Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils: Text, Translation, and Commentary question

I ordered this, but I don;\'t know if it has what I am looking for.

I am really looking for info on the Council of Laodicea (around 363 AD) the first 30 or so canons, this says 28 of 30 so I don't know what ones the 28 really are.(which 2 are left out?)

I went on line and found a site that listed the first 59 canons, but I would like to be able to reference this info in my Logos, or does anyone know of a resource in Logos that has this already.

ps it has to be in English!

Thank you

Will

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fgh

Where did you see that this book includes Laodicea?

As for existing resources, A History of the Councils of the Church, volume 2 seems to have all 60, and with commentary. So does A Manual of Councils of the Holy Catholic Church, but only in summarized form. Unfortunately for you, however, the first is currently only available through the Catholic packages, and the second costs an awful lot more than when it went through CP at $4 half a year ago.

Will Scholten

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/333443#Comment_333443

thank you for your help FGH

Will

Ted Weis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/333558#Comment_333558

The information below is taken from Edward H. Landon, vol. 1, A Manual of Councils of the Holy Catholic Church (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1909), 317-21. I got it in Community Pricing and it's been an excellent resource in my study of church history.

LAODICEA (in PHRYGIA) (314–372). [Concilium Laodicenum.] The year in which this council was assembled is disputed. Baronius and Binius assign the year 314; Pagi, 363; Hardouin places it as late as 372, and others even in 399. Beveridge adduces some probable reasons for supposing it to have been held in 365. Thirty-two bishops were present, from different provinces of Asia, and sixty canons were published, which were received into the code of the universal Church.
1. Permits the holy communion to be administered to those persons who have married a second time, after they shall have spent some time in retreat, with fasting and prayer.
2. Directs that the holy communion shall be given to those who have completed their course of penance (Exomologesis).
3. Forbids to raise neophytes to the sacerdotal order.
4. Forbids usury amongst the clergy.
5. Forbids to confer holy orders in the presence of those who are in the rank of hearers.
6. Forbids all heretics to enter within the Church.
7. Directs that when any of the Novatians, Photinians, or Quartodecimani are to be received into the Church, they shall be made to abjure every heresy, be instructed in the true faith, anointed with the holy chrism, and afterwards be admitted to communion.
8. Orders that all Cataphrygians or Montanists shall be instructed and baptised before they are received.
9. Excommunicates those of the faithful who go to the places of worship or burial grounds of heretics.
10. Forbids the faithful to give their children in marriage to heretics.
11. Forbids the ordination of priestesses (πρεσβύτιδες).
12. Orders that the bishops shall be appointed by the metropolitan and his provincials.
13. Forbids to give the election of priests to the people.
14. Forbids to send the holy things (i.e., the consecrated elements) into other parishes at Easter by way of eulogiæ.
15. Directs that only those chanters whose names are inscribed in the church roll shall ascend the pulpit and chant.
16. Directs that the Gospels shall be read as well as the other books of Scripture on Saturday.
17. Directs that a lesson shall be read between each psalm.
18. Directs that the same prayer shall be repeated at nones as at vespers.
19. Directs that after the bishop’s sermon, shall be said separately the prayers for the catechumens, then those for the penitents, and lastly, those of the faithful; after which the kiss of peace shall be given, and after the priests have given it to the bishop, the lay persons present shall give it to each other; and that ended, the administration of the Holy Eucharist shall proceed. It orders further, that none except the priests shall be permitted to approach the altar in order to communicate.
20. Forbids a deacon to sit in the presence of a priest without permission of the latter. The same conduct is enjoined to subdeacons and all inferior clergy towards the deacon.
21 and 22. Forbid the subdeacon to undertake any of the functions of the deacon, to touch the sacred vessels, or to wear a stole.
23. Forbids the same to chanters and readers.
24. Forbids all the clergy, and those of the order of ascetics, to enter a tavern.
25. Forbids the subdeacon to give the consecrated bread and to bless the cup.
26. Prohibits persons not appointed thereto by a bishop, to meddle with exorcisms.
27. Forbids the carrying away of any portion of the agapæ, or love-feasts.
28. Forbids the celebration of the agapæ, or love-feasts, in churches.
29. Forbids Christians to observe the Jewish Sabbath.
30. Forbids Christian men, especially the clergy, to bathe with women.
31. Forbids to give daughters in marriage to heretics.
32. Forbids to receive the eulogiæ of heretics.
33. Forbids all Catholics to pray with heretics and schismatics.
34. Anathematises those who go after the false martyrs of heretics.
35. Forbids Christian persons to leave their church in order to attend private conventicles in which angels were invoked; and anathematises those who are guilty of this idolatry.
36. Forbids the clergy to deal in magic; and directs that all who wear phylacteries be cast out of the Church.
37. Forbids to fast with Jews or heretics.
38. Forbids to receive unleavened bread from Jews.
39. Forbids to feast with heathen persons.
40. Orders all bishops to attend the synods to which they are summoned, unless prevented by illness.
41 and 42. Forbid clergymen to leave the diocese to travel abroad, without the bishop’s permission and the canonical letters.
43. Forbids the porter of the Church to leave the gate for a moment, even in order to pray.
44. Forbids women to enter into the sanctuary.
45. Forbids to receive those who do not present themselves for the Easter baptism before the second week in Lent.
46. Orders that all catechumens to be baptised shall know the Creed by heart, and shall repeat it before the bishop or priest on the fifth day of the week.
47. Those who have been baptised in sickness, if they recover, must learn the Creed.
48. Orders that those who have been baptised shall be anointed with the holy chrism, and partake of the Kingdom of God.
49. Forbids to celebrate the holy Eucharist during Lent on any days but Saturdays and Sundays.
50. Forbids to eat anything on the Thursday in the last week of Lent; or during the whole of Lent, anything except dry food.
51. Forbids to celebrate the festivals of the martyrs during Lent; orders remembrance of them on Saturdays and Sundays.
52. Forbids to celebrate marriages and birth-day feasts during Lent.
53. Enjoins proper behaviour at marriage festivals, and forbids all dancing.
54. Forbids the clergy to attend the shows and dances given at weddings.
55. None of the clergy or laity to club together for drinking parties.
56. Forbids the priests to take their seats in the sanctuary before the bishop enters, except he be ill or absent.
57. Directs that bishops shall not be placed in small towns or villages, but simply visitors, who shall act under the direction of the bishop in the city.
58. Forbids both bishops and priests to celebrate the Holy Eucharist in private houses.
59. Forbids to sing uninspired hymns, &c, in church, and to read the uncanonical books.
60. Declares which are the canonical books of Scripture. In this list the books held to be Apocryphal by our Church, and the Book of the Revelation are omitted.—Tom. i. Conc. p. 1495.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/333625#Comment_333625

