Lectures on Church Law

Collections of Canons and Nomocanons of the Greek Church

Lists of conciliar decrees were usually carried away by the bishops present at the Councils, or sent to the Churches (Carth. 1 pr.). The decrees of the later Councils were joined by the previous ones; In this way, collections of canons were compiled. At first they could not be complete and identical in their composition, until the Council of Trullo indicated and approved the full composition of the canons that should be accepted for the guidance of all the Churches. In the course of the accumulation of state laws relating to the Church, it became necessary, for their practical guidance, to bring them together and compare them with the canons, i.e., to compile the nomocanons. The first compiler of the nomocanon in the Eastern Church is considered to be John Scholasticus, first a legal adviser, then a presbyter in Antioch, and finally Patriarch Constantine of Roaoli (578). He compiled two collections of church laws. The first, under the title: Collections of Canons (συναγογητων κανόνων), contains the canons (85) of the Holy Apostles, the canons of the first 4 ecumenical; 6 Local Councils and the canons (68) of St. Basil the Great. All these canons are arranged not according to the order of the Councils, but according to the subjects of the canons or according to the similarity of their content, for the convenience of their practical use. Their entire composition is divided into 50 sections or titles. Another collection, entitled the Code of State Laws concerning the Church (συλλογήτωννύμων), divided into 87 chapters, is an extract from Justinian's novels concerning ecclesiastical affairs. The collections of Scholasticus soon underwent alteration (in person), were combined together (with the replacement of the canons only by their quotations), and in this form were in use for a long time in the Eastern Church. After Scholasticus, new, more complete collections of canons and ecclesiastical civil laws appeared. Especially famous was the Nomocanon under the title: Syntagma in 14 titles, originally compiled by an unknown person at the beginning of the VII century; processed and supplemented at the end of the ninth century by later laws, it received the name of the Photian Nomocanon. In this Nomocanon, the canons and ecclesiastical-civil laws are first indicated, in quotations alone, arranged in a systematic order and divided into 14 sections or titles (with divisions into chapters); then all the canons are given (in chronological order); below are extracts from the Justinian laws relating to ecclesiastical affairs. It was also supplemented in subsequent times. The fourteenth-century collections of Matthew Vlastar and Konstantin Armenopoulo also deserve attention. The monk M. Vlastar compiled the Syntagma, or Code of Church Laws, in the form of an alphabetical encyclopedic dictionary; Along with the exposition of canonical decrees, he cites extracts from state laws concerning the subject expounded. K. Armenopoulo compiled an abbreviation of the canons, arranged according to topics in 6 sections. It is one of the 6 parts of his work: A Guide to the Laws. These collections were also in use in Russia.

