The Arabic Canons Attributed to Nicaea

Canon 1. The insane and those possessed by demons are not to be ordained. [a]

Canon 2. Slaves are not to be ordained. [c]

Canon 3. Those new in the faith are not to be ordained to holy orders before they have a knowledge of Holy Scripture. And if such men are convicted of grave sin after their ordination, they are to be deposed together with those who ordained them.

Canon 4. Women are forbidden to live with bishops, presbyters, and deacons, because of their celibacy. We decree that bishops shall not live with women, nor shall a presbyter who is a widower. Nor shall they escort women, or be familiar with them, or keep gazing at them. The same decree is made concerning every celibate priest, and the same concerning deacons who have no wives. And this holds whether the woman is beautiful or ugly, whether a young girl or past the age of puberty, whether of high birth or an orphan taken in out of charity on the pretext of bringing her up. For with such weapons the devil slays those in religious life, bishops, presbyters, and deacons, and stirs them up to the fires of desire. But if she is an old woman of advanced age, or a sister, or mother, or aunt, or grandmother, it is permitted to live with these, because such persons are free from all suspicion of scandal. [d]

Canon 5. On the election of a bishop, and on the confirmation of the election.

Canon 6. Those excommunicated by one bishop are not to be received by another; and those whose excommunication has been shown to be unjust should be released from it by the archbishop or patriarch.

Canon 7. Provincial councils should be held twice a year, to consider all matters affecting the churches of the bishops of the province.

Canon 8. On the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, and on their jurisdiction.

Canon 9. On one who seeks the office of bishop when the people do not want him; or when they do want him, but without the consent of the archbishop.

Canon 10. How the bishop of Jerusalem is to be honored, while the honor of the metropolitan church of Caesarea, to which he is subject, is kept intact.

Canon 11. On those who force their way into the order of presbyters without election or examination.

Canon 12. On the bishop who ordains a man he knows has denied the faith; and on one who, after denying it, crept into holy orders.

Canon 13. On one who of his own will goes to another church that has chosen him, and afterward does not wish to stay there. On taking pains to be transferred from one’s own church to another.

Canon 14. No one shall become a monk without the bishop’s permission; and why permission is required.

Canon 15. Clerics or those in religious life who lend at interest should be removed from their rank.

Canon 16. On the honor the deacons are to pay to the bishop and to a presbyter.

Canon 17. On the method and manner of receiving those who are converted from the heresy of Paul of Samosata. [e]

Canon 18. On the method and manner of receiving those who are converted from the heresy of the Novatians. [f]

Canon 19. On the method and manner of receiving those who return after falling away from the faith, and of receiving those who fall away again; on those brought into danger of death by sickness before their penance is finished; and on those who recover.

Canon 20. On avoiding the company of evildoers and sorcerers, and on the penance of those who have not avoided them.

Canon 21. On incestuous marriages contrary to the law of spiritual relationship, and on the penance of those in such marriages. Editor’s note: The time of penance fixed is twenty years; only the godfather and godmother are mentioned; and nothing is said about separation. [g]

Canon 22. On sponsors in baptism. Men shall not hold females at the font, nor women males; but women shall hold females, and men males. [h]

Canon 23. On the forbidden marriages of spiritual brothers and sisters, a relationship that comes from receiving them in baptism. [i]

Canon 24. On one who has married two wives at the same time, or who through lust has added another woman to his wife; and on his punishment. Part of the canon reads: If he is a priest, he is forbidden to offer the sacrifice and is cut off from the communion of the faithful until he turns the second woman out of the house; and he ought to keep the first.

Canon 25. No one should be forbidden Holy Communion except those who are doing penance.

Canon 26. Clerics are forbidden to stand as sureties or to give witness in criminal cases.

Canon 27. On avoiding the excommunicated and not receiving the offering from them; and on the excommunication of one who does not avoid the excommunicated.

Canon 28. How anger, indignation, and hatred should be avoided by the priest, especially because he has the power to excommunicate others.

Canon 29. On not kneeling in prayer.

Canon 30. On giving only Christian names in baptism; on heretics who keep the faith in the Trinity and the complete form of baptism; on others who do not keep it and deserve a worse name; and on how such are to be received when they come to the faith.

Canon 31. On the method and manner of receiving converts to the orthodox faith from the heresy of Arius and from others like it.

Canon 32. On the method of receiving those who have kept the teachings of the faith and the church’s laws, and yet have separated from us and afterward come back.

Canon 33. On the place where the patriarch resides, and on the honor to be given to the bishop of Jerusalem and to the bishop of Seleucia. [j]

Canon 34. On the honor to be given to the archbishop of Seleucia in the synod of Greece. [k]

Canon 35. On not holding a provincial synod in the province of Persia without the authority of the patriarch of Antioch; and how the bishops of Persia are subject to the metropolitans of Antioch.

