History of ecumenical councils of the first millennium

[Andrewn]

The Monophysites also managed to seize power over the Sees of Alexandria and Antioch (two of the five patriarchates of that time). In these cities there was a struggle between the supporters of the Council of Chalcedon and the Monophysites. It came to bloodshed: the Monophysites killed supporters of the Council of Chalcedon.

My understanding is that the Sees of Alexandria and Antioch deny ever being Monophysites and attribute the persecution and the killing to the Chalcedonians.

Other well-known church teachers also made mistakes. The Monophysites accused the supporters of the Council of Chalcedon of being they are secret Nestorians.

This is true.

In addition to the heresy of Monophysitism, other heresies also arose. Especially many new false teachings were generated by the mistakes of the church teacher Origen. He taught, in particular, that human souls existed prior to incorporation into bodies and were holy spirits (they were allegedly infused into bodies as a punishment for sins).

This statement contradicts itself. If they pre-existed as holy spirits, why were they being punished for sins?

 

[ValeriyK2022]

The Assumption / Dormition of the Mother of God is celebrated on 15 August in the RCC and on 22 August in the Coptic Church.

Thanks for the info. But I wrote about the Orthodox Church. Are these church organizations Orthodox?

 

[ValeriyK2022]

My understanding is that the Sees of Alexandria and Antioch deny ever being Monophysites and attribute the persecution and the killing to the Chalcedonians.


This is true.


This statement contradicts itself. If they pre-existed as holy spirits, why were they being punished for sins?

This is already the level of a doctoral dissertation: to reconsider the question of who killed whom in the 1st millennium. I can't provide you with any proof here. I prefer to believe what the historians of the Orthodox Church teach. The current Christians are all Chalcedonians, with the exception of the Armenians and parts of the Copts.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

The Sixth Ecumenical Council actually completes the formation of the main dogmas concerning the person of Jesus Christ. It took place in 680, in the city of Constantinople.

The Council was convened against the false teachings of heretics - Monothelites, who, although they recognized in Jesus Christ two natures, Divine and human, but one Divine will.

This doctrine was dangerous in that although it recognized that Jesus Christ suffered and died as a man, it deprived Jesus Christ of the freedom of choice. If he did not have free will, then it turned out that he did not voluntarily sacrifice himself. The idea that He had no choice is also contrary to the gospel.

Some emperors found in this new heresy a useful compromise between the Monophysites and the Chalcedonians. Considering that this would reconcile the country, they forced them to confess this heresy by force. For example, the monk of Constantinople, Maximus the Confessor, suffered this way, for his firmness of faith they cut out his tongue and cut off his hand.

The Sixth Ecumenical Council condemned and rejected the heresy of the Monothelites, and determined to recognize in Jesus Christ two natures - Divine and human - and according to these two natures - two wills, but in such a way that the human will in Christ is not contrary, but submissive to His Divine will.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

In 691, the Council was continued. This ecumenical council is called Trulsky or Fifth-Sixth. He did not make dogmatic decisions, but only supplemented the fifth and sixth councils with decisions that related to the rules of internal order in the Church.

These rules include the 85 rules of the Holy Apostles, the rules of six Ecumenical and seven local councils, and the rules of 13 Church Fathers. These rules were included in the book, which is called "Nomokanon" in Greek and is the basis of canon law in the Orthodox Church.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

So, the last Council, which completed the formation of the doctrine of the personality of Jesus Christ, was the Seventh Ecumenical Council. It was convened in 787 in the city of Nicaea.

What caused this cathedral? Until the 8th century, there were no problems with images of Jesus Christ, the Virgin and the apostles, as well as angels and saints. The Christians received them well. According to church tradition, the first image of Jesus Christ was a miraculous image that was reflected on a towel that Jesus Christ applied to his face. The first image of the Virgin was painted by the apostle-evangelist Luke. He was an artist. Angels were portrayed in Old Testament times in the manufacture of the Ark of the Covenant.

