On the sources of law of the Orthodox Russian Church: [Ecclesiastical transformation of the Ancient Church as a source of law of the Russian Church]

“And the foundation of governance, that is, the Law of God proposed in the Holy Scriptures, as well as the canons, or council rules of the Holy Fathers, and the civil statutes, in agreement with the Word of God, require their own books, but do not fit here” (Regulations or Charter of the Spiritual College. Introduction). “The foundations of diocesan administration and court are: a) the Law of God, proposed in the Holy Scriptures, b) the canons or rules of the Holy Apostles, the Holy Councils of the Ecumenical and Local and the Holy Fathers, c) the Spiritual Regulations and the subsequent decrees and determinations of the Holy Governing Synod, and d) the laws in force in the state” (Constitution of the Spirit. Cons. 1883, Art. 6). It will not be superfluous at all, and for some readers it may seem desirable, the following small explanation of the title of the proposed article. The expression “source of law” allows for two interpretations. By this expression we mean, or it denotes, force, the internal foundation on which any right rests. When, for example, two or three bishops decide to perform the act of ordination as a bishop, having become convinced of the impossibility of the arrival of more bishops, relying in this decision on the 1st Apostolic Rule: then this rule serves as the source of this right of theirs. Or when, for example, the clergyman of a certain parish demands three rubles from the groom for the solemnization of his marriage, citing local custom, then this local custom serves as the source of the right to this demand for the clergyman of this parish. Thus, both the legislation of the Church (in the first case) and long-standing custom (in the second) are equally sources of law. They are called material sources of law. But the expression “source of law” can be understood in another sense. It can simply designate an external image or presentation of law, through which this latter becomes knowable; These are: codes of laws, codes, a book of rules, a helmsman’s book, etc. These are not the sources of law itself, but only the knowledge of law, which is why they are called formal sources of law. Thus, the above-mentioned Apostolic Rule can be learned from the Helmsman’s Book, from the Book of Rules, from the Nomocanon of Photius, or from some other collection 1 . Presented above, in the form of an epigraph, are articles by Dukhovn. Regulations and Const. Spiritual Consist. obviously they only count the material sources from which every authority and right of church institutions, as well as official and private individuals who are part of the Russian Church, currently derives: but they completely shy away from indicating any specific formal sources as the exclusive means of knowing church law. And in other articles of the said Codes there is no calculation of the formal sources of the law of the Russian Church, just as there is none in general in the legislation that primarily guides Church-governmental institutions at the present time. Meanwhile, these so-called formal sources of law of the Russian Church are very diverse and very numerous. For example, the rules of the Apostles, the rules of ecumenical councils, and even more so of local councils, can be read from the “book of rules” of the Synod edition, and from the printed Helmsman’s Book and from the Great Trebnik. But you can read them from many other printed and handwritten sources, and even in more advanced texts and higher ecclesiastical authority than the above publications. Where can I find these texts? Which ones are the best? The rules of which local councils and which holy fathers and teachers of the church constitute the hitherto practical source of law? Likewise, of the enormous mass of state legislation, old and new, what part constitutes the currently valid law and what part has become only historical material? These are the questions naturally raised by the silence of our current Church law about its formal sources. These are questions of deep practical importance. Where and how to find them allowed? The most natural thing would be to turn to the official body of our Church legislation and church codification for resolution of these issues - the Holy Governing Synod and wait for it to resolve these issues. The Holy Synod could and always can, with its imperious authority, issue a complete code of all those rules that it considers to be the current law of the Church and indicate in such a code not only the precisely defined composition of the rules, but also their very text, as exclusively accepted and approved by it. Until now, however, this kind of legislative or even codifying official publications has almost never been encountered. The only exception is the title “Book of Rules” published in 1839 and then repeated in subsequent years with the Greek and New Slavonic text of the basic canonical rules of the Orthodox Church. Until now, not even a revision of the Helmsman’s Book has been made, nor even a new edition of it, as well as a revision and a new edition of the Nomocanon at the Great Trebnik. Moreover, one cannot come across anything similar to a restriction for private individuals in the use of one or another text of canonical rules. The book of rules does not at all represent a textus receptus in the sense of an exclusively approved canonical code. The Holy Synod itself, after its publication, in its decrees often cited rules according to the text of the Helmsman’s Book, and not according to the “Book of Rules”. And when, then, in 1850, an extensive edition of the “Syntagma of the Canons” was published in Athens, the Holy Synod ordered that this publication be purchased by all religious educational institutions, although it presents a text and composition of rules that differ from the text and composition of the “Book of Rules.” How and how to explain such an attitude of the Holy Governing Synod towards such an important subject in practical terms. We do not have any data for an exact answer to this question, but we cannot help but note in this regard the following remarkable phenomenon observed in the entire history of the law of the Orthodox Church. Here the matter of codification of law, the processing of canonical and church-state codes, has always been carried out on the initiative and free labor of private individuals. Church power with its approving, sanctioning authority occasionally appears only after the appearance of such works produced by private individuals. The history of Byzantium is very rich, therefore, in collections of rules and state laws, and we have not encountered any restrictive, not to mention repressive measures, orders from the church authorities regarding the free activity of this type of private individuals. Ancient Rus' is also very rich in canonical writing, and all this writing is again the fruit of the free activity of private individuals, not in the least constrained by the church authorities. Therefore, the above-mentioned attitude of the Holy Governing Synod to the matter of codification of canon law does not represent anything special in comparison with the past in the history of the Orthodox Church. There is precisely every reason in this phenomenon to note a deeply significant property of the Orthodox Church - its recognition of private individuals as actively participating in the development and improvement of law. The Orthodox Church, which for a long time developed its law under the influence of ancient Roman law (and with mutual influence on it), seemed to resurrect the fading Roman jus prudentium by favorably and patronizingly treating the scientific canonical writing of private individuals, regardless of whether these individuals belong to the class of the highest hierarchy, or whether they are simple monks and lay people, driven in this activity by pious zeal, or even simple curiosity. Thus, the fact has now been firmly established that the composition of the canonical articles, approved by the Trullo Council (2nd Ave.) and then without any withdrawal (but with additions) passed into later canonical collections, owes its formation to the private activities of some hitherto unknown canonists. The highest church authority in the person of the Trullo Council only confirmed with its recognition, imprinted with its imperious authority the syntagma of canons compiled by the combined efforts of living private individuals long before this council. What are these private individuals if not prudetes juris canonici? It is known how important the interpretations of Zonara, Aristinus, Balsamon and others are in the history of the law of the Orthodox Church. But what are these interpretations if not jus prudentium in the purely ecclesiastical legal sphere? What are these rules of the Russian Metropolitan John or the answers of the Novgorod Archbishop Niphon, or “the rules of the ever-memorable Philaret Metropolitan of Moscow for the Trinity Hodigitrievsky women's hostel, if not sententiae prudentium in the purely ecclesiastical legal sphere? Long-term experience of applying them to life, their proven usefulness in life, and widespread dissemination often prompt the compiler or copyist of a canonical collection to include these sententiae in the series of church rules, and the church authorities to approve of such an act of a private person. Regarding the questions we raised regarding formal sources of law that are not officially resolved, the science of Church law has not only the right - as follows from the considerations just expressed - but also the duty to express its opinion, to give its answer to these questions. The first part of this science (currently growing more and more in general jurisprudence courses), containing historical research on the sources of law, increases in its value depending on the extent to which it resolves the above issues of high practical importance. Taking the trouble to present in a number of the following articles a complete presentation of this part of the science of canon law of the Russian Church, the author must necessarily set as his task a feasible solution to the questions raised. Realizing, however, the importance of this task and his insufficiency in solving it in all its breadth, the author will consider himself completely satisfied if he is allowed to apply to himself in his present situation the following words of the ancient canonist: “Wake up with God, with the prayers of the saints and help, I will finish this matter, moreover, I need to acquire something from here, and from now on I will accept the reward with diligence and diligence.” 2 Although the immediate practical interest in the history of the sources of law is focused primarily on the ucmopio and codification of law, we will allow ourselves to touch, albeit in general terms, on the history of church law formation in general, preceding each of the individual eras of the codification of law with indications of the law-forming bodies whose activities arose individual canons or making a collection of them. The most detailed definition of these eras and the depiction of the most important moments and phenomena of the codification of canon law will be gradually revealed in the following paragraphs. Natural and God-revealed, positive law were the main sources for church legal formation in the first two centuries. The significance of Old Testament law in the Church of Christ during this time. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, apostolic tradition and customs of the Churches founded by the Apostles as formal sources of law. Unofficial records of this right in the so-called. "Apostolic Rules". A critical examination of this monument of Christian antiquity. The most ancient components laid down as the basis by their collector. Their significance in the subsequent history of the law of the Eastern Church. The deep difference between the social essence of the Church (as a union of people) and the social nature of the state is already evident at the initial moment of the origin and formation of its law. Whereas the origin of civil law goes back to the prehistoric region and at the first stages of history is revealed only by barely noticeable glimpses of reason and moral feeling in the darkness of violence, gross arbitrariness, and tyrannical-predatory lusts of despot rulers that thickly envelop human life. The origin of the first beginnings of church law takes place in the full light of reason and freedom, under the action of the purest moral feeling and - what is especially remarkable - is the result of free criticism of two legislations of global significance: the Old Testament, Jewish and ancient Roman law. The Spirit of the Lord, who revealed Himself in the apostolic and missionary activity of the first builders of the Church with many signs and wonders (Acts II, 43), apparently influenced and assisted them in the quickly established organization of Christian societies, as well as in the establishment of a completely new order of life among them. Already towards the end of the apostolic age we see organized Christian societies in Judea, Syria, Greece, Egypt, Italy and in the distant reaches of the then world. In their morals, these societies were already sharply distinguished from the world around them, which lay in evil, Jews and pagans, differing in everything from each other, except for one point that united them and made them akin to each other - unanimous enmity against Christians. Where, then, did the Christians of the primal Church find such a solid foundation for their special organization, for their new order of life, in a word - for their right, that they without hesitation opposed it to the dominant forms and order of life as the truest, most perfect, most excellent, and in what forms was it, this new right of Christians, originally expressed? In the most ancient monuments of church literature, two sources are clearly indicated that determined the legal consciousness of the first Christians: the internal law of conscience (natural law) and the commandments of the Lord and the Apostles, which by the end of the apostolic age had already taken the form of both oral tradition and the form of written law (positive law, divine law). With full confidence in these two leaders, Christians began to evaluate the Old Testament Jewish and Roman state legislation and acted in accordance with the resulting inner conviction with the assistance of their Teachers. The first of these two criteria served Christians advantageously in determining their relationship to Roman law, the second in relation to Old Testament law. Already the Apostle Paul clearly revealed the doctrine of the universal significance of natural law for all people and in it indicated the most important guide for action. With classical clarity and accuracy, having developed an account of the essence and properties of the moral law, to which everyone is responsible - whether a pagan or a Jew, 4 he repeatedly clarified this position in practice in his writings and in his personal life. Thus, he reproaches the Corinthian Christians for being indifferent to the cohabitation of one of their brothers with his father’s wife—fornication, which is considered shameful even among the pagans (1 Corinth. V. 1); From the bishop, among other qualities obligatory for him, he demands a good reputation among the pagans (1 Timothy 3:7). In his own civil positions and relationships Ap. Paul strictly conformed to civil law and often directly used his right of Roman citizenship in the form of self-defense. As an accused before various tribunals, he pointed out to the judges the law in cases where they deviated from it 5 . The teaching of the Apostle and the corresponding attitude of the Apostle, expressed by the deed itself, found wide application among Christians of subsequent times. Its meaning is revealed by such fathers and teachers of the Church as Irenaeus 6, Tertullian 7, Clement of Alexandria 8, and Origen 9. Christian apologists of these centuries stand in defense of the Christian religion before the Roman government mainly on the basis of natural law. – To the extent that the prescriptions (norms) of the then prevailing civil Roman law did not contradict this natural law, Christians were unwavering executors of them in their private lives. They were encouraged to do this by such authoritative teachers as, for example. St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna: “all of you be yielding to one another, so that your behavior may be impeccable among the pagans” 10. And the guardians of the laws and civil order often testified to the completely impeccable lifestyle of Christians. But, it goes without saying that this civil legislation represented rules of life and private relations (for example, on marriage, on the relationship of parents to children, masters to slaves, on property, etc.), which could only be tolerated by Christ, but which could not at all serve as models or provide material for establishing such rules for the new life of Christians, which constituted their ideal, proclaimed by the Gospel, persistently prescribed by the Apostles and Apostolic men and, in general, by Teachers Churches of this time. A more abundant source in this regard for Christians was the Old Testament law. In the attitude of the