The
Apostolic Constitutions (or
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, lat.
Constitutiones Apostolorum) is a
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
collection of eight treatises which belongs to
genreGenre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
of the
Church OrdersAncient Church Orders is a genre of early Christian literature, ranging from 1st to 5th century, which has the aim to offer authoritative "apostolic" prescriptions on matters of moral conduct, liturgy and Church organization....
. The work can be dated from 375 to 380 AD. The provenience is usually regarded as
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, probably Antioch. The author is unknown, even if since
James UssherJames Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...
it was considered to be the same author of the letters of Pseudo-Ignatius, perhaps the 4th century Eunomian bishop Julian of
CiliciaIn antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
.
Content
The Apostolic Constitutions contains eight treatises on Early Christian discipline, worship, and doctrine, intended to serve as a manual of guidance for the clergy, and to some extent for the laity. It purports to be the work of the Twelve Apostles, whose instructions, whether given by them as individuals or as a body.
The structure of the Apostolic Constitutions can be so summarized:
- Books 1 to 6 are a free re-wording of the Didascalia Apostolorum
Didascalia Apostolorum is a Christian treatise which belongs to genre of the Church Orders. It presents itself as being written by the Twelve Apostles at the time of the Council of Jerusalem, however, scholars agree that it was actually a composition of the 3rd century CE, perhaps around 230...
- Book 7 is partially based on the Didache
The Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles is a brief early Christian treatise, dated by most scholars to the late first or early 2nd century...
. Chapters 33-45 of book 7 contain prayers similar to Jewish prayers used in synagogues.
- Book 8 is composed as follows:
- chapters 1-2 contain an extract of a lost treatise on the charismata
- chapters 3-46 are based on the Apostolic Tradition
The Apostolic Tradition is an early Christian treatise which belongs to genre of the Church Orders. It has been described as of "incomparable importance as a source of information about church life and liturgy in the third century".Re-discovered in the 19th century, it was given the name of...
, greatly expanded, along with other material
- chapter 47 is known as the Canons of the Apostles
The Apostolic Canons or Ecclesiastical Canons of the Same Holy Apostles is a collection of ancient ecclesiastical decrees concerning the government and discipline of the Early Christian Church, first found as last chapter of the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions and belonging to genre of...
and it had a wider circulation than the rest of the book.
The best manuscript has
ArianArian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
leanings, which are not found in other manuscripts because this material would have been censured as heretical.
The Apostolic Constitutions is an important source for the history of the liturgy in the
Antiochene riteAntiochene Rite designates the family of liturgies originally used in the Patriarchate of Antioch.-Liturgies in the Antiochene Rite:The family of liturgies include the Apostolic Constitutions; then that of St. James in Greek, the Syriac Liturgy of St. James, and the other Syriac Anaphoras. The line...
. It contains an outline of an
anaphoraThe Anaphora is the most solemn part of the Divine liturgy, Mass, or other Christian Communion rite where the offerings of bread and wine are consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. This is the usual name for this part of the Liturgy in Eastern Christianity, but it is more often called the...
in book two, a full anaphora in book seven (which is an expansion of the one found in the Didache), and the complete
Liturgy of the eighth book of the Apostolic ConstitutionsThe Liturgy of the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions is a complete text of the Christian Divine Liturgy and found in the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions. It is the oldest known form that can be described as a complete liturgy and can be dated the second half of the 4th century...
, which is the oldest known form that can be described as a complete
divine liturgyDivine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
.
Influence
In antiquity, the Apostolic Constitutions were mistakenly supposed to be gathered and handed down by Clement of Rome, the authority of whose name gave weight to more than one such piece of early Christian literature (see also
Clementine literatureClementine literature is the name given to the religious romance which purports to contain a record made by one Clement of discourses...
).
The Church seems never to have regarded this work as of undoubted Apostolic authority. The Apostolic Constitutions were rejected as canonical by the
Decretum GelasianumThe so-called Decretum Gelasianum or Gelasian Decree was traditionally attributed to the prolific Pope Gelasius I, bishop of Rome 492–496. In surviving manuscripts the Decretal exists on its own and also appended to a list of books of Scripture titled as attested as canonical by a Council of...
. The
Quinisext CouncilThe Quinisext Council was a church council held in 692 at Constantinople under Justinian II. It is often known as the Council in Trullo, because it was held in the same domed hall where the Sixth Ecumenical Council had met...
in 692 rejected most part of the work on account of the interpolations of
hereticsChristian heresy refers to non-orthodox practices and beliefs that were deemed to be heretical by one or more of the Christian churches. In Western Christianity, the term "heresy" most commonly refers to those beliefs which were declared to be anathema by the Catholic Church prior to the schism of...
. Only that portion of it to which has been given the name
Canons of the Apostles was received in the
Eastern ChristianityEastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
. Even if not regarded as of certain Apostolic origin, however, in antiquity the Apostolic Constitutions were held generally in high esteem and served as the basis for much
ecclesiastical legislationCanon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
. The Apostolic Constitutions were accepted as canonical by
John of DamascusSaint John of Damascus was a Syrian monk and priest...
and, in a modified form, included in the 81 book canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Even if the text of the Apostolic Constitutions was extant in many libraries during the
Middle AgeMiddle age is the period of age beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age. Various attempts have been made to define this age, which is around the third quarter of the average life span of human beings....