Good icons helped to focus on prayer, strengthen in faith, and those who asked near good icons received faith more often than in other places. Because of this, some have developed a superstition that the icon helps, and not God. They even began to swallow the paint scraped off the icon. This superstition caused protest. The protest turned into heresy, which taught the other extreme, that icons should be destroyed. Heresy taught that there should be no icons.

When this heresy was supported by Emperor Leo the Isaurian (he also wanted to convert Muslims to Christianity), persecution began again and Christian blood was shed. True Christians venerated images of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the apostles and other saints with great reverence. And the authorities imprisoned and killed them for this. This persecution continued for about 60 years. Fortunately, the persecution was only in the East. The Western Church continued to venerate the holy images of Jesus Christ.

When the iconoclasts emperors died, the Seventh Ecumenical Council was convened, which resolved all perplexities on this issue. The Council condemned and rejected the iconoclastic heresy and decid to supply and reverence in St. churches, along with the image of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, and holy icons. The Council determined that the holy images should also be revered and raise the mind and heart to the Lord God, the Mother of God and the saints depicted on them.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

As already written, in addition to the creed, canons (rules) were adopted at the Ecumenical Councils.

The First Ecumenical Council.

Of these the following is a brief résumé:

Canon 1: On the admission, or support, or expulsion of clerics mutilated by choice or by violence.

Canon 2: Rules to be observed for ordination, the avoidance of undue haste, the deposition of those guilty of a grave fault.

Canon 3: All members of the clergy are forbidden to dwell with any woman, except a mother, sister, or aunt.

Canon 4: Concerning episcopal elections.

Canon 5: Concerning the excommunicate.

Canon 6: Concerning patriarchs and their jurisdiction.

Canon 7: confirms the right of the bishops of Jerusalem to enjoy certain honours.

Canon 8: concerns the Novatians.

Canon 9: Certain sins known after ordination involve invalidation.

Canon 10: Lapsi who have been ordained knowingly or surreptitiously must be excluded as soon as their irregularity is known.

Canon 11: Penance to be imposed on apostates of the persecution of Licinius.

Canon 12: Penance to be imposed on those who upheld Licinius in his war on the Christians.

Canon 13: Indulgence to be granted to excommunicated persons in danger of death.

Canon 14: Penance to be imposed on catechumens who had weakened under persecution.

Canon 15: Bishops, priests, and deacons are not to pass from one church to another.

Canon 16: All clerics are forbidden to leave their church. Formal prohibition for bishops to ordain for their diocese a cleric belonging to another diocese.

Canon 17: Clerics are forbidden to lend at interest.

Canon 18: recalls to deacons their subordinate position with regard to priests.

Canon 19: Rules to be observed with regard to adherents of Paul of Samosata who wished to return to the Church.

Canon 20: On Sundays and during the Paschal season prayers should be said standing.

The 85 canons of apostles

 

[ValeriyK2022]

“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad because you are not like us.’” (St. Anthony the Great)

https://www.orthodoxchurchquotes.co...ints-elders-and-fathers/st-anthony-the-great/

 

[ValeriyK2022]

“Men are often called intelligent wrongly. Intelligent men are not those who are erudite in the sayings and books of the wise men of old, but those who have an intelligent soul and can discriminate between good and evil. They avoid what is sinful and harms the soul; and with deep gratitude to God they resolutely adhere by dint of practice to what is good and benefits the soul. These men alone should truly be called intelligent.”
(St. Anthony the Great)

https://www.orthodoxchurchquotes.co...ints-elders-and-fathers/st-anthony-the-great/

 

[ValeriyK2022]

“Men are often called intelligent wrongly. Intelligent men are not those who are erudite in the sayings and books of the wise men of old, but those who have an intelligent soul and can discriminate between good and evil. They avoid what is sinful and harms the soul; and with deep gratitude to God they resolutely adhere by dint of practice to what is good and benefits the soul. These men alone should truly be called intelligent.”
(St. Anthony the Great)

https://www.orthodoxchurchquotes.co...ints-elders-and-fathers/st-anthony-the-great/

 

[ValeriyK2022]

Today the Orthodox Christian Church celebrates the day of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian. He was one of the 12 closest apostles and a favorite disciple of Jesus Christ. After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, by order of the Lord, he took care of His Most Pure Mother, the Mother of God Mary. She lived in the house of the Apostle John until her repose. After that, he went to preach the Gospel together with his disciple Prokhor. The Apostle John wrote one of the four Gospels, the Gospel of John. He also wrote the Epistles of the Apostle John the Theologian and a book called "The Revelation of John the Theologian", which is also called the "Apocalypse". This is the most mysterious book of the New Testament. He is the only one of the apostles who lived to a ripe old age and died a natural death.