primacy of the Church towards him, one cannot help but note the difference between the two successive eras. In the earliest, most ancient times, the Old Testament law had incomparably greater importance among Christians than in the subsequent period. So, in the beginning, the “builders of the Church” themselves, the Apostles, lived in appearance almost like Jews. The Apostles Peter and John went to prayer in the Jerusalem Temple at the 9th hour (Acts 3:1). Living in Corinth with Aquilla and Priscilla, the Apostle Paul went to the synagogue every Saturday and taught there (18:4). At the insistence of James and the Jerusalem elders, he should was in Jerusalem to perform a seven-day rite of purification in compliance with the established sacrifices and had to do this to refute rumors that he taught about the apostasy from Moses (Acts 21:21-26). While in chains in Rome, he testified before the Jews who had gathered to him: “Having done nothing against the people and the customs of my fathers, I was delivered from Jerusalem in chains. hands of the Romans" (Acts 28:17) However, it was either only such unexampled Christians as Paul and the other Apostles, who, following the example of Christ, bore the yoke of all and every law, or - Christians from the Jews - in both cases, strict fulfillment of the precepts of the Law of Moses was either a matter of freedom (for the latter), or a matter of condescension to the weakness of the Judaizing conscience (for the former). But as for the obligatory nature of the Law of Moses for Christians in general and especially for Gentile Christians, such a question was raised already in the time of the Apostles. As is known, the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem directly called circumcision and the entire ritual part of the law a burden for pagan Christians and freed them from this burden, recognizing as obligatory for them only what was prescribed for proselytes (cf. Numbers 17:8-15). The apostles, laying aside the burden of circumcision and Jewish rites from pagan Christians, still stood firmly in the point of view of the Mosaic Law. Consequently, for Jewish Christians this law did not lose any of its power from the decision in question. How long and for what reasons did such a widespread effect of the Law of Moses exist in the Christian Church? St. gives a wonderful answer to this question. Irenaeus of Lyons. In his explanation of the words of the Lord: I no longer call you servants: for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends.. (John 15:15), he divides the law of Moses into natural commandments and into those that were imposed on the Jews as a yoke of slavery for their establishment of the cult of the golden calf. The first ones, to which the 10 commandments belong, were not only left in force by the Lord, but also increased in their mandatory meaning; On the contrary, He freed us from the latter, but advised us to observe the law in general before the destruction of Jerusalem 12. The destruction of Jerusalem, according to this testimony of St. Irenaeus, and served as a line dividing two eras with different meanings of the Law of Moses in the Church. That in the second of these eras the significance of the Law of Moses in church life was more and more reduced in scope, there is the clearest evidence of this. St. Justin the Philosopher, in a conversation with Tryphon the Jew, just like St. Irenaeus, in his above words, sharply distinguishes two kinds of commandments in the Law of Moses: “Some are by nature good, holy and just,” others were legalized due to the hardness of the hearts of the people: they were fulfilled by people under the law (chapter 45). These latter include circumcision, observance of the months, various washings. All such commandments were given by God through Moses due to the hardness of heart of the people of Israel in order to through these numerous decrees, he always had God before his eyes in every matter and did not dare to engage in lawless and wicked deeds. For the same purpose, other rituals were established (chap. 46; Num. 15, 38-40; Deut. 7, 6-8). - But St. Justin clearly testifies that in the Christian Church of his time (2nd half. 11th century) these second kind of commandments and decrees were not observed at all, they were recognized as “in no way conducive to righteousness and holiness” (chapter 46), and if there were those who, due to weakness of spirit, observed some of these decrees, but at the same time believed in Christ and fulfilled the eternal and natural rules of justice and holiness, then on the other hand, there were, and precisely in the majority, those who “were afraid to even have communication in conversation or in food with such weak-hearted people" (chapter 47) 13. Origen based on the words of Ap. Paul: He has given us the ability to be ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6), - he taught that one must distinguish between literal and spiritual law: only the latter is obligatory. And in order to find this spiritual law, one must turn to the Gospel and, in its light, discover this law. For the Gospel contains the truly natural, i.e. divine law. In this sense, we can say that the Mosaic Law and the Prophets have not been abolished, but should be revered as the first rudiments of the Christian faith. As for the external commandments of the Mosaic Law, they are not applicable either to pagan Christians or to Jewish Christians: for Providence, which previously prescribed this law, has now already destroyed the city of the Jews, their temple and their entire cult, which consisted of sacrifices and other strictly defined forms. Ritual laws were only types of future things” 14. The short excerpts from the church literature of the first centuries presented so far quite clearly reveal the spirit, direction and order of the new life, which was already established in the church, and which it was to preach to the whole world in place of what dominated it and was based on national and Roman civil rights. This new order of life, based on natural and divine law, sharply distinguished Christians or the Church both from the pagans of different nations and from the Jews. Christians were neither Jews, nor Romans, nor Athenians, nor Syrians, but were the people of God, spread among these nations. In them Christ were παροικοι—strangers and strangers 15. True, they fulfilled the laws of their fatherland and their fellow tribesmen (which were not in direct contradiction to their natural and divine law). but they fulfilled precisely as foreigners out of necessity, only by tolerating them, the same laws that sharply contradicted the natural and divine law - they denounced, with all their energy, with all their love, surrendering to the fulfillment of this native and domestic law of theirs - naturally divine. They were not Romans, but the best of the Romans; not the Jews, but the best of the Jews: for this reason they suffered hatred and persecution from both. The vital force of their new legal principles lay first in their naturalness and universality, properties that were completely reconciled with national peculiarities: “for in every nation he who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to Him” 16 . Due to these properties, the Church of Christ spread and established itself with equal convenience among the most diverse nations and brought together people who were the most distant in civil and even tribal relations. Due to the universality and at the same time naturalness of their legal principles, Christians did not hesitate to give honor to every person who does good, Jew and Greek, and without any hesitation pointed out those who feared God and acted in truth not only among the Jews, but also among pagan philosophers, poets and statesmen. The strength of the new legal principles proclaimed by the Church also lay in their deep, direct connection with religious doctrine and religious feeling. These were not only legal, but also moral principles: for it is not in the spirit of the Church to separate morality and law; external righteousness, not accompanied by pure moral motivation, is hypocrisy, Pharisaic truth and grave sin. The internal foundation and principles of the moral and legal are one – the will of God, naturally and positively revealed to man; therefore, every commandment, as well as every instruction of the state, must either be fulfilled not out of fear, but also out of conscience, or not at all. In the same way, the root motive, as well as the final goal of this church-legal righteousness, did not lie in any tasks external to the moral being of man, for example. in achieving the common good, in acquiring civic honor, public opinion, wealth, influence, etc., and in this very inner being of a person - in satisfying the demands of his conscience, in acquiring spiritual peace, in maintaining a union with God, in becoming like Him. Therefore, at the basis of every prescription of church law addressed to a Christian, there is certainly an assumption: if you want to be perfect. It goes without saying that such a “right” would be and remain an extreme utopia if it were not based on sincere faith in Christ who came in the flesh, warmed and confirmed by the grace of the Holy Spirit living in the members of the Church. Such harmony of morality and law is impossible anywhere except the true Church of Christ. Its idea was inherent in Roman law and in general the law of the classical world, but it remained a utopia. This idea was more vital in the Old Testament Law of Moses, but it was also the vital principle of a few righteous people. And in our present century, European unbelieving jurisprudence has completely abandoned this harmony, precisely as a utopia and where, under the name of “legal order,” it means nothing more or less than a deal between moral unbridledness or unconditional personal freedom with the requirements of social self-preservation. The idea of ​​the impossibility of exercising this right was not unknown to the Church of the first centuries; From time to time, there also appeared faint-hearted people who, while finding the commandments of this right wonderful, at the same time realized that they were extremely difficult, burdensome and inconvenient to fulfill. The Church responded to such faint-hearted people that, on the contrary, these commandments are easy, but they are so under one indispensable condition - love, complete, sincere love for the Lord. We cannot resist the beautiful presentation of church teaching on this matter, expressed in the “Shepherd” of Hermas. “And I (Herm) said to him (the Shepherd): Sir, these commandments are majestic, beautiful and capable of gladdening the heart of a person who can fulfill them. But I don’t know, sir, whether these commandments can be kept by a person, because they are very difficult. He answered me: you will easily keep these commandments, and they will not be difficult if you are convinced that they can be kept.” He said this with great anger, so that I was very embarrassed and afraid. For his face has changed in such a way that man cannot bear his anger. But seeing that I was all in confusion and fear, I began to speak more moderately and kindly: “Foolish and fickle, don’t you see the glory of God, how great and wondrous is He who created the world for man and subjected all creation to man and gave him all power to rule over everything under heaven. If man is the ruler of God’s creatures and rules over everything, then can’t he also rule over everything?” these commandments? This is possible for a person who has the Lord in his heart. But whoever has the Lord only in his mouth is hardened in heart and is far from the Lord, for this reason these commandments are difficult and impossible to fulfill. So you, weak and easy in faith, put your Lord in your heart; and you will know that there is nothing easier than these commandments, nothing more pleasant and accessible than them." What served as the formal source of natural and divinely revealed, positive law for Christians, the source from which they learned this law, with which they tested their own convictions and the demands of their conscience? We receive a clear answer to this question from the following words of Tertullian’s apology: “We gather to read the Holy Scripture (clearly the Old and New Testaments), from which, depending on the circumstances, we draw the information and instructions necessary for us. With holy words we cultivate faith, strengthen hope, affirm courage, without any infighting interfering with the teachings of our mentors. Immediately there are admonitions, corrections and divine sentences. For judgment is carried out with strict examination and with confidence in the presence of God; and therefore it already serves as a clear omen of future condemnation, if anyone by his misdeeds deserves to be excommunicated from communication in prayers, meetings and other sacred relationships. Our leadership is held by elders who achieve such honor not by purchase, but by proven dignity: the right of God (res Dei) cannot be sold at the price of gold" 18 . Such words reflected the Christian judgment of the 2nd century. under the pen of an experienced lawyer, a deep expert in Roman law and the customs of the Roman tribunals 19. The connection in which the pronouncement of judicial sentences is brought here with the reading of the Holy Scriptures and the teaching of the masters very clearly indicates that the latter served as the main sources for the judges in their decisions on issues of Christian law and discipline. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, directly assimilated, and the teachings of mentors, explaining and revealing them, were the first and main sources of the legal consciousness of Christians of the primal Church of the Epistles of the Apostolic Men - St. Clement of Rome, St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. Barnabas, St. Ignatius, writings against the heresies of St. Irenea and others present documentary evidence confirming this position. These, however, are far from the only sources of the law of the first Christians. With no less clarity and firmness, historical evidence points to another very abundant source of law - the traditions of St. The Apostles - their commandments regarding church structure, worship and discipline, transmitted orally by them to their successors and disciples and to entire churches founded by them and directly governed by them. Thus, already in the Acts of St. The Apostles in the Epistles of St. The Apostle Paul, especially pastoral, there is clear evidence that much related to the structure of the Church was established by the Apostles themselves, which is mentioned in these writings only in passing, so to speak, by accident. The establishment of bishops, presbyters, deacons, widows, the qualities required of them, the method of placing them in office (through the laying on of hands) are already mentioned in these books of the New Testament Scripture. Consequently, the Church’s own law-forming or legislative activity on the basis of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, if such took place at this time, was, so to speak, attached to that unknown part, or the beginnings of the church structure and church law, which were given directly by the Apostles themselves and were observed in the Church. How great this part or these beginnings of the Apostolic institutions is - this remains unknown, but that it was and was observed in the Church as an Apostolic tradition παράδοσις αποστολική and then was kept as a church custom συνήθεια εκκλησιαστικη and that this tradition and this custom had the meaning of legal-ecclesiastical norms is attested very clearly by the literature of the primal Church. In the book. Chapter 3 1 St. Irenaeus writes: “everyone who wants to see the truth can learn in every Church the tradition of the Apostles, revealed throughout the world, and we can list the bishops installed by the Apostles in the churches and their successors before us, who taught nothing and did not know anything that these (heretics) are raving about... Every Church, that is, believers everywhere, must necessarily agree with this (Roman Church), due to its primary importance, the apostolic tradition has always been preserved by believers everywhere... Also, the Church of Ephesus, founded by Paul and having among itself John until the very time of Trajan, is the true witness of the apostolic tradition... (Therefore) one should not seek from others the truth, which is easy to receive from the Church, for the Apostles, like a rich man in a treasury, completely put into it everything that relates to the truth, so that everyone who wishes takes from it the drink of life. She is precisely the door of life, and all others (teachers) are thieves and robbers. Therefore, one must avoid the latter, but with the greatest care choose what pertains to the Church and accept the tradition of the truth. What then? If a dispute arose on some important issue, would it not be appropriate to turn to the most ancient churches in which the Apostles were converted, and from them to obtain what is reliable and clear regarding the present issue? What if the Apostles had not left us the Scriptures? Shouldn’t they have followed the order of tradition given to those to whom they entrusted the churches? Tertullian testifies about his time “if a rule is not