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HIPPOLYTUS, THE CANONS OF

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 521 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HIPPOLYTUS, THE CANONS OF . This See also:book stands at the See also:head of a See also:series of See also:Church Orders, which contain instructions in regard to the choice and ordination of See also:Christian ministers, regulations as to widows and virgins, conditions of reception of converts from heathenism, preparation for and See also:administration of See also:baptism, rules for the celebration of the See also:eucharist, for See also:fasting, daily prayers, charity suppers, memorial meals, first-fruits, &c. We shall give (I) a description of the book as we have it at See also:present; (2) a brief statement of its relation to allied documents; (3) some remarks on the See also:evidence for its date and authorship. r. We possess the Canons of Hippolytus only in an Arabic version, itself made from a Coptic version of the See also:original See also:Greek. See also:Attention was called to the book by Wansleben and See also:Ludolf towards the end of the 17th See also:century, but it was only in 187o that it was edited by Haneberg, who added a Latin See also:translation, and so made it generally accessible. In 1891 H. Achelis reproduced this translation in a revised See also:form, embodying it in a synopsis of allied documents. He suspected much See also:interpolation and derangement of See also:order, and consequently rearranged its See also:con-tents with a See also:free See also:hand. In 1900 a See also:German translation was made by H. Riedel, based on fresh See also:MSS. These showed that the book, as hitherto edited, had been thrown into disorder by the displacement of two pages near the end; they also removed other difficulties upon which the theory of interpolation had been based.

Further discoveries, to be spoken of presently, have added to our materials for the study of the book. The book is attributed to " Hippolytus, the See also:

chief of the bishops of See also:Rome," and is divided into See also:thirty-eight canons, to which See also:short headings are prefixed. This See also:division is certainly not original, but it is convenient for purposes of reference. See also:Canon 1 is prefatory; it contains a brief See also:confession of faith in the Trinity, and especially in the Word, the Son of See also:God; and it speaks of the See also:expulsion of heretics from the Church. Canons 2-5 give regulations for the selection and ordination of bishops, presbyters and deacons. The See also:bishop is chosen by the whole See also:congregation: " one of the bishops and presbyters " is to See also:lay hands upon him and say a See also:prayer which follows (3) : he is at once to proceed with " the offering," taking up the eucharistic service at the point where the sursum corda comes in. A See also:presbyter (4) is to be ordained with the same prayer as a bishop, " with the exception of the word bishop "; but he is given no See also:power of ordination (this appears to be inconsistent with c. 2). The duties of a See also:deacon are described, and the prayer of his ordination follows (5). Canons 6-9 See also:deal with various classes in the Church. One who has suffered See also:punishment for the faith (6) is to be counted a presbyter without ordination: " his confession is his ordination." Readers and sub-deacons (7) are given the See also:Gospel, but are not ordained by laying-on of hands. A claim to ordination on the ground of gifts of healing (8) is to be admitted, if the facts are clear and the healing is from God.

Widows are not ordained (9) : " ordination is for men only." Canons 10-15 describe conditions for the See also:

admission of converts. Certain occupations are incompatible with Christian See also:life: only under compulsion may a Christian be a soldier. Canons 16-18 deal chiefly with regulations concerning See also:women. Canon 19 is a See also:long one dealing with catechumens, preparation for baptism, administration of that See also:sacrament, and of' the eucharist for the newly baptized. The See also:candidate is twice anointed: first, with the oil of See also:exorcism, after he has said, with his See also:face westward, " I renounce thee, 0 See also:devil, and all thy following "; and, again, immediately after the baptism. As he stands in the See also:water, he declares his faith in response to an interrogatory creed; and after each of the three clauses he is immersed. After the second See also:anointing the bishop gives thanks " for that See also:Thou hast made them worthy that they should be See also:born again, and hast poured out Thy See also:Holy See also:Ghost upon them, so that they may belong, each one of them, to the See also:body of the Church ": he signs them with the See also:cross on their foreheads, and kisses them. The eucharist then proceeds: " the bishop gives them of the body of See also:Christ and says, This is the body of Christ, and they See also:answer See also:Amen "; and similarly for the See also:cup. See also:Milk and See also:honey are then given to them as being " born a second See also:time as little See also:children." A warning is added against eating anything before communicating. Canons 20-22 deal with fast-days, daily services in church, and the fast of the See also:passover-See also:week. Canon 23 seems as if it closed the series, speaking, as it does, of " our brethren the bishops " who in their cities have made regulations " according to the commands of our fathers the apostles ": " let none of our successors alter them; because it saith that the teaching is greater than the See also:sea, and hath no end." We pass on, however, to regulations about the sick (24) who are to be visited by the bishop, " because it is a See also:great thing for the sick that the high-See also:priest should visit them for the See also:shadow of See also:Peter healed the sick)." Canons 25-27 deal again with prayers and church-services. The " seven See also:hours " are specified, with reasons for their observance (25) : attendance at sermons is urged (26), " for the See also:Lord is in the See also:place where his lordship is See also:pro-claimed " (comp.

See also:

Didache 4, See also:part of the Two Ways). When there are no prayers in church, See also:reading at See also:home is enjoined (27): " let the See also:sun each See also:morning see the book upon thy knees " (comp. See also:Ath. Ad virg., § 12, " Let the sun when he ariseth see the book in thy hands "). Prayer must be preceded by the washing of the hands. No believer must take See also:food before communicating, especially on fast-days ": only believers may communicate (28). The sacred elements must be guarded, " lest anything fall into the cup, and it be a sit. unto See also:death for the presbyters." No crumb must be dropped, " lest an evil spirit get See also:possession of it." Canons 30-35 contain various rules, and specially deal with suppers for the poor (i.e. agepae) and memorial feasts. Then we have a prayer for the offering of first-fruits (36) ; a direction that ministers shall See also:wear See also:fair garments at " the mysteries " (37) ; and a command to See also:watch during the See also:night of the resurrection (38). The last canon hereupon passes into a See also:general exhortation to right living, which forms a See also:sixth part of the whole book. In Riedel's translation we read this for the first time as a connected whole. It falls into two parts, and describes, first, the true life of See also:ordinary Christians, warning them against an empty profession, and laying down many precepts of morality; and then it addresses itselfYto the " ascete " who " wishes to belong to the See also:rank of the angels," and who lives a life of solitude and poverty. He is encouraged by an exposition, on somewhat See also:strange lines, of the temptations of our Lord, and is specially warned against spiritual See also:pride and contempt of other men.

The book closes with an See also:

appeal for love and mutual service, based on the parables in St See also:Matthew See also:xxv. 2.

End of Article: HIPPOLYTUS, THE CANONS OF

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