Apostolic Constitutions

Contents

Reading pages: 1.0.1–2.5.7 · 2.6.1–2.18.12 · 2.19.1–2.25.9 · 2.26.1–2.42.6 · 2.43.1–2.57.14 · 2.58.1–3.10.3 · 3.11.1–4.14.3 · 5.1.1–5.13.4 · 5.14.1–6.4.3 · 6.5.1–6.17.4 · 6.18.1–6.29.4 · 6.30.1–7.32.5 · 7.33.1–7.48.4 · 7.49.1–8.10.14 · 8.11.1–8.20.2 · 8.21.1–8.45.2 · 8.46.1–8.48.3

1. 1.0.1The apostles greet the Gentile believers, describe the church as God’s planting, and call them to hear holy teaching.
2. 1.1.1Believers are to do everything in obedience to God, since whoever pursues lawlessness is reckoned a lawless nation.
3. 1.1.2The tenth commandment is quoted against greed and injustice.
4. 1.1.3Coveting a neighbour’s wife or servants is already adultery and theft in the mind.
5. 1.1.4Christ’s word on looking with desire shows that he confirms and fulfils the Decalogue, which he himself spoke through Moses.
6. 1.1.5Coveting a neighbour’s animals or field leads to theft and fraud, as the prophet and Moses warn.
7. 1.1.6God’s judgments follow those who covet.
8. 1.1.7The one law for the obedient is the negative golden rule.
9. 1.1.8As one would not want one’s wife looked at with lust, one must not look so at another’s.
10. 1.1.9The golden rule applied to theft.
11. 1.1.10The golden rule applied to violence and insult.
12. 1.2.1Believers must bless those who curse them.
13. 1.2.2The wronged must not retaliate but wait for the Lord.
14. 1.2.3Christ’s command to love enemies is quoted.
15. 1.2.4Keeping these commands makes believers children of light.
16. 1.3.1Believers must bear with one another.
17. 1.3.2A husband should seek to please his own wife only and not adorn himself to attract other women.
18. 1.3.3If a man yields to a woman he has attracted, eternal death follows.
19. 1.3.4Even a man who refuses has sinned by having attracted the woman through his adornment.
20. 1.3.5The man who did not yield will find mercy, since he obeyed the commandments against adultery and coveting.
21. 1.3.6A man whose adornment caused a woman to stumble shares guilt for her sin and inherits the woe on those who cause stumbling.
22. 1.3.7One must pray to be kept from harm and seek to please God, not people.
23. 1.3.8Men must not enhance their natural beauty, but keep their hair cut short and avoid perfume.
24. 1.3.9Men must avoid luxurious dress, rings, styled or dyed hair, and shaving the beard, since the Law forbids them and God hates them.
25. 1.4.1Believers should not roam the streets prying, but work at their trade and meditate on Christ’s words.
26. 1.4.2Scripture commands constant meditation on God’s Law.
27. 1.5.1Even the rich must not wander idly, but converse with fellow believers about life-giving words.
28. 1.5.2At home one should read the Law, Kings, the Prophets, the Psalms and the Gospel.
29. 1.6.1Pagan books are to be avoided.
30. 1.6.2Foreign writings turn the unstable from the faith.
31. 1.6.3God’s law lacks nothing that pagan fables offer.
32. 1.6.4Scripture supplies history, wisdom and poetry better than pagan literature.
33. 1.6.5Psalms, Genesis and the Law replace pagan songs, origins and laws.
34. 1.6.6Foreign and diabolical writings are to be avoided.
35. 1.6.7In reading the Law one should set aside the added ‘second legislation’, reading it only as history.
36. 1.6.8One must distinguish the natural law from the additions given after the golden calf.
37. 1.6.9The Decalogue is the true law, the later bonds having been ended or changed by Christ; Kings should be read for examples, and men must use men’s baths.
38. 1.7.1Proverbs is introduced on the strange woman.
39. 1.7.2A son is told to keep wisdom’s words.
40. 1.7.3Wisdom guards from the strange woman.
41. 1.7.4The harlot watches for a foolish young man at dusk.
42. 1.7.5The harlot roams the streets and lies in wait.
43. 1.7.6The harlot entices the young man with her invitation.
44. 1.7.7The young man is led astray and follows her.
45. 1.7.8The harlot’s sweetness turns bitter.
46. 1.7.9One must flee the harlot, who has slain many.
47. 1.7.10The one who ignores the warning will regret it at the end.
48. 1.7.11The wise should gather further good counsel from Scripture and reject what is base.
49. 1.8.1The wife is subject to her husband in an order of headship reaching from Christ to the Father.
50. 1.8.2After God and Christ, a wife is to fear and please her husband, as Proverbs describes.
51. 1.8.4Proverbs praises the capable wife who works for her household.
52. 1.8.5The capable wife provides for the household and buys land.
53. 1.8.6The capable wife works hard day and night.
54. 1.8.7The capable wife is generous to the poor.
55. 1.8.8The capable wife clothes her household well.
56. 1.8.9Proverbs on the capable wife is completed; wives must not adorn themselves to attract others, since that leads to sin, but should please their husbands, veil in public and not paint their faces.
57. 1.9.0A believing woman must not bathe with men, and should bathe modestly, rarely, and at the tenth hour.
58. 1.9.3A believing woman must always avoid the prying eyes of others.
59. 1.10.1A wife must give up quarrelling, lest her husband blaspheme God because of her.
60. 1.10.2A believing husband with a quarrelsome wife will quote Proverbs against her.
61. 1.10.3Wives should win outsiders to the faith by modesty and gentleness.
62. 1.10.4The women are urged to seek further teaching that leads to the kingdom.
63. 2.1.1A bishop must be blameless and at least fifty years old, beyond youthful disorders and slander.
64. 2.1.2A bishop should be educated if possible, and at least skilled in the word.
65. 2.1.3In a small place a well-attested young man may be made bishop.
66. 2.1.4Young kings of Israel and Judah show that youth need not bar a man from office.
67. 2.1.5A young bishop must be gentle and quiet, as Isaiah and the Beatitudes teach.
68. 2.1.6A bishop must be merciful.
69. 2.1.7A bishop must be a peacemaker and pure in heart.
70. 2.2.1The qualities of a bishop from 1 Timothy are listed.
71. 2.2.2A bishop must be the husband of one wife who herself has married only once, and rule his household well.
72. 2.2.3At ordination a bishop’s character, wife, children and household are examined.
73. 2.2.4A man who cannot govern his own family cannot govern the church.
74. 2.3.1A bishop’s everyday conduct must be examined for blemish.
75. 2.3.2A bishop must not be prone to anger.
76. 2.3.3A bishop must be compassionate and loving.
77. 2.4.1A bishop must be generous and know who most deserves help.
78. 2.4.2Aid should go first to those in real need, even if not widows.
79. 2.4.3Gluttons, drunkards and the idle are not to be helped.
80. 2.4.4Proverbs on the sluggard is quoted.
81. 2.4.5Idleness and drunkenness bring poverty.
82. 2.4.6Love of drink leads to destitution.
83. 2.4.7Idleness breeds hunger.
84. 2.5.1A bishop must not favour the rich or neglect the poor.
85. 2.5.2The Law forbids partiality in judgment.
86. 2.5.3A bishop must be frugal in food and drink.
87. 2.5.4A bishop must study Scripture and interpret the Gospel and the Law and Prophets in harmony.
88. 2.5.5Christ says the Scriptures testify to him.
89. 2.5.6A bishop must distinguish the law from the ‘second legislation’.
90. 2.5.7The bishop must teach his people thoroughly.
91. 2.6.1A long list of vices a bishop must avoid.
92. 2.6.2The bishop must teach the laity the same virtues by his example.
93. 2.6.3A bishop must be wise, humble and free of worldly desires.
94. 2.6.4A bishop must have every good quality, since the people imitate their shepherd.
95. 2.6.6Christ did before he taught, and so must the bishop.
96. 2.6.7Bishops are watchmen over God’s people, as Ezekiel says.
97. 2.6.8God appoints Ezekiel as watchman for Israel.
98. 2.6.9Ezekiel’s watchman is applied to the bishop, who must warn the people of judgment by the Gospel and teach them tirelessly, since many have not listened and have fallen into heresy.
99. 2.7.1Those baptized into Christ’s death must no longer sin.
100. 2.7.2One who sins after baptism and does not repent will be condemned.
101. 2.8.1Those slandered for leaving their old vices are blessed.
102. 2.8.2To be reviled falsely is a blessing and a test.
103. 2.8.3A sinner who is exposed brings blasphemy on the church and its teaching.
104. 2.8.4The bishop must expel convicted sinners who do not reform.
105. 2.9.1A bishop must be impartial and correct sinners kindly.
106. 2.9.2A bishop who takes bribes to spare a sinner disobeys God’s commands on justice.
107. 2.9.3Scripture commands the removal of the wicked from the community.
108. 2.10.1A bishop who spares the guilty, like Saul and Eli, profanes the church and scandalizes the young and the catechumens.
109. 2.10.2A lax bishop leads his people to share his ruin, as with Jeroboam and Korah.
110. 2.10.3A pure clergy and flock deter sinners, who are either punished or brought to repentance.
111. 2.10.4Seeing no fault in the church, the sinner leaves in tears, repents and has hope, and the flock learns from him.
112. 2.11.1The bishop, who stands in God’s place among men, must be pure in conduct.
113. 2.11.2The bishop has authority to judge sinners, by Christ’s word on binding and loosing.
114. 2.12.1The bishop judges with authority but must receive the penitent, to whom God has sworn forgiveness.
115. 2.12.2Ezekiel shows God desires the sinner’s repentance, not his death.
116. 2.12.3God’s promise gives sinners hope, so that they repent rather than despair.
117. 2.13.1The sinless should stay so and not need the pains of forgiveness.
118. 2.13.2Since death is uncertain and there is no repentance after it, one must not sin counting on later repentance.
119. 2.13.3Believers must be prepared in good works for death, unlike the foolish virgins.
120. 2.13.4The bishop should first condemn the guilty, then receive the penitent with mercy.
121. 2.14.1Refusing the penitent hands him over to his enemies.
122. 2.14.2Jeremiah calls the fallen to return.
123. 2.14.3The penitent must be received, against rigorists who refuse all contact with sinners.
124. 2.14.4Scripture shows that the righteous do not perish for living alongside sinners, as God himself does good to all.
125. 2.14.6Like athletes, only those who contend lawfully are crowned.
126. 2.14.7God does not destroy the righteous with the wicked, as Noah, Lot and Rahab show.
127. 2.14.8Judas, Simon Magus and Ham were punished for their own sins while those around them were spared.
128. 2.14.9Each is judged for his own deeds; living among sinners does not condemn the righteous, only sharing their mind.
129. 2.14.10Harsh rigorists are not to be followed; the church must heal sinners, as God wills that none of the little ones perish.
130. 2.14.12The bishop, as head, must not be led by seditious laymen.
131. 2.14.13Ezekiel is cited against the idea that teaching sinners defiles the teacher.
132. 2.14.14Ezekiel 18 is quoted at length: each soul is judged for its own sin, and the repentant wicked man lives.
133. 2.15.1God is both just and merciful, and through Isaiah commands the bishops to comfort his people.
134. 2.15.2Bishops must comfort and encourage sinners without fearing contamination.
135. 2.15.3Pushing away a sinner who is slipping is like drowning one’s brother; one must give him a hand.
136. 2.15.4A bishop who neglects sin or rejects the penitent is like the faithless shepherds condemned by the prophets.
137. 2.16.1The bishop puts the sinner out of the church; the deacons then intercede for him, as Christ prayed for sinners.
138. 2.16.2The penitent is examined, given weeks of fasting in proportion to his sin, and sent away to pray in humility.
139. 2.16.3Cain and Miriam show that the sinner must cease from sin and bear a time of shame.
140. 2.16.4Penitents are excluded for a time proportionate to their sin and then received.
141. 2.17.1A bishop who is himself corrupt cannot correct others.
142. 2.17.2A bribe-taking bishop loses the support of his people, who will throw Christ’s word about the speck and the beam at him.
143. 2.17.3Unrebuked sin spreads like leaven or disease, so the lawless must be separated from the church.
144. 2.17.5Sinners must be rebuked and disciplined so that others learn reverence.
145. 2.17.6The bishop must prevent sin and proclaim reward and judgment, lest Hosea’s rebuke fall on him.