defined by scripture (nulla scriptura determinavit), but is nevertheless observed everywhere, it means that it is approved by custom based on tradition (de traditione manavit). If anyone says that tradition also requires some kind of written testimony, then we, for our part, will point to many institutions that, without any writing, are preserved by the importance of tradition alone and the force of custom. So, let's begin from baptism, approaching the water, we first, under the hand of the primate, testify that we renounce the devil and his angels, then we are immersed three times and, emerging from the font, we taste honey and milk; then after a whole week we refrain from ordinary washings. We receive the sacrament of the Eucharist before dawn and not otherwise than at the hands of the elders; we make offerings for the dead and annual celebrations in honor of the saints; We do not fast on Sunday, nor do we kneel; We are very careful to prevent anything from falling to the ground from the holy cup or bread; during all ordinary affairs, when entering, when leaving the house, when washing, when rising from sleep, and when going to bed, at sunrise and sunset, we sign the forehead with the sign of the cross. If you had asked the written law for these and many other regulations, you would not have found it (harum et aliaruni ejusmodi disciplinarum si legem expostules scriptura – rum, nullam invenies). Here it has its power - tradition as a foundation, custom as its affirmation, faith as its protection. (Traditio ibi praetendetur–auctrix, consuetudo–confirmatrix, tides–observatrix) 21 . This testimony, worthy of a Roman lawyer of the golden age of Roman jurisprudence, already in the depth of his views on the phenomena of inner life among Christians that he contemplated, is especially important for us in terms of its content. Already by the end of the 2nd century. according to this testimony, the Church had “many institutions,” expressed both in “written laws” and - and even more so - in unwritten ones in the form of customary law - expressed in the language of modern terminology. Lest we be tempted to exaggerate the significance of this evidence in building on its conclusions regarding the state of the sources of ecclesiastical law at this point in time at the end of the 2nd century, we must follow a strictly literal interpretation of this evidence; for we are dealing with the testimony not of a simpleton's witness, but of a lawyer's witness, who is, of course, very careful and completely impeccable in the use of legal terms. At the end of the above tirade, Tertullian clearly says that if anyone wanted to look for the “written law” for the above and many other provisions, he would not have found it; they are based on tradition, confirmed by custom and protected by faith (that is, in the holiness of tradition, and in the authenticity and holiness of its preservation by the customs of the Church). The concept of “written law”, according to Tertullian, has a very definite and precise scope. The entire written Christian law is contained in the Holy Scriptures of the New and Old Testaments. In all his writings, Tertullian does not refer to any other book as the law, except St. The Scriptures, although, of course, he was not unaware of the messages of the Apostolic men, for example. Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Hermas and others, nor other works of ancient Christian literature, which, however, contain evidence of the apostolic origin of certain provisions of customary law 22. The historical moment at which Tertullian wrote his work on the internal structure of the Church was extremely important. From the very beginning of the 2nd century. The Apostolic age is ending, but the elders who directly interacted with the Apostles—the Apostolic men—still live. In the middle of the 2nd century this generation of Apostolic men also ceases. What phenomena in the internal life of the Church mark this change of generations of its leaders? The history of Eusebius provides brief but deeply interesting information in this regard. End of the 1st century. Eusebius, in the words of Egesippus, characterizes it as follows: “until that time, the Church remained a pure virgin: if there were people who encroached on the common sense of saving teaching, they were still hiding in the darkness of the unknown. When the sacred face of the apostles ended their lives in different ways and when the generation of people who were worthy to listen to Divine Wisdom with their own ears passed away; then, under the influence of the deception of false teachers, the sedition of ungodly error began. Encouraged by the fact that not a single Apostle was alive, the heretics began to openly oppose their false knowledge to the preaching of the truth 23 . “The first molester of her was Febufis, dissatisfied with the fact that he was not made a bishop (of Jerusalem in place of James, the brother of the Lord). From them also came Simon, the ancestor Simonian, and Kleovius, etc. And each heresy leader brought his own and different teaching. Henceforth, false Christians, false prophets, false apostles appeared, and with their corrupt teaching about God and His Christ they divided the unity of the Church. Speaking about the so-called apocrypha, Hegesippus notes that some of them were compiled by heretics in his time (about 170) 24. From the preface to the work of Papias of Hierapolis, “the friend of Polycarp,” Eusebius cites the following passage: “I will not fail to explain to you what I learned well from the elders and remembered well, and added explanations to confirm the truth; because I did not adhere to those who, like many, say a lot, but to those who teach the truth, I was not aligned with those who remember other people’s commandments, but with those who adhere to the commandments, faithful from the Lord for faith and those who come from the truth itself. If I happened to meet someone who dealt with the elders, then I carefully asked about the teaching of the elders, for example, what Andrew, Peter, Philip, Thomas or James, or any other of the disciples of the Lord, or Aristion and the presbyter John, the disciples of the Lord, said. voice" 25. From the work of Egesippus, Eusebius gives the following general review of his about the internal state of the Church of his time: “The Corinthian Church maintained the correct teaching until Primus, who was bishop in Corinth. Sailing to Rome, I spent many days with the Corinthians, talking with them, and we were mutually consoled by our Orthodoxy. While in Rome, I compiled a list of the succession of bishops before Anicetas... In each succession and in each city, everything went as the law, the prophets and the Lord commanded” 26 . Comparing this information with the previously cited passages from the writings of Irenaeus and Tertullian about the importance of the Apostolic Tradition preserved in the Church, we obtain the following general features characterizing the state of the Church in the second century: 1) This was the time of the emergence and strengthening of heresies that perverted the doctrine and order of the church and the time of compilation of the apocrypha in order to justify these perversions. 2) This was a time of especially diligent concern for the preservation of the Apostolic tradition, for the restoration and strengthening in memory of the commandments and, in general, the conversations of the Apostles with their disciples - the Apostolic men, with the aim of counteracting the distortion of tradition by heretics and reflecting their apocryphal fabrications. Quite extensive records, made by unknown private individuals, of the rules of Christian life, the order of worship, public and private, the rules for appointment to church positions and the discipline of the clergy and the rules of discipline for the laity, are most naturally dated to such an era. These records in their entire set are currently known under the name of the “Rules of the Holy Apostles, (Διατάξεις τῶν ἀγίων Άποστολων) Although there can be no doubt that in the form of a whole set, divided into 8 separate books, these “Rules St. Apostles" were compiled no earlier than the end of the 3rd century. or the first half of the 4th; but they are also undoubtedly based on individual records or articles that came to light no later than the 2nd century. In the present century, especially in the era we are living through, the study of ancient canonical codes, Greek and Eastern, has already led to some fairly accurate scientific conclusions regarding the original type of records underlying the octateuch of the Apostolic Constitutions. It is possible, therefore, to hope that over time, scientific research will lead to an accurate definition of the prototypes and other parts of this octobook, about which at present we can only say that they bear undoubted traces of deep Christian antiquity, but how much and what exactly was introduced into them by their later copyists and editors is still impossible to determine with accuracy. - In any case, we can look at these Apostolic Rules, or as they are commonly called - “Apostolic Decrees”, as an unofficial record of the rules of Divine service and discipline of the clergy and laity, rules that were in force in the 2nd century as a custom of church and apostolic tradition. This record, quite extensive, is compiled on the basis of ancient records. It is the duty of historical science to find, restore and examine these records and show what was added to them by their later editor, who compiled 8 books of the Apostolic Rules. We will try to indicate what has already been done in the fulfillment of this duty at the present time, having first made a general outline of the composition and content of the entire octobook of the Apostolic Constitutions. Let us first of all present a general description of the “Apostolic Constitutions” simply as a literary work, using for this purpose the very well-known and at one time revered very thorough scientific research by Dray 27 . The whole work is divided into 8 books, each book into chapters. In most editions, each book and chapter has its own special inscription, or designation of contents, which in some chapters is not accurate, because they often contain more than what is indicated in the title. or something completely different; Likewise, the division into chapters was done unsuccessfully, and as a result of this it is necessary, for example. in the eighth book, it is almost always the end, and sometimes a significant part of the previous chapter is moved to the next - which is an important inconvenience when searching for and reading quickly. The individual books are of very uneven length and therefore it seems that from some of the books - especially given the author's love of the first six of them for a broad presentation - something has been lost. This especially needs to be said about the first and fourth books due to their disproportionate brevity and other reasons 28. This is the external structure of the monument as it came out of the hands of its author, copyists and publishers. Taking into account the characteristic literary features characteristic of its different parts, it is easy to distinguish actually three completely different and uneven works, very unskillfully united into one whole with a mechanical division of it into 8 parts or books. These three works are the following: 1) the first six books, 2) the seventh book, 3) the Eighth book. In the latter, there is also quite sufficient reason to single out the last 47th chapter as a small but independent work - these are the well-known 85 rules of the Holy Apostles. That the first six books represent one complete work is proven, first of all, by his own plan and the perfect execution of it. In six books this plan is completely fulfilled, so that the next two books are either appendices to the main work, or completely independent works of related content. In these latter there is no matter that is not already discussed in the former, and something is presented differently and even to the point of contradiction. The monument begins with general moral teaching for Christians, then moves on to instructions about the properties, duties and character of a special class in the Church. Next we talk about active religious life and sacred rites; about ordinary religious meetings of Christians, what is done and in what order, what mood (namely the spirit of love and peace) pervades the entire meeting, what external order is observed, which of the strangers and to what extent are allowed into these meetings, and who is not allowed, in a word, the complete order of the Divine service is depicted, only without rites; To this are added instructions about daily (home) prayer. These are the first four books. The fifth contains instructions relating to church discipline; first about the martyrs, which would be more convenient to place in the sixth book, instructions necessary for all Christians of the first centuries; then - about holidays and fasting. The sixth book talks about the teachings of faith and the errors and heresies that are contrary to it. The conclusion is formed by instructions about the last duty that a person and a Christian have in relation to another - duty to the dead. From this it is clear what the author had in mind to write and how he accomplished his task. He wanted to write a book from which every Christian could learn about his religion and Christianity as it really was then, and form an understanding of the individual and the whole, in order to understand what constitutes the driving force in the life of the Church and to what he is able to direct his activity in it, or, in the literary language of our time, he wanted to write a textbook of religion (Religionshandbuch) for his time. Whoever compares the contents of these six books with each other will easily be convinced of the internal connection of its main subjects and of this intention of the author. And one must attribute the inability to appreciate this intention of the author to the childish fear of heretics in ancient times, and in modern times to hatred of the most ancient institutions of the Church and bad criticism. Of course, according to our logic, he should have arranged and organized his material differently; and indeed there are shortcomings in this regard; but they should be blamed not so much on our author as on later copyists and incompetent editors, as actually happened with entire chapters that combined different matters without any not only logical, but even grammatical connection, so that only chance, and not at all the original author, could have compiled them this way. However, he also used his own special way of conducting his business. In the main matters, he followed one specific stream of thoughts, as can be seen from the very titles of the books, but in secondary and separate ones, one word or a separate instruction could serve as a reason for him to develop a topic that, due to the connection of speech, should not have been developed. As an example, let us indicate one of the cases of this kind. In the second book, he talks about the duty of unanimity in the deacon’s proclamation to the assembly μήτις κατά τίνος μήτις εν υπόκρισει - and from here he proceeds to a detailed description of liturgical meetings, just as from the injunction: women should not baptize – moves on to instructions on baptism in general and on presbyteral baptism; so in the 6th book from the rejection of marriage by the Gnostics - to prescriptions regarding the marriage of clergy. Through this, the logical order in the disclosure of individual matters is often interrupted and objects are found under the titles of books and chapters to which they do not belong. With a superficial glance at this, the reader, of course, may think that the work is composed of works by various authors, or has been altered, or has undergone insertions. But whoever carefully reads the whole and becomes familiar with the train of thought of the essay will see in this only the peculiarity of the techniques of one author, but of course one whose logical development is insufficient. This triumph of the author for the first six books is also revealed in the form he chose for his work. He chose the form of an apostolic conciliar letter, putting into the mouths of the Apostles what he himself wanted to say: “Apostles and elders to all nations who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; May the grace and mercy of Almighty God, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, abound in you through the knowledge of Him!” Then it is briefly said that they, by the grace and promise of the Lord, having received through Christ the lot to hear His holy teaching, should follow Him in pious zeal. After this, the presentation of the teaching itself immediately begins and proceeds in this didactic form evenly from one matter to another and from one book to another, without special introductions or attacks for each of them; even without any other transition from one book to another, except for a simple particle δε - from this, the entire work, not divided into parts, presents the appearance of a long epistle, as well as in its entire tone it approaches the conciliar epistles of the Apostles. Finally, in the last chapter of the 6th book, it ends with a general exhortation to be committed to