Why is only the Apostle John called the Theologian? The teaching of the Apostle John about the Word made flesh (John 1:14) influenced the outcome of disputes about the God-human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. It became one of the decisive testimonies, on the basis of which the fathers of the III and IV Ecumenical Councils (held in 431 and 451 respectively) began to assert that Jesus Christ is both true God and true Man, and that these two natures - Divine and human - are present in Him at the same time: "uncombined, inseparable, inseparable and unchangeable."

P.S. I apologize if I made mistakes due to poor knowledge of English.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

Second Ecumenical Council.
Solution:
As for those heretics who betake themselves to Orthodoxy, and to the lot of the saved, we accept them in accordance with the subjoined sequence and custom; viz.: Arians, and Macedonians, and Sabbatians, and Novatians, those calling themselves Cathari (or "Puritans"), and (those calling themselves) Aristeri (Note of Translator. — This designation may be based upon the Greek word aristos, meaning "best," though as a word it signifies "lefthand."), and the Quartodecimans (quasi "Fourteenthists," to use the English language in this connection), otherwise known as Tetradites (though in English this term is applied to an entirely different group of heretics), and Apollinarians we accept when they offer libelli (i.e., recantations in writing) and anathematize every heresy that does not hold the same beliefs as the catholic and apostolic Church of God, and are sealed first with holy myron (more usually called "chrism" in English) on their forehead and their eyes, and nose, and mouth, and ears; and in sealing them we say: "A seal of a free gift of Holy Spirit." As for Eunomians, however, who are baptized with a single immersion, and Montanists, who are here called Phrygians, and the Sabellians, who teach that Father and Son are the same person, and who do some other bad things, and (those belonging to) any other heresies (for there are many heretics here, especially such as come from the country of the Galatians: all of them that want to adhere to Orthodoxy we are willing to accept as Greeks. Accordingly, on the first day we make (Note of Translator. — The meaning of this word here is more exactly rendered "treat as") them Christians; on the second day, catechumens; then, on the third day, we exorcize them with the act of blowing thrice into their face and into their ears; and thus do we catechize them, and we make them tarry a while in the church and listen to the Scriptures; and then we baptize them.

(Ap. cc. XLVI, XLVII, LXVIII; cc. VIII, XIX of the 1st; c. XCV of the 6th; cc. VII, VIII of Laod.; c. LXVI of Carth.; cc. I, V, XLVII of Basil.)

Interpretation.