Special Sources of Law and Its Collections in the Russian Church

The canons of the universal Church passed to Russia from Greece along with Christianity, as well as the ecclesiastical and civil decrees of the Byzantine Empire. Both came to Russia through the Nomocanons of the Greek Church, translated into Slavonic (translations were borrowed from Bulgaria, and partly made in Russia). These Nomocanons served as the basis for a collection of church law in Russia, which was called the Helmsman's Book (i.e. the book of church administration). But in addition to what was taken from the Greek nomocanons, the Slavonic Helmsman's Books also contained purely civil decrees taken from Byzantine collections (e.g., the Judgment Law and the Prochiron of Imp. Basil the Great): of course, this was done for the acquaintance of the rulers. the authorities of the peoples newly enlightened by Christianity with Byzantine citizenship, the principles of which were introduced in the country together with Christianity. In the Russian Helmsmen, the Statutes of the Grand Dukes concerning the churches were sometimes introduced. (e.g., the Statutes of Vladimir and Yaroslav) and various articles of a canonical and liturgical nature, borrowed from the Greek Church, also of Russian origin. Initially, the Helmsman's Books were quite diverse in their composition; in general, from the thirteenth century, two editions of the Helmsman's books began to serve as prototypes for all their copies - the so-called Ryazan (or Joseph's, written at the end of the thirteenth century, for the Ryazan bishop Joseph) and the Sofia (Novgorod, made for the Novgorod archbishop Clement, at the end of the thirteenth century, and placed by him in the St. Sophia Cathedral). Metropolitan Cyril II, at his request, was given (1262) from the despot Jacob Svyatislav the Serbian Slavonic Rudder (translation of the Greek nomocanon and other additions to it, made by the Serbian archbishop Sava); the Ryazan Helmsman has a copy of this Helmsman, Metrop. Cyril. In it, the canons are given in abbreviation, according to Aristhenes, with his interpretations. In the Sofia Helmsman, - in addition to what is taken from the Helmsman of Met. Cyril (Serbian), - there are articles of Russian origin: the statutes of Vladimir and Yaroslav, Russkaya Pravda, the canons of the Vladimir Council, etc.): the canons are given not in an abridged, but in their full text, according to the ancient translation of the nomocanon, originally in Russia (probably this translation was made in Russia under Yaroslav). Later lists of Helmsmen fit into one of these two Helmsmen. However, there were also the so-called consolidated Helmsmen, who borrowed articles from various other lists of the Helmsmen. In the XVII century, during the reign of Pat. Joseph, the first printed edition of the Helmsman was made (1650). The basis for it was the Ryazan list (with the omission of some articles and the addition of others). Under Pat. Nikon (1652) it was subjected to a conciliar revision and printed in a corrected form. Subsequently, at the end of the XVIII century (1787), the Helmsman was again slightly corrected and printed. From this last edition all subsequent editions were made. According to its latest edition, the Helmsman's Book consists of two parts. In the first part, after several historical articles (e.g., on the installation of the first Patriarchs in Russia and on the Councils), there are excerpts from the book of Apostolic Decrees, then the Canons of the Holy Apostles, Ecumenical and Local Councils and Holy Fathers; everything is abridged, with the interpretations of Aristhenes and, in some places, of Zonaras. It has a total of 41 chapters. The content of the second part is mainly Byzantine state legislation, both ecclesiastical and purely civil. Thus, it contains: Justinian's Church Laws (from the nomocanon of John Scholasticus and excerpts from the Photian Nomocanon); laws on marriage and betrothal, under the name of kings Leon the Wise and Constantine "faithful to the king" (eclogues); the prochiron of Basil the Macedonian, under the name of the law of the city; three short stories by Alexios Comnenus, laws under the name of the "law of judgment by people" of Tsar Constantine the Great (alteration of the eclogue of Leo the Isaurian and Constantine Copronymus). In addition, the second part contains: "On the Mystery of Matrimony" (compiled on the basis of Greek canonists) and on lawless marriages (decrees of the Greek patriarchs); then, several more articles concerning church discipline, divine services, etc., and belonging to Greek patriarchs and church teachers, which are partly of Russian origin (e.g., from the works of Cyril of Turov). In total, there are 29 chapters in 2 parts. The count of chapters is common with the 1st part. - The final article in the Helmsman is represented by a forged letter from Constantine the Great to Pope Sylvester (deed of gift) and a story about the "Roman apostasy". Each part is accompanied by a subject index in alphabetical order. The second part of the Helmsman's Book lost its significance as a source of current law as independent church legislation developed in Russia. In addition to the Helmsman's Book, many canonical rules were placed in liturgical books (statutes, service books, service books) and in various collections, quite numerous and diverse in content. In the Russian Church, independent legislation also developed, through its local Councils. Of the multitude of Councils that issued general decrees for the Russian Church, the most notable were: a) the Council of Vladimir, convened in 1274 by Metropolitan Cyril II on the occasion of the many disorders in church life after the Tatar pogrom, which he had noticed. Its decrees are extremely diverse (dividing them into a hundred chapters gave the name to the Council).- c) The Moscow Councils of 1667, 1675 and 1681, which established many rules for church administration and improvement. At the first of them, among other things, a curse was imposed on the stubborn opponents of the church authority - the unreasonable zealots of the imaginary antiquity (schismatics-Old Believers) and some decrees of the Hundred Chapters Council, which served as a support for the Old Believers' errors (on the sign of the cross, on barberry, etc.) were canceled. The decrees of the other mentioned Russian Councils have only historical significance at the present time; but, undoubtedly, they influenced subsequent church legislation and current law. With the establishment of St. The Synod, which replaced not only the patriarchs, but also the local Councils of the Russian Church, its decisions became one of the sources of the current law of the Russian Church. To the historical monuments of the Russian church. The rights also belong to the decrees and decisions of various churches. questions set forth by some hierarchs of the Russian Church. Of the ancient monuments, the following deserve special attention: the church canon of the All-Russian Metropolitan John II (1080), written in response to the questions of a certain black-robed Jacob (It was included in the Sofia Helmsman); b) the answers of the Novgorod bishop Niphon to the questions of a certain monk Cyricus (XII century). The Byzantine state laws concerning the Church, transferred to Russia through the Nomocanon, were initially followed by the Russian sovereigns in determining the rights and departments of the Russian Church; but at the same time, the special needs of Russian society and the Church, which did not exist in Byzantium, were taken into account. The first monuments of the legislation of the Russian Grand Dukes concerning the Church are: a) the Church Statute of St. Vladimir; its content concerns the grand ducal tithes given to the Church and the ecclesiastical court (the persons subject to the ecclesiastical court and the cases withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the secular court are indicated); b) The Statute of Yaroslav, confirming and revealing the Statute of Vladimir. Following their example and model, some appanage princes issued local Statutes and charters. In all subsequent times, the Russian state power, patronizing the Orthodox Church, took a close part in the church. affairs and in its laws it took care both to protect its external well-being and to its internal well-being, and always acted in accordance with the canons of the universal Church and with the rulers. church authorities. Therefore, historical monuments of state legislation can serve as the same monuments for church law. These monuments include: the Sudebniks of John III (1497) and John IV (1551), which contain several articles concerning the ecclesiastical court; The Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1649), in which some chapters relate to the church. Piety, Church. the courts, the trial of clergy, etc.; separate decrees supplementary to these decrees, as well as many different letters given to various church institutions and authorities; finally, all the later numerous laws relating to the Church. affairs given by the Supreme Power (most of them are placed in the Poln. Sobr. Laws). The practical sources of the law in force in the Russian Church are: the Law of God, proposed in the Holy Scriptures. Canons or Canons of the Holy Apostles, Holy Ecumenical and Local Councils, and Holy Fathers. Their collection, which consisted of the first part of the Helmsman's Book, is now (since 1839) published in full, and not abridged (as was the case in the Helmsman's Book), but without interpretation. At the end of the collection, an alphabetical subject index is attached. Spiritual regulations. It was compiled on behalf of Emperor Peter I by a special commission, mainly by the well-known Archbishop Theophan Prokopovich, considered and signed by the spiritual authorities and senators, approved by the Tsar in 1720 and given to the leadership of the then newly established Holy Synod. Synod. There are three parts in the regulations: 1) on the reasons for the establishment of the Holy Synod. Synod; 2) on matters subject to the administration of the Holy Synod. Synod; 3) on the offices of spiritual rulers. By its nature, it is not so much a collection of laws on the affairs of the Church as an instruction for the new church government and for the church authorities. Those who followed the spirit. Regulations of the Highest Decrees and Determinations of the Holy Synod. Synod; as well as special statutes specifically relating to certain parts of church administration, and certain provisions. The main place among these statutes belongs to the Statute of the Ecclesiastical Consistories, as a systematic code of laws on the subjects of diocesan administration. In 1841 it was approved by the Highest Authority, and in 1883 it was revised, harmonized with the laws that followed its drafting and, thus, corrected, put into effect by the Highest command. In this statute, after several general provisions on the boundaries, bodies and foundations of diocesan administration, the following are indicated: a) the subjects of diocesan administration (Orthodox faith, divine services, church improvement, clergy, parishes, church economy); b) the subjects of the diocesan court (misdemeanors and crimes of clergymen, complaints against them and disputable civil cases between them, cases of marriages, certification of the validity of the event of marriage and birth, the imposition of penances); c) the organization of the Consistory and the paperwork in it. The laws in force in the state, in those articles that may concern the church. affairs and church administration; in particular, the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire.