Christ, the Teacher, the One who died and rose again, the future Judge and Rewarder, who sits at the right hand of God in the heavenly kingdom, through whom is due glory, praise and honor to Almighty God now and forever. Amen. This form of external structure clearly shows that the whole arose from one source, and was not composed of various fragments originally independent of one another: for it is impossible that the characteristics of the individual component parts regarding the original form of the structure, in the aggregate, should be so mixed up that no trace remains of them at all, at least it is impossible that this was done by our author, who reveals so little art in the writer's composition. One author finally allows us to see the very language and style of the first six books. The first belongs to a writer who could not have been Greek by birth; he is an eastern man, and therefore wrote in the dialect that was formed in these lands, first under Greek domination, and later, with the spread of Christianity, modified under the influence of biblical and church writers. This language in the use of individual words, phrases, and syntactic forms remains the same in all six books. The same must be said about style, although at times it presents differences. In general he is verbose and broad; willingly uses sensory images, similarities and comparisons - the latter is especially readily used in relation to the institutions of Judaism and Christianity; simple and free from grandiloquence, but not without some importance corresponding to the importance of the subject; Moreover, it is clear everywhere, so that few of the writings of the ancient Church are as clear as it is. The work retains these properties almost without exception in all six books: only in the discussion of brevity and accuracy, or, on the contrary, broadness, is dissimilarity noticed: but it apparently has its basis in the desire to highlight certain subjects, or to give particular importance to certain teachings or duties. In such cases, the author, who is generally abundant in words, becomes overly drawn out, expresses the same thoughts in different words, without measure applies extracts from Scripture and examples, repeats himself and, having moved on to another matter, returns again to the previous one. Such tedious broadcasting occurs in the second and sixth books; in the rest the style is uniform. The origin of such a literary work by Drey, based on a critical analysis of the characteristic features of the hierarchical structure, church discipline, liturgical institutions and dogma contained in it, dates back to the second half of the 3rd century 29. The seventh book of the Apostolic Constitutions, according to Dray, could in no way be written together with the first six books and by the same author. This is revealed, first of all, from a comparison of their content. The seventh book speaks for the most part about exactly the same subjects that have already been discussed in the first six; it begins in the same way as the first book, with moral teaching, it sets out instructions for performing baptism, like the third book, instructions for church fasts. as (only more extensively) and the fifth: the instructions on prayer and on the celebration of Sunday are the same, which are only in a more detailed presentation in the second book: definitions regarding the gifts of the Eucharistic sacrifice - different from the homogeneous ones or those contained in the fourth book; definitions of the qualities of the bishop, presbyters and deacons - regarding which the second book is so broad, and the symbol is significantly different from the symbol of the sixth book. The special features of the seventh book are a collection of prayers and liturgical rites, detailed instructions on the rite of baptism and a list of the most ancient bishops. Already this relation of the seventh book and its contents to the first six gives the right to the conclusion that it was not written together with them and not by the same author. For no matter how little we may have praised the author of the first six books, as a writer who writes according to a certain plan and in a logical order, he still could not help but know that in the seventh book he again takes up matters that he had already examined in detail in separate books, and considers them once again and, moreover, abruptly in comparison with the most detailed presentation of them in the first six. These are not any additions or amendments to the content of the first books, because they do not contain anything new or different, but on the contrary - in relation to what is homogeneous - only extracts from the content and, moreover, meager extracts, as anyone who wants to take the trouble to compare can be convinced of this, which, for example, is said in the 7th book. Ch. 31 about the qualities of the bishop, presbyters and deacons, in 23 - about fasting, in 21 - about avoiding atheists, in 20 - about indiscriminate eating, in 28 and 30 - about public meetings - compare with what is contained about these subjects in the first six books. How could the author add such extracts from them? This relationship of homogeneous content of the seventh and six first books, combined with its peculiarity, therefore leads to the assumption that it was based on a similar independent work. This assumption is justified by the very inscription of the 7th book; περί πολιτείας, καί ευχαριστίας, καί τῆς κατά χριστόν μοήσεως. considered in relation to its content. The word πολιτεία in ancient times denoted not only state improvement and public administration, but also the duties, lifestyle and actions of a citizen, and church writers used it because of the similarity of the state and the church to designate both the church structure and the duties, lifestyle and actions of a Christian in the Church. This is what the author of the 7th book did. This πολιτεια includes everything that concerns moral behavior, avoidance of serving the gods, prayer, celebration of Sunday, fasting, and the qualities of clergy. The first six books together contain nothing more than πολιτεία χριστιάνη. To this in the 7th book. two more objects are added: ευχαριστία and κατά χριστόν μυήσις. The first is the bloodless sacrifice, the mysterious part of the liturgy. This includes prayers, thanksgivings and petitions (chapters 25 – 28); It should be noted, however, that there are no formulas for the blessing of the Eucharist found in the 8th book, which is explained by the different purposes of both books. And other liturgical rites reported here are different than in the 8th book; so this latter contains the complete liturgy, while the 7th contains only excerpts from it, namely the extraction of those prayers that a layman can use quietly during the liturgy and outside of it - for his edification. In addition, these passages do not give a complete concept of the liturgy, which serves as proof that this collection was intended for the laity in κατηχήσις μυσταγωγική, as the conclusion of the 38th chapter actually says; in the 8th book. On the contrary, a whole image of her is presented as a guide for elders. – Μυήσις κατα χριστόν, or the first initiation into Christianity, gives a complete image of how the Church at that time prepared the catechumens and baptized them. And indeed, the author, having reported various liturgical rites, ends with the following words: “how those who have already been initiated into Christianity should live and give thanks to God through Christ - we have already shown this, but now it is necessary that we do not leave those who have not yet been initiated without instruction; - and then follows first - Chapter 30 - designation of the subjects in which the catechumens should be instructed (ὁ μέλλων κατηχεῖσθαι τόν λόγον τῆς εὐσεβείας). He must be instructed in the knowledge of the Unbegotten (Father), the Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit. He must be taught how God created the world with its diversity and harmony, protects and governs it at all times, and how he gave man the law. He must be taught why the world was created and man was placed in it as a citizen; he must also know his own nature; in sacred history he needs to show how God in ancient times punished the atheists, but was merciful to the pious. He must be shown the ways of Providence, how it has never deviated from the human race, but, on the contrary, at various times has diverted humanity from error to the knowledge of truth, from slavery to sin to the freedom of piety, from death to life. This is how one who enters the Church should be instructed (ὁ προσίων). After this, the bishop or presbyters will lay hands on him for preliminary dedication while reading the stated prayers; then follows instruction in Christology, or the teaching about the incarnation of the Lord, His suffering, His resurrection and ascension into heaven. Immediately before baptism, the formula of renunciation and the Christian symbol must be explained to him. The following chapters 42 - 45 contain the rites of the consecration of oil, baptismal water and myrrh, and a prayer for the person being baptized. In conclusion, a list of bishops ordained by the Apostles is presented, containing deviations from the testimonies of ancient church writers about this, giving reason to make some comments about them. But with the examination done so far, I only want to show - as this is revealed by itself from the content of the 7th book in comparison with its title - that its author had the intention of writing also exactly a textbook for Christians, but only he fulfilled his task differently than the author of the first six books, for while the latter very thoroughly outlined πολιτεία and, on the contrary, as for sacred actions, he described only their external order, the mysterious or formulas in omitted attention to the relations of time, the first briefly outlined objects of the first kind, and, on the contrary, for objects of the second kind he presented the existing order. But as a result of this very fact, the 7th book could not be written together with the first six by the same author. This is also shown by the external shape of the book. It has already been said that the first six books have their own conclusion, but the seventh has its own introduction, and at the end of the 46th chapter also its conclusion; The next three chapters, representing the morning, evening and pre-dinner prayers, are added without any connection, or, on the contrary, it must be admitted that the 46th chapter. inserted later, through which the connection of the final prayer with the rest is interrupted - which is even more likely. The objection is that in the 22nd ch. reference is made to the 3rd book. regarding baptism, does not present any difficulty, since the phrase: “regarding baptism we have already established before” could have been inserted by a later compiler to establish a connection between the first six books and the seventh, which (i.e., connection) besides this place and the 46th chapter. not seen anywhere; and in the 8th book. The apostles refer to their previous institutions (for example, chapter 4 on book 2, chapter 1, and chapter 32 on book 4, chapter 12); therefore, if such a reference proved the identity of the author, then it would be necessary to recognize the same author for the 8th book. with the author of the 2nd and 4th, and meanwhile she speaks even more obviously about her special author than the 7th. But the assumption that the 7th is later than the author of the first six and was added to fill the lack of liturgical and other formulas - this, in addition to what has already been presented, is very plausible for other reasons, namely: The author of the 7th book, first of all, arranges his material better than the author of the first six. The methods of the latter have been described by us before: he generally cares little about logical connections, both in the arrangement of individual matters and in the disclosure of thoughts. The situation is completely different for our author. The matters of his book, both in the title and in the work itself, are distinguished and isolated and are considered without deviating to the sides. He begins his morality on the basis of biblical passages, in which the idea is expressed about two paths of man, of which one is destined by God for life, the other, inspired by the seduction of Satan, leads to death, the first is natural, the second arose through seduction. The first has love as its guiding principle; it is expressed already in the first law (Deuteronomy 6:5) and revealed in the decalogue, from which individual duties to God and people are derived. The path of death is sins, which, as the opposite of the virtues previously listed, are presented with condensed brevity. Then, there follows a speech about the way of life that Christianity positively prescribes to the initiate, and prayers are communicated during sacred rites; at the end they follow in the extraction of instructions on the preparation of the catechumens for acceptance into the church. The author of the 8th book writes differently and better. Verbosity and broadcasting, frequent repetitions, immeasurable multiplication of biblical texts and sensual images - these features of the style of the first six books - are not even traced in the seventh: on the contrary, its author loves brevity and concise presentation, which property becomes obvious to every reader who wants to pay attention to it. Moral teaching is presented in precise and strong terms; In support of the teaching, few but clear passages from the Holy Scriptures are cited. Scriptures: therefore these chapters are unusually short. The next teaching on church improvement is presented in the same way, but, in comparison with the first six books, it is not complete. In the same way, most of the sample prayers are not long, with the exception of the praises to the Creator, Provider and Ruler of the World, which are similar in length and content to those in the 8th book, although not literally similar; The instructions for the instruction of the catechumens are also briefly stated. Is it possible that the author of the first six books, if he also wrote this seventh, changed all the features of his thought and his presentation so much that this time, or generally subsequently, from an illogical thinker he became logical, from a verbose and loquacious writer - concise and stingy with words? The author of the 7th book stands, in the third, in a different spiritual relationship and acquaintance with other writers than the author of the first six. The similarity of the first six books with the epistles of St. Ignatius, both genuine and not genuine, is so great that it leads to the direct assumption that either their author used the letters of Ignatius, or, on the contrary, these latter occurred under the influence of the apostolic decrees. On the contrary, in the 7th book there is no trace of the letters of Ignatius; but at the beginning it is closely similar to the letter of Barnabas. – This is the 7th book of the Apostolic Rules. According to the internal grounds of historical criticism, its origin in the edition under consideration must be attributed to the beginning of the 4th century. The eighth book, in turn, represents a work that is in all respects different from the first seven books. This is revealed, first of all, in its content, which does not contain any dogmatic instructions, nor moral precepts, nor a statement of general church relations, but is limited solely to sacred rites - τά μυστικά The instructions on the subjects of church discipline located at the end are not great in both respects and their deviations from definitions of this kind in other books betray their later origin, as well as in relation to the true and essential content of the eighth book itself, they are mostly foreign, therefore also definitely a later addition. In its true and original content, this eighth book is a collection of all the dedications that take place in the church with the prayers used in this, it represents a very complete liturgy with all the prayers, for performing the sacrament of baptism it gives different formulas than those found in the 8th book, as well as other morning and evening prayers and more complete than the prayers of the first seven books, and instructions on prayer for the dead are found in much more detail in the 6th book, in which Moreover, there are no prayers at all. Therefore, if the author of all eight books were the same person: how could he so dismember the same matters, and tear one from the other so internally connected? No such ruptures will result if, according to the indication that the various components of the Charter themselves give, we distinguish between their authors and their special purposes: for the author of the 8th book wrote for some other purpose than the authors of the others. Their goal was to provide more or less complete general instruction for all Christians; the author of the 8th had in mind to give an “official”, or missal, in general a book that would contain everything that a bishop should do and say in the performance of his public service. This is the essential content of the eighth book and the purpose of the instructions - regarding rituals and prayers, rites of consecration and blessings; as a result of this in the 3rd