Taken
by themselves, the canon laws of the Church can be misleading and frustrating,
and therefore superficial. People will say 'either enforce them all or
discard them completely.' But taken as a whole within the wholeness of
Orthodox life — theological, historical, canonical, and spiritual — these
canons do assume their proper place and purpose and show themselves to
be a rich source for discovering the living Truth of God in the Church.
In viewing the canons of the Church, the key factors are Christian knowledge
and wisdom which are borne from technical study and spiritual depth. There
is no other 'key' to their usage; and any other way would be according
to the Orthodox faith both unorthodox and unchristian.”
The
Canons of
the Holy Orthodox Church (Also known as “The Rudder”)
- From the Christian Classics Ethereal LLLibrrary at Calvin College, a
Protestant institution at Grand Rapid, MI. Other sources are as noted.
Ecumenical
Councils - To navigate, use the “forward” and “back” buttons at the
top and bottom of each page, or return to the Table of Contents with the
“TOC” button at the top of each page.
The
First Ecumenical Council - The First Council of Nice A.D. 325,
called by Emperor Constantine, Pope Silvester. The council met to deal
with the schism created by Arianism. The Arians wished to avoid the heresy
of Sabellius who believed in a divine monad which, by expansion, projected
itself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit—a form of Modalism. The Arians separated
the Son from God entirely so that they believed he was a creature having
a beginning. "There was when he was not." The Son was but God's first creation,
yet out of nothing and hence has preeminence over the rest of creation.
The symbol answers the question, "Who is Jesus Christ"? Its answer: God.
Council
of Sardica - 343 A.D. Canon V. Sardica was the first synod which asserted,
in some sense, Roman primacy in the Church. From the Fordham University
(Roman Catholic) web site.