146. 2.18.1The bishop must care for the sinless and the sinners alike.
147. 2.18.2Forgiveness is to be granted at once to the sincerely penitent, as to David.
148. 2.18.3The bishop holds authority to bind and loose and will answer for more than others.
149. 2.18.4Only Christ is sinless; the recorded sins of the patriarchs give sinners hope of pardon through repentance.
150. 2.18.6The bishop bears responsibility for all, as Moses and Aaron bore the sins of the priesthood.
151. 2.18.7The bishop must restore penitents with the laying on of hands and rouse the negligent.
152. 2.18.8Ezekiel’s woe on the shepherds who feed themselves is applied to negligent bishops.
153. 2.18.9Ezekiel again accuses the self-serving shepherds.
154. 2.18.10God will rescue his sheep from bad shepherds and judge between sheep and sheep.
155. 2.18.12God claims his people as the sheep of his pasture.
156. 2.19.1God will judge bishops, laymen and rulers each against their peers.
157. 2.19.2Laymen are rational sheep and answerable for themselves.
158. 2.19.3Following a wicked shepherd is deadly, so corrupt shepherds must be avoided.
159. 2.20.1The laity must honour a good bishop, since to hear him is to hear Christ.
160. 2.20.2The bishop must love the laity as children and correct them gently.
161. 2.20.3Ezekiel’s shepherd duties are explained: guarding the strong, strengthening the tempted, healing doubters.
162. 2.20.4The bishop must bind up those broken by sin and bring back the excommunicated into the flock.
163. 2.20.5The bishop must seek out the despairing and the negligent and give them hope.
164. 2.20.6Like the good shepherd, the bishop should be ready to bear the sinner’s guilt and even die for him.
165. 2.20.7Sinners perish when the bishop has not taught them God’s promise of repentance.
166. 2.20.8The bishop must seek the missing sheep as the Father sent the Son to seek the lost.
167. 2.20.9The bishop has authority to forgive and restore sinners to the church, and must heal them as a physician and shepherd them gently.
168. 2.21.1The bishop must be gentle and steady and accept accusations only on the word of three reliable witnesses.
169. 2.21.2Malicious accusers scatter the flock and must not be believed without discernment.
170. 2.21.3Those wrongly excommunicated fall prey to pagans and heretics, and the bishop is guilty of their ruin.
171. 2.21.4It is unjust to be quick to expel and slow to receive the penitent.
172. 2.21.5Christ, the way of peace, taught that those who forgive will be forgiven.
173. 2.21.6Those who refuse to forgive condemn themselves by their own prayer.
174. 2.21.7Expelling the innocent or refusing the penitent is like Cain’s murder of Abel.
175. 2.21.8Casting out the innocent ignores God’s mercy to the penitent.
176. 2.21.9God is both just and merciful, and the bishop must be so too.
177. 2.22.0The bishop should judge as God does with sinners and penitents, as David, Jonah and Hezekiah show; the story of Manasseh’s sins begins.
178. 2.22.1The judgment on Manasseh, his captivity in Babylon, and his prayer of repentance (the Prayer of Manasseh).
179. 2.22.3God heard Manasseh, freed him miraculously and restored him; he reformed his worship, but his son Amon did evil.
180. 2.23.1Manasseh shows that God forgives even idolatry upon genuine repentance and restores the penitent.
181. 2.23.2Deliberate sin presuming on God’s mercy has no forgiveness.
182. 2.23.3Amon planned to sin and repent later, as his father had.
183. 2.23.4Amon was quickly destroyed and reigned only two years.
184. 2.24.1The laity are warned not to plan sin counting on later repentance, like Amon.
185. 2.24.2The bishop must guard the innocent and receive the penitent.
186. 2.24.3A bishop who refuses the penitent sets himself above God, who sent his Son to become man and die for sinners.
187. 2.24.4Christ received Matthew, Peter and Paul despite their past, so the penitent must be received.
188. 2.24.5Christ forgave the sinful woman who loved much.
189. 2.24.6Christ did not condemn the woman brought to him by the elders.
190. 2.24.7Bishops must imitate Christ in gentleness and mercy and be faithful stewards of God’s gifts.
191. 2.25.1The bishop may live modestly from the church’s goods.
192. 2.25.2The bishop must use tithes and first fruits rightly and distribute the offerings for the poor faithfully.
193. 2.25.3Clergy may live from the church’s goods but must share them with the needy.
194. 2.25.4Clergy may share in the fruits of their labour, but in moderation.
195. 2.25.5Like the Levites at the tabernacle, a figure of the church, clergy live from the church.
196. 2.25.6The Levites lived from the people’s offerings instead of land.
197. 2.25.7Bishops are the priests and Levites of the church, who offer the bloodless sacrifices and must teach God’s will.
198. 2.25.8Those who carry the burden are provided for.
199. 2.25.9As Christ bore the people’s sins, bishops must bear them too, and so are rightly maintained by the church, as Numbers provides for the priests.
200. 2.26.1The laity, now God’s holy people, owe their offerings to Christ the high priest and his ministers.
201. 2.26.2The old sacrifices and tithes are now the church’s prayers, thanksgivings and offerings presented through the bishops.
202. 2.26.3The Old Testament orders are matched by bishops, presbyters, deacons and the lesser ministries.
203. 2.26.4The bishop is the high priest, father and ruler of the church, to be honoured next after God.
204. 2.26.5The deacon serves the bishop as Christ serves the Father.
205. 2.26.6The deaconess, a figure of the Spirit, acts under the deacon, and women approach the clergy through her.
206. 2.26.7Presbyters represent the apostles, widows and orphans the altar, and virgins the altar of incense.
207. 2.27.1As only priests could approach the altar, nothing in the church may be done without the bishop.
208. 2.27.2Acts done without the bishop are worthless.
209. 2.27.3Like Saul’s sacrifice without Samuel, lay action without the priest is futile.
210. 2.27.4Laymen who usurp priestly functions will be punished like Uzziah, since even Christ did not take the priesthood on himself.
211. 2.27.5Korah, Dathan and Abiram show the punishment of those who seize priestly office.
212. 2.27.6Offerings, first fruits and tithes should be given to the bishop, who distributes them fairly to the truly needy.
213. 2.28.1Hosts of a love-feast should invite older women known to be in need.
214. 2.28.2A portion of the love-feast is reserved for the bishop even in his absence.
215. 2.28.3Deacons receive a double portion.
216. 2.28.4Presbyters, the bishop’s council, receive a double portion in honour of the apostles.
217. 2.28.5Readers, singers and doorkeepers receive single portions; each rank is to be honoured.
218. 2.28.6The laity approach the bishop through the deacons, as all approach God through Christ.
219. 2.28.7In the temple nothing was done without the priest, who guards knowledge.
220. 2.28.8Even pagan worshippers obey their priests in everything.
221. 2.28.9Christians must honour God through their bishops, the mouth of God, even more than pagans honour their priests.
222. 2.29.1As Moses was called a god to Pharaoh and Aaron his prophet, the clergy are to be revered.
223. 2.30.1The bishop is like Moses and the deacon like Aaron.
224. 2.30.2The deacon depends on the bishop as the Son on the Father.
225. 2.31.1The deacon must act and give only with the bishop’s knowledge.
226. 2.31.2Secret giving by deacons brings reproach on the bishop.
227. 2.31.3To speak against the bishop is to offend God, who called priests and judges ‘gods’.
228. 2.32.1Deacons must give to the needy only after informing the bishop.
229. 2.32.2Murmuring against the bishop is murmuring against God, as with Moses.
230. 2.32.3Speaking against the bishop is grave, since through him believers received the Spirit, the seal and adoption at baptism.
231. 2.33.1Bishops are spiritual parents, who give baptism, the Spirit, the Eucharist and forgiveness, and must be honoured above natural parents.
232. 2.34.1Bishops are to be supported by the people like kings.
233. 2.34.2The apostles legislate for bishops as Samuel and Moses did for kings and priests.
234. 2.34.3If Israel served its king, the bishop and clergy deserve the people’s support.
235. 2.34.4The priesthood surpasses kingship as the soul surpasses the body, for it binds and looses.
236. 2.34.5The people should love, fear and honour the bishop and give him first fruits and tithes.
237. 2.34.6God blesses those who give.
238. 2.35.1Though freed from the sacrificial law, Christians must still give to the clergy and the poor.
239. 2.35.2Care for priests, orphans and widows is the greater righteousness.
240. 2.35.3The laity give and the bishop administers the church’s goods.
241. 2.35.4The laity must not audit the bishop, who answers to God.
242. 2.36.1The commandments begin with love of the one God and the rejection of idols.
243. 2.36.2Creation came through Christ; the sabbath is for meditation on the law, not idleness.
244. 2.36.3Parents are to be honoured.
245. 2.36.4Love of neighbour includes sharing with the needy.
246. 2.36.5Perjury and casual oaths are forbidden.
247. 2.36.6Believers must bring offerings and attend church morning and evening.
248. 2.36.7Honour God with the fruit of honest work.
249. 2.36.8Even small gifts store up treasure in heaven.
250. 2.36.9Only the clergy may judge; the laity are not to judge their bishop or one another.
251. 2.37.1The bishop must judge justly.
252. 2.37.2Like skilled money-changers, bishops must distinguish the sound from the corrupt and not believe every accusation.
253. 2.37.3False accusations arise from envy, as with Susanna and Joseph.
254. 2.37.4The bishop must not readily accept accusations, lest he condemn the innocent.
255. 2.37.5Accepting false charges breeds anger, which destroys concord in the church.
256. 2.37.6Malicious accusers must be distrusted and watched.
257. 2.38.1If the charge proves true, the bishop first rebukes the accused privately, as Christ taught.
258. 2.38.2If the accused will not heed private and then witnessed rebuke, he is brought before the church and, if obstinate, excluded.
259. 2.38.4The excluded may be received back upon repentance.
260. 2.39.1Matthew, once a tax collector, became an apostle through repentance.
261. 2.39.2Zacchaeus too was received after repentance.
262. 2.39.3John the Baptist accepted repentant soldiers and tax collectors.
263. 2.39.4Even Gentiles may find life through repentance.
264. 2.39.5The unrepentant sinner is treated as an outsider.
265. 2.39.6Penitents, like catechumens, may hear the readings but must leave before the prayers until they show the fruit of repentance.
266. 2.40.1One who has fallen once or twice must not be shunned, since Christ ate with sinners.
267. 2.40.2The excluded are still to be cared for and encouraged.
268. 2.40.3The despondent must be comforted lest grief overwhelm them.
269. 2.41.1The penitent who shows fruit of repentance is received back to the prayers, like the prodigal son.
270. 2.41.2The penitent is reconciled by the laying on of hands, which takes the place of baptism for him.
271. 2.41.3Those who resent the penitent’s return are answered with the words of the prodigal’s father.
272. 2.41.4David’s prayer after his sin shows that God restores penitents to their former dignity.
273. 2.41.5The bishop should heal sinners like a physician, with gentle as well as severe remedies.
274. 2.41.6Different spiritual wounds call for different remedies: comfort, rebuke, threat of judgment and fasting.
275. 2.41.7Only when all remedies fail, and after consultation, is the incurable member cut off.
276. 2.41.8Amputation is the last resort; the bishop should first try lesser measures.
277. 2.41.9The hardened and unrepentant are cut off with grief.
278. 2.42.1Clergy who expel the innocent on false charges, for favour or bribes, will answer to God.
279. 2.42.2Partiality brings the Lord’s condemnation.
280. 2.42.3Unjust condemnation and defence of the wicked fall under Isaiah’s woe.
281. 2.42.4Unjust judges condemn themselves.
282. 2.42.5An impartial judge will expose the false accuser and punish him as he meant to harm his neighbour.
283. 2.42.6The false accuser is guilty of murder in intent.
284. 2.43.1The false accuser is excluded, and may be restored after fasting if he repents, under watch.
285. 2.43.2A repeat troublemaker is to be expelled permanently, since he stains the body of Christ.
286. 2.43.3As surgeons remove superfluous limbs, shepherds must remove a member who disrupts the church.
287. 2.43.4The church is more beautiful once the disruptive member is cut off.
288. 2.44.1Bishop and clergy must teach rightly and walk in holiness.
289. 2.44.2Bishops must be united and teach their people to be of one mind.
290. 2.44.3The deacon settles what he can by the bishop’s authority and refers weightier matters to him.
291. 2.44.4The deacon relieves the bishop of lesser cares, as Jethro advised Moses.