The present Canon specifies in what way we ought to receive those coming from heresies and joining the Orthodox faith and the portion of the saved. It says that, as for Arians and Macedonians, of whom we have spoken in Canon I of the present Council, and Sabbatians and Quartodecimans, otherwise known as Tetradites, and Apollinarians, we will accept them after they give us libelli, or issue a written document (libellus is a Latin word, interpreted, according to Zonaras, as meaning "publication or issue") anathematizing both their own heresy as well as every other heresy that does not believe as the holy catholic and apostolic Church of God believes (just as the First Ec. C. demanded this stipulation in writing from Novatians particularly in its c. VIII), whose forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, and ears we first seal with holy myron, saying in each seal, "a seal of a free gift of Holy Spirit." And we will accept thus all these converts without rebaptizing them, since, according to Zonaras, in respect of holy baptism they nowise differ from us, and baptize themselves likewise as do the Orthodox. But as for Arians and Macedonians, who are manifestly heretics, the Canon accepted them without rebaptism "economically" (Note of Translator. — This term, and the corresponding noun "economy" and verb "economize," in the peculiar idiom of the Orthodox Church can hardly be said to be translatable into genuine English; as a first approximation they may be taken as signifying something like "managing a disagreeable set of circumstances with tact and shrewdness, instead of insisting upon precision"), the primary reason being the vast multitude of such heretics then prevalent, and a second reason being that they used to baptize themselves in the same way as we do. As regards Eunomians, on the other hand, who practiced baptism with a single immersion, and the Montanists, who there in Constantinople were known as Phrygians; and the Sabellians, who used to say that the Father and the Son were one and the same person, and who used to do other terrible things, and all the other heresies of heretics (a great many of whom were to be found there, and especially those who came from the country of the Galatians); as for all these persons, I say, we accept them as Greeks, or, in other words, as persons totally unbaptized; for these persons either have not been baptized at all or, though baptized, have not been baptized aright and in a strictly Orthodox manner, wherefore they are regarded as not having been baptized at all). Accordingly, on the first day (of their reception) we make them Christians, that is to say, in other words, we make them accept all the dogmas of Christians (while they are standing) outside the Narthex of the church, the priest meantime laying his hand upon them, in accordance with c. XXXIX of the local synod or regional council held in Illiberia, a country in Spain; on the second day we make them catechumens, or, in other words, we place them in the class called catechumens; on the third day we read to them the usual exorcisms, at the same time blowing three times into their face and into their ears. And thus we catechize them in regard to particular aspects of the faith, and make them stay in church a long time and listen to the divine Scriptures, and then we baptize them.

Canon VII of Laodicea too would have Novatians and Quartodecimans returning to Orthodoxy treated economically in exactly the same way as they are in this Canon: that is to say, with anathematization of their heresy, and with the seal of the Myron. But Phrygians returning are required by c. VIII of the same C. to be baptized. But it must be said also that c. XCV of the 6th is nothing else than a repetition of the present Canon, except that it goes on to say that Manichees, and Valentinians, and Marcionists must be baptized when they turn to Orthodoxy; but Eutychians, and Dioscorites, and Severians may be accepted after anathematizing their own heresies — as may also the Novatians, that is to say, and the rest. Canon XIX of the First Ec. C. wants all Paulianists to get baptized in any case without fail, as is also witnessed by c. XCV of the 6th. Canon XLVII of Basil says for Encratites, and Saccophori, and Apotactites (concerning whom see c. XCV of the 6th) to get baptized when they become converted. Canon V of the same saint says for us to accept those heretics who repent at the end of their life, though not to do so indiscriminately, but only after trying them out. Read also Ap. cc. XLVI and XLVII. The 85 canons of apostles

Already in the 4th century there were a large number of heresies and pseudo-teachings. Depending on the degree of fallacy of the teachings, some were accepted into the Christian Church, requiring them only orally or in writing to renounce heresy or error. Others, besides this, were also required to be anointed with chrism (this is done by the bishop). And the thirds were received to church through baptism.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

Quinisext Ecumenical Council
50. From now on nobody, whether a clergyman or a layman, is permitted to gamble (or to play dice). In case anyone be caught doing this, if he be a clergyman, let him be deposed from office, but if he be a layman, let him be excommunicated.

(Ap. cc. XLII, XLIII.)

Interpretation.

These Fathers forbid everybody to gamble, or, in other words, to play dice, or cards, or draughts, or any other such games, no matter whether he be a clergyman or a layman. Anyone that should play these games after publication of this Canon, if he be a clergyman, shall be deposed from office, but if he be a layman, he shall be excommunicated. See also Ap. c. XLII. The 85 canons of apostles

 

[ValeriyK2022]

Quinisext Ecumenical Council
51. The holy and ecumenical Council universally prohibits so-called pantomimes and their theatrical exhibitions; afterwards, in keeping with this, also the spectacles of wild-animal fury and of hunters’ prowess, and the execution of dances on the stage. If anyone flouts the present Canon, and gives himself over to any of the things herein prohibited, in case he is a clergyman, let him be deposed from office; but in case he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.

(cc. XXIV, LXII, LXVI of the 6th; cc. XVII, LXX of Carthage.)



Interpretation.