, it was almost unknown. In 1546 a Latin version of a text was found in
CreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
and published. The fist complete edition of the
GreekKoine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....
text was printed in 1563 by
TurrianusFrancisco Torres known as Turrianus , was a Spanish Jesuit Hellenist and polemicist.He was born in Herrera, Palencia, the nephew of Dr. Torres, Bishop of the Canaries. He studied at Salamanca and lived in Rome with Cardinal Salviati and Seripando.In 1562 Pope Pius IV sent him to the Council of...
.
William WhistonWilliam Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
in the 18th century devoted the third volume of his
Primitive Christianity Revived to prove that "they are the most sacred of the canonical books of the New Testament; "for "these sacred Christian laws or constitutions were delivered at
JerusalemFor Christians, Jerusalem's place in the ministry of Jesus and the Apostolic Age gives it great importance, in addition to its place in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible.-Jerusalem in the New Testament and early Christianity:...
, and in
Mount SionThe Cenacle , also known as the "Upper Room", is the term used for the site of The Last Supper. The word is a derivative of the Latin word cena, which means dinner....
, by our Saviour to the eleven apostles there assembled after His resurrection."
Today the Apostolic Constitutions are of the highest value as a historical document, as they reveal the moral and religious conditions, as well as the liturgical observances of
3rdThe 3rd century of Christianity was largely the time of the Ante-Nicene Fathers who wrote after the Apostolic Fathers of the 1st and 2nd centuries but before the First Council of Nicaea in 325...
and
4th centuriesChristianity in the 4th century was dominated by Constantine the Great, and the First Council of Nicea of 325, which was the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils and the attempt to reach an orthodox consensus and to establish a unified Christendom as the State church of...
. They are part of the
Ante-Nicene FathersThe Ante-Nicene Fathers, subtitled "The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325", is a collection of books in 10 volumes containing English translations of the majority of Early Christian writings. The period covers the beginning of Christianity until before the promulgation of the Nicene Creed...
collection.
Canons of the Apostles
The forty-seventh and last chapter of the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions contains the eighty-five
Canons of the ApostlesThe Apostolic Canons or Ecclesiastical Canons of the Same Holy Apostles is a collection of ancient ecclesiastical decrees concerning the government and discipline of the Early Christian Church, first found as last chapter of the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions and belonging to genre of...
, which present themselves as being from an apostolic
Council at AntiochThe Council of Jerusalem is a name applied by historians and theologians to an Early Christian council that was held in Jerusalem and dated to around the year 50. It is considered by Catholics and Orthodox to be a prototype and forerunner of the later Ecumenical Councils...
. These canons were later approved by the Eastern Council in Trullo in 692 but rejected by
Pope ConstantinePope Constantine was pope from 708 to 715. With the exception of Antipope Constantine, he was the only pope to take such a "quintessentially" Eastern name of an emperor...
. In the Western Church only fifty of these canons circulated, translated in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
by
Dionysius ExiguusDionysius Exiguus was a 6th-century monk born in Scythia Minor, modern Dobruja shared by Romania and Bulgaria. He was a member of the Scythian monks community concentrated in Tomis, the major city of Scythia Minor...
on about 500 AD, and included in the
Western collectionsCollections of ancient canons contain collected bodies of canon law that originated in various documents, such as papal and synodal decisions, and that can be designated by the generic term of canons.-Generalities:...
and afterwards in the "Corpus Juris Canonici".
Canon n. 85 is a list of
canonicalCanonical is an adjective derived from canon. Canon comes from the greek word κανών kanon, "rule" or "measuring stick" , and is used in various meanings....
books: a 46-book
Old TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
canon which essentially corresponds to that of the
Septuagint, 26 books of what is now the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
(excludes
RevelationIn religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
), the
DidacheThe Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles is a brief early Christian treatise, dated by most scholars to the late first or early 2nd century...
, two
Epistles of ClementThe Epistles of Clement are two letters ascribed to Clement of Rome :* First Epistle of Clement;* Second Epistle of Clement, not by the same author;...
, and the Apostolic Constitutions themselves, also here attributed to Clement, at least as compiler.
Epitome of the eighth book
It is also known an
epitomeAn epitome is a summary or miniature form; an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment....
usually named
Epitome of the eighth Book of the Apostolic Constitutions (or sometime titled
The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles concerning ordination through Hippolytus or simply
The Constitutions through Hippolytus) containing a re-wording of chapters 1-2, 4-5, 16-28, 30-34, 45-46 of the eighth book. The text was first published by
Paul de LagardePaul Anton de Lagarde was a polymath German biblical scholar and orientalist. He also took some part in politics. He belonged to the Prussian Conservative party, and was a violent antisemite. The bitterness which he felt appeared in his writings...
in 1856 and later by
Franz Xaver von FunkFranz Xaver von Funk was a German Catholic theologian, born at Abts-Gmund, Württemberg, and educated at Tübingen, at the seminary of Rottenburg am Neckar, and in Paris, where he studied economics. In 1870 he was appointed professor of theology at Tübingen and in 1876 became an editor of the...
in 1905. This epitome could be a later extract even if somewhere it looks like to be more near to the Greek original of the Apostolic Tradition, from which the 8th book is derived, than the Apostolic Constitutions themselves.
External links