A. D. 381. declared that they chose rather to confess the doctrine of the [Homoou- Arians than agree to the Consubstantiability', and so they sion.]

retired from Constantinople: then they wrote to those of their party in every city, exhorting them not to consent to the Nicene Faith. This separation of the semi-Arians or Macedonians happened at the beginning of the Council, and caused them to be looked upon as avowed heretics.

It was therefore decreed that no person whatsoever should reject the symbol of the Council of Nicæa, but that it should remain in full force; and that all heresies should be anathematized, particularly that of the Eunomians or Anomoans; the Arians or Eudoxians; the semi-Arians or enemies to the Holy Ghost; the Sabellians; the Marcellians; the Photinians, and the followers of Apollinaris'. In confirming the Nicene Creed, they added certain words relating to the mystery of the Incarnation, on account of the followers of Apollinaris and other new heretics; and a fuller explanation of the article concerning the Holy Ghost, on account of the Macedonians. In relation to the Incarnation of our Saviour Christ, the Nicene Creed only said: "He came down from "Heaven, was incarnate and made Man, suffered, and rose "again the third day, and ascended into Heaven, and shall "come to judge the quick and the dead: We believe also in the 'Holy Ghost. "But the Creed of Constantinople said thus: "Who came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the "Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made Man. He "was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, He suffered "and was buried; and He rose again the third day according "to the Scriptures. He ascended into Heaven; He sitteth at "the right hand of the Father, and He shall come again with

66

a Marcellus Bishop of Ancyra, in his zeal against Arianism, fell into Sabellianism, "confounding the Persons." Some have tried to exculpate him, but he is generally given up, even by St. Athanasius, at last. St. Epiph. says, "Much questioning there has been on this subject; the secret things of the heart are known to God." Hær. 72. Photinus, his disciple, and Bishop of Sirmium, taught Sabellianism without the disguise with which his master obscured his sentiments. See Bishop Pearson on the Creed, Art 2. Note on his first

assertion, p. 119. Petav. de Trin. i. 13, who doubts about Marcellus, Natal. Alex. Hist. Sæc. 4. Diss. 30. who defends him.

Apollinaris held that our Lord, not having a human person, had not that particular part of human nature in which personality may be considered to reside; viz. the rational part of the soul. This error ends in the belief, on the one hand, that CHRIST'S Body was only in appearance Flesh; or, on the other, that it was created out of the very substance of Almighty God.

"glory to judge both the quick and dead; Whose kingdom A. D. 381. "shall have no end." The Nicene Creed only said, "We "believe also in the Holy Ghost;" without mentioning the Church. But the Creed of Constantinople was to this effect: "We believe likewise in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and Giver "of life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the "Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; "Who spake by the Prophets: We believe one Catholic and "Apostolic Church; we acknowledge one Baptism for the "remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, "and the life of the world to come. Amen." The rest of the Creed of Constantinople, that is to say, the beginning, agrees entirely with that of Nicæa. It is the Creed of Constantinople that is made use of in the Service of the Mass .

VII.

their Canons re

lating to the

But Hierarchy. only can. 2

Con. Const.

As to Discipline, the Council of Constantinople prohibits Bishops from going to' Churches that were out of Diocese, or confounding the government of Churches. according to the Canons, the Bishop of Alexandria was to govern Egypt; the Bishops of the East were not to meddle ['interfering with.] with any thing but what concerned the East, reserving to the Church of Antioch the privileges mentioned in the Canons of Nicæat. The Bishops of the Diocese of Asia were only to govern Asia; those of Pontus, only Pontus; and those of Thrace, only Thrace. Bishops were not to go out of their Dioceses, unless they were sent for to elections, or some other Ecclesiastical affairs; but the business of every province was to be managed by the Council of the province, according to the Canons of Nicæa. The Churches that were amongst the Can.Nic.4.5. barbarous nations, were to be governed according to the customs received from the time of the Fathers. Such is the second Canon of the Council of Constantinople. I here call that a Diocese which in Greek is called Stolknois, diocesis,

• Gieseler asserts (vol. 1. p. 294. note b) that this word is perhaps first found, A. D. 390; Conc. Carthag. ii. Can. 3. It occurs, however, in St. Ambrose, Epist. 20. § 4. tom. ii. p. 853, (see chapter 41, below). We find it also in a letter ascribed to Pope St. Pius I. A. D. 161. Coustant, however, places this Epistle in the Appendix, as uncertain of its authenticity. It is defended by Justus Fontaninus, and

admitted by Gallandi, (tom i. p. cii.
cv.)