With a vengeance the present Canon prohibits the doings of so-called pantomimes, some of whom were Arabs mimicking gestures, while others were Armenians, at other times slaves, sometimes even slapping each other’s face, and moving the spectators to uncontrollable laughter. What is here called "spectacles of wild-animal fury and of hunters’ prowess" as translated into English (though but two words in Greek, meaning, approximately, "hunting scenes" — translated, however, as above in order to bring out the implications more clearly) are the spectacles beheld when one sees wild beasts, such as, for instance, lion, say, or bears, or other savage animals, fighting, either among themselves, or with human beings who have been condemned to death. For it is a piece of great inhumanity and barbarity to look at such bloodshed and laugh at it. But in addition to these spectacles, the Canon also forbids dances and indecent wriggles performed whether by men or by women on the stage. The stage was a tent within which they used to engage in all kinds of theatrical presentations and pretenses, or where someone would stand up and display examples of skillful acting, according to Title XIII of Photius, ch. 21, and hence they are called actors who at times pretend that they are masters or lords, and at other times that they are slaves or servants. As for anyone that flouts the present Canon and gives himself to watching such displays, if he be a clergyman, let him be deposed from office, but if he be a layman, let him be excommunicated. Read also c. XXIV of the same 6th.
The 85 canons of apostles

 

[ValeriyK2022]

Quinisext Ecumenical Council

64.That a layman must not publicly make a speech or teach, thus investing himself with the dignity of a teacher, but, instead, must submit to the ordinance handed down by the Lord, and to open his ear wide to them who have received the grace of teaching ability, and to be taught by them the divine facts thoroughly. For in the one Church God created different members, according to the utterance of the Apostle, in interpreting which St. Gregory the Theologian clearly presents the right procedure in these matters by saying: "Let us have respect for this procedure, brethren, and let us observe it. First, let one man be a listener, as the hearing recipient; another, the tongue; another, a hand; another, something else; let one man teach, and let another man learn; and after short periods, as touching one who learns in a state of obedience, and one who leads the chorus in hilarity, and one who renders service in cheerfulness and willingness, let us not all be a tongue, heeding the most apt saying: "Let us not all be Apostles; let us not all be Prophets; let us not all be Interpreters" (1 Cor. 12:29), and after somewhat: "Why are you making out that you are a shepherd, when you are a sheep? Why are you becoming a head, when you happen to be a foot? Why are you attempting to be a general, when you are placed in the ranks of (ordinary) soldiers? And from another quarter Wisdom bids: "Be not hasty in words; vie not with a rich man when thou art indigent" (Prov. 23:4); nor seek to be wiser than the wise. If anyone be caught disobeying the present Canon, let him be excommunicated for forty days.



Interpretation.

The present Canon prohibits any layman from teaching openly and in church as a teacher; instead he should rather himself be taught by those who have received the gracious gift of teaching. For, just as there are various members belonging to one and the same body, as St. Paul says, so and in like manner there are various persons in the one Church, in the order in which placed each of them. Hence in interpreting this saying of the Apostle’s (in his Homily concerning due order in discussions) he says that one person in the Church must be an ear, another a tongue, another a hand, and another some other member; and neither must all of them be a tongue, or, in other words, teachers, nor must all of them be Apostles, nor all of them Prophets. So, O man, being a sheep, why are you trying to make yourself out to be a shepherd? Being a foot, why are you trying to be a head? Being a soldier, why are you undertaking to be a general? or a leader of soldiers? Solomon, too, says: "Be not glib of speech and ready to say things; nor, when poor, quarrel with the rich; nor seek to become wiser than the wise, or more learned than the learned." If anyone does things in violation of this Canon, let him be excommunicated for forty days. But if any layman chance to be experienced in discourse and modest in manner, he is not prohibited from answering and teaching in private those asking questions, as Zonaras states, and ch. 32 of Book VIII of the Apostolic Injunctions declare. For they shall be, it says, all taught of God: in which manner Apollos spoke, and taught the facts about the Lord, and in spite of the fact that he only knew the baptism of the Lord (Acts 28:25), and Aquilas and Priscilla, who taught the same Apollos the way of God more exactly (ibid.).
The 85 canons of apostles

