basis of the best modern critical editions; he
explains the sometimes ambiguous terminology of the original texts; he
explores the historical circumstances which gave rise to these canons in
the first place; and he also indicates some of the ways in which they
have been reinterpreted (and sometimes misinterpreted) in later
centuries.
IX
X FOREWORD
It would be difficult to overestimate the magnitude of this undertak­
ing. As the voluminous notes suggest, it required the critical evaluation
of a vast body of scholarly literature in many different languages. In his
own Foreword, His Eminence indicates that he has not undertaken a
systematic updating of the work since it was originally written nearly
two decades ago. Yet while a certain number of relevant books and
articles have been published in the interval, the most important of these
have in fact been taken into consideration. In any case, little has
appeared—or is likely to appear in the foreseeable future—that would
require significant modification of the author’s presentation. This is
above all because of the very judicious approach which the author
adopts. Always attentive to the text itself, to variant readings and
ambiguities in vocabulary or syntax, he indicates when more than one
interpretation of a given text is possible, and he offers his own judgment
as to which interpretation is more plausible only after reviewing and
evaluating the circumstantial evidence on all sides. In a word, His
Eminence assiduously avoids ungrounded speculation. Unlike some
who invoke the Holy Canons, he does not pile hypothesis on hypothe­
sis in order to advance a personal theory or agenda. Neither does he
claim to give answers to all the questions which we today might wish
that the ancient canons addressed. Rather, as a scholar, he seeks to
engage others in the challenges which honest scholarship poses, to lead
them into the world of the ancient councils in order to discover the
mens legislatoris. And at the same time, as a bishop, he seeks to discern
the continuing significange of the ancient canons for the life of the
Church today. His critical study of The Church of the Ancient Coun­
cils, subtitled The Disciplinary Work of the First Four Ecumenical
Councils will long remain an essential reference work for historians and
churchmen alike.
John H. Erickson
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
The Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos
September 8, 1995