The Twenty Canons of the Council of Nicaea

doi:10.1017/9781108613200.008

8 - The Twenty Canons of the Council of Nicaea

from Part III - Outcomes

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 December 2020

Andreas Weckwerth

Edited by

Young Richard Kim

Show author details

Young Richard Kim: Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Apart from the very important profession of faith, the Council of Nicaea also promulgated twenty canons, most of which do not receive the same attention in research as the Nicene Creed, although these were already highly esteemed in ancient times. First of all, this chapter provides a brief review of their textual transmission. Besides the original Greek text, which has been handed down in canonical collections and writings of ecclesiastical writers, there are some translations into other ancient languages (Latin, Syriac, Coptic). Then after dividing the twenty canons into various thematic groups (for example, laws pertaining to the clergy, sacraments, ecclesiastical jurisdiction), the second part explains each canon with the aid of previous research literature and interpretations in order to provide a short overview of their purpose and content. The third part deals with the reception of the canons in the early Church by councils, bishops, and ecclesiastical writers, and asks what importance was attributed to the Nicene canons in various canonical sources. Finally, some desiderata for future research are discussed.

Keywords

canon law transmission of canons canonical legislation of clergy ecclesiastical leadership ancient church public penance reconciliation heresy

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Companion to the Council of Nicaea , pp. 158 - 176

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108613200.008 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Select References

Alberigo, Giuseppe, and Jedin, Hubert, eds. 1991. Conciliorum oecumenicorum decreta. Bologna: Edizione Dehoniane.Google Scholar

Beneševič, Vladimir. 1937. Ioannis Scholastici Synagoga L titulorum ceteraque eiusdem opera iuridica. Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften: Philosophisch-Historische Abteilung, Neue Folge 14. Munich: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar

Beneševič, Vladimir. (1906) 1974. Drevne-slavjanskaja kormcaja XIV titulov bez tolkovanij (Syntagma XIV titulorum sine scholiis secundum versionem Palaeo-Slovenicam, adjecto textu Graeco e vetustissimis codicibus manuscriptis exarato. St. Petersburg, 1906. Reprinted Leipzig: Zentralantiquariat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik.Google Scholar

Hefele, Carl Joseph von, and Leclercq, Henri. 1907. Histoire des conciles d’après les documents originaux, 1.1. Paris: Letouzey et Ané.Google Scholar

Joannou, Périclès-Pierre, ed. 1963. Discipline générale antique (IV^e–IX^e s.), vol. 2: Les canons des Pères Grecs. Fonti: Pontificia commissione per la redazione del codice di diritto canonico orientale ser. 1, 9.2. Grottaferrata (Roma): Tipografia Italo-Orientale “S. Nilo.”Google Scholar

Lafontaine, Paul-Henri. 1963. Les conditions positives de l’Accession aux Ordres dans la première legislation ecclésiastique (300–492). Ottawa: Éditions de l’Université d’Ottawa.Google Scholar

L’Huillier, Peter. 1996. The Church of the Ancient Councils: The Disciplinary Work of the First Four Ecumenical Councils. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press.Google Scholar

Linck, Heinrich. 1908. Zur Übersetzung und Erläuterung der Kanones IV, VI und VII des Konzils von Nicaea. Gießen: Münchow’sche Hof- und Universitäts-Druckerei.Google Scholar

Lübeck, Konrad. 1901. Reichseinteilung und kirchliche Hierarchie des Ostens bis zum Ausgange des vierten Jahrhunderts: Ein Beitrag zur Rechts- und Verfassungsgeschichte der Kirche. Kirchengeschichtliche Studien 5.4. Münster: Schöningh.Google Scholar

Ohme, Heinz. 1998. Kanon ekklesiastikos: Die Bedeutung des altkirchlichen Kanonsbegriff. Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 67. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar

Ohme, Heinz. 2012. “Greek Canon Law to 691/2.” In The History of Byzantine and Eastern Canon Law to 1500, ed. Hartmann, Wilfried and Pennington, Kenneth, 24–114. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press.Google Scholar

Poschmann, Bernhard. 1954. “Bußstufen (Bußstationen).” In RAC 2: 814–16.Google Scholar

Tanner, S. J., Norman, P., ed. 1990. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, vol. 1. London: Sheed & Ward.Google Scholar

Ulrich, Jörg. 1994. Die Anfänge der abendländischen Rezeption des Nizänums. Patristische Texten und Studien 39. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar

Weckwerth, Andreas. 2010. Ablauf, Organisation und Selbstverständnis westlicher antiker Synoden im Spiegel ihrer Akten. Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum: Ergänzungsband Kleine Reihe 5. Münster: Aschendorff Verlag.Google Scholar

Wohlmuth, Josef, ed. 1998. Dekrete der ökumenischen Konzilien, vol 1. Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh.Google Scholar