 

[ValeriyK2022]

Quinisext Ecumenical Council

61. Those who consult soothsayers or so-called "hecantontarchs" of other such fortune-tellers in the hope of learning from them whatever may be revealed to them, in accordance with what the Fathers had formerly decided in regard to them, let them incur the canon of six years. The same penalty ought to be inflicted also upon those who lead bears after them, or other such animals, for the purpose of sport and harm of the more simple-minded, and who tell the fortune, and fate, and genealogy, and other such things to the populace, in accordance with the rigmarole of delusion. As for those who are called cloud-chasers and enchanters and amuletics and soothsayers, if they persist in these professions, and refuse to change their occupation and to eschew these ruinous practices and Greek "rackets," we decree that they be thrown out of the Church altogether, in conformity with what the sacred Canons also prescribe. "For what communion hath light with darkness?" as the Apostle says; "or what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? Or what portion hath a believer with an infidel? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?" (II Cor. 6:15–16).

Interpretation.

Christians must not affect any of those wicked things which the Greeks used to affect — divination, that is to say, and charms, and other similar things. On this account the present Canon decrees that those Christians shall be compelled to abstain from the communions for six years who consult soothsayers, and men calling themselves hecantontarchs, and others of the kind, with a view to learning from them whatever occult things they wish (in order to find money or other things they have lost, for instance), just as previous Fathers have canonically penalized them. It also in like manner with the above canonizes for six years also those who drag bears or other such animals along with them for sport and harm of simple-minded persons; and also those who tell fortunes of men and what they are to get in the future and that they were born on a lucky or unlucky day and other such delusive sayings. It likewise canonizes also those persons who were called "cloud-chasers," and "enchanters," and "amuletics" and soothsayers. Accordingly, all of them are to receive this canon if they repent and abandon such ruinous, devilish, and Greek "rackets." If, however, they persist in this wickedness and delusion, and do not give it up, they are to be driven away from the Church of Christ altogether and are to be excluded from the society of Christians, just as the divine Canons prescribe. For what communion has light with darkness? or what union has the temple of God with the altar of idols? what portion has a believer with an unbeliever? or what concord has Christ with the Devil, as St. Paul says? But we must note that the penalty provided by the present Canon is provided for laymen only, as much for those who perform such diabolical works and magic as we have enumerated above, as for those who consult them. For any clergymen and persons in holy orders that should do such things would surely be deposed from office, according to Balsamon and Zonaras, without fail.

Concord.

As regarding persons engaged in divination and following Greek customs, and bringing wizards to their homes in order to discover the bewitchments certain persons may have cast a spell upon them, the Fathers of the Council in Ancyra canonize them five years in their c. XXIV, while Basil the Great makes it six in his c. LXXXIII, which this Council followed mentioning as previous Fathers both him and those in Ancyra. Canon XXXVI of Laodicea expressly throws out of the Church those who wear amulets, and prohibits clergymen and priests from becoming wizards, or enchanters, or mathematicians, or astrologers, and from making amulets. It is mainly this Canon that the Council is referring to in saying "in conformity with what the sacred Canons also prescribe, but perhaps it is referring also to the ones following. For c. III of Nyssa decrees that those who go to fascinators and soothsayers must be well questioned, and if it turn out that they became small-souled (or pusillanimous) as a result of being forced by any unendurable necessity and were deluded by such men, they are to be more leniently dealt with (or canonized), just as are those who have been induced by tortures to deny Christ. But if it be as a result of their having flouted the faith of Christ and of their having failed to believe that Christ is a God and well able to free them from every ill plight and calamity, they are to be canonized like those who have voluntarily denied Christ, which is the same as saying, that they are not to commune throughout the duration of their lifetime, unless at last they separate from the Church, and pray only by themselves alone, as the same Gregory of Nyssa in his c. II plainly states this. But also c. VII of Basil also in dealing likewise with those Christians who have sacrificed to idols and have consequently been separated from the Church of Christians, penalizes sorcerers. The same Basil, on the other hand, in his c. LXV canonizes as willing murderers those who declaim about the fascination and sorcery which they have practiced, and also those who give themselves to soothsayers in his c. LXXII.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). She speaks to us through the decision of the Ecumenical Councils. Canon 61 excommunicates from the Church those who cooperate with the devil through the occult, magic, esotericism, hypnosis, astrology and other sorcery.