Canon 36. On the creation of a patriarch for Ethiopia, on his power, and on the honor to be paid him in the synod of Greece.

Canon 37. On the election of the archbishop of Cyprus, who is subject to the patriarch of Antioch.

Canon 38. Bishops are forbidden to ordain ministers of the church in dioceses that belong to others.

Canon 39. On the care and power a patriarch has over the bishops and archbishops of his patriarchate; and on the primacy of the bishop of Rome over all. Let the patriarch consider what the archbishops and bishops do in their provinces; and if he finds anything done by them otherwise than it should be, let him change it and set it in order as he sees fit. For he is the father of all, and they are his sons. And although the archbishop is among the bishops as an elder brother, who has the care of his brothers and to whom they owe obedience because he is over them, yet the patriarch is to all those under his power just as he who holds the see of Rome is the head and prince of all patriarchs, since he is first, as Peter was, to whom power is given over all Christian princes and over all their peoples, as he who is the Vicar of Christ our Lord over all peoples and over the whole Christian church. And whoever contradicts this is excommunicated by the synod. Editor’s note: I add Canon 37 of Echellensis’s New Version of the eighty-four Arabic canons of the Council of Nicaea, so that the reader may compare it with the canon above. Let there be only four patriarchs in the whole world, as there are four writers of the Gospel, and four rivers, and so on. And let there be a prince and chief over them, the lord of the see of the divine Peter at Rome, as the apostles commanded. And after him the lord of great Alexandria, which is the see of Mark. And the third is the lord of Ephesus, which is the see of John the Divine, who speaks divine things. And the fourth and last is my lord of Antioch, which is another see of Peter. And let all the bishops be divided under the hands of these four patriarchs; and let the bishops of the little towns that are under the rule of the great cities be under the authority of these metropolitans. But let every metropolitan of these great cities appoint the bishops of his province, and let none of the bishops appoint him, for he is greater than they. Therefore let every man know his own rank, and not take over the rank of another. And whoever contradicts this law which we have laid down, the fathers of the synod place him under anathema. [l]

Canon 40. On the provincial synod that should be held twice every year, and on its usefulness; together with the excommunication of those who oppose the decree.

Canon 41. On the synod of archbishops, which meets once a year with the patriarch, and on its usefulness; and on the collection to be made for the support of the patriarch throughout the provinces and places subject to him.

Canon 42. On a cleric or monk who has fallen into sin and, though summoned once, twice, and three times, does not present himself for trial.

Canon 43. What the patriarch should do in the case of a defendant set free unpunished by the decision of the bishop, the presbyter, or even the deacon, as the case may be.

Canon 44. How an archbishop ought to grant a trial to one of his suffragan bishops. [o]

Canon 45. On receiving the complaints and condemnation of an archbishop against his patriarch.

Canon 46. How a patriarch should admit a complaint, or judgment, of one archbishop against another.

Canon 47. On those excommunicated by someone: when they can, and when they cannot, be released by another.

Canon 48. No bishop shall choose his own successor.

Canon 49. No ordinations shall be made for money. [p]

Canon 50. There shall be only one bishop for one city, and one parish priest for one town. And the one who holds the office, whether bishop or parish priest, shall not be removed in favor of a successor some of the people want, unless he has been convicted of open crime. [q]

Canon 51. Bishops shall not allow a wife to be separated from her husband on account of discord. [r]

Canon 52. Interest and the base seeking of worldly gain are forbidden to the clergy; so also are dealings and fellowship with Jews.

Canon 53. Marriages with unbelievers are to be avoided.

Canon 54. On the election of a country bishop, and on his duties in towns, villages, and monasteries. [s]

Canon 55. How a country bishop should visit the churches and monasteries under his authority.

Canon 56. How the presbyters of the towns and villages should go twice a year with their country bishop to greet the bishop; how those in religious life should do so once a year from their monasteries; and how the new abbot of a monastery should go three times.

Canon 57. On the order of seating of the bishop, the archdeacon, and the country bishop during the celebration of the service in church; on the office of archdeacon; and on the honor due to the archpresbyter. [t]

Canon 58. On the honor due to the archdeacon and the country bishop when they sit in church in the bishop’s absence, and when they go about with the bishop.

Canon 59. How all the grades of the clergy and their duties should be publicly described and set out.

Canon 60. How men are to be chosen from the diocese for holy orders, and how they should be examined.

Canon 61. On the honor due to the deacons, and how the clerics must not put themselves in their way.

Canon 62. The number of presbyters and deacons is to be suited to the work of the church and to its means.