60. Declares which are the canonical books of Scripture. In this list the books held to be Apocryphal by our Church, and the Book of the Revelation are omitted.—Tom. i. Conc. p. 1495.

From Wikipedia on the final canon:

The 59th canon restricted the readings in church to canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. The 60th canon listed these books, with the New Testament containing 26 books, omitting the Book of Revelation, and the Old Testament including the 22 books of the Hebrew Bible plus the Book of Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy.

The authenticity of the 60th canon is doubtful as it is missing from various manuscripts and may have been added later to specify the extent of the preceding 59th canon. Around 350 AD, Cyril of Jerusalem produced a list matching that from the Council of Laodicea.

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/333665#Comment_333665

60. Declares which are the canonical books of Scripture. In this list the books held to be Apocryphal by our Church, and the Book of the Revelation are omitted.—Tom. i. Conc. p. 1495.

From Wikipedia on the final canon:

The 59th canon restricted the readings in church to canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. The 60th canon listed these books, with the New Testament containing 26 books, omitting the Book of Revelation, and the Old Testament including the 22 books of the Hebrew Bible plus the Book of Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy.

The authenticity of the 60th canon is doubtful as it is missing from various manuscripts and may have been added later to specify the extent of the preceding 59th canon. Around 350 AD, Cyril of Jerusalem produced a list matching that from the Council of Laodicea.