 

[ValeriyK2022]

Quinisext Ecumenical Council

62. We wish once for all to extirpate from the life of the faithful the so-called (festival of) the calends, or kalends, and the so-called Vota, and the so-called Brumalia, and the public festival celebrated on the first day of March. Furthermore, the public dances of women, which are calculated to wreak great harm and injury. Furthermore we dismiss also the dances and ritualistic ceremonies performed by men or women in the name of what are falsely called gods among Greeks, after an old custom which is alien to the life of Christians, at the same time decreeing that no man shall put on any feminine costume, nor shall a woman put on any that befits men. But neither shall anybody put on comic, or satyric, or tragic masks; neither shall anybody shout the name of abominable Dionysus while engaged in squeezing grapes in the wine-presses; nor, when pouring the wine into the casks shall they provoke laughter by a show of ignorance or of vanity, by producing the effects of demoniacal delusion. As for those who from now on attempt to carry out any of the aforesaid improprieties, while well aware of what they are doing, if they should be clergymen, we command that they be deposed from office; but if laymen, that they be excommunicated.

Interpretation.

The calends (also spelled kalends) were the first days of every month, on which the Greeks were accustomed to celebrate in order as they hoped to pass the whole month merrily. The Vota and Brumalia, on the other hand, were Greek festivals. The Vota, referring to grazing and sheep, were celebrated in honor of the god Pan, who was supposed by the Greeks to be the patron of sheep and other animals. The Brumalia were celebrated in honor of Dionysus; for the epithet of Dionysus among the Greeks of the north was Bromius, derived from bromos, a Greek word signifying a peal as of thunder. By the Romans he was called Brumalius, and his festival Brumalia, in the plural, which is the equivalent of Dionysia, as the Greeks called it. So the present Canon commands that such festivals, but especially the public one celebrated on the first day of March, for the pretended purpose of securing good weather in spring, be eliminated altogether from the public and private life of Christians. Nor must public dances in general of women be held, nor festivals and dances by men or women in honor of the name of the pseudo gods of the Greeks. It decrees in addition that neither must men wear women’s clothing, nor women men’s clothing. But neither must they disguise themselves with false faces and masks that are comic, or, in other words, calculated to provoke laughter, or tragic, or calculated to provoke laments and tears, or satyric, or, in other words peculiar, to Satyrs and Bacchi, who in honor of Dionysus were wont to dance ecstatically and as if demon-possessed. And that no one should invoke, or call upon, the name of despicable Dionysus (who was supposed to be the giver and patron of wine) when treading the grapes in the winepresses, nor laugh and guffaw when the new wine is being transferred to the pitharia, as these are called in modern Greek, being a kind of earthen casks. So whoever from now on, after becoming fully aware of these prohibitions, shall attempt to do any of the aforesaid things which are demonish and Greekish, if he is a clergyman, let him be deposed from office but if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.

Concord.

Note also that in Deuteronomy (ch. xxii, v. 5) God prohibits a woman from wearing men’s clothing, and a man from wearing women’s clothing: "a woman shall not wear the apparel of a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for all who do so are an abomination unto the Lord thy God." The Council held in Gangra does not even allow a woman to wear masculine attire for the sake of supposed exercise. For it anathematizes any woman doing so, c. XIII. Read also c. XXIV of the present Council.

The 85 canons of apostles

 

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Rule 62 especially forbids Christians:
1) participation in and viewing shows of fornication or erotic content;
2) participating in or watching a show that shows violence, inciting cruelty;
3) participating in or watching shows with malicious ridicule, mockery of people;
4) participating in or watching a show where men dress up in women's clothes or women dress up in men's clothes;
5) public dances that kindle passions.