Canon 63. On the church’s steward, and on the others who with him look after the church’s property. [u]

Canon 64. On the services said in the church, the night and day services, and on the collect for all those who govern that church. [v]

Canon 65. On the order to be kept at the funeral of a bishop, a country bishop, and an archdeacon, and on the funeral service. [w]

Canon 66. On taking a second wife after the first has been put away for any cause, or even without putting her away; and on the man who falsely accuses his wife of adultery. If any priest or deacon puts away his wife on account of her sexual immorality, or for another cause, as said above, or turns her out of doors for some outward gain, or so that he may exchange her for another more beautiful, or better, or richer, or does it out of his lust, which is displeasing to God; and if, after she has been put away for any of these causes, he marries another, or without putting her away takes another, whether free or slave, and has both alike, the two living apart and he sleeping every night with one or the other of them, or else keeps both in the same house and bed: let him be deposed. If he was a layman, let him be deprived of communion. But if anyone slanders his wife, charging her with adultery, so that he turns her out of doors, the matter must be carefully examined. And if the accusation was false, he shall be deposed if he is a cleric; but if he is a layman, he shall be barred from entering the church and from the communion of the faithful, and shall be compelled to live with the wife he has slandered, even though she is deformed, and poor, and insane. And whoever does not obey is excommunicated by the synod. Editor’s note: The reader will notice that by this canon a husband is deposed or excommunicated, as the case may be, if he marries another woman after putting away his wife on account of her adultery. It is curious that in the parallel canon in the collection of Echellensis, which is numbered 71, the reading is quite different, although as it is given there it is very awkward and disjointed. It should also be remembered that in some manuscripts and editions this canon is missing altogether, and one on the right of the pope to receive appeals takes its place. As this canon is of considerable length, I quote only the interesting parts. Whatever presbyter or deacon puts away his wife without the offense of sexual immorality, or for any other cause of which we have spoken above, and turns her out of doors … such a man shall be cast out of the clergy, if he was a clergyman; if a layman, he shall be forbidden the communion of the faithful. … But if that woman, that is, his wife, whom her husband untruly charged with adultery, refuses his company because of the injury he has done her and the charge he brought against her, of which she is innocent, let her freely be put away, and let a certificate of divorce be written for her, noting the false accusation that was brought against her. And then, if she wishes to marry some other believing man, it is right for her to do so, nor does the church forbid it; and the same permission extends to men as well as to women, since there is equal reason for it in each case. But if he returns to better fruit which is of the same kind, and wins back to himself the love and goodwill of his wife, and is willing to return to their former friendship, his fault shall be pardoned him after he has done suitable and sufficient penance. And whoever speaks against this decree, the fathers of the synod excommunicate him. [x]

Canon 67. On having two wives at the same time; on a woman of the faithful who marries an unbeliever; and on the form of receiving her to penance. Editor’s note: Her reception back depends on her leaving the unbelieving man.

Canon 68. On giving a daughter or sister in marriage to an unbeliever without her knowledge and against her will.

Canon 69. On one of the faithful who leaves the faith through lust and love for an unbeliever; and on the form of receiving him back, or admitting him to penance.

Canon 70. On the hospital to be set up in every city, on the choice of a superintendent, and on his duties. Editor’s note: It is interesting to note that one of the superintendent’s duties is this: “If the goods of the hospital are not enough for its expenses, he ought to collect provisions all the time and from all Christians, according to the means of each.” [y]

Canon 71. On placing a bishop or archbishop in his chair after his ordination, which is his enthronement.

Canon 72. No one is allowed to transfer himself to another church, that is, another diocese, than the one in which he was ordained; and what is to be done in the case of one driven out by force without any blame attaching to him.

Canon 73. The laity shall not choose priests for themselves in the towns and villages without the authority of the country bishop, nor an abbot for a monastery; and no one should give orders as to who is to be elected his successor after his death; and when this is lawful for a superior.

Canon 74. How sisters, widows, and deaconesses should be made to keep to their residence in their monasteries; on the way of instructing them; and on the election of deaconesses, their duties, and their usefulness.

Canon 75. How one who seeks election should not be chosen, even if he is of outstanding virtue; how the election of a layman to the grades just mentioned is not forbidden; and that those chosen should not afterward be removed before their deaths, except for crime.

Canon 76. On the distinctive dress, the distinctive names, and the way of life of monks and nuns.

Canon 77. A bishop convicted of adultery or of some similar crime should be deposed without hope of being restored to the same rank; but he shall not be excommunicated.

Canon 78. On presbyters and deacons who have fallen into adultery only once, if they have never been married; on the same when they fall as widowers; and on those who have fallen while having wives of their own. Also on those who return to the same sin, widowers as well as those with living wives; and which of these ought not to be received to penance, which once only, and which twice.

Canon 79. Each of the faithful, while his sin is not yet public, should be corrected by private encouragement and warning; if he does not profit by this, he must be excommunicated.

Canon 80. On the election of a steward of the poor, and on his duties. [z]