Supplement. Features of the Teaching on the Sources of Church Law in the Roman Catholic Church and in Protestant Communities

In the Roman Catholic Church, the sources of the church. law, - except for Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition, as well as customary law or church. The canons (with the above-mentioned exceptions) accepted by the Eastern Church before the separation of the Western Church from it are recognized. They are joined by the decrees of others who were in the West (and one in the East (In Constantinople, 869, on the occasion of the strife between Pat. Photius and the Popes). Councils, of which up to 14 Councils are recognized as Roman Catholic. Churches for the Ecumenical: Constantinople (above); 4 Lateran (1123, 1139, 1179, 1215); 2 Lyons (1245 and 1274); Vienna (1311); Konstance (1414); Basel (1431); Florence (1438); Fifth Lateran (1512); Trent (1545); Vatican (1869). Moreover, all the numerous decrees of the Roman high priests, under various names, as heads of the Church, are recognized in it as one of the main sources of law for the whole Church. The collection of ecclesiastical canons (made at first, in the form of a system of ecclesiastical law, by the monk Gratian in the twelfth century and then continued, by order of the Popes (Gregory IX (XIII century), Boniface VIII (XIII century), Clement V (XIV century)), by the addition of subsequent papal decrees) is called Corpus juris canonici and is recognized as a generally binding guide of church law. The state laws of the country Roman Catholic. Ecclesiastical law attaches importance to the extent that they are recognized as binding by the Church. Power. In view of the preservation of peaceful relations between the Church and the state, in some countries the governments concluded agreements or treaties (concordats) with the Pope, which determined the relationship of the Church to the state and the participation of state power in the Church. Affairs. Such agreements also belong to the foundations of local church law. Protestant communities provide states. authorities of the country to establish ecclesiastical legal norms on the basis of those principles that are indicated in the novozav. Priest. Thus, in addition to the Holy Scriptures (the explanation of which is not limited by ecclesiastical authority) and these symbolic books, the main source of ecclesiastical law among Protestants is, in general, the state laws of the country, - In particular, the statutes on the Protestant Church given by the secular government. Rem. The statutes of the churches of foreign confessions are placed in the eleventh volume of the Code of Laws.