292. 2.45.1Christians should avoid lawsuits and never go before pagan courts.
293. 2.45.2Disputes among Christians must not be judged by secular rulers.
294. 2.46.1Christians must keep their disputes from pagans, while paying their taxes as Christ did.
295. 2.46.2Better to suffer loss than to quarrel, with believers or unbelievers.
296. 2.46.3In disputes between brothers the guilty party is rebuked and excluded until he repents.
297. 2.46.5The parties must forgive each other without limit, as Christ told Peter.
298. 2.46.6Christ’s disciples must harbour no anger or hatred against anyone.
299. 2.46.7The clergy must reconcile those who quarrel.
300. 2.47.1Church courts meet on Mondays so that disputes can be settled before Sunday.
301. 2.47.2Both parties are heard and the court tries to reconcile them before the bishop gives sentence.
302. 2.47.3Charges of misconduct must be judged fairly, since exclusion has eternal consequences.
303. 2.48.1Penalties must fit the offence: threats, almsgiving, fasting or exclusion.
304. 2.48.2The Law itself graded punishments by the kind of offence.
305. 2.48.3Unjust judgments will be repaid by God.
306. 2.49.1The court must first examine the accuser’s motives and conduct.
307. 2.49.2No one may be convicted on a single witness.
308. 2.49.3Even several witnesses may conspire in a lie, as against Susanna, Naboth, Christ and Stephen.
309. 2.49.4Witnesses must be of proven good character.
310. 2.49.5Witnesses of bad character must be rejected even if they agree.
311. 2.50.1The court must also examine the life and character of the accused.
312. 2.50.2A bad record makes a charge more credible, though the accused may still be innocent of it.
313. 2.50.3Sentences must be sound, and the excluded who confess may be received back.
314. 2.50.4Both false accusers and the guilty must be punished.
315. 2.51.1Condemning without hearing the accused makes the judge a partner in the slander.
316. 2.51.2Judges who condemn unheard are like the elders who accused Susanna.
317. 2.52.1Even pagan courts examine carefully before condemning, and judges protest their innocence of blood.
318. 2.52.2Christian judges, knowing God, must never judge out of spite.
319. 2.52.3Just judges will be rewarded by God and unjust ones punished.
320. 2.53.1Judges must be free from anger.
321. 2.53.2Anger must be settled quickly before it turns into resentment.
322. 2.53.3Christ commands reconciliation before offering one’s gift.
323. 2.53.4Prayer and thanksgiving are not accepted while anger remains.
324. 2.53.5Enmity must be ended so that prayer may be pure and heard.
325. 2.53.6The Law and David forbid hatred, as Christ commands love even of enemies.
326. 2.53.7Christians must forgive up to four hundred and ninety times.
327. 2.53.8A grudge-bearer who will not forgive hinders his own prayer.
328. 2.53.9Forgiveness should go beyond the number given, so that one becomes a child of God.
329. 2.54.1Before the prayers the deacon calls on all to be reconciled.
330. 2.54.2As visitors greet a house with peace, the bishop must first pray peace on the people.
331. 2.54.3The one who gives peace must himself have it.
332. 2.54.4Inner peace enables the bishop to gather the Lord’s flock in concord.
333. 2.54.5Those who stir up strife are strangers to God.
334. 2.55.1In every age God has called people to repentance, through righteous men, prophets, Christ, John and the apostles.
335. 2.55.2The apostles, with James, the seventy-two and the seven deacons, declare God’s will that all believe and live.
336. 2.56.1The Lord’s Prayer asks that all on earth glorify God with one accord as the angels do.
337. 2.56.2God wills that many be saved, and those who drive souls away scatter the flock.
338. 2.56.3Those who drive out the lambs undo the apostles’ labours in gathering the church.
339. 2.56.4The laity too must live in peace and win others to the church.
340. 2.57.1The bishop must be holy, gentle and a builder-up of the church.
341. 2.57.2The bishop orders the assembly like a pilot, with the deacons as crew.
342. 2.57.3The church building is oblong, facing east, like a ship.
343. 2.57.4The bishop sits in the centre with the presbyters, the deacons stand by, and men and women sit separately.
344. 2.57.5The reader reads from the Old Testament books from a raised place.
345. 2.57.6Psalms are sung between the readings, with the people responding.
346. 2.57.7Acts and Paul’s letters are read, then the four Gospels by a deacon or presbyter.
347. 2.57.8All stand in silence for the Gospel.
348. 2.57.9Presbyters and then the bishop preach; doorkeepers and deaconesses guard the entrances.
349. 2.57.11The deacon moves those sitting out of place.
350. 2.57.12The congregation is arranged by age and state of life, like a well-ordered flock.
351. 2.57.13The deacon keeps order and attention in the assembly.
352. 2.57.14After the dismissal of catechumens and penitents come the prayers facing east, the kiss of peace, the intercessions, the blessing and the Eucharist, received in order.
353. 2.58.1Visitors with letters of commendation are examined by the deacon and given their place.
354. 2.58.2Visiting clergy are received by their own order; a visiting bishop shares the bishop’s honour.
355. 2.58.3A visiting bishop is invited to preach and to offer the Eucharist, or at least to bless the people.
356. 2.58.4The bishop must not interrupt the service to honour an important newcomer.
357. 2.58.5Younger men must give up their seats to the more honourable.
358. 2.58.6Poor visitors must be given a place as readily as the rich.
359. 2.59.1The bishop must urge the people to attend church morning and evening every day.
360. 2.59.2Believers must gather daily for morning and evening prayer, with Psalm 63 and Psalm 141.
361. 2.59.3Attendance is especially required on the sabbath and on Sunday, the day of the resurrection.
362. 2.59.4Sunday is the day of prayers, readings, the Gospel and the Eucharist, which no one should miss.
363. 2.60.1Those who care for bodily things but neglect the church are worse than the Gentiles.
364. 2.60.2Pagans are zealous in worshipping their idols and attending their festivals.
365. 2.60.3Even the Jews faithfully keep the sabbath assembly, though the author says they have lost the meaning of their name.
366. 2.60.4Christians who neglect church have no excuse when pagans and Jews are so diligent.
367. 2.60.5The prophets reproach God’s people for being less faithful than the nations to their gods.
368. 2.60.6Work is no excuse, since piety is the believer’s real work.
369. 2.60.7Trades are for livelihood, but piety is the true work, as Christ taught.
370. 2.61.1Believers must never leave the church for pagan temples, synagogues or heretical assemblies.
371. 2.61.2Christians who attend pagan processions and theatres ignore the example of Jeremiah and Job.
372. 2.61.3Pagan writings are inspired by the devil and lead to polytheism.
373. 2.61.4God’s laws come before worldly needs, and believers should hasten to the church bought by Christ’s blood.
374. 2.61.5The church is the daughter of God who bears believers and forms Christ in them.
375. 2.62.1Believers must not join pagan gatherings, since God has no fellowship with the devil.
376. 2.62.2Theatres, processions and all forms of divination and magic are forbidden.
377. 2.62.4Believers must avoid the festivals and games of pagans, Jews and heretics, going to fairs only for necessary purchases.
378. 2.63.1Younger members must work to support themselves and the needy, as the apostles themselves did.
379. 2.63.2Solomon points the idle to the industrious ant.
380. 2.63.3The bee too is a model of industry.
381. 2.63.4Proverbs warns that laziness brings poverty while diligence brings plenty.
382. 2.63.5More sayings of Scripture against idleness.
383. 2.63.6Idleness is hateful to God; whoever will not work should not eat.
384. 3.1.1Women enrolled as widows must be at least sixty, so that a second marriage is not to be feared.
385. 3.1.2A young enrolled widow who remarries is blamed for breaking her promise, not for the marriage itself.
386. 3.1.3A vow of widowhood should not be made rashly.
387. 3.1.4A young woman who stays unmarried after losing her husband, having the gift of widowhood, is blessed like the widow of Zarephath.
388. 3.1.5Such a widow is like Anna the prophetess and will be honoured on earth and in heaven.
389. 3.2.1Young widows are not to be enrolled but should be supported, so that need does not drive them into an unseemly remarriage.
390. 3.2.2One marriage is righteous; a second after the widow’s vow is unlawful because of the broken promise; a third shows incontinence; more is sexual immorality.
391. 3.2.3God made one wife for one man, but young widows are permitted a second husband to avoid sin.
392. 3.3.1True widows, married once and known for good works, are to be supported by the church.
393. 3.3.2The bishop must also provide for the poor and afflicted.
394. 3.4.1The bishop must care for all the needy, not only widows.
395. 3.4.2Gifts are brought to the bishop, who distributes them to the needy as a faithful steward.
396. 3.4.3Recipients should know the giver’s name to pray for him.
397. 3.4.4Charity must be given to all who are truly in need without favouritism.
398. 3.4.5Isaiah commands care for the hungry, homeless and naked.
399. 3.4.6Daniel counsels the king to redeem his sins by almsgiving.
400. 3.4.7Almsgiving purges sins.
401. 3.4.8The Psalms bless those who care for the poor.
402. 3.4.9Mercy to the poor is a loan to the Lord; refusing them brings the same refusal.
403. 3.5.1A widow must be gentle and quiet, avoiding gossip and meddling.
404. 3.5.2The widow’s task is prayer for donors and the church.
405. 3.5.3Widows should refer inquirers to the clergy rather than teach.
406. 3.5.4Widows may refute polytheism but must not expound deeper mysteries, lest they be misunderstood.
407. 3.5.6Poorly explained teaching about the incarnation and passion leads unbelievers to mock.
408. 3.6.1Women are not permitted to teach in the church.
409. 3.6.2Christ sent no women to preach though many followed him, so women are not to teach.
410. 3.6.3The widow, as God’s altar, should stay at home and not go round the houses for gifts.
411. 3.6.4Virgins and widows must not roam others’ houses as gossiping beggars.
412. 3.6.5Such women distract others at the Sunday assembly so that they gain nothing from the word.
413. 3.7.1Gadabout widows have closed hearts and serve the adversary’s desires.
414. 3.7.2Such widows do not belong to Christ’s altar.
415. 3.7.3Some widows make begging a trade, hoard money and lend at interest.
416. 3.7.4A widow devoted to money serves mammon and cannot pray rightly.
417. 3.7.5A distracted widow’s prayers are not heard.
418. 3.7.6The true widow, like Judith, prays without ceasing for the church and is heard by God.
419. 3.7.7The widow should pray, fast and work like the widow with two coins; widows must obey the clergy and not accept gifts from robbers, prostitutes or the excommunicated.
420. 3.9.1Women must not baptize.
421. 3.9.2Since man is the head of woman in the order of creation, the priesthood belongs to men.
422. 3.9.3Since women may not teach, still less may they be priests, a pagan custom.
423. 3.9.4Christ was baptized by John, not his mother, and sent no women to baptize.
424. 3.10.1Laymen may not perform priestly acts.
425. 3.10.2Priestly dignity comes only by God’s call through the bishop’s laying on of hands.
426. 3.10.3Usurpers of priestly office will be punished like Uzziah.
427. 3.11.1Only bishops and presbyters baptize, assisted by deacons.
428. 3.11.2Those who usurp baptism will be punished like Korah’s band.
429. 3.11.3Only bishops may ordain to any order.
430. 3.12.1Envy and strife are foreign to Christians, especially widows.
431. 3.12.2A widow in name only who does the devil’s works will be shut out of the kingdom.
432. 3.12.3Jealous widows are not Christ’s disciples.
433. 3.12.4Widows should rejoice when a fellow widow is helped.
434. 3.13.1The model prayer of a widow giving thanks for gifts to her fellow widow, the donor and the bishop.
435. 3.13.2The widow who receives should pray with her benefactor.
436. 3.14.1Donors should give secretly, and the widow should pray for them.
437. 3.14.2Envious widows complain that others were helped before them.
438. 3.14.3The complaining widow should be silent and ask forgiveness instead of blaming the donor.
439. 3.14.4The envious widow even curses the donor, forgetting that curses return on the curser.
440. 3.14.5Christ teaches that peace not received returns to the giver.
441. 3.15.1An unjust curse returns on the head of the one who utters it.
442. 3.15.2Groundless curses harm only the curser.
443. 3.15.3Wrongs done to others recoil on the doer, as the stinging bee and the pit-digger show.
444. 3.15.4The clergy must admonish, encourage and promote peace among the widows.
445. 3.15.5No cleric or layman may curse; the bishop must care for all.