The word may have become used for
the service, from which, some being
excluded were dismissed, before it began;
or may mean the utterance (missa for
missio, sc. precum) of Prayers. It is
still used in the Liturgy of St. Peter.

t See Conc. Nicæn. A. D. 325, Can. VI.-Bishops of The East, i. e. of the Patriarchate of Antioch.

A. D. 381. which

Discipl.

The

was a large jurisdiction, comprehending several Thomass. provinces, each of which had its metropolis. For what we pars.i.lib.i. now call a Diocese, that is the territory of a city subject to ch. 3. § 12. one Bishop only, was then called apoiкía, parœcia, that is to say, a neighbourhood, from whence we have taken the word parish. I call that a province which in Greek is called éπaрxía, eparchia, and which was less than a Diocese. occasion of this Canon was, that during the persecution of Valens certain Bishops interfered with the Ecclesiastical Socr. v. 8. affairs of other provinces, though much to their advantage; as St. Eusebius" of Samosata, who had even ordained Bishops; and the Council were not willing that this should be drawn into precedent. In this Canon we find the whole plan of the Eastern Church: first of all the two Patriarchs, as they have been since called, viz. of Alexandria and Antioch, whose privileges were very different: The Bishop of Alexandria had the government of all the Churches of Egypt, including Libya Thomass and Pentapolis; the Bishop of Antioch only enjoyed certain privileges; but the Ecclesiastical government of the Diocese of the East, of which Antioch was the capital, is attributed in general to all the Bishops of the East, amongst whom there were several Metropolitans. The chief Bishops of the three other great Dioceses of Asia, Pontus, and Thrace, afterwards assumed the name of Exarchs: the Bishop of Ephesus was Exarch of Asia; the Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, of Pontus; and the Bishop of Heraclea had had the Exarchy of Thrace, but at that time it was swallowed up by Constantinople.

ibid.

However in all this the Council of Constantinople, in the same spirit as that of Nicæa, professed to establish no new thing, but only to confirm ancient customs. It likewise confirms them in relation to the barbarous nations, that is such as were without the limits of the Roman Empire; because it was necessary to take into consideration the different

See Theodor. iv. 13. In like manner Peter of Alexandria had supplied Bishops to consecrate Maximus (Note a. page 2), and St. Meletius had set St. Gregory over the See of Constantinople.

By the 25th Can. of the Ecum.

Council of Chalcedon, (A. D. 451.) the Dioceses of Ephesus, (i. e. of Asia,) and Cæsarea of Cappadocia (i. e. of Pontus), were subjected to Constantinople; and by the 9th and 17th, an appeal was allowed from all the Eastern Patriarchs to Constantinople.

circumstances of place and the manners of people. Thus the A. D. 381. Scythians who lived near the mouth of the Danube had but Soz. vi. 21. one Bishop, because they were still in a wandering state, and without any fixed habitation; and we find likewise but one Bishop of the Goths. All the order of the Ecclesiastical hierarchy was regulated and confirmed by ancient tradition. This Canon, which gives to the Councils of particular places full authority in Ecclesiastical matters, seems to take away the power of appealing to the Pope, granted by the Council of Sardica, and to restore the ancient right. It was likewise decreed in this Council that the Bishop of Constan- Can. 3. tinople should have the privilege of being next in dignity to Socr. v. 8. the Bishop of Rome; because Constantinople was New Rome. Soz. vii. 9. This is the most remarkable Canon of the whole Council; and whether this was a new honour granted to the Bishop of Constantinople, or whether he was already in possession of it, the consequences were of great importance; and instead of a mere dignity, it soon became a very extensive jurisdiction.