chapter. the author clearly dedicates it to the bishops: “now we will talk about the first and most important subject in church institutions, so that you, bishops, appointed by us by the will of Christ, having received this Charter of ours (διάταξιν), can fulfill everything according to our instructions.” Now, since this book is intended only for bishops, and its contents exclusively concern their public service; then it was assigned to guide them only, and was not intended for public reading in meetings, like the first six books. Consequently, initially, if it had been written by the same author, it would not have been published together with them, and even less was not part of their complete collection. But another author is also indicated by the peculiarity of the form given in the eighth book. The first six books have the form of a long conciliar epistle, about which the apostles speak in the introduction as authors; in the others, the speech is conducted without interruption as in one epistle; the seventh book adjoins them as a continuation, but the 8th book everywhere looks like the minutes of the legislative assembly. So in ch. 4 the apostles say: “since now we, the twelve Apostles of the Lord, have gathered in one place, we will establish what is related to the church structure by divine commission, as it should be - ἐκκλησιαστίκου τύπου. Then, the apostles come forward one after another and pronounce the law in the formula: I NN say, or establish ὑπό τοῦ Κυρίου διατάσσομαι, etc. But the usual expression remains διατάσσομαι, which is not used in the first seven books, with the exception of two places in the inscriptions of chapters, and from which, without a doubt, this eighth book retained its inscription - διατάξεις, which then, after being combined with other books, passed on to the whole. Now, however, there does not seem to be any reason why the author of the first six books, if he was the author of the eighth, suddenly chose such a sharply different form of presentation, when he spoke about the same subjects in the form of a message? In this feature, it would be more correct to see an indication of the origin of the eighth book from another writer. It is revealed by a different style, which, in comparison with other books, although it does not depart from the brevity and accuracy of the seventh, is sometimes not alien to the breadth and verbosity of the first six, but differs significantly from both in solemnity, importance and some brilliance. This is the style of legislation in eastern countries, which is not absent in the samples of prayers, with all their cordiality and warmth, especially when using predicates in appeals to God, in which the author approaches the author of the first books. According to the internal signs of historical criticism, the 8th book in the edition under consideration must be recognized as written in the middle of the 4th century. The whole of the Apostolic Constitutions from these three separate works was formed with a common Λιαταγαι των άγιων Αποατολων soon after the middle of the 4th century. In this whole there were, however, no more 85 rules of St. Apostles. They were introduced later. (Drey. 1. p. S. 154 – 158). These are Drey's judgments about the eight books of the Apostolic Constitutions in the edition that is in the edition of Cotelier 30. Half a century has passed since the Dray study we are considering came to light, a remarkable study in many respects. During this time, science was enriched with new solid research not only from the point of view of historical criticism of the Apostolic Rules, but also from a purely archaeological perspective - studies of the text of this monument, and even the discoveries of new monuments of Christian literature of the first centuries, directly related to the eight books of the Apostolic Rules under consideration. With these studies and discoveries, the question of the essence and time of origin of the Apostolic Rules was significantly clarified, although it cannot be said that it was so close that it became close to a final resolution. On the contrary, the need for new research and even discoveries to resolve it is no less urgent today than it was half a century ago. Let us take advantage of these achievements of science in order to note that in the judgments presented above, Dreya finds confirmation and justification for himself, which should be rejected, and thereby we will present the state of the question of the essence and origin of the Apostolic Rules at the present time. Drey's guess about the existence of three different works, which were used as the basis for the octateuch of the Apostolic Constitutions by his compiler, is confirmed in the most convincing way. The first six books are based on a very special work, preserved in its original form in the canonical collections of Eastern Christians - Syrians, Arabs and Ethiopians. Here it is placed under its own special title, at the head of other canonical articles, without any connection with the 7th and 8th books, which are either not present in these collections at all, or, if they are, then only as part of some parts of the 8th book. The Syriac edition of this work is especially remarkable. According to the manuscript of the Paris Library (cod. orient, s. Germ, nr. 38) it has the following title: “Didascalia, i.e. Catholic teaching of the twelve Apostles and holy disciples of Our Savior." It is divided into 26 chapters (without any division into books). In their content, these 26 chapters fully correspond to the six books of the Apostolic Constitutions 31, although the text is far from identical: the Syriac didascalia is shorter than the Apostolic Constitutions: it lacks many provisions, so that it appears to be an abbreviation of the latter. For a sample of both texts, we present the following parallels. A very characteristic distribution of the condensed Syriac exposition is represented by the following parallel passage in the Apostolic Constitutions. The same must be said about the Syriac text at the end of chapter 17 and the beginning of chapter 18 in comparison with the Greek text of the Apostle. Charters 4th book. from the middle of the 3rd chapter. and trace A significant omission in the Syriac text is also found in ch. 16th compared to Apost. Charters, book. 3, 19 and 20: for the 20th ch. in the Syriac text there is not even 32 at all. These are the features of the Syriac edition of the Catholic Doctrine in comparison with the first six books of the Apostles. Charters. According to Bickel, the Syriac edition refers to the first six books as an abbreviation of them. It shows that the Syriac text does not have much that the Greek text has. However, in addition, there are not only abbreviations, but also disagreements in both texts. The most important of them is, without a doubt, that the Syriac Codex contains nothing of the contents of the 7th and 8th books of the Apostles. Charters, on the contrary; “Didascalia” embraces only the first six books. He assures at the same time that “this difference has its basis not in the abbreviation or editions made by the Syrian translator, but in that. that originally both last books of the Apostle. The statutes in fact did not belong to the “didaskalia”: this cannot be doubted. The closest thing to this is revealed from the form of the conclusion with which this pseudo-apostolic article ends in the Syriac text. It is clearly noted here that didascalia ended here 33. It must be added to this that, for internal reasons, the 7th and 8th books should be revered as a later appendix to a whole work that is internally coherent in content, as Dray proved completely independently, i.e., without familiarity with the eastern editions of the Catholic Doctrine. If, finally, we take into account that the Arabic translation of the Catholic Doctrine, as well as the Ethiopic, although independent of the Syriac, equally contain only the text of the first six books of the Apostle. Statutes and nothing from the last two books, there is no doubt left in the assumption that the original “Catholic Teaching” embraced the contents of only the first six books of the Apostolic Statutes, as well as the fact that its very division into books was probably of later origin. That the content of the 7th and 8th books of the Apostolic Statutes was known in the East, at least in parts - this is proven by extracts from them found in Eastern codes canons. But that at the same time they were included in them independently of the “Catholic Teaching,” this is clear from the position they occupy in the codes: here they stand not directly behind the “Catholic Teaching,” but separately from it and without any connection with it. Perhaps these passages are not even taken from the entire work called the Apostle. Charters, but from such a Greek code of canons, which also precisely contained only excerpts from them 34. In very recent times, the famous Harnack expressed a strong opinion that the Syriac edition of the “Catholic Doctrine” is the original work, from which in the middle of the 4th century the six books of the Apostolic Rules were formed by additions. Harnack asserts that their interpolator was the same person as the interpolator of the letters of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch: the identity of the person also explains the similarity of the works interpolated by him 35. So, Drey’s opinion about the separateness and independence of the first six books of the Apostle. The statutes are confirmed by later research in the sense that they are indeed based on an ancient work called “Διδασκαλία.” The existence of this work is documented by the existence of such a work in the canonical codes of Eastern Christian, Syrian, Arabic and Ethiopian 36 . In them, it invariably maintains even its original name: “Διδασκαλία”, just as it was preserved as such in the later Greek edition, when the compiler of the octopus was divided into six books and placed as the first part of the whole, now known under the name of the Apostolic Constitutions, given through Clement: for in all hitherto known editions The first six books of the octateuch are invariably preceded by the title: "καθολική διδασκαλία" But Drey's assumption that the first six books in their later edition date back to the second half of the 3rd century in origin should now be rejected. If Harnack's hypothesis about the identity of the interpolator faces is correct Ignatiev's letters and Didascalia, then the present edition of the first six books of the Apostolic Constitutions should be attributed to the half of the 4th century. But on the other hand, the statement of A. Harnack that, 1st, the Syriac edition of the Didascalia is the prototype and oldest form of the six books, and, 2ndly, that it arose only towards the end of the 3rd century, seems unfounded, or at least premature. To form a completely solid judgment about this, it is necessary, firstly, a more thorough study of the already known Syrian edition, and secondly, one must have too little caution to consider it to be one century the oldest interpolated based on only the relatively insignificant brevity of the Syriac edition. Perhaps time and scientific efforts will indicate an even more concise edition and lead to the same conclusion regarding the prototype of the first six books of the Apostles. Statutes, to which the recent publication of the Rev. led the majority of scientists. Philotheus Bryennios so-called; In relation to the question of the prototype of the 7th book, we now proceed to consider it. Drey was absolutely right in asserting that the 7th book. is a completely special, integral work, but in terms of purpose and content it is similar to the first six books. But his judgments regarding style and, in general, the literary merits and personality of the author turned out to be unsuccessful and incorrect. Comparison of open rev. Philotheus monument as a prototype of the 7th book. With this last one, it clearly shows that its editor introduced into it the same broad exposition that characterizes the first six books, the same mass of quotations from the Old and New Testaments, an abundance of examples, similarities and comparisons, so that the very small work that he had at hand, really distinguished by the strength and conciseness of speech and at the same time simplicity, was turned into a rather extensive book, in literary terms completely similar to the first six books. In order to get a clear idea of ​​the relationship of the 7th book to its prototype, it is enough to point out the following parallels; But the relationship between the compared monuments is especially striking in the following parallel: And in its subsequent chapters, the 7th book presents exactly the same distribution of the text of Διδαχη until the end of its 32nd chapter. It is remarkable that the publisher’s reworking of the 7th book. in all these chapters is uniform: almost entirely he leaves individual phrases and individual words of his original unchanged, but arranges them with his introductory explanations, texts and examples taken from the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: so that the original text of Διδαχη can be indicated with complete accuracy and clarity in the 7th book itself, noting only large ones, for example. in font, the words and phrases Διδαχη appear in its text, as if in a broad-word frame. Such a work by the author of the 7th book could be called an explanation, an interpretation of the original, if only he carefully distinguished his explanations from what was being explained, and did not, on the contrary, try to merge them, while at the same time distorting the true meaning with his insertions by introducing his own tendency into it, coloring it with the coloring of a semi-Arian dogmatist and moralist. Therefore, we can call his work performed on Διδακη nothing other than a distortion, falsification of the original text. A. Harnack, in the study we previously cited, asserts and proves that the interpolator of the first six books of the Apostolic Constitutions and the interpolator of the epistles of St. Ignatius the God-Bearer was an interpolator and Διδαχη, transforming it into the 7th book of the Apostolic Rules. At the same time, he, of course, presumably portrays the identity and intention of the falsifier as follows: “During the reign of Constantius, one Syrian, and perhaps even a Palestinian, bishop decided with a daring deception to provide support for the structure of church relations, which was the goal of his aspiration and the justification of the policy that was zealously pursued by the council of bishops gathered in Antioch. He belonged to the Eusebius or semi-Arian party, was a secularly educated man who did not like strict Christianity, and at the same time an admirer of the emperor, who stood precisely on the side of the Antiochians. Having created a voluminous work under the name “Apostolic Constitutions issued through Clement,” he elevated this policy to the level of an apostolic commandment. For this purpose, this bishop revised two works, one of which - Διδασκαλια - belonged to the end of the 3rd century, the other - Διδαχη - in the middle of the 2nd. In general, he handled the text with care, but he understood that with verbal insertions, minor changes and cleverly selected biblical examples, which were in great abundance at his service, he could substitute the meaning he desired everywhere. The Semi-Arian doctrine thus appeared as the apostolic faith; The apostles spoke out sternly against excessive asceticism; The Apostles taught a morality with which one can live in the World without great inconvenience; The apostles gave mandatory regulations of general significance regarding the church structure, cult, and regional administration, which fully justified the church-regional peculiarities in these subjects. This deception found its way, was sold and was accepted here and there. Perhaps this technique had an encouraging effect on the author and prompted him to follow this first deception to begin committing the second. The forger chose the messages that he used when processing Λιδαχαώα, the epistles of Ignatius, as the subject for his new work. These messages, both by their content and the person to whom they were attributed, were especially pleasing to him. The tendencies that guided him in this second work were the same as those he expressed in his previous creation: he now chose the same path that he followed before. Only with his new work did he use his previous one, falsified, as a written source. But now he was even more daring: for independently and using his own means he added new ones invented by him to the previously interpolated messages; At the same time, it must be admitted that in some cases, and not infrequently, he perfectly mastered the tone of the ancient messages” 37. So, in the first seven books of the Apostolic Rules we should see, according to A. Harnack, two ancient works falsified by a semi-Arian bishop: one from the second century, the other from the end of the 3rd century, preserved in their pure form: the first in the form of Δίδαχη των δωδεκα Αποστολων, the second - in the Syriac didascalia. We cannot but agree with this opinion of the most learned researcher, both in its thoroughness, and especially in its closeness to the following review of the Fathers of the Council of Trulla about the Apostolic Rules: “Since