446. 3.16.1The bishop appoints deacons, and a deaconess for ministry to women where a man cannot go.
447. 3.16.2At women’s baptism the deacon anoints the forehead and the deaconess the rest.
448. 3.16.3The bishop anoints the head at baptism, as priests and kings once were anointed, for Christians are a royal priesthood.
449. 3.16.4The order of baptism: anointing with oil, immersion in the triune name by bishop or presbyter, reception by deacon or deaconess, then chrism.
450. 3.17.1The meaning of the rites of baptism: death, burial, the Spirit, the cross, confirmation.
451. 3.17.2The Father is named as cause and sender, the Spirit as witness.
452. 3.17.3Immersion signifies dying and rising with Christ.
453. 3.17.4A short statement of the Father, the only-begotten Son, and the Spirit sent by Christ.
454. 3.18.1The newly baptized must renounce Satan and live as a son of God, praying the Lord’s Prayer.
455. 3.18.2The Lord’s Prayer with its doxology.
456. 3.19.1Deacons and deaconesses must be blameless and active in serving the church.
457. 3.19.2Each minister must fulfil his own role with zeal.
458. 3.19.3Deacons must serve without shame, even to death, as Christ did.
459. 3.19.4As Christ endured all for us, deacons must serve the brothers.
460. 3.19.5Christ washed the apostles’ feet, so deacons must humbly serve the weak.
461. 3.19.6Service must be given lovingly, for God’s sake.
462. 3.19.7Deacons visit the needy and report to the bishop, serving as his eyes and ears.
463. 3.20.1A bishop must be ordained by at least two or three bishops; presbyters, deacons and other clergy by one.
464. 3.20.2Presbyters teach, offer, baptize and bless but do not ordain; deacons only serve.
465. 4.1.1Childless believers should adopt orphan boys, and families should take orphan girls as brides for their sons.
466. 4.1.2God will provide for orphans neglected by the rich, whose savings strangers will consume.
467. 4.2.1Bishops must provide for orphans, widows and all in need.
468. 4.2.2Orphan girls are supported until marriage, and orphan boys until they learn a trade.
469. 4.3.1Those who can support themselves should not take what belongs to the needy.
470. 4.3.2Woe to those who take alms when they could support themselves.
471. 4.3.3Those who receive out of real need are honoured as God’s altar and repay donors by prayer.
472. 4.4.1Those who take alms through idleness or pretence rob the poor.
473. 4.4.2The miser is like a serpent guarding treasure, and his wealth will not help him on the day of wrath.
474. 4.4.3The miser trusts in gold as his god and is everyone’s enemy, his own included.
475. 4.4.4Ill-gotten wealth will be lost to strangers.
476. 4.5.1Widows and orphans should receive gifts with reverence and thank God.
477. 4.5.2God feeds every creature.
478. 4.5.3Christ teaches trust in the Father who feeds the birds.
479. 4.5.4Those who receive should praise God for his providence.
480. 4.6.1The bishop must discern which offerings to accept.
481. 4.6.2Gifts from cheating traders are to be refused.
482. 4.6.4Offerings from the sexually immoral, adulterers, oppressors and cruel masters are to be refused.
483. 4.6.5A long list of wrongdoers whose offerings must be refused.
484. 4.6.6Those who feed the poor from wicked gifts will be judged, like the disobedient prophet killed by a lion.
485. 4.6.7Little bread honestly earned is better than much from injustice.
486. 4.6.8Prayers of widows fed by the ungodly for their benefactors are not heard.
487. 4.6.9The prayers of unrepentant sinners provoke God.
488. 4.7.1Tainted gifts are like the forbidden price of a dog and wages of a prostitute.
489. 4.7.2Prophets refused gifts from the ungodly, and Peter and John rejected Simon’s money.
490. 4.7.3Offerings from a bad conscience must be refused.
491. 4.8.1The people’s offerings exist so that the church need not take from the wicked.
492. 4.8.2It is better for a church to perish than to take gifts from God’s enemies.
493. 4.8.3Gifts are accepted from the holy and refused from the excommunicated.
494. 4.8.4Shortfalls are met by collections among the brothers.
495. 4.9.1The people should honour God with first fruits from honest labour.
496. 4.9.2Honest offerings feed the poor and ransom captives and those condemned for Christ.
497. 4.10.1Money forced on the church by the impious should be spent on fuel, not on food for the poor.
498. 4.10.2The Law ordered stale sacrifices to be burned.
499. 4.10.3Gifts are tainted by the giver’s intention, not by their nature.
500. 4.10.4Contact with the ungodly is allowed; only sharing worship with them is harmful.
501. 4.10.5Conclusion of the instruction on gifts.
502. 4.11.1Fathers must raise their children in the Lord and teach them a fitting trade.
503. 4.11.2Parents must discipline their children firmly, as Proverbs and Sirach teach.
504. 4.11.4Children must be taught Scripture, kept under discipline and away from carousing.
505. 4.11.5Negligent parents share the guilt of their children’s sins.
506. 4.11.6Parents should arrange their children’s marriages in good time to prevent sexual sin.
507. 4.12.1Slaves must serve even pagan masters with goodwill, but not share their religion.
508. 4.12.2Masters must love their servants and treat them fairly as fellow human beings.
509. 4.12.3A slave with a Christian master should love him as master, brother in faith and father.
510. 4.12.4A Christian master should love a believing slave as a son or brother.
511. 4.13.1Christians must obey rulers in what pleases God and pay all their dues.
512. 4.13.2Christians should owe nothing but love.
513. 4.14.1Virginity is a free vow, not a command, and must not be undertaken rashly.
514. 4.14.2A vowed virgin must be holy in body and soul, choosing virginity for devotion, not out of contempt for marriage.
515. 4.14.3The virgin must live soberly and avoid bad company.
516. 5.1.1Christians condemned for Christ's name to the games, the beasts, or the mines must be supported from the labor of the faithful.
517. 5.1.2The condemned confessor is a holy martyr, a brother of the Lord and a vessel of the Spirit.
518. 5.1.3All the faithful, through the bishop, should give to imprisoned confessors, even fasting to do so, and the rich should ransom them.
519. 5.1.4Giving to martyrs surpasses giving to the poor, for the martyrs have confessed Christ before rulers.
520. 5.1.5Visiting confessors in prison is counted as martyrdom in willingness.
521. 5.1.6Christ's words on the judgment of the nations are quoted.
522. 5.1.7The quotation continues with the question of the righteous.
523. 5.1.8The quotation ends with Christ's answer and the reward of eternal life.
524. 5.2.1A so-called brother condemned to death for a real crime is not to be helped, so that the church is not blamed.
525. 5.2.2Those imprisoned or exiled for Christ must be helped with all zeal.
526. 5.2.3One arrested and tortured for helping the martyrs is blessed.
527. 5.2.4The apostles rejoiced to be beaten for Christ, and so should the faithful.
528. 5.3.1Those who flee persecution must be received as martyrs.
529. 5.3.2Christ's beatitude on the persecuted is quoted.
530. 5.3.3Further sayings of Christ on persecution and flight are quoted.
531. 5.3.4The persecuted confessor who endures is truly a man of God.
532. 5.4.1He who denies Christ to avoid men's hatred becomes God's enemy and chooses eternal fire.
533. 5.4.2Christ's warning against those who deny him is quoted.
534. 5.4.3Christ's sayings on preferring him to family and life are quoted.
535. 5.4.4Christ's command not to fear those who kill the body is quoted.
536. 5.5.1A learner imitates his teacher's skill, or he is not perfected.
537. 5.5.2Christians have Christ as teacher and should imitate him.
538. 5.5.3Christ renounced every comfort and his life to save Jews and Greeks who repent.
539. 5.5.4Since Christ renounced rest and bore the cross for us, we should renounce even life for him.
540. 5.5.5God needs nothing from us and seeks only a genuine and freely chosen faith.
541. 5.6.1Family and possessions are to be renounced when they hinder piety.
542. 5.6.2Christians should pray to avoid trial, but when called confess steadfastly and rejoice.
543. 5.6.3Fear of rulers and love of praise must not keep believers from confessing Christ, as it kept some Jews from believing.
544. 5.6.4A faithful confession strengthens the newly baptized and the catechumens.
545. 5.6.5Denial loses glory, harms others, and brings a double punishment.
546. 5.6.6Believers must neither court martyrdom nor flinch from it once arrested.
547. 5.6.7One who denies Christ to save his life may die soon of disease and lose both this life and eternal life.
548. 5.6.8A martyr rejoices in his crown, and a catechumen martyr receives in his suffering a truer baptism.
549. 5.6.9The martyr imitates Christ, who suffered every outrage and committed his spirit to the Father.
550. 5.6.10The disciple imitates Christ's endurance, trusting God either to deliver him like the three youths or to reward him.
551. 5.7.1God will raise all the dead through Christ in their present form, but incorruptible.
552. 5.7.2However the body perishes, God's power will raise it.
553. 5.7.3Gabriel's prophecy to Daniel of the resurrection is quoted.
554. 5.7.4All, righteous and unrighteous, will rise to be judged according to their deeds.
555. 5.7.5God answered Israel's unbelief in the resurrection through Ezekiel's vision of the bones.
556. 5.7.6Isaiah's prophecy of the resurrection is quoted.
557. 5.7.7Scripture says much about the resurrection, the glory of the righteous and the punishment of the ungodly.
558. 5.7.8Enoch and Elijah, and the dead raised by Elijah and Elisha, show God's power to give life.
559. 5.7.9Death is not in itself a punishment, since the saints and Christ himself underwent it.
560. 5.7.10God allows death for a short time so that at the resurrection he may reject or crown each person.
561. 5.7.11The Creator who formed Adam's body from earth will raise the bodies of all.
562. 5.7.12Christ, who raised others and himself and delivered Jonah, the three youths and Daniel, can raise us.
563. 5.7.13The Sibyl too foretells the resurrection and the judgment.
564. 5.7.14Even pagan stories of the phoenix and the Scriptures' witness to God as Creator show that God can and will raise the dead, as the apostles who saw Christ risen testify.
565. 5.8.1Martyrs are to be honored, as James and Stephen are honored by the apostles.
566. 5.8.2Scripture praises the death and memory of the righteous.
567. 5.9.1What is said of martyrs does not apply to false martyrs.
568. 5.9.2A true martyr is one who dies without deceit for the truth.
569. 5.10.1Christians must avoid foul talk, drunkenness and excess, even in Sunday festivities.
570. 5.10.2Christians must not sing pagan or lewd songs, which name demons.
571. 5.11.1Christians may not swear by idols, name them, or worship them.
572. 5.11.2Scripture forbids swearing by idols.
573. 5.12.1The Scriptures also forbid swearing by or worshiping the heavenly bodies.
574. 5.12.2The heavenly bodies were made for light, not worship, though Israel worshiped many created things.
575. 5.12.3God threatened Judah for its idolatry through Ezekiel.
576. 5.12.4The Lord condemns idolaters and worshipers of the sun and moon.
577. 5.12.5A Christian must not swear by any created thing.
578. 5.12.6If Christ forbade swearing even by the true God, swearing by false gods is far worse.
579. 5.13.1The Nativity is to be kept on the twenty-fifth of the ninth month.
580. 5.13.2The Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ's divinity, is kept on the sixth of the tenth month.
581. 5.13.3The forty-day fast is kept before the paschal fast, from a Monday to a Friday.
582. 5.13.4Holy Week follows, kept by all with fasting and prayer for the perishing.
583. 5.14.1The plot against the Lord began on Monday and was settled on Wednesday.
584. 5.14.2Christ, who bore long with the thieving Judas, foretold at supper that one of them would betray him.
585. 5.14.3John asked who the traitor was, and Christ gave two signs without naming him.
586. 5.14.4Christ answered Judas indirectly and warned him of woe.
587. 5.14.5Judas sold the Lord for thirty pieces of silver.
588. 5.14.6After the Passover meal Christ foretold the disciples' flight and Peter's denial.
589. 5.14.7After giving the mysteries of his body and blood, Christ went out to the Mount of Olives with the eleven.
590. 5.14.8Christ prayed three times in the garden while the disciples slept.
591. 5.14.9Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss, and Caiaphas's council mocked and abused him.
592. 5.14.10Christ was taken to Annas and to Pilate, who found no charge, and was then accused of treason.
593. 5.14.12Christ's accusers made themselves his judges, fulfilling the prophecies.