Section II: The Structure of Church Administration

Governance in the Ancient Universal Church

Church hierarchy, clergy

The Orthodox Church in its administration is divided into larger or smaller parts (particular Churches), which all together constitute one universal Church. Let us consider the historical origin of these parts of the one Church and their administration, as well as the entire universal Church. The Founder and Head of the Church gave all spiritual authority in the Church to His Apostles (John 20:21), who were its first rulers. When it began to expand, the Apostles established to help their ministry, first deacons (δίάκονος - minister), then presbyters (πρεσβύτερος - elder). The former were entrusted with the service of the material needs of the Christian community - the management of its charitable fund and the distribution of benefits to the poor; He was also entrusted with serving in the performance of the sacraments. The latter received pastoral spiritual authority – they had to take care of the satisfaction of the spiritual needs of Christians with teaching, moral guidance and sacred actions. But since the Church, according to Christ's promise, must remain until the end of time, the fullness of governmental authority granted by Christ to the Apostles was not to end with their death, but to remain in the Church forever. Therefore, the Apostles transferred their powers to their chosen successors so that they would continue in the Church in succession and unchangeable. To these persons, who received the name of bishops (επίσκοπος - overseer), the Apostles entrusted the supreme supervision and administration (archpastorship) in the founded Christian communities - something that the Apostles could not always reserve for themselves personally, being obliged to spread Christianity throughout the world. In apostolic times, the titles of bishop and presbyter were not strictly distinguished, and presbyters, as they were obliged to supervise the Christian community, were sometimes called bishops (Acts 20:17-28). Thus the hierarchy (hierarchy) was formed in the first Church. The persons called to it constituted a special category of members of the Church, later called clergy (κληρος - lot, lot or lot. We find the name of church service by lot in the Holy Scriptures (Acts 1:17-25). Other members of the Church were called brethren, then laymen (λαίκοι - belonging to the people). privernikov, etc.), they were also numbered among the clergy and constituted its lowest category. Thus, the highest governmental authority in the Church in the proper sense is entrusted by the Apostles to the bishops - their successors; other ranks of the hierarchy are appointed only assistants to the bishop in church administration; and the other members of the clergy were appointed officials.

The bishop and his district

Each Christian community that had its own bishop was a special private Church. It usually consisted of a city with villages belonging to it, which received Christianity from it. However, some Christian communities were formed in the villages, independently of their cities, and had their own bishops, or chorbishops. Initially, each bishop was independent in the administration of his particular Church (The rights and authority of the bishop will be spoken of when considering the current law, since this office in the Church is permanent), but later, in order to unite the rural Churches with the urban ones, in accordance with the dependence of the villages on the cities in the administrative respect, the Church. The laws abolished the independence of chorbishops, subordinating them to the bishops of the district cities, and, finally, completely abolished the bishops in the villages, replacing them with authorized presbyters of the city bishops. And not only in the villages, but also in small towns, the canons of the Church forbade the appointment of individual bishops, so that the title of bishop would not be humiliated by the insignificance of the district governed by him (Sard. 6). Episcopal districts later received the name of dioceses (Apostolic 34). This name is borrowed from the administrative division of the Roman Empire (from Constantine the Great). Having the highest spiritual authority in his diocese, the bishop did not have the right to dispose of church affairs in a region that did not belong to him without the permission of its own bishop, or without a special commission from the highest ecclesiastical authority; otherwise, his orders were considered invalid (Apostolic 35; I ecumenical. 15, etc.). Just as the bishop, who represented the unity of the Church and the fullness of ecclesiastical authority, was one for each particular Church, so the clergy who were attached to him was at first common to the entire diocese of the bishop. But later, with the increase in the number of Christians, smaller parts or communities began to form in the dioceses, which received from their bishop, from the clergy who were attached to him, their presbyters and other lower ranks of clergy (church clergy). Such parts of the diocese were called parishes; Administratively, this name referred to parts of the diocese (uyezds).