in these (Apostolic) canons we are commanded to accept the same holy Apostles’ decrees (διατάξεις), through Clement, into which those who once thought otherwise, to the detriment of the Church, introduced something counterfeit and alien to piety, and which has darkened for us the magnificent beauty of Divine teaching; then, for the sake of the edification and protection of the most Christian flock, these Clementine decrees prudently postponed (πρωσφόρως ἁποβολήν πεποιήμεθα), in no way allowing the creation of heretical falsehood, and not interfering with them in pure and perfect Apostolic teaching" 38 . Joining the judgment expressed by Harnack, we recognize the following reservations as necessary: ​​firstly, we cannot recognize the categorical assertion expressed by Mr. Harnack that the Syriac didascalia is the most original form of “catholic teaching” and was born at the end of the 3rd century. The Syriac didascalia is not nearly as short compared to the six books of the Apostolic Constitutions as the Διδαχη is short compared to the 8th book. Why not assume that the original form of didascalia bore the same features of antiquity, simplicity and brevity that Διδαχη bears, and that the Syriac edition is only a transitional step from the most ancient to the latest, which came from the hands of the falsifier of the 7th book. Apostle Statutes and Epistles of Ignatius the God-Bearer? In any case, Mr. Harnack's categorical statement in this case seems premature. Secondly, we cannot agree with Mr. Harnack that his opinion should be extended to the so-called rules of St. Apostles. as he does in the previously indicated place of his research 39 Except for the 7th book. Apostolic Constitutions, Διδαχη των δώδεκα ’Αποστόλων served as the basis for another, rather ancient compilation, known under the name Διαταγαι αι δια The Rules and Rules of the Holy Apostles through Clement). According to Bickel, this article is a completely original work and although it has similarities in subject and structure with the 7th and 8th books. Apostolic decrees, but does not at all represent borrowing from them. 40 Bickel had reason to reason this way, because he still did not know Διδαχή των δώδεκα Аποστολων, but at the present time, with the discovery of this article, it is impossible to adhere to Bickel’s view. It takes a little effort to be completely convinced that Διαταγαι δια Κλημεντος is a compilation of a very inexperienced writer. The first half of it is nothing more than a rather crude reworking of the first five chapters of Διδαχή τον δώδεκα Аποστολων. For this work, the author undoubtedly used the Epistle of Barnabas and some apocryphal works. The article begins with a greeting literally similar to the greeting of the Epistle of Barnabas and no doubt borrowed from the latter: “Rejoice, sons and daughters in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The borrowing of this greeting in the article under consideration reveals itself to be an inappropriateness given to it in the article, for after it comes a completely inopportune enumeration of the apostles - very strange: John, Matthew, Peter, Andrew, Philip, Simon, James, Nathanael, Thomas, Cephas (?), Bartholomew and Judas Jacob. Jacob Alfeev is not here, but the ap. Peter is named twice: after Peter and Cephas. And then there is a legend that tells that the named Apostles, by command of the Lord, gathered together in order to divide the universe into dioceses by common council, to draw up a list of places in each of them (κληρούσθαι τάς ἐπαρχίας, καταλογήσασθαι τόπων ἀριθμούς) and determine the essence of the title of bishops, presbyters, deacons, readers and widows, and in general everything that is necessary for the founding of the church. Next comes, in the proper sense, the protocol or “act” of this imaginary apostolic council. The meeting is opened by St. John with the following remarkable statement: “men and brethren!.. Knowing that we will give an account of the fulfillment of what is commanded to us, we will not be partial to one another, but each one, if he finds it necessary to object to another, let him object.” The entire congregation offered the first word to John. And so the above-mentioned Apostles, in the above order, speak one after another short speeches, to put it simply, not relevant to the matter: for they convey on their own behalf nothing more than the teaching of the two paths, revealed so fully and logically in Διδαχη των δώδεκα Αποστόλων. John and Matthew convey the first two verses of Διδαχη with almost literal accuracy. Only in the 2nd half of John’s speech is the commandment to love one’s neighbor somewhat more extensive than Διδαχη, and closer to the text of the Gospel of Matthew. Ch. 22 art. 37–40. But the end of Matthew’s speech presents the following curious alteration of the beginning of the 3rd art. Διδαχη: Peter in his speech does not respond to Matthew’s proposal with a positive disclosure of the commandment to love one’s neighbor, which is found in Διδαχη, but directly begins with the second chapter of Διδαχη - listing actions that are contrary to love. The omission against the original is obvious. Peter's speech is literally similar to v. 2 – 7 of the second chapter of Διδαχη. The same should be said about Andrei’s next speech, which is literally similar to Art. 1 - 3 of the third chapter of Διδαχη: the similarity is especially striking at the beginning of the speech, which begins with the greeting: “my child.” Chapter 3, Διδαχη, also precisely begins. Philip's speech at the beginning is a literal repetition of the first half of v. 3. Chapter 3 Διδαχη but then contains a rather lengthy explanation of the wish, which seems to be the action of a female demon. There is no such explanation in Διδαχη. In further speeches of Simon, James, Nathanael, Judas, Thomas, Cephas and Bartholomew, with minor insertions, there is a literal repetition of Διδαχη, ch. 3 and 4th to st. 9. In their speeches, the Apostles did not complete the teaching about the two paths, as it is revealed in Διδαχή: the path of death, which should have been further revealed and to which the 5th chapter is devoted. Διδαχή, remained undisclosed; The compiler was also aware of this, for after Bartholomew the following remark was put into Peter’s mouth: “brother! other instructions of the Scriptures will be taught; We will establish what is commanded to us” (ἃ ἑκελεύσυημεν διατάξωμεν). Following this statement, a new series of speeches begins, which are delivered by Peter, John, James, Matthew, Cephas, Andrew, Philip; Then there is a discussion of the question of why women should not take part in the celebration of the Eucharist. The discussion is conducted on behalf of Andrew, Peter, John, Martha, Mary, Cephas, and James. Hence, i.e. with this series of speeches the actual development of the theme indicated in the preface begins: for in these speeches the instructions (διαταγαι) or rules (κανόνες) about the election and service of the bishop, presbyter and other clergy are taught. (The doctrine of two paths is an insertion that was not foreseen by the outline of the essay). The fragmentation of this second part of Διαταγαι or, as the author himself expresses it in the title of the work, these κανόνες εκκλησιαστικοί is already evident from the very first in a series of these speeches - Peter’s speech on the election of a bishop. Peter does not indicate a general rule about how large the normal district of a bishop is (and according to the preface, one would expect this; for the task of the apostolic assembly is to set forth the command of the Lord regarding the organization of dioceses) and how the election of a bishop should take place in the normal state of the diocese; but he directly takes the exceptional case of how to carry out this act with the minimum number of people in the diocese, when there are not even 12 men in it capable of “holding council on the election of a bishop” 41 εντός δεκαδυο άνδρῶν). How the actual installation of a bishop is carried out - nothing is said about this. The regulations regarding elders are outlined in more detail. The bishop must appoint them - and exactly 3. But regarding this number, the monument leads to great bewilderment. Ap. John expressed the following opinion: “the appointed bishop, considering the benefit and piety of those with him, let him appoint two, whom he finds worthy, as presbyters.” All those who formed the co-ordination rebelled against this opinion, insisting that the bishop should appoint not two, but three as presbyters, motivating this demand as follows: “for there are 24 presbyters; twelve on the right side and twelve on the left.” How does motive fit in with demand? It is difficult to invent any guess to explain this bewilderment, except for one assumption that the number three is a complete scribe's mistake 42. The number three should in no way appear here: the most convenient amendment would, of course, be 24; but in view of the small population of the community, which is assumed in the monument, such a number would be too large 43 . In accordance with both the presented motive and the further speech of the monument about presbyteral service, it will be recognized that instead of three there should be a larger number and precisely an even one 44. John's speech then speaks of the moral qualities of elders and the objects of their activity; but here, despite some originality of form, nothing worthy of application is found in comparison with the Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Rules and Epistles of Ignatius, Clement and others. 45 Following the speech about elders in the mouth of Ap. James includes a speech about the reader, his moral qualities are indicated and a general characteristic note is that in the church he takes the place of an evangelist. Further about deacons (Apostle Matthew), about widows (Apostle Cephas). Then we talk again about deacons (Apostle Andrew), specifically about their ministry, about the laity (Apostle Philip) and, finally, about women. This is the general content of the monument 46. According to Bickel, based on the internal features of the monument, its origin dates back to the beginning of the 3rd century 47. Harnack modified this view somewhat. He supposedly distinguishes three ancient articles at the basis of the monument: 1) Διδαχή τῶν δώδεκα Άποστόλων; 2) Κατάστασις τοῦκλήρου and 3) Κατάστασις τῆς εκκλησίας; the second of these articles belongs to the beginning of the 3rd century, the third - to the first half of the 3rd century; and the whole was compiled from these articles in the second half of the 3rd century, no later than 300 48. Directly by its content, this monument did not have any significance in the history of the law of the Orthodox Church, and therefore we leave its further description. Wed. Schulte, Die Lebre von den Quellen des katholischen kirchemechts. V. I 40, 41. Giessen. 1860. Helmsman: “Preface to the Holy Rule of 14 Facets.” At the end. See eg. The image of this era in Iering’s book “The Spirit of Roman Law at Different Stages of Its Development” Rom I. 19, 20. II 10, 15. The following incidents from the life of the Apostle are noteworthy in this regard: a) before the tribunal of the high priest Ananias, when the latter ordered the beating of St. Paul by mouth, he said: “God will beat you, you whitewashed wall! You sit to judge me according to the law, and contrary to the law you order me to be beaten.” - But when those present remarked to him: “How dare you slander the high priest of God,” St. Paul, as if realizing that he himself had acted illegally, answered: “I did not know, brethren, that he was a high priest; for the Scripture says: Do not curse the ruler of your people (Exod. 22: 28) (Acts 22: 1 - 5). The justification is strictly legal and at the same time an impressive lesson for the lawless judge! b) Before the Roman tribunal (the ruler of Judea} the Apostle defended himself, standing on the basis of the Roman criminal trial: when this ruler (Festus), to please the Jews, suggested that Paul should be tried in Jerusalem by the national Jewish court, he objected: “I stand before the court of Caesar, where I should be judged; if I am wrong and have done something worthy of death, then I do not refuse to die; and if there is nothing of that, in what they accuse me of, then no one can hand me over to them (the Jews). I demand judgment from Caesar." - Then Festus, having talked with his council, answered: “You demanded judgment from Caesar, then you will go to Caesar.” (Acts 25: 9-12). St. Irenaeus in the 4th book. Chapter 6 says: “The fathers (who lived before the law) were righteous, having the power of the ten commandments written in their hearts and souls, for they loved the God who created them and refrained from injustice to their neighbors; why there was no need to admonish them with prohibitive letters, since they had the truth of the law within themselves... They (the commandments of the ten commandments) remain with us, having received expansion and increase through the fleshly coming of His (the Lord), and not destruction” (paragraph 4). De corona, p. 6; adv. Iudaeos s. 2. St. Clement of Alexandria in his “Admonition to the Hellenes” writes: “An Athenian can follow the laws of Solon, an Argive the laws of Phoroneus, and a Spartan the laws of Lycurgus. But if you have turned to God, then heaven becomes your fatherland, and God becomes your legislator. What kind of laws of God? Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not corrupt children, do not steal, do not bear false witness (Exodus 20:13-16). love the Lord your God (Deut. 6; 5, Matt. 22; 37). There are also additions to these laws - words and sacred sayings written in the very heart: love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22; ZU) and give the other one to the one who struck you on the cheek (Luke 6:29} and you should not even have wishes, because with a simple wish the marriage is broken (cf. Matt. 5:28)... Truth leads to heaven; in the beginning it consists a nanny, although rude, but kind (Hom. od. 9; 27); this is a chaste woman’s room, wise old advice *). Access to truth is not difficult or impossible; on the contrary, it is near our houses. Explaining this, the wisest Moses says **) that it is in three parts included in our bodily organism, in the hands, in the mouth and in the heart; this is a clear image of truth, which becomes perfect through the threefold nature of its expression, through advice, through deeds and finally, through words” ***). *) Expressions hinting at the custom that existed among the Lacedomonians, Romans and other peoples, according to which girls lived in the same rooms with women, while young men and fathers were given to be raised by a meeting of elders. Note N.N. Korsunsky, publisher and translator. Quotable creation. **) Of course, a place from Deuteronomy: 30. 14 and 11. 18. Note. Translator ***) Exhortation to the Hellenes, chapter 10, pp. 163, 164. Translation from Greek from the notes of N. Korsunsky. Yaroslavl. 