594. 5.14.13Pilate condemned himself by handing over to the cross a man he had declared innocent.
595. 5.14.14The passion, burial, and resurrection are told, with the command to fast during Holy Week and on Wednesdays and Fridays.
596. 5.15.1The Gentile believers, once no people, are now God's holy nation.
597. 5.15.2The gate of life is opened to the Gentiles, as Isaiah foretold.
598. 5.15.3The Gentiles, called by God, left polytheism and became the full number of the saved.
599. 5.15.4God's complaint against unbelieving Israel is quoted.
600. 5.16.1Israel's unbelief provoked the Holy Spirit.
601. 5.16.2Israel failed to recognize Jesus as the eternally begotten Son and Word.
602. 5.16.3The prophecies of the virgin birth and of the divine child are quoted.
603. 5.16.4Isaiah foretold Israel's disobedience.
604. 5.16.5Knowledge was taken from Israel and the kingdom given to the believing Gentiles.
605. 5.16.6The Gentiles turned from idols to the true light and became heirs of God's kingdom.
606. 5.16.7The baptized, having died and risen with Christ, must be free of sin, for they belong to him.
607. 5.16.8The kingdom taken from unbelieving Israel is given to the Gentiles, who must bear its fruits.
608. 5.16.9The Gentiles are the son who first refused and then worked in the vineyard; Israel killed the prophets and the heir.
609. 5.17.1Christians must keep Easter once a year after the equinox and no longer with the Jews.
610. 5.17.2Easter is to be reckoned from the spring equinox and kept only on a Sunday.
611. 5.18.1During Holy Week the faithful fast on bread, salt, vegetables and water.
612. 5.18.2Those who can should fast completely on Friday and Saturday, or at least on Saturday.
613. 5.19.1In these days Christ was taken and crucified.
614. 5.19.2The days before Friday are kept with fasting until the ninth hour or evening, and the full fast runs from Thursday evening.
615. 5.19.4The Easter vigil is kept with readings, baptism, and prayer for the conversion of Israel.
616. 5.19.5The crucifixion fulfilled Psalm 2.
617. 5.19.6Christ's resurrection on the Lord's day fulfilled the Psalms.
618. 5.19.7At the resurrection the faithful offer the Eucharist and end their fast with rejoicing.
619. 5.19.8For unbelievers Christ remains dead, for believers he is risen.
620. 5.20.1The eighth day after Easter is a feast recalling Christ's appearance to Thomas.
621. 5.20.2The Ascension is kept on the fortieth day; Christ sits at the Father's right hand until he comes to judge.
622. 5.20.3The Jews' annual reading of Lamentations and Baruch is taken as an unwitting lament over Christ.
623. 5.20.4Pentecost is a great feast recalling the gift of the Spirit and the first preaching.
624. 5.20.5The Son appeared to the patriarchs in the Old Testament.
625. 5.20.6Moses saw the Son in the bush and foretold him as the prophet to come.
626. 5.20.7Joshua worshiped the Son as commander of the Lord's army, and Samuel called priests and kings anointed after him.
627. 5.20.8David sang Psalm 45 of the Son.
628. 5.20.9Solomon spoke of the Son as Wisdom in Proverbs 8 and 9.
629. 5.20.10Isaiah and Zechariah prophesied of the Son.
630. 5.20.11Daniel foresaw the Son of Man and the stone that filled the earth.
631. 5.20.12Jeremiah, Ezekiel and all the prophets proclaim the Son as Christ and only-begotten God.
632. 5.20.13The apostles preach the Son as God the Word, through whom the Father created all things.
633. 5.20.14A week of feasting after Pentecost is followed by a week of fasting, after the examples of Moses, Elijah, Daniel and Hannah.
634. 5.20.16The Ninevites, Esther, Mordecai and Judith escaped danger by fasting.
635. 5.20.17The faithful fast every Wednesday and Friday and give what they save to the poor.
636. 5.20.19No one may fast on Sundays, at Pentecost or on the Lord's feasts.
637. 6.1.1Bishops must flee heresies and schisms.
638. 6.1.2Dathan, Abiram, Korah and Miriam were punished for rebelling against Moses and Aaron.
639. 6.1.3King Uzziah was struck with leprosy for usurping the priesthood.
640. 6.2.1Rebellion against priests is worse than rebellion against kings.
641. 6.2.2Rebels against David and against Moses were all punished.
642. 6.2.3Absalom slandered David as an unjust judge.
643. 6.2.4Abeddadan rejected David, God's chosen king.
644. 6.2.5Dathan, Abiram and Korah's company defied Moses.
645. 6.2.6Korah's company disputed Aaron's priesthood.
646. 6.2.7Moses, God's friend who worked wonders for Israel, was opposed by Korah and the Reubenites, whom the earth swallowed and fire consumed.
647. 6.4.1If schismatics were punished at once, heretics who blaspheme God's providence and creation will be punished more severely.
648. 6.4.2Those who originate false opinions lead the peoples to destruction.
649. 6.4.3The laity must keep away from those who teach against God's mind.
650. 6.5.1Heretics, who blaspheme God out of malice, are to be shunned.
651. 6.5.2God has rejected the synagogue as he foretold through the prophets.
652. 6.5.3God took his Spirit from Israel and filled and exalted his church.
653. 6.5.4The Spirit and its gifts passed from Israel to the Gentile church.
654. 6.5.5The devil now attacks the church with persecutions and heresies, as he tempted Job.
655. 6.5.6Satan opposed the high priest Joshua and seeks to weaken the apostles' faith.
656. 6.5.7Christ, who rebuked Satan for Joshua, prays for the faith of his apostles.
657. 6.6.1There were heresies among the Jews too.
658. 6.6.2The Sadducees deny the resurrection.
659. 6.6.3The Pharisees ascribe sin to chance and fate.
660. 6.6.4The Masbothaeans deny providence and the soul's immortality.
661. 6.6.5The Hemerobaptists bathe and wash their vessels every day.
662. 6.6.6The Ebionites hold that Christ was a mere man, the son of Joseph and Mary.
663. 6.6.7The Essenes keep apart from all these and keep the ancestral customs.
664. 6.6.8The devil now works heresies and schisms in some who have gone out from the church.
665. 6.7.1The new heresies began with Simon the magician of Samaria.
666. 6.7.2Simon, baptized by Philip, tried to buy from the apostles the power to give the Spirit.
667. 6.7.4Peter rebuked Simon and called him to repentance.
668. 6.7.5Simon, afraid, asked the apostles to pray for him.
669. 6.8.1The devil raised up false apostles: Cleobius, Simon, Dositheus, Cerinthus, Marcus, Menander, Basilides and Saturninus.
670. 6.8.2The heretics teach many gods, reject marriage or foods, or live in immorality.
671. 6.9.1Peter defeated Simon in debate at Caesarea and drove him to Italy.
672. 6.9.2In Rome Simon misled many and promised to fly in the theater.
673. 6.9.3As Simon flew with the demons' help, Peter prayed that he be brought down but not killed.
674. 6.9.4At Peter's word the demons let Simon fall, and he broke his hip and feet.
675. 6.9.5The crowd confessed the one God, and many left Simon.
676. 6.9.6The Simonian heresy took root in Rome.
677. 6.10.1The heretics deny the Creator, the Scriptures, providence, the resurrection and judgment.
678. 6.10.2Some heretics forbid marriage, meat and wine, or treat animals as rational souls.
679. 6.10.3Some heretics keep the Jewish law and hold Jesus a mere prophet; others teach immorality.
680. 6.10.4The libertine heretics are instruments of the devil.
681. 6.11.1The apostles proclaim one eternal God, Lord of the Law and Prophets and Father of Christ.
682. 6.11.2The one God is Father of one Son and, through Christ, maker of the Paraclete and the other orders.
683. 6.11.3The one Creator rules, gives law, and will raise and judge through Christ.
684. 6.11.4Christ became man, lived without sin, suffered, died, rose, and ascended.
685. 6.11.5All God's creatures are good to eat.
686. 6.11.6Lawful marriage and childbearing are honorable, for God made male and female to increase the race.
687. 6.11.7The soul is incorporeal, immortal, rational and free.
688. 6.11.8All unlawful and unnatural intercourse is abhorred.
689. 6.11.9The church confesses the resurrection, and Christ as God the Word and man, the expected one of Genesis 49.
690. 6.12.1When the Judaizing heresy threatened the church, the twelve and James met in Jerusalem.
691. 6.12.2Men from Judea taught the Gentile believers at Antioch that they must be circumcised to be saved.
692. 6.12.3The church at Antioch sent men to the apostles in Jerusalem about circumcision.
693. 6.12.4Peter reminded the council that God chose him to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.
694. 6.12.5An angel told Cornelius to send for Peter.
695. 6.12.6Peter tells his vision of the sheet with clean and unclean animals.
696. 6.12.7The Spirit told Peter to go with Cornelius's messengers.
697. 6.12.8Peter recalled the prophecies of the Gentiles' salvation.
698. 6.12.9Peter and James spoke at the Jerusalem council, which freed Gentile believers from circumcision and sent its decree.
699. 6.13.1After sending the letter, the apostles stayed on in Jerusalem.
700. 6.13.2The apostles warned the churches against those who fight Christ and Moses under their names.
701. 6.13.3Such men are the false christs and false prophets of whom the Lord warned.
702. 6.14.1The twelve, James and Paul wrote this catholic teaching for the bishops.
703. 6.14.2The catholic teaching: worship the one God through Christ in the Spirit, use the Scriptures, and expect the resurrection and judgment.
704. 6.14.3God's creatures are to be received with thanks, and lawful marriage is blameless.
705. 6.14.4A husband may not put away a blameless wife, for God joined them, but he must not keep a wife who has committed adultery.
706. 6.14.5Believers need only the circumcision of the heart.
707. 6.15.1There is one baptism, given by blameless priests in the name of the Trinity, not by heretics.
708. 6.15.2Heretical baptism is not to be accepted, nor true baptism repeated.
709. 6.15.3Heretical clergy are not priests, and their baptism defiles.
710. 6.15.4Rebaptizing the baptized insults the Father, the Son and the Spirit.
711. 6.15.5Whoever refuses baptism out of contempt will be condemned.
712. 6.15.6Delaying baptism until death shows ignorance of God.
713. 6.15.7Infants are to be baptized and brought up in God's discipline.
714. 6.16.1Books forged in the apostles' names are not to be accepted.
715. 6.16.2Simon's followers circulate poisonous books under apostolic names.
716. 6.16.3Apocryphal books under ancient names, like the heretics' books now, are hostile to the truth.
717. 6.16.4The faithful must flee the teaching of such books.
718. 6.17.1Bishops, presbyters and deacons must have married only once and may not marry or remarry after ordination.
719. 6.17.2The lower clergy must also have married once, but may marry after entering the clergy.
720. 6.17.3Clergy may not marry a courtesan, a slave, a widow or a divorced woman.
721. 6.17.4A deaconess must be a virgin or a once-married widow.
722. 6.18.1Penitents are received, catechumens baptized, and unrepentant heretics expelled and shunned.
723. 6.18.2Heretics corrupt the flock and only pretend to piety.
724. 6.18.3Heretics have blasphemed the Spirit and will not be forgiven.
725. 6.18.4Heretics blaspheme the Father, Son and Spirit and abuse the Scriptures.
726. 6.18.5The faithful must flee heretics, who ruin the church like foxes in a vineyard.
727. 6.18.6As David hated God's enemies, the faithful must keep away from the wicked.
728. 6.18.7God rebuked Jehoshaphat for his alliances with wicked kings.
729. 6.18.8The faithful must avoid fellowship with heretics.
730. 6.18.9Heretics will multiply before the end; the apostles healed some and cast out the incurable.
731. 6.18.11The apostles sent this teaching to the bishops through Clement and other companions.
732. 6.19.1Christians must give up the old ritual customs.
733. 6.19.2God gave a simple law, the Ten Commandments, to help the natural law.
734. 6.19.3Christ honored the law by sending healed lepers to the priests.
735. 6.19.4Christ fulfilled the law, and Moses and Elijah witnessed his transfiguration as his friends.
736. 6.20.1The law proper is the Decalogue, given before the golden calf; the Simonians despise it.
737. 6.20.2The Decalogue's law imposes no compulsion about altars.
738. 6.20.3Sacrifice was permitted, not commanded.
739. 6.20.4God needs no sacrifice; he allowed it as the patriarchs had offered it freely by natural law.