 

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Quinisext Ecumenical Council

63. With regard to the falsely compiled martyr-lists fabricated by the enemies of the truth, as if with an intention to dishonor the Martyrs of Christ and to lead those paying attention to it into disbelief, we command that it must not be read publicly even in the churches, but that these things must be consigned to fire. As for those who accept them and recognize them as veridical, or those who bestow any attention upon them as true, we anathematize such persons.



Interpretation.

Infidels and enemies of the truth, wishing to bring accusations against Christians’ records, composed, it would seem, certain ludicrous and grotesque utterances and deeds with the allegation that the Martyrs of Christ said and did those things, in order that the Martyrs might incur insults as a consequence thereof, and the Orthodox faith be laughed to scorn. Hence the present Canon commands that no such fictitious lists be read publicly in churches, but instead that they be burned up. Those, on the other hand, who accept them as true are anathematized. See also Ap. c. LX.

By this rule, it is forbidden to rank as saints those people who have sinned a lot (for example, Stalin or Ivan the Terrible). It is also forbidden to spread fakes through churches. Since such actions cause distrust of the Church, those responsible for this are excommunicated from the Church.

 

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Quinisext Ecumenical Council

64. That a layman must not publicly make a speech or teach, thus investing himself with the dignity of a teacher, but, instead, must submit to the ordinance handed down by the Lord, and to open his ear wide to them who have received the grace of teaching ability, and to be taught by them the divine facts thoroughly. For in the one Church God created different members, according to the utterance of the Apostle, in interpreting which St. Gregory the Theologian clearly presents the right procedure in these matters by saying: "Let us have respect for this procedure, brethren, and let us observe it. First, let one man be a listener, as the hearing recipient; another, the tongue; another, a hand; another, something else; let one man teach, and let another man learn; and after short periods, as touching one who learns in a state of obedience, and one who leads the chorus in hilarity, and one who renders service in cheerfulness and willingness, let us not all be a tongue, heeding the most apt saying: "Let us not all be Apostles; let us not all be Prophets; let us not all be Interpreters" (1 Cor. 12:29), and after somewhat: "Why are you making out that you are a shepherd, when you are a sheep? Why are you becoming a head, when you happen to be a foot? Why are you attempting to be a general, when you are placed in the ranks of (ordinary) soldiers? And from another quarter Wisdom bids: "Be not hasty in words; vie not with a rich man when thou art indigent" (Prov. 23:4); nor seek to be wiser than the wise. If anyone be caught disobeying the present Canon, let him be excommunicated for forty days.



Interpretation.

The present Canon prohibits any layman from teaching openly and in church as a teacher; instead he should rather himself be taught by those who have received the gracious gift of teaching. For, just as there are various members belonging to one and the same body, as St. Paul says, so and in like manner there are various persons in the one Church, in the order in which placed each of them. Hence in interpreting this saying of the Apostle’s (in his Homily concerning due order in discussions) he says that one person in the Church must be an ear, another a tongue, another a hand, and another some other member; and neither must all of them be a tongue, or, in other words, teachers, nor must all of them be Apostles, nor all of them Prophets. So, O man, being a sheep, why are you trying to make yourself out to be a shepherd? Being a foot, why are you trying to be a head? Being a soldier, why are you undertaking to be a general? or a leader of soldiers? Solomon, too, says: "Be not glib of speech and ready to say things; nor, when poor, quarrel with the rich; nor seek to become wiser than the wise, or more learned than the learned." If anyone does things in violation of this Canon, let him be excommunicated for forty days. But if any layman chance to be experienced in discourse and modest in manner, he is not prohibited from answering and teaching in private those asking questions, as Zonaras states, and ch. 32 of Book VIII of the Apostolic Injunctions declare. For they shall be, it says, all taught of God: in which manner Apollos spoke, and taught the facts about the Lord, and in spite of the fact that he only knew the baptism of the Lord (Acts 28:25), and Aquilas and Priscilla, who taught the same Apollos the way of God more exactly (ibid.).

The 85 canons of apostles

This rule forbids a person who does not have a holy order to make a speech or teach publicly (as far as the Christian faith is concerned).