Other

To prevent the Catholic Bishops from being lightly accused, VIII. the Council decreed, that it should not be lawful for all sorts Canons. of persons without distinction to accuse them. If the matter Can. 6. in dispute was of a private nature, and a personal complaint against a Bishop, no regard should be had to the person of the accuser, nor to his religion; because every body ought to have justice done them. But if it was an Ecclesiastical matter, a Bishop could not be accused, either by an heretic, or a schismatic, or by an excommunicated laic, or a deposed Clerk. A person who was himself accused might not accuse a Bishop or a Clerk, till he had first cleared himself. Those who were irreproachable were to lay their accusations before all the Bishops of the province. If the Provincial Council was not sufficient, they were to apply themselves to a greater

z Their metropolis was Tomi, Theod. iv. 21. Soz. vii. 19. Nicetas Choniates (A. D. 1204) says, that up to his time the Scythians had but one Bishop. Thes. Orthod. Fid. lib. v. c. 5.

a The Council of Sardica was held A. D. 347, during the Arian troubles. The authority of the Apostolic See was acknowledged in Can. 3.and 4; no Bishop might be placed in the See of a con

с

demned Bishop, in the case of the latter
appealing, till the sentence of the Pope
was received. Gratian issued a decree
to much the same purpose, (378. A.D.)
at the request of a Roman Synod.
(See Sirmondi append. Cod. Theodos.
p. 86. 96. Par. 1631) Appeals to the
Pope before A. D. 347, are enumerated
by Cabassut. ad Can. 3. Conc. Sard.

A. D. 381. Council, namely, to that of the Diocese. The accusation was not to be received until the accuser had made himself liable, by a writing under his hand, to undergo the same penalty, if it proved a calumny. If any in contempt of this decree presumed to importune the Emperor, or secular courts of justice, or to trouble an Ecumenical Council, his accusation shall not be allowed. This Canon likewise makes no mention of the Pope, nor of the Canons of Sardica.

Can. 7.

The Council of Constantinople regulates also the manner of receiving heretics, who return to the Catholic Church. "The Arians," the Council decrees, "the Macedonians, the "Sabbatians, the Novatians who style themselves Cathari, "or Aristeri"; the Quartodecimanie, the Apollinaristæ, are "received by giving an act of abjuration and renunciation of "all heresy. They are first to receive the seal or unction of "the holy Chrism in their forehead, their eyes, their nostrils, "their mouths, and their ears; and whilst this is being done "must be said, 'The seal of the unction of the Holy Ghost.' "But as for the Eunomians, who are baptized merely by im"mersion, the Montanists or Phrygians, the Sabellians, and "other heretics, chiefly those who come from Galatia, we "receive them as Pagans. On the first day we make them "Christians, on the second Catechumens, on the third we

b The name, Ecumenical, occurs first in this Canon. Gieseler. Period II. Div. 1. Ch. 2. 3. 88. Note*.

Sabbatians, were deserters from the Novatians. Cod. Theod. xvi. Tit. vi. 1. 6. Sabbatius was a Jewish convert to Christianity, ordained Priest by Marcian, the Novatian Bishop of Constantinople. Soc. v. 21; Sozom. vii. 18.

As Socrates fixes Marcian's Consecration in the 6th year of Theodosius, and Sabbatius did not publish his heresy till after his own ordination; this is an argument against the authenticity of this Canon. The Sabbatians observed the Jewish time of celebrating Easter.

d Novatians. A sect which rose A. D. 251, under Novatus a Carthaginian Presbyter and Novatian, raised to the See of Rome in opposition to Cornelius. Their most prominent doctrine is condemned in the XVIth Article of our Church. They are called Cathari or Puritans, Augustin. de Hæres. ch. 38. Balsamon (end of

12th Cent.) ad Can. vii. Conc. C. P. c. 8. explains their other name, Aristeri, of their abomination of the left hand. So Harmenopulus (12th Cent.) de sect.

15.

e Quartodecimans ended the antePaschal fast according to the Jewish calculation, Exod. 12. 6. The Catholics ended it on the Sunday after the Jewish Passover. Eus. 5. 23.

a

f Montanus, A. D. 150, once priest (probably) of Cybele (comp. Didymus, A. D. 370, de Trinitat. iii. c. 41, with St. Jerome, Ep. 27. (54.) ad Marcell. tom. iv. pars. 2. p. 65), proclaimed that he was divinely inspired to perfect the Church. Maximilla and Priscilla joined him, laying claim to the same illumination. His party called themselves, spiritual, and all other Christians, carnal. Tertullian fell into this heresy, which we find mentioned as late as A. D. 530. Justin. Cod. lib. i. Tit. 5. 1. 18. 21. From originating in Phrygia (Pepuza) they are called in the text, Phrygians.