740. 6.20.5God accepts sacrifice without needing it.
741. 6.20.6When Israel forgot its Deliverer and made the golden calf, God bound it with the burden of the ritual law.
742. 6.20.7After the calf, sacrifice was commanded to keep Israel mindful of God.
743. 6.20.8Food laws were imposed because Israel misused its freedom, though every creature is good.
744. 6.20.9The ritual laws and their penalties were meant to bring Israel back from polytheism to the one God of the natural law.
745. 6.20.11The ritual law was given for Israel's hardness of heart.
746. 6.21.1Believers, who obey freely, are released from the bonds of the ritual law.
747. 6.21.2Christ's friends are free, while the ordinances given to the disobedient seemed harsh to them and brought death.
748. 6.22.1Christ confirmed the law, removed the heavier added ordinances, and set free the will.
749. 6.22.2Even before Christ, God refused sacrifices offered without repentance.
750. 6.22.3Isaiah's rejection of empty sacrifices and feasts is quoted.
751. 6.22.4The prophets, Samuel and David all say God prefers obedience to sacrifice.
752. 6.22.5Christ ended blood sacrifices by first fulfilling the law himself.
753. 6.23.1Christ confirmed the natural law of the one God and of love.
754. 6.23.2Christ deepened the commandments against murder, adultery, theft, hatred and vengeance.
755. 6.23.3Christ obeyed his parents and turned the Sabbath rest into daily thanksgiving.
756. 6.23.4Christ fulfilled and ended circumcision and forbade oaths.
757. 6.23.5Christ replaced daily washings with one baptism, the tribe of Levi with the best of every nation, blood sacrifice with the bloodless Eucharist, and worship in one place with worship everywhere.
758. 6.23.6Christ removed the bonds, not the law, which is to be meditated on always.
759. 6.23.7God wishes his people to live by his law.
760. 6.24.1The law of righteousness shines also through the believing Romans.
761. 6.24.2The Romans keep the Jews subject, a slavery the Jews chose when they rejected Christ.
762. 6.24.3The Jews' words came true: the nations believed and the Jews lost their power and worship.
763. 6.24.4Unable to keep the law, the Jews fall under its curse.
764. 6.24.5In the dispersion the Jews cannot keep the whole law.
765. 6.25.1Christians follow Christ and keep the Law and the Prophets through the gospel.
766. 6.25.2Christ as lawgiver may change ordinances, but the natural laws remain.
767. 6.26.1Heretics who reject the Law and Prophets deny Christ's birth, cross, resurrection and eternal generation.
768. 6.26.2Some heretics make Christ a mere man; others make him Father, Son and Paraclete at once.
769. 6.26.3Some heretics condemn marriage and food and deny the bodily resurrection.
770. 6.27.1Those who abstain from prayer and the Eucharist after bodily discharges show that they lack the Spirit.
771. 6.27.2A menstruating woman keeps the Spirit and should pray and receive the Eucharist.
772. 6.27.3Only impiety and lawlessness, not bodily processes or lawful intercourse, separate the Holy Spirit.
773. 6.27.4Every person is filled with either the Holy Spirit or the unclean spirit.
774. 6.27.5The truly baptized are freed from the devil's spirit and guarded by the Holy Spirit while they do good.
775. 6.27.6A woman who stops praying during her period invites the unclean spirit.
776. 6.27.7Women should pray and meditate on God's law without ritual purity observances.
777. 6.27.8Only impiety and injustice, not contact with the dead or bodily processes, defile the soul.
778. 6.28.1Christians do not abhor the dead or lawful intercourse, which God ordained, but reject unnatural and lawless acts.
779. 6.28.2Sodomy and bestiality are against nature, adultery and sexual immorality against the law; all are punished.
780. 6.28.3Unnatural sins undo nature; adultery wrongs another's marriage; sexual immorality corrupts one's own flesh for pleasure.
781. 6.28.4The law forbids sodomy, bestiality, adultery and prostitution.
782. 6.28.5The law honors marriage as blessed by God.
783. 6.28.6Marriage and childbearing are honorable and pure.
784. 6.28.7Menstruation is not abominable, but husbands should abstain then and during pregnancy.
785. 6.29.1Wives are to honor and serve their husbands, as Sarah did Abraham.
786. 6.29.2Husbands are to love their wives as their own members.
787. 6.29.3God bears witness to the bond with the wife of one's youth.
788. 6.29.4Married couples may pray after intercourse without washing, but no washing cleanses adultery or prostitution.
789. 6.30.1Christians are not defiled by natural processes or contact with the dead.
790. 6.30.2The faithful gather at the cemeteries to read, sing psalms and celebrate the Eucharist for the departed.
791. 6.30.3Scripture honors the death and memory of the righteous.
792. 6.30.4Believers who die are not dead, for God is the God of the living.
793. 6.30.5Elisha's bones raised a dead man, showing that the remains of saints are holy.
794. 6.30.6Joseph embraced the dead Jacob, and Moses and Joshua carried Joseph's bones.
795. 6.30.7Touching the dead does not defile; holiness and chastity lead to immortality.
796. 6.30.8The book closes with a doxology to God who speaks through Christ, crucified, risen and coming again.
797. 6.30.9Christ ascended and sits at the right hand of the Father.
798. 6.30.10Stephen saw Christ standing as high priest at God's right hand; the doxology ends book 6.
799. 7.1.1Moses, Elijah and Christ all set two ways before the people.
800. 7.1.2There are two ways, of life and of death.
801. 7.1.3The way of life is natural; the way of death was brought in by the devil.
802. 7.2.1The way of life is to love God and neighbor and not to do to others what one hates.
803. 7.2.2Christians love and pray for their enemies.
804. 7.2.3No one is to be hated, for all are God's works; only evil purposes are to be shunned.
805. 7.2.4Christians abstain from fleshly desires and do not retaliate.
806. 7.2.5Christians give way to those who compel or rob them.
807. 7.2.6Christians give and lend to all, as the Father gives to all.
808. 7.2.7Alms come from one's own labor, with preference for the saints.
809. 7.2.8Murder of the innocent is forbidden; just killing belongs to rulers alone.
810. 7.2.9Adultery divides one flesh; the corruption of boys, sexual immorality and theft are forbidden, with biblical examples.
811. 7.3.1Magic and sorcery are forbidden.
812. 7.3.2Abortion and infanticide are forbidden and will be avenged.
813. 7.3.3Coveting a neighbor's goods is forbidden.
814. 7.3.4Christians should not swear at all, or at least swear truly.
815. 7.3.5False witness is forbidden.
816. 7.4.1Evil-speaking and grudges are forbidden.
817. 7.4.2Double-mindedness and double speech are forbidden.
818. 7.4.3Idle words must be accounted for.
819. 7.4.4Lying is forbidden.
820. 7.4.5Covetousness and rapacity are forbidden.
821. 7.4.6Hypocrisy is forbidden.
822. 7.5.1Malice and arrogance are forbidden.
823. 7.5.2Judges must not show partiality.
824. 7.5.3Hatred is forbidden, but a brother is to be reproved.
825. 7.5.4Every evil and its likeness are to be fled.
826. 7.5.5Anger and envy led Cain, Saul and Joab to murder and persecution.
827. 7.6.1Augury leads to idolatry and is forbidden.
828. 7.6.2Enchantments, omens and divination are forbidden.
829. 7.6.3Desire for evil leads to many sins.
830. 7.6.4Foul talk, roving eyes and drunkenness lead to immorality.
831. 7.6.5Love of money is forbidden.
832. 7.6.6Vainglory breeds arrogance; David's humility is the example.
833. 7.7.1Grumbling is forbidden.
834. 7.7.2Self-will and such vices lead to blasphemy.
835. 7.7.3The meek, like Moses and David, will inherit the earth.
836. 7.8.1Patience is great understanding.
837. 7.8.2The merciful are blessed.
838. 7.8.3Be guileless and quiet, trembling at God's words.
839. 7.8.4Self-exaltation, like the Pharisee's, is forbidden.
840. 7.8.5Rashness leads into evils.
841. 7.8.6Keep company with the wise and righteous.
842. 7.8.7Sufferings are to be accepted, for God rewards them as he did Job and Lazarus.
843. 7.9.1The teacher of God's word is to be honored, for God is present in that teaching.
844. 7.9.2Seek the company of the saints daily.
845. 7.10.1Schism against the saints is forbidden.
846. 7.10.2Make peace between those who quarrel.
847. 7.10.3Judge justly.
848. 7.10.4Transgressions are to be reproved without partiality, as the prophets reproved kings.
849. 7.11.1Prayer must be without doubting.
850. 7.12.1Be as ready to give as to receive.
851. 7.12.2Almsgiving ransoms sins.
852. 7.12.3Give to the poor without hesitation, for the Lord repays.
853. 7.12.4The sentence begun here continues in ref 7.12.7.
854. 7.12.7Do not turn from the needy; share everything with your brother.
855. 7.13.1Parents must teach their children the fear of God; masters must not be harsh, and slaves must obey.
856. 7.14.1Hate hypocrisy and do what pleases the Lord.
857. 7.14.2Keep the Lord's commandments unaltered and confess your sins.
858. 7.15.1Honor father and mother.
859. 7.15.2Do not neglect your kin.
860. 7.16.1Fear the king, honor his officials, and pay taxes willingly.
861. 7.17.1Do not pray while holding bitterness.
862. 7.17.2The way of life ends with a blessing.
863. 7.18.1The way of death is ignorance of God and every vice.
864. 7.18.2Those on the way of death love evil and oppress the poor.
865. 7.19.1Do not turn aside from piety.
866. 7.20.1All foods may be eaten except blood; what comes out of the mouth defiles.
867. 7.20.2The good things of the earth are God's gifts.
868. 7.21.1Food offered to idols must be avoided.
869. 7.22.1Baptism is given in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as Christ commanded.
870. 7.22.2Baptism is given with oil, water and chrism, each with its meaning.
871. 7.22.3If oil and chrism are lacking, water suffices.
872. 7.22.4The candidate fasts before baptism, as Christ fasted after his.
873. 7.22.5Christ, being pure, was baptized and fasted as an example for us.
874. 7.22.6Christ fasted after baptism by his own authority, but believers must fast before it.
875. 7.23.1Christians must not fast on the days the hypocrites fast.
876. 7.23.2Christians fast on Wednesday and Friday for the betrayal and the passion.
877. 7.23.3The Sabbath and Sunday are feasts of creation and resurrection.
878. 7.23.4Only Holy Saturday is a fast, since the Creator lay in the tomb.
879. 7.24.1The Lord's Prayer is to be prayed as Christ taught.
880. 7.24.2The Lord's Prayer is said three times a day by those worthy to call God Father.
881. 7.24.3Children's holiness honors their father; God's name is blasphemed by the unworthy.
882. 7.25.1The eucharistic thanksgivings are introduced.
883. 7.25.2Thanks are given for life through Jesus, sent, crucified, raised and glorified.
884. 7.25.3As the bread was gathered into one loaf, so may the church be gathered into the kingdom.
885. 7.25.5Thanks are given for Christ's blood and body; only the baptized may partake.
886. 7.25.6An unbaptized person who partakes in secret eats judgment.
887. 7.25.7One who partakes in ignorance is to be instructed and baptized at once.
888. 7.26.1The thanksgiving after communion is introduced.
889. 7.26.2Thanks are given for God's name and the gifts given through Jesus.
890. 7.26.3The Creator of all, God of the patriarchs, is thanked.
891. 7.26.4God is asked to remember, deliver, perfect and gather his church.
892. 7.26.5The thanksgiving ends with Hosanna to the Son of David, God manifested in the flesh.
893. 7.26.6The holy may draw near; the presbyters too may give thanks.
894. 7.27.1The thanksgiving over the chrism is introduced.
895. 7.27.2Thanks are given for the chrism and for immortality.
896. 7.28.1One who gives thanks in this way is received as a disciple.
897. 7.28.2A teacher of another doctrine may not give thanks.
898. 7.28.3Visitors are received after testing.
899. 7.28.4True teachers are to be supported; false teachers helped in need but not heeded or prayed with.
900. 7.28.5True prophets and teachers deserve support.
901. 7.29.1Firstfruits are given to the priests, and God will bless the giver.
902. 7.29.2Tithes go to orphans, widows, the poor and strangers.
903. 7.29.3Food firstfruits go to the priests, other firstfruits to orphans and widows.
904. 7.30.1The faithful assemble every Sunday to give thanks.