1888. Last St. Polycarp to Philip, chapter 10. Scriptures of husbands Apostle, in Russian. translation Saint P. Preobrazhensky. M. 1862 n. 1 Peter II, 12. It is noteworthy to look at this definition of the Apostolic Council of the so-called. Apostolic Constitutions. In view of this, we present their entire story about this council, which is somewhat common in comparison with the narrative about this council in Chapter 15 of Acts (1–30 vv.). “Because this heresy apparently grew in error and the whole Church, we, the twelve, came to Jerusalem, was in danger. for instead of the traitor, Matthew was with us, chosen as an Apostle, who accepted the lot of Judas, as it is said: let him receive his bishopric, and discussed together with James, the brother of the Lord, what needed to be done. And it pleased both him and the elders to proclaim the words of the teaching to the people. For some who came from Judea to Antioch taught the brothers there, saying that unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses and continue in other customs which he established, you cannot be saved. So, when there was confusion and no small competition, the brethren in Antioch, having learned that we had all gathered to study about this, sent to us men who were faithful and knowledgeable in the scriptures to find out about this subject; They, having arrived in Jerusalem, told us that there were disputes in the Antiochian church, namely, that some taught that one should be circumcised and observe other regulations. And when others were saying something different, I, Pegr, stood up and said to them: Men and brethren, you know that from the days of old God chose you, so that from my mouth the pagans would hear the word of the gospel and believe; and God, the Seer of the Heart, testified to them (For when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Cornelius, the centurion of the Roman power, and told him about me, that he should send for me and hear the word of life from my mouth; then he called me from Joppa to Caesarea Strato. When I prepared to go to him, I wanted to taste the food, and while they were preparing it, I prayed in the upper floor of the house and I saw the sky open and a vessel tied to the four corners, like a light sheet and lowered to the ground, in which were all four-legged creatures and reptiles of the earth and birds of the air, and there was a voice from heaven saying to me: Arise, Peter, slaughter and eat. And I said no, Lord, because I have never eaten anything foul or unclean. And there was a voice a second time, saying: what God has cleansed, do not consider unclean. This happened the third time. And the vessel rose to heaven. And when I was pondering what this vision meant, the Spirit said to me: Behold, men are looking for you, but having arisen, go with them without doubting, because I sent them. They were sent by the centurion, and having thought about this, I understood the word of the Lord, which was written, that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32). And again: all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the languages ​​of the fatherland will bow before him. For the Lord's is the kingdom and He has tongues. And having considered what was said about the calling of all the Gentiles, I stood up and went with them and entered the man’s house. And while I was still proclaiming the word, the Holy Spirit descended on him and on all those who were with him, as on us at the beginning). And he did not distinguish between us and them, having purified their hearts by faith (and I realized that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. And the faithful who are of the circumcision were amazed at this.) So now, why do you tempt God by placing a heavy yoke on the necks of the disciples, which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear? But by the grace of the Lord we believe that we will be saved in the same way as they were. (For the Lord loosed us from our bonds and lightened our burdens, and removed the bonds of the yoke from us in His meekness. When I said this, the whole multitude was silent. Jacob, the brother of the Lord, answered, saying: Men, brothers, listen. Simon related how God first looked upon the Gentiles, that he might form them into a people in His Name. And the words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written: Then I will return and rebuild the fallen tabernacle of David, and what was destroyed in it I will rebuild and repair it, so that other people and all the nations may seek the Lord among whom My name will be proclaimed, says the Lord who does all these things (Amos 9:11-12). All his deeds have been known to God from eternity. Therefore, I decide not to make it difficult for those of the pagans who turn to the Lord, but to write to them to abstain from what is defiled by idols, from fornication, strangulation and blood, which was laid down by those ancients who before the law lived according to the natural law, Enos, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Job and others like them. “Then it pleased us, the apostles and bishop James and the elders with the whole church, to send men chosen from among us, together with Barnabas and Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, the Tarsusian and Judas, who is called Barsaba and Silas, men in charge among the brothers, to write with their hands the following: “Apostles and elders and brethren to those who are in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia Gentile brethren, rejoice. since we have heard that some of us have troubled you with words, disturbing your minds with what we have not commanded them; then it became good for us, gathered together, to send to you chosen men with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, people who gave up their souls for Our Lord I. Christ, through whom you wrote. We send with them Judas and Silas, who will proclaim this verbally: for it pleases the Holy Spirit and us not to place burdens on you on anyone other than this necessary, so that you abstain from sacrifice to idols and blood, and strangulation, and fornication, from which you do well in protecting yourself. Be healthy." So we sent this message, while we ourselves remained in Jerusalem for quite a long time, consulting together about what pertains to the common good and to correction.” Constitution. Apost. 6 c. 12 Against heresies 4 books. Ch. 12 i. 4: “He (Christ) did not disapprove of the law given by Moses, which He commanded to be observed while Jerusalem was still intact.” Personally, Justin himself did not agree with these latter and found it possible to have communication with them if only they, bearing this burden themselves, did not incline others to bear it. Contra Cels. 7: 20, 26. 2: 4 – 6. 5:60. St. Clement of Rome begins his epistle like this: θεοῦ παροικούσῃ Κόρινθον.. (Church of God, wandering in Rome, the Church of God wandering in Corinth). St. Justin Martyr writes his first apology for “people from all nations, unjustly hated and persecuted” and at the same time says about himself: “I am one of them, Justin, son of Priscus... a native of Flavia of Naples in Syria Palestine." Works of St. Justin, philosopher and martyr. St. P. Transfiguration. M. 1864. In book 3, chapter 4, against the heresies of St. Irenaeus testifies: “(The tradition) is also followed by many tribes of barbarians who believe in Christ, who have their salvation without a charter or ink written in their hearts by the Spirit and carefully observe the ancient tradition... Those who accepted this faith without writing are barbarians in relation to our language, but in relation to doctrine, character and way of life, they are very wise by faith, and they please God by living in all truth, purity and wisdom.” Russian Transl. St. Irenea. pp. 279–280 Shepherd Hermas, commandment. 12. Pisan. Husband. Apostle Transl. priest P. Preobrazhensky Moscow. 1862. pp. 278–279 Tertull. Apologet. With. 39. Eusebius the historian calls Tertulian ανδρα τους Ρωμαίων νόμους ηκοιβωκότα Op. St. Irenea book 3rd chapter 1 – 4. According to Russian. translation pp. 278–9. Tertull. de corona milit. from 3. Remarkable evidence of this kind is, for example. track. place in the first letter of Clement. “Our apostles knew through our Lord I. Christ that there would be discord about episcopal knowledge. For this reason, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed the above-mentioned ministers and then added the law, so that when they rested, other proven men would take over their ministry. So, we consider it unjust to deprive the ministry of those who were appointed by the Apostles themselves, or after them by other venerable men, with the consent of the entire Church and served the flock of Christ without reproach, with humility, meekly and blamelessly and Moreover, over the course of a long time they received approval from everyone” Chapter 8. For Tertullian, the Apostolic Law of the lifetime of the episcopal title was of course known not only from the tradition approved by custom, but also from this written testimony: but he, of course, could not say that this was a written law, for the Epistle of St. Clement is an epistle and has remained so forever, never having been elevated to law by the Church. Eusebius. Ts.I. book. 3rd chapter 32 pp. 168, 169. Eusebius, Ts. I. book. Chapter 4 22 pp. 230, 231. There is also book 3rd chapter. 39 p. 179. There is also book 4th chapter. 22 p. 229. See Von Drey: Neue Untersuchunge uber Constitutionen und Canones der Apoztel. Tubingen. 1832 The general contents of all 8 books are as follows: The first book - περί λαικῶν - contains moral teaching about abstinence from covetousness and untruth in general, about the duties of a husband towards his wife and vice versa, about diligent reading of the Holy Scriptures, especially the Old Testament. In these books a Christian will find everything that is good in the books of the pagans, which therefore should not be read at all. 10 chapters. What is noteworthy here in relation to the discipline of the ancient church is that the reading of the Holy Scriptures is very persistently prescribed to all Christians. “The time of Christ should be divided between work and reading, and if one of them is not burdened with the former for his maintenance, then he should not yet indulge in idleness and move among public amusements in order to be a spectator of all evil deeds, but he should either visit his brothers in faith and be with them in pious conversations about subjects leading to life, or he should stay in the house and read the law, the books of the kingdoms and the prophets, also sing the psalms of David and study the gospel, in which the whole ancient law is fulfilled. But even when reading the law of Moses, a Christian should not be attached to anything that is a later addition (τῶν έπεισάκτων), but should read it only for historical knowledge, giving thanks to God who freed us from these chains (ch. 4–6). – A prescription indicating, on the one hand, the widespread distribution of holy books among Christians; on the other hand, about greater education among the mass of Christians than is usually imagined. The strictness of the morals of the ancient Christians, already visible in this, is found especially in the instructions regarding the treatment of women and men in society. Women are instructed to avoid all coquetry and intimacy with men, all their concerns should be focused on their home, the pagan custom of washing in public baths is strictly prohibited, and in the women's bath they should not wash in the middle of the day, but preferably at 10 o'clock in the afternoon and, if possible, not every day. Cotelier adds to this that similar instructions and testimonies are found in Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian and many saints. fathers. The second book - περί ἐπισκοπων, πρεσβυτερων καί διακόνων - in 63 chapters talks about the properties and duties of clergy. About the properties of a bishop, his character, rights and education, mostly based on the pastoral epistles. He must maintain his high position before all people - priests, kings, princes, fathers, sons, teachers. Among the duties of a bishop, the most talked about is the duty of correcting sinners through penitential discipline. In addition to the first three degrees, the hierarchy also includes the following persons: deaconess, gatekeepers, readers and singers and other persons whom the Church, in the purest spirit of Christian love for mankind, took under its special protection, namely widows, celibate virgins and orphans (chapter 26). Little is said about priests or presbyters, so one might think that the author considered the duties of a bishop to be common with those of presbyters; on the contrary, deacons are spoken of in great detail. They should not do anything without the bishop; namely, they should not distribute anything without his knowledge and will; but they must report everything to the bishop, with his direct participation, carry out all important matters and only the most unimportant ones - according to their own understanding; they are the eyes, ears, mouth, heart and soul of the bishop (chap. 29–33. 44) - And here is a clear trace of later times. – In the same way, a complete image of the episcopal court is given (chap. 45 – 53) – also of a later time. Then there are instructions about various church meetings in general, about public morning and evening prayer, about agape - also no more ancient - that Christians should beware of pagan customs and practices and that they should work. All this, as can be seen from here, is laid out without order, which is why this book differs from others. - After the instructions about the festive worship on Sunday, they follow in Ch. 59 others - about public morning and evening meetings - ορθρου καί ἐσπέρας συνάξεις They - like the first ones, are held in churches - εν τοῖς κυριακοῖς daily: they consist of singing and prayers, in the morning they should read the 2nd and 60th psalm, in the evening - 114 psalms. The bishop should exhort the faithful to diligently attend these meetings and not allow anyone to avoid them. But it is especially insistently prescribed to attend meetings on Saturday and Sunday, on which Christians should gather three times and remain standing, precisely in remembrance of the fact that the Lord rose on the third day, and in which the prophets should be read, the gospel proclaimed, a sacrifice made, a sacred meal distributed. The author sets here (chapter 60) pagans as a model for Christians; about the latter he says that they get up early and rush to the statues of the gods to pray to them, that before starting work or any business they turn to them, they zealously gather on their holidays and festive times, and even from afar. - From this it is clear that by the time the essay was compiled, paganism had not yet completely fallen in public opinion and practice; among the Jews the writer praises the faithful observance of the Sabbath and attendance at the synagogue. However, Christians should imitate pagans and Jews only in religious zeal, but not take any part in their customs, do not enter unclean temples and temples of pagans, as well as synagogues of Jews and heretics, and do not celebrate their holidays; then, from pagan customs, theatrical performances are named first of all, then all kinds of magic and fortune-telling, etc., as such things in which a Christian should not appear at all; He should not appear at large annual auctions (chapters 61, 62). Since all this is prohibited with great severity, it means there is an urgent need for it. The third book is about widows - περι χηρῶν - talk about widows until the 15th chapter. They should not rashly make a promise of widowhood - like a church vow - and the bishop, not without a long trial, should accept it; only 60 years of age is doubtful. But the younger ones can undertake to keep themselves at home in a quiet, solitary pious life, and should also be protected by the church so that they cannot fall into any trouble. The second marriage is permissible for them, the third is proof of intemperance - άκρασίας σημεῖον - each further one is obvious indecency. Widows should not teach in church, but only listen and pray; they, just like women in general, cannot baptize, which not every cleric can do. Next - about false widows, the signs of which are tongue-tied language, hypocrisy, greed, and a tendency to quarrel. For this - about baptism, how it should be performed, about the formula of baptism and that it generally depicts the death of Jesus, and about the behavior of the baptized. Immediately out of order and context: Ch. 19: how one should appoint a deacon, and ch. 20 – how to ordain a bishop. It is even more obvious here than from the disorder of the 2nd book that many chapters are placed out of place. The regulations (δίατάσσομεν) regarding baptism and ordination are as follows: the bishop first anoints the head of the person being baptized with consecrated oil, which serves as a symbol of the Spirit, which is communicated through baptism; then he or the presbyter pronounces over him the name and invocation of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and baptizes him in water, and if it is a man, he is received (ὑποδέχεσθω) by the deacon, if a woman, then by the deaconess. After this, the bishop anoints him with chrism (chapter 16). What follows is an explanation of the sacrament of baptism; instructions on how a newly baptized person should behave; It is worthy of note here that he, as adopted by God through baptism, is instructed to address prayerfully the words of the Lord’s Prayer, the text of which is attached (cf. 7th book, chapter 24). A bishop must be ordained by three or at least two bishops, but not by one (cf. 8th book, ch. 27); a presbyter, a deacon, as well as other clergy are ordained by one bishop; but the presbyter and deacon cannot ordain; the first can only teach, sacrifice, baptize and bless the people; the second is to assist the bishop and presbyters in the priesthood, ch. 20. The fourth book - περί ὀρφανῶν - says Ch. 1 – 5 about orphans and the poor in general. It is the duty of Christians to help those in need of all kinds. Orphaned children should be taken into care and raised especially by childless brothers; Girls, if they are already old, should be taken care of in order to get married, while boys should be taught a craft, and then assigned to some business, so that they can live on their own and not be a burden to their brothers. The bishop must ensure that this is the case in a Christian society. Ch. 5–10 speak of gifts and offerings for this purpose. From which people can a bishop and from which should he not accept offerings? Here follows a detailed list of persons who, due to their morals, are considered unclean before the church, from whom therefore no gifts are accepted, even for the poor, who in this case should be content with meager offerings, but from pious brothers. Ch. 11 – 12 speaks about the relationship between parents and children, masters and slaves. Ch. 13 – about duties to the supreme authority completely unrelated to the apostolic epistles. Chapter 14 – about virgins. They should not foolishly make promises of celibacy that is not commanded; but, if once they have done this, they must live according to their vow. Since only one chapter is devoted to this important vow in the ancient church, the 4th book, obviously, has not been completely preserved. The fifth book - περί μαρτύρων - talks about martyrs until the 12th chapter. Here the venerability of martyrs is revealed, by which we mean confessors; the duty and ways to help them, even at the risk of one’s own life; the gravity of the crime of renouncing