Can. 60. “These are all the books of the Old Testament which may be read aloud: (1) Genesis, (2) Exodus, (3) Leviticus, (4) Numbers, (5) Deuteronomy, (6) Joshua, (7) Judges, Ruth, (8) Esther, (9) First and Second Book of Kings,¹ (10) Third and Fourth Book of Kings, (11) First and Second Book of Paraleipomena (Chronicles), (12) First and Second Book of Ezra, (13) the Book of the 150 Psalms, (14) the Proverbs of Solomon, (15) Ecclesiastes (the Preacher), (16) the Song of Songs, (17) Job, (18) The twelve Prophets, (19) Isaiah, (20) Jeremiah and Baruch, the Lamentations and Letters (according to Zonaras, ‘the Letter’), (21) Ezekiel, (22) Daniel. The Books of the New Testament are these: four Gospels according to S. Matthew, S. Mark, S. Luke, and S. John; the Acts of the Apostles; the seven Catholic Epistles, namely, one by S. James, two by S. Peter, three by S. John, one by S. Jude; the fourteen Epistles of S. Paul,—one to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, one to the Galatians, one to the Ephesians, one to the Philippians, one to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, one to the Hebrews, two to Timothy, one to Titus, one to Philemon.”

In this list of the canonical books, which approaches that given in the Apostolic Canons, No. 85 (84),² are wanting of the Old Testament, the books of Judith, Tobias, Wisdom, Jesus the son of Sirach, Maccabees; of the New Testament, the Apocalypse of S. John. Such an omission is, however, the less remarkable, as it is known that in the fourth century it was the custom, even among the Fathers of the Church (for instance, Athanasius), to reckon in the catalogue of the Holy Scriptures only the proto-canonical, and not the deutero-canonical books.³ The same applies to the Revelation of S. John, which was also in the fourth century thought not to be genuine by a large number of Greeks.

A special treatise concerning the genuineness of this canon was published by Spittler in 1777,⁴ in which he seeks to show that it did not emanate from the Synod of Laodicea, but was only added later, and taken fromt he eighty-fifth Apostolic Canon. His principal reasons are:—

(a) That Dionysius Exiguus has not this canon in his translation of the Laodicean decrees.¹ It might, indeed, be said with Dallæus and Van Espen, that Dionysius omitted this list of the books of Scripture because in Rome, where he composed his work, another by Innocent i. was in general use.²

(b) But, apart from the fact that Dionysius is always a most faithful translator,³ this sixtieth canon is also omitted by John of Antioch,⁴ one of the most esteemed and oldest Greek collectors of canons,⁵ who could have had no such reasons as Dionysius for his omission.

(c) Lastly, Bishop Martin of Braga in the sixth century, though he has the fifth-ninth, has also not included in his collection⁶ the sixtieth canon so nearly related to it, nor does the Isidorian translation appear (?) at first to have had this canon.⁷ Herbst, in the Tübingen Review ⁸, also accedes to these arguments of Spittler’s, as did Fuchs⁹ and others before him. But Schrockh at least, even if somewhat hesitatingly, has raised the objection, that if this Synod in its fifty-ninth canon ordered that only the canonical books should be read, an explanation was obviously needed as to which are the canonical books.¹⁰ To this I may further add, first, that the Laodicean Canon of Scripture and that of the Canones Apost. are by no means identical, as Spittler assumes, but differ essentially both in the Old and New Testament;¹¹ secondly, that the two argumenta ex silentio which Spittler alone employs in favour of his assertion, namely, the silence of Dionysius, John of Antioch, and Martin of Braga,¹ are not in my opinion sufficient to outweigh the many manuscripts and quotations which support the sixtieth canon.² And that only fifty-nine Laodicean canons are cited by many of the ancient Fathers proves nothing for Spittler, because, as he himself states, in very many old manuscripts the fifty-ninth and sixtieth canons were written as one, as the latter does in fact belong to the former.³

Hefele, Charles Joseph: (Trans.): A History of the Councils of the Church, Volume 2. Edinburgh : T&T Clark, 1876. P 322-25.

It's also worth noting that when the 1st canon mentions 2nd marriages, it's not talking about divorcees, it's talking about widows and widowers.

Will Scholten

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/333558#Comment_333558

thank you to all who replied.

A special thanks to Ted, this is exactly what I was looking for!

thanks

Will

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/334676#Comment_334676

I just realized these canons can actually be found in full in the Early Church Fathers. [:$]