905. 7.30.2Sunday worship is the pure sacrifice foretold by Malachi.
906. 7.31.1Bishops, presbyters and deacons must be tested men of good character, able to teach.
907. 7.31.2The clergy are to be honored as fathers.
908. 7.31.3Reproof is to be given patiently and kindly.
909. 7.31.4Keep all the Lord's commands.
910. 7.31.5Watch, for the Lord will come at an unexpected hour.
911. 7.31.6Stay sober and faithful to the end.
912. 7.32.1In the last days false prophets will multiply and love grow cold.
913. 7.32.2The deceiver of the world will appear and be slain by Christ.
914. 7.32.3The sign of the Son of Man and the trumpet will precede the resurrection.
915. 7.32.4The Lord will come with his saints on the clouds to judge.
916. 7.32.5The wicked go to punishment, the righteous to eternal life.
917. 7.33.1A series of prayers is introduced.
918. 7.33.2God, the God of the fathers, who knows every heart, receives the prayers of all the world.
919. 7.33.3This age is a contest of righteousness in which only a faithful conscience endures.
920. 7.33.4God guided Abraham from the beginning.
921. 7.33.5God guided Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and made his covenant with them.
922. 7.33.6God revealed his name to Moses at the bush.
923. 7.33.7The prayer ends blessing God, defender of Abraham's race.
924. 7.34.1God is blessed for creating all things through Christ.
925. 7.34.2God's design made the heavens, sun, moon, day and night, and gathered the waters.
926. 7.34.3God restrains the sea and made it a path for creatures and ships.
927. 7.34.4The earth bloomed and the luminaries keep their ordered courses.
928. 7.34.5God made the animals and provides for each kind.
929. 7.34.6Man, made in God's image with body, soul and mind, crowns creation.
930. 7.34.7No one can worthily describe God's works in the weather.
931. 7.34.8God punished man's disobedience with death but promised rebirth through Christ.
932. 7.35.1God is great and patient, calling sinners to repentance.
933. 7.35.2Heaven, earth and sea proclaim God's might.
934. 7.35.3All the orders of angels praise God with the threefold Holy.
935. 7.35.4The church on earth joins the heavenly praise.
936. 7.35.5All creation testifies to its Maker.
937. 7.35.6Every person owes God a hymn through Christ.
938. 7.35.7God's eternal might delivers his people.
939. 7.35.8God is everywhere and unbounded, the only God.
940. 7.35.9God alone is holy, and his attributes are without limit; he is the Father of Christ, through whom he created all things.
941. 7.36.1God appointed the Sabbath and the feasts as memorials of creation and of Wisdom.
942. 7.36.2The feasts recall Christ's birth, baptism, passion and resurrection; Sunday celebrates his victory over death.
943. 7.36.3God brought Israel out of Egypt and cared for it in the wilderness.
944. 7.36.4The Sabbath and the sabbatical cycles were given for piety, not idleness.
945. 7.36.5The Sabbath is the rest and completion of creation and a day of grateful praise.
946. 7.36.6Sunday surpasses all feasts, for it shows forth Christ and calls for thanksgiving.
947. 7.36.7The grace of the Lord's day surpasses every gift.
948. 7.37.1God, who fulfilled his promises in Christ, is asked to receive the prayers of the Gentile church.
949. 7.37.2God received the sacrifices and prayers of the righteous from Abel to Samuel.
950. 7.37.3The list continues from David to Ezra.
951. 7.37.4The list ends with Daniel, Jonah, the three youths, Hannah, Nehemiah, the Maccabees and Jael.
952. 7.37.5God is asked to receive the church's prayers through Christ in the Spirit.
953. 7.38.1Thanks are given for God's unfailing mercies.
954. 7.38.2God helped his people in every age.
955. 7.38.3God helps the church now through Christ the high priest.
956. 7.38.4God is thanked for the gifts of speech and the senses.
957. 7.38.5God forms man in the womb, gives him an immortal soul, and promises resurrection.
958. 7.38.6No life suffices to thank God worthily.
959. 7.38.7God freed us from error through Christ and gave the Spirit.
960. 7.38.8The prayer ends with a doxology.
961. 7.38.9The prayers close with a blessing.
962. 7.39.1The instruction of catechumens is introduced.
963. 7.39.2Catechumens are taught about the Father, the Son, the Spirit, creation, providence and human nature.
964. 7.39.3Catechumens learn the history of God's judgments and of the saints.
965. 7.39.4The catechist gives thanks for Christ's saving work and teaches the incarnation, passion, resurrection and ascension.
966. 7.40.1Before baptism the candidate learns to renounce the devil and join Christ.
967. 7.40.2Impiety must be cleared before piety is sown and baptism given.
968. 7.40.3Christ commanded teaching before baptism.
969. 7.41.1The renunciation is introduced.
970. 7.41.2The candidate renounces Satan and all his works.
971. 7.41.3The candidate enrolls with Christ.
972. 7.41.4The baptismal creed confesses the one unbegotten God, the Father.
973. 7.41.5The creed confesses the Son, begotten before the ages, not created, through whom all things were made.
974. 7.41.6The creed confesses Christ's incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension and coming.
975. 7.41.7The creed confesses the Holy Spirit, the church, the resurrection, forgiveness and eternal life.
976. 7.42.1After the profession comes the anointing with oil.
977. 7.42.2The priest blesses the oil.
978. 7.42.3The priest asks the Father to sanctify the oil in Jesus' name.
979. 7.43.1The blessing of the water is introduced.
980. 7.43.2The priest thanks the Father for sending his Son to become man.
981. 7.43.3The priest worships the Son, who died for all on the cross.
982. 7.43.4God's providence cared for Adam and his descendants and at last sent his Son.
983. 7.43.5The priest prays over the water that the baptized may die and rise with Christ.
984. 7.44.1After baptism the newly baptized is anointed with chrism.
985. 7.44.2The prayer over the chrism asks that the fragrance of Christ remain in the baptized.
986. 7.44.3Without the priest's invocation, baptism is a mere bodily washing.
987. 7.45.1The newly baptized stands to pray the Lord's Prayer as one risen with Christ.
988. 7.45.2Prayer is made toward the east, as at the dedication of Solomon's temple.
989. 7.45.3The newly baptized asks for purity and the Spirit's visitation.
990. 7.45.4The rules for catechumens end.
991. 7.46.1A list of bishops ordained by the apostles follows.
992. 7.46.2The first bishops of Jerusalem were James, Simeon and Judas.
993. 7.46.3The first bishops of Caesarea were Zacchaeus, Cornelius and Theophilus.
994. 7.46.4Euodius and Ignatius were the first bishops of Antioch.
995. 7.46.5Annianus and Avilius were the first bishops of Alexandria.
996. 7.46.6Linus and Clement were the first bishops of Rome.
997. 7.46.7Timothy and John were bishops of Ephesus.
998. 7.46.8The first bishops of Smyrna are listed.
999. 7.46.9Gaius and Demetrius were bishops of Pergamum and Philadelphia.
1000. 7.46.10Paul ordained bishops in Cenchreae, Crete, Athens and Tripolis.
1001. 7.46.12Archippus and Philemon were bishops of Laodicea and Colossae.
1002. 7.46.13Onesimus and Crescens were bishops in Macedonia and Galatia.
1003. 7.46.14The list ends with an exhortation and Christ's promise to be with his church.
1004. 7.47.1The morning hymn begins with the angels' song.
1005. 7.47.2The hymn praises the unbegotten Father through the high priest.
1006. 7.47.3The morning hymn ends with praise through Christ, the Lamb of God.
1007. 7.48.1The evening hymn begins with Psalm 113.
1008. 7.48.2The Father is praised for his glory.
1009. 7.48.3Praise is offered to the Father through the Son in the Spirit.
1010. 7.48.4The hymn ends with the Song of Simeon.
1011. 7.49.1A grace at meals closes book 7.
1012. 8.1.1Christ promised his believers spiritual gifts and signs.
1013. 8.1.2The gifts were given for the persuasion of unbelievers.
1014. 8.1.3Signs serve unbelievers; believers should rejoice that their names are written in heaven.
1015. 8.1.4Not every believer works signs; the gift is given where it serves the salvation of unbelievers.
1016. 8.1.5Wonders do not convince all the ungodly.
1017. 8.1.6Neither Pharaoh's Egyptians nor the Jews of Christ's time believed despite great signs.
1018. 8.1.7God works signs for the well-disposed, by his own will.
1019. 8.1.8Those with gifts must not exalt themselves.
1020. 8.1.9Every believer has some spiritual gift.
1021. 8.2.1Faith itself is a gift; wonder-workers must not despise others, as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah and Daniel did not; clergy and laity depend on one another.
1022. 8.2.2The sentence begun here continues in ref 8.2.3.
1023. 8.2.3Prophecy and exorcism do not make the ungodly holy, as Balaam and Caiaphas show.
1024. 8.2.4An impious king is a tyrant, and an ignorant or malicious bishop is no bishop.
1025. 8.2.5Balaam, Caiaphas, the sons of Sceva and impious kings were all punished.
1026. 8.2.6False bishops and presbyters will not escape God's judgment.
1027. 8.2.7True prophecy is honored, but God removes grace from the proud.
1028. 8.2.8The bishop is chosen by all the people, questioned three times before them, and ordained by three bishops with the Gospels held over his head.
1029. 8.5.1The prayer of episcopal ordination begins by praising the unbegotten God.
1030. 8.5.2God is praised as Father of the only-begotten Son and Maker of all through him.
1031. 8.5.3The ordination prayer asks the Spirit for the new bishop, who then offers the sacrifice, is enthroned, greets the church and preaches.
1032. 8.6.1Andrew gives the order of the liturgy that follows.
1033. 8.6.2The deacon dismisses the hearers and unbelievers.
1034. 8.6.3The catechumens are bidden to pray.
1035. 8.6.4The faithful pray for the catechumens, led by the deacon.
1036. 8.6.5The deacon leads the prayer for the catechumens.
1037. 8.6.6The prayer asks that the catechumens be cleansed and brought to baptism.
1038. 8.6.7Prayer that the catechumens may be forgiven and admitted to the mysteries.
1039. 8.6.8The catechumens rise, pray for peace, and bow for the blessing.
1040. 8.6.9The people answer “Lord, have mercy”; the bishop blesses the catechumens, and they are dismissed.
1041. 8.7.1The prayers for the possessed follow.
1042. 8.7.2The deacon leads prayer for those troubled by unclean spirits.
1043. 8.7.3The possessed bow for the blessing.
1044. 8.7.4The bishop's prayer over the possessed is introduced.
1045. 8.7.5The prayer recalls Christ's victory over the devil.
1046. 8.7.6Christ's power is praised.
1047. 8.7.7The Son is praised in the words of the Psalms and Prophets.
1048. 8.7.8The Son is asked to rebuke the evil spirits.
1049. 8.7.9The possessed are dismissed.
1050. 8.8.1The prayers for candidates for baptism follow.
1051. 8.8.2The faithful pray for the candidates for baptism.
1052. 8.8.3Prayer for the candidates continues.
1053. 8.8.4The candidates bow for the bishop's blessing.
1054. 8.8.5The bishop asks God to sanctify and prepare those about to be baptized.
1055. 8.8.6The candidates are dismissed.
1056. 8.9.1The prayers for the penitents follow.
1057. 8.9.2The deacon leads prayer for the penitents.
1058. 8.9.3Prayer that the penitents be forgiven and restored.
1059. 8.9.4No one is free from sin.
1060. 8.9.5Prayer that the penitents may be restored to communion and eternal life.
1061. 8.9.6The penitents bow for the blessing.
1062. 8.9.7The bishop's prayer for the penitents is introduced.
1063. 8.9.8The bishop prays to God, who wills the sinner's repentance.
1064. 8.9.9God, who forgave Nineveh and the prodigal son, is asked to receive the penitents.
1065. 8.9.10The penitents are blessed and dismissed.
1066. 8.10.1The prayers of the faithful follow.
1067. 8.10.2The faithful kneel for the great intercession.
1068. 8.10.3Prayer for the peace of the world and the churches.
1069. 8.10.4Prayer for the catholic church throughout the world.
1070. 8.10.5Prayer for the local congregation.
1071. 8.10.6Prayer for all orthodox bishops.
1072. 8.10.7Prayer for the bishops of Jerusalem, Rome, Antioch and Alexandria, and for the presbyters.
1073. 8.10.9Prayer for deacons, lower clergy, virgins, widows, orphans and married people.