Christ; excellent instructions not to incur persecution in an unwise manner and not to appear cowardly in danger: flight is permissible. Exhortations to death for faith in Christ. The example of Christ, Stephen and James. The certainty of the resurrection. Places of Holy Scripture that serve as proof of this. False martyrs, who are Christians only in name, but who were taken and executed for their crimes, true Christians should not have fellowship with them; warnings regarding serving pagan gods, which includes swearing by the stars, elements, etc. (Christians should not swear at all), singing pagan and immoral songs. Ch. 13–20 talk about holidays; instructions are given to celebrate the day of the Nativity of Christ on the 25th day of the ninth month, Epiphany on the 6th day of the tenth month, then the fast of Pentecost, which should be distinguished from the fast of the great week before Easter; the first - in remembrance of life, the second - in remembrance of the suffering of Christ. The latter is very strict, it continues each of the six days until the onset of Sunday. Only bread, salt, vegetables and water should serve as food; in the last two days, or at least on Saturday, there must be complete abstinence; these are days of sadness, not holidays. The whole night before the Resurrection should be spent in church in the usual church exercises and especially in the baptism of catechumens. Then comes the end of Lent and festive joy. Easter should be celebrated not with the Jews, who have even lost the correct timekeeping, but every time after the vernal equinox, which falls on the 22nd day of the twelfth month of Dystros, on the first Sunday after the full moon. The eighth day after Easter is also a holiday in remembrance of the faith of Thomas, and the fortieth day commemorates the Ascension of the Lord. On the fiftieth day there is a great holiday (εορτή μεγάλη), for the sake of the descent of the Holy Spirit, the next week is a holiday, and then again a week of fasting. For the rest of the year, one should fast on the fourth and sixth days of the week, on the first because Christ was betrayed on this day, on the second because He suffered death. On Saturday, excluding the Saturday before Easter, one should not fast, especially on Sunday, which is designated for joyful gatherings. Whoever fasts on these or other holidays commits a sin. The sixth book - περί σχισμάτων - talks about heretics up to ch. 16. The harm of heresies and schisms is proven by the examples of the Old Testament and the fate of the Jewish people. The following sects are named as heretics among the Jews: Sadducees, Pharisees, Basmtheans, Heterobaptists, Ebionites, Essenes, among Christians: Simon the Magus and his assistant Kleobius - both disciples of Dositheus; Cerinthos, Marcus, Menander, Basilides and Saturvinus, their history and teaching are briefly reported - and some similarities with the Recognitions Clementis are revealed. Moreover, here (chapter 10) almost all the Gnostic positions are expressed, of which the position especially deserves mention: Τρεῖς είναι άνάρχους, too, that they are three independent entities. These false teachers are contrasted by the Apostles, as teachers called to this by Christ himself (chap. 11 - 14) and the teachings of the former and the teaching of the latter. For this, the following points are revealed: Jewish law is not obligatory for Christians; the baptism of heretics is not valid, but true - should not be repeated; children should be baptized according to the basics. Matthew 9:14. Whoever puts off baptism until death in order to live more freely, or out of contempt for it, is equal to an infidel; ψευδεπίγραφα, or books published in the name of the Lord and the Apostles, but containing poison; many of them are composed about Simon and Cleobius; they are not named separately; but some apocryphal books of the Jews are named, namely: the apocryphal books of Moses, Adam, Enoch, Elijah, Isaiah, David and the three patriarchs. Christians should not believe these books, and the perpetrators of such false teachings, whom the Lord had already foretold, should be avoided more than Jews and pagans, and all communication with them should be stopped. Between these instructions regarding heretics, without connection and transition, there are 17 chapters. a definition on the marriage of clergy was inserted. At the conclusion of Chapter 18. the author makes the transition from a speech about heretics to a depiction of the relationship of Christianity to Judaism and paganism, and here for the first time he explains in detail his view of the Mosaic Law, generally expressed in the 1st book. Ch. 10. This is where the 6th book ends. The seventh book is inscribed: περί πολιτείας, και εὐχαριστίας καί τῆς κατά Χρίστον μυήσεως; In terms of content, the book is moralizing and a collection of prayers. Its first section contains the general moral teaching of ch. 1–-22. This is a thoroughly revealed teaching about two paths: the path of life and the path of death. The first is the path of light, the path of virtue. A thorough disclosure of the gospel moral law expressed in the so-called Sermon on the Mount of the Lord. The path of death is the path of vice: a detailed calculation of sins and vices that are opposite to the previously calculated virtues. Chapters 24 – 29 contain examples of liturgical and other prayers. First there is an instruction on the rite of baptism, essentially the same as in the third book, as well as an explanation of the rite and form of baptism, only here it is taught in even more detail that the catechumen must fast before performing baptism (chapter 22); then ch. 23 adds a general instruction about legalized days of fasting, containing only briefly what is said about this in Chapter 15. fifth book; in the same way, the “Our Father” and instructions about the moral behavior of the baptized are found again in the same way as there (chapter 24). From ch. 25 are followed by instructions and sample prayers, collectively related to the sacred liturgy, but arranged without proper order; Ch. 30 – instructions on Sunday, ch. 29 – about offerings; Ch. 33 - 38 - a long series of prayers containing praise and thanksgiving to God for the creation of all things, for their wise structure and management, for the paternal goodness with which He cares for all creations, especially for His saints, for the help that He has sent at all times to the righteous in their misfortunes, for sending Christ into the world (chap. 35, 36). Prayers of thanks before and after communion. The prayers have the same content and volume, but not the same structure, as in the 8th book, but in the latter they stand in place and in order in the rite of liturgy, which is fully proposed, but here - in the 7th book - simply as excerpts of sample prayers without any relation to the liturgy - introduced without any context, a purely external remark. “since we have received many benefits from Him, we should thank and pray to Him.” Another significant fragment of the 7th book is partly of this kind, namely the instructions and formulas for the whole order of baptism, which topic is covered in good order in Chapter. 39 - 45. First, it is described in what and in what order the catechumen should be instructed, then - how it should be denied by Satan and combined with Christ, with the addition of the exact formula, which is also a symbol, then the prayers for the consecration of baptismal oil and baptismal water follow, along with the prayer of anointing with holy myrrh, which is performed after baptism. The baptized person himself recites Psalm 106, and then another prayer - thanksgiving - for the anointed one, which belongs here, but is in Chapter 27. Instructions on how strange chapters should be accepted are introduced in a completely fragmentary manner. 28, about the qualities elected to the clergy, ch. 31; proclamation of future false prophets and false teachers; finally, a story about which men were appointed bishops by the apostles themselves, the Conclusion is formed by ch. 47 - 49: the first contains the well-known hymn: “Glory to God in the highest,” the second is a reworking of Psalm 112 with an addition from Luke 2:29; the third, apparently, is a condensed combination of several verses of Scripture. They do not at all relate to other examples of prayers, they did not find a place among them, for the conclusion of the 7th book was already made at the end of the 46th chapter. The eighth book, the most extensive after the second, bears the title: ἐκκλησιαστικῶν is actually the “official of the apxpriestly clergy" according to our current terminology. It has its own introduction, which reveals the concept of extraordinary gifts. These gifts - χαρίσματα - were given first to the Apostles, and then to some of the faithful not for their benefit, but for the conversion of unbelievers, so that the power of the sign could overcome those who could not be convinced by the word. Therefore, it is not necessary that these gifts be common to all the faithful; it is enough that everyone has received the gift of the Holy Spirit (χαρίσμα πνευματικόν) and with it faith in the true God and His Son Jesus Christ; these extraordinary gifts should not be exalted, and those who do not have should not complain about it. This specifically applies to those who, through ordination, achieve the highest positions in the church, a distinction that equally cannot be common to everyone: for everyone cannot be bishops, or all presbyters, but everyone can be Christians. After this introduction, a transition is made to the main subject of the entire ecclesiastical order (εκκλησιαστικῆς διατυπώσεως) or to the sacred degrees and initiations. Then follow the instructions for the election and ordination of a bishop (chap. 4-6). The most virtuous Christian, indicated by the election of the entire people, must be elected to this position and on the next Sunday day by three other bishops after they are convinced of the dignity of the chosen one through public testimony and the reality of the choice through three times asking those who elected about it, he is consecrated. At the same time, the ritual and formula of initiation are presented. And since the bishop now presented to the people immediately has to celebrate the liturgy, it follows in Chapter. 6 - 15 in full with all the prayers and blessings and other rituals: this is the most remarkable part of the entire work, in which we have the most ancient example of Christian liturgy. Ch. 16–18 define the ordination of elders and deacons through the laying on of hands and the prayer of the bishop. Concerning the presbyter, the bishop prays to God that He would fill the one elected by the court and the voice of the entire clergy to the presbytery with the Spirit of grace and counsel, so that he would be able to teach sound doctrine, instruct the people of God in meekness, rule with a pure heart and perform sacred rites blamelessly for them; and the deacon, whom the bishop ordains, so that by the faithful performance of his ministry he may prove himself worthy to be elevated to the highest degree of service (chap. 19-22). Further on the consecration of deaconesses, subdeacons and readers with prayers of consecration; It is noteworthy that for these ordinations the laying on of hands is prescribed (chap. 23–27). For this - about confessors, virgins, widows and spellcasters. These persons do not receive initiation or laying on of hands, because their condition is their free choice, and not a position (chap. 27–28). Next comes the definition that each member of the clergy must remain in his own degree and not do anything exceeding it; in extreme cases, the deacon can still excommunicate those under his authority, but none of his lower ones has such a right (chapter 29). For this - the blessing of baptismal water and oil; in the next two chapters - about tithes and remains from sacrificial offerings (chapter 32), detailed instructions about baptism; how catechumens should ask for baptism; which of those who demand him are not allowed to come to him and which are allowed, how and for how long the latter are tested and instructed (chapter 33). About holidays: calculation of some other holidays, in addition to those named in the 5th book; about times of prayer; Christians must pray six times a day: at rooster crow (αλεκτοροφονία), at daylight, at the third, sixth and ninth hours, at nightfall. In quiet times they gather in church; during persecution, each family prays in the house, but only with faithful members, not with catechumens and heretics. Morning and evening prayers are considered inadmissible, for which different examples are presented than in the book of Chapter 7. 40. Prayer of thanksgiving for the firstfruits (chap. 41–45). Prayers and worship for the dead. On the 3rd, 9th and 40th days after the death of a brother, the community gathers to commemorate him in Christian love, psalms are sung, the Holy Scriptures are read, and prayers are said. In a similar way, he is commemorated on the anniversary day after his death. The poor receive alms from his property, and relatives are allowed to have a modest funeral dinner, but luxury and immoderation are strictly prohibited, especially to clergy who are called to this; At the same time, it speaks of caring for the persecuted (chapter 46) and the conclusion: each cleric should be limited to the rights of his degree and should not admire others. Ch. 47 contain 85 rules of the Holy Apostles. Drey. With. 1. S. 20–40. See Quotes very. pp. 45–60. Cotelerii, Patres Apostolici. 1724. Austelaedami. Vol. 1, The Syriac text ends like this: “The end of the didascalia, that is, the instructions of the holy Apostles. Pray to the Lord for the sinful man who wrote them.” Bickell. S. 157. Bickell, 1. C. S. 153–158 A. Harnack, Die Lehre der zwolf Apostel. Leipzig. 1884. S. 244–246 Information about Arabic and Ethiopian didascalia can be found in Binkel in the cited book. They can be read in Russian in our articles “Essays on the history of the codification of the Eastern Church” in “Cht. General loves. Spirit of Enlightenment." 1880–1883 A. Harnack, Lehre der zwoiz Apostel. S. 266–268 2nd right Trul. Cathedral. Book of Rules, ed. 1862, 108 pp. Following the above words, Mr. Harnack says the following. The Apostolic Constitutions, made by the deceiver, although they were rejected by the 6th Ecumenical Council, but she had already fulfilled her mission in the Greek Church, and many of the definitions formulated by the deceiver had already passed in various ways, for example. through the so-called Apostolic Rules, into church legal definitions. The success that pseudo-Clementine and pseudo-ignatian falsification achieved in the Church in the 4th century would have fully satisfied its perpetrator if he could have accompanied it in subsequent centuries. On this path he would have met her in the 9th century. that Frankish cleric who could have learned from him - of course in that dark time - in order to dare to falsify, which gave him a much richer harvest and success in the church - pseudo-Isidore (Lelre d. zwolz Apostel. S. 268). – The eighth book is generally subject to lesser interpolations, especially in the Arian or generally non-Orthodox spirit, and as for the Apostolic Canons in particular, to recognize them as interpolated by a semi-Arian bishop is a blatant untruth and a strange misunderstanding, especially for such a learned man as Mr. Harnack. Comparison Apost. ruled with the rules of Antioch, a truly semi-Arian council (340), shows that the latter really represent a reworking of some of the Apostolic canons in the spirit desired by the semi-Arian bishops, the enemies of St. Athanasius, and this comparison of the original with its revision clearly shows how the former differs from the latter in its perfections, which clearly testify to the truly apostolic wisdom, truthfulness and extreme antiquity of the Apostolic Rules. But we will talk about this a little later. See Bickell, op. op. p. 88. T. I. This is the meaning usually given by publishers and the most learned critics to the next passage of this monument: δυναμενων ψηφίσασθαι περί ἐπισκόπου But it is noteworthy that this number is repeated in all hitherto known manuscripts of the monument. According to Cornelius, Bishop. Roman (252), even the great Roman Church had only 46 elders. Evsev. C. East. book Chapter 6 68 p. 389. 66th rights. The Council of Carthage suggests that it is entirely possible that under a bishop there may be “only one presbyter.” A. Harnack, Texte und Untersuchung. II V. S. 35. Only in the number of moral qualities is the trait striking in its peculiarity: ἀπεχομένους της πρός γυναῖκας συνελεύσεως (the idea of celibacy, shining through quite similar to how it shines through in the rules of the Council of Carthage. The Russian translation of it, but, unfortunately, not in full, but in an abbreviated form, can be read in the article by Prof. A.P. Lebedeva: “The so-called church canons and their meaning in the question of church positions in antiquity.” Approx. To the Creation of the Holy Father, part 40, 1887. The best edition of the original text is found in Pitra in his: Hist. et Monum. T. 1, pp. 77–86 A full disclosure of Harnack’s views on this monument can be read in the above-mentioned article by A. P. 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