1074. 8.10.11Prayer for eunuchs and the continent.
1075. 8.10.12Prayer for those who give alms and offerings, and for the newly baptized.
1076. 8.10.14The intercession continues for the sick, travelers, prisoners, slaves, enemies, the lapsed, children and one another.
1077. 8.11.1The bishop's prayer over the faithful is introduced.
1078. 8.11.2The bishop addresses God, who revealed his name through Christ.
1079. 8.11.3God is asked to redeem his flock and grant it fear and love of him.
1080. 8.11.4God is asked to keep his people holy and complete.
1081. 8.11.5God is asked to protect the people he redeemed through Christ's blood.
1082. 8.11.6The bishop asks that the people be sanctified, protected and brought to eternal life.
1083. 8.11.7The deacon calls for attention.
1084. 8.11.8The bishop greets the people with the peace.
1085. 8.11.9The kiss of peace is exchanged.
1086. 8.11.10Deacons keep order and guard the doors during the anaphora.
1087. 8.11.12The priests wash their hands as a sign of purity.
1088. 8.12.1James gives the order of the anaphora.
1089. 8.12.2All but the faithful are dismissed before the offering.
1090. 8.12.3The gifts are brought to the altar, with presbyters and deacons in attendance.
1091. 8.12.4The anaphora praises God for creation and the history of salvation, joins the angels' Holy, recalls Christ's incarnation and passion, offers the bread and cup, calls down the Holy Spirit, and intercedes for the whole church and world.
1092. 8.13.1The bishop gives the peace after the anaphora.
1093. 8.13.2The deacon leads a second intercession.
1094. 8.13.3Prayer that God receive the offered gift on his heavenly altar.
1095. 8.13.4Prayer for the church and its clergy.
1096. 8.13.5Prayer for rulers, for the sake of peace.
1097. 8.13.6The martyrs and the faithful departed are remembered.
1098. 8.13.7Prayer for good weather and harvests.
1099. 8.13.8Prayer for the newly baptized and for one another.
1100. 8.13.9After the bishop's prayer and “Holy things for the holy,” all receive communion in order, the bishop giving the body and the deacon the cup.
1101. 8.14.1The prayer after communion is introduced.
1102. 8.14.2The faithful give thanks for communion and pray that it bring salvation.
1103. 8.14.3The faithful commend themselves to God.
1104. 8.15.1The bishop's thanksgiving after communion is introduced.
1105. 8.15.2The bishop thanks God for the gift of the holy mysteries.
1106. 8.15.3The bishop asks God to unite and confirm the communicants.
1107. 8.15.4Prayer for priests, rulers, harvests and the conversion of the erring.
1108. 8.15.5Prayer for every order of the faithful and for the kingdom.
1109. 8.15.6The people bow for the final blessing.
1110. 8.15.7The bishop's final blessing praises God's transcendence and asks protection for the people.
1111. 8.15.9The liturgy ends with a doxology and the dismissal.
1112. 8.16.1John gives the rite for ordaining presbyters.
1113. 8.16.2The bishop lays his hand on the presbyter's head.
1114. 8.16.3The ordination prayer asks God to increase the church and its leaders.
1115. 8.16.4God is asked to fill the new presbyter with the Spirit, as he did Moses' elders.
1116. 8.16.5The presbyter is to heal, teach and perform the sacred rites.
1117. 8.17.1Philip gives the rite for ordaining deacons.
1118. 8.17.2The bishop lays hands on the deacon.
1119. 8.18.1The ordination prayer for a deacon begins.
1120. 8.18.2God is asked to fill the deacon with the Spirit, as he did Stephen.
1121. 8.18.3The deacon who serves well may rise to a higher rank.
1122. 8.19.1Bartholomew gives the rite for a deaconess.
1123. 8.19.2The bishop lays hands on the deaconess.
1124. 8.20.1God, who filled prophetesses with the Spirit and had women keep the sanctuary gates, is invoked for the deaconess.
1125. 8.20.2God is asked to give the deaconess the Holy Spirit for her work.
1126. 8.21.1Thomas gives the rite for subdeacons.
1127. 8.21.2The bishop lays hands on the subdeacon.
1128. 8.21.3God, who appointed guardians of the sanctuary vessels, is invoked.
1129. 8.21.4The subdeacon is to handle the sacred vessels worthily.
1130. 8.22.1Matthew gives the rite for readers.
1131. 8.22.2The bishop lays his hand on the reader.
1132. 8.22.3God is asked to give the reader a prophetic spirit.
1133. 8.22.4God, who made Ezra wise to read the law, is asked to make the reader wise.
1134. 8.23.1James son of Alphaeus legislates on confessors.
1135. 8.23.2Confessors are honored but not ordained by virtue of their confession.
1136. 8.23.3A confessor needed for the clergy is ordained.
1137. 8.23.4A confessor who claims clerical rank without ordination is deposed.
1138. 8.24.1James legislates on virgins.
1139. 8.24.2Virgins are not ordained; virginity is a free choice that does not disparage marriage.
1140. 8.25.1Lebbaeus legislates on widows.
1141. 8.25.2A widow of long standing and good life is enrolled among the widows, not ordained.
1142. 8.25.3A recently widowed woman must first be tested by time.
1143. 8.26.1Lebbaeus legislates on exorcists.
1144. 8.26.2Exorcists are not ordained, for their gift comes from God and is evident to all.
1145. 8.26.3An exorcist needed for the clergy is ordained.
1146. 8.27.1Simon legislates on the number of bishops required to ordain a bishop.
1147. 8.27.2A bishop must be ordained by at least two bishops.
1148. 8.27.3In necessity one bishop may ordain with the written consent of others.
1149. 8.28.1Rules on the powers of each order follow.
1150. 8.28.2The bishop blesses, ordains and offers, and may depose any cleric but a bishop.
1151. 8.28.3The presbyter blesses and excommunicates but does not ordain or depose.
1152. 8.28.4The deacon neither blesses, baptizes nor offers, but distributes communion.
1153. 8.28.5Only deacons may do a deacon's work.
1154. 8.28.6The deaconess keeps the doors and assists at the baptism of women.
1155. 8.28.7A deacon may excommunicate the lower clergy when no presbyter is present.
1156. 8.28.8The lower clergy may not excommunicate.
1157. 8.29.1Matthias gives the blessing of water and oil.
1158. 8.29.2The bishop, or in his absence a presbyter, blesses water and oil.
1159. 8.29.3The prayer asks God to give the water and oil power to heal and drive out demons.
1160. 8.30.1Matthias legislates on firstfruits and tithes.
1161. 8.30.2Firstfruits support the bishop, presbyters and deacons; tithes support the other clergy, virgins, widows and the poor.
1162. 8.31.1Matthias legislates on the leftover blessings.
1163. 8.31.2Leftover blessed bread is shared among the clergy by rank.
1164. 8.31.3Each order is honored by rank, for the church teaches good order.
1165. 8.32.1Paul gives the rules for admitting converts.
1166. 8.32.2New inquirers are examined on their motives, conduct and status.
1167. 8.32.3A slave's admission depends on his master's testimony, if the master is a believer.
1168. 8.32.4Married converts must be faithful; the unmarried must avoid immorality and marry lawfully.
1169. 8.32.5A believing master who does not let his slaves marry is excommunicated.
1170. 8.32.6The possessed are taught but not admitted to communion until cleansed.
1171. 8.32.7Brothel-keepers and prostitutes must give up their trade.
1172. 8.32.8Idol-makers must give up their trade.
1173. 8.32.9Actors, gladiators, soldiers, magicians, concubines and others are admitted only on giving up their practices; catechumens are instructed for three years.
1174. 8.33.1Paul and Peter legislate on slaves' days of rest.
1175. 8.33.2Slaves rest on Saturday and Sunday to attend church.
1176. 8.33.3Slaves rest during Holy Week and Easter week.
1177. 8.33.4Slaves rest on the Ascension.
1178. 8.33.5Slaves rest on Pentecost.
1179. 8.33.6Slaves rest on Christmas.
1180. 8.33.7Slaves rest on the Epiphany and the apostles' days.
1181. 8.33.9Slaves rest on the feasts of Stephen and the martyrs.
1182. 8.34.1The hours of daily prayer are set.
1183. 8.34.2Morning prayer gives thanks for the light.
1184. 8.34.3The third hour recalls Christ's sentence.
1185. 8.34.4The sixth hour recalls the crucifixion.
1186. 8.34.5The ninth hour recalls the trembling of creation at the crucifixion.
1187. 8.34.6Evening prayer gives thanks for rest.
1188. 8.34.7Cockcrow prayer welcomes the day.
1189. 8.34.8If the church cannot be used, the faithful gather in a house.
1190. 8.34.9Places held by the ungodly are to be avoided; prayer with catechumens or heretics is forbidden.
1191. 8.35.1James gives the order of evening and morning prayer.
1192. 8.35.2At evening the church gathers; the lamp-lighting psalm is followed by prayers for the catechumens and others.
1193. 8.36.1The deacon leads the evening prayer of the faithful.
1194. 8.36.2Petition for salvation.
1195. 8.36.3The faithful ask for a peaceful evening and night.
1196. 8.37.1The bishop's evening prayer is introduced.
1197. 8.37.2The evening thanksgiving praises God, maker of day and night.
1198. 8.37.3The bishop asks for a peaceful night and eternal life.
1199. 8.37.4The people bow for the bishop's blessing.
1200. 8.37.5The evening blessing praises God, who made man and appointed rulers and priests.
1201. 8.37.6The bishop blesses the people through Christ.
1202. 8.37.7The evening service is dismissed.
1203. 8.38.1Morning prayer follows the same pattern.
1204. 8.38.2The faithful ask for a peaceful day.
1205. 8.38.3The bishop's morning prayer is introduced.
1206. 8.38.4The morning prayer asks God's mercy on those who worship him alone.
1207. 8.38.5God, who gave being and well-being through Christ, is asked for eternal life.
1208. 8.39.1The people bow for the morning blessing.
1209. 8.39.2The bishop's morning blessing is introduced.
1210. 8.39.3The blessing addresses the faithful God, protector of the poor.
1211. 8.39.4The bishop blesses the people and asks God to guard them.
1212. 8.39.5The morning service is dismissed.
1213. 8.40.1The thanksgiving over firstfruits is introduced.
1214. 8.40.2Thanks are given for the firstfruits.
1215. 8.40.3God provides food for every creature and for man.
1216. 8.40.4The thanksgiving ends with a doxology.
1217. 8.41.1Prayers for the departed ask that they rest with the patriarchs, and the bishop blesses the living.
1218. 8.42.1The dead are commemorated on the third day.
1219. 8.42.2And on the ninth day.
1220. 8.42.3And on the fortieth day, as Israel mourned Moses.
1221. 8.42.4And on the anniversary.
1222. 8.42.5Alms are given from the dead person's goods.
1223. 8.43.1Alms do not profit the ungodly dead.
1224. 8.43.2God's judgment on the ungodly does not change after death.
1225. 8.43.3God judges each by his works.
1226. 8.44.1Clergy at memorial meals must be sober and orderly.
1227. 8.44.2As rulers of the church, presbyters and deacons must avoid drunkenness.
1228. 8.44.3Wine is permitted, but not drunkenness.
1229. 8.44.4The warning against drunkenness applies to all Christians.
1230. 8.45.1Those who flee persecution to avoid denial must be received.
1231. 8.45.2The persecuted are to be helped in their needs.
1232. 8.46.1Each must keep to the rank given him, for the orders are God's.
1233. 8.46.2As creation keeps its bounds, the clergy must keep the order set for them.
1234. 8.46.3Usurping clerical functions provokes God, as Korah and Uzziah found.
1235. 8.46.4The apostles warn against those who offer sacrifice without authority.
1236. 8.46.5Moses distinguished the duties of high priests, priests and Levites.
1237. 8.46.6Under Moses each order kept to its own functions on pain of death.
1238. 8.46.7Saul was condemned for sacrificing without Samuel.
1239. 8.46.8Uzziah lost his kingship for usurping the priesthood.
1240. 8.46.9The apostles ordained bishops, presbyters and deacons for distinct functions; no one may usurp a higher office, and even Stephen kept to his diaconate.
1241. 8.48.1The apostles close their ordinances on canons.
1242. 8.48.2Obedience brings salvation and peace; disobedience, punishment and strife.
1243. 8.48.3The work ends with a blessing and doxology.