The Apostolic Canons

Let a bishop be ordained by two or three bishops.

Let a presbyter be ordained by one bishop, and a deacon, and the other clerics.

If any bishop or presbyter, contrary to the Lord's ordinance concerning the sacrifice, offers certain other things upon the altar, either honey, or milk, or, instead of wine, strong drink artificially made, or birds or certain animals, or pulses, contrary to the ordinance, let him be deposed; except new ears of grain, or grapes, in their proper season. And let it not be permitted for anything else to be brought to the altar than oil for the lamp, and incense at the time of the holy offering.

Let all the other fruit be sent home, as first-fruits for the bishop and the presbyters, but not to the altar. And it is clear that the bishop and the presbyters will share it out among the deacons and the other clerics.

Let not a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon put away his own wife under pretext of piety; and if he puts her away, let him be excommunicated; and if he persists, let him be deposed.

Let not a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon take up worldly cares; otherwise, let him be deposed.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon celebrates the holy day of Pascha before the spring equinox with the Jews, let him be deposed.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone of the priestly list, does not partake when the offering has been made, let him give the reason; and if it is reasonable, let him obtain pardon; but if he does not give it, let him be excommunicated, as having become a cause of harm to the people, and having raised suspicion against him who made the offering, as though he had not offered it up soundly.

All the faithful who come in and hear the Scriptures, but do not remain for the prayer and the holy communion, must be excommunicated, as bringing disorder into the church.

If anyone prays with one who is out of communion, even in a house, let this man be excommunicated.

If anyone who is a cleric prays with a deposed cleric, let him also be deposed.

If any cleric or layman who is excommunicated, or not to be received, goes away and is received in another city without letters of commendation, let both the one who received him and the one received be excommunicated.

But if he is excommunicated, let his excommunication be extended, as one who has lied to and deceived the Church of God.

A bishop is not permitted to leave his own diocese and leap into another, even if he is pressed by many, unless there is some reasonable cause compelling him to do this, as when he is able to contribute some greater gain to those there by the word of piety; and even this not of himself, but by the judgement of many bishops and upon the most earnest entreaty.

If any presbyter, or deacon, or anyone at all of the list of clerics, having left his own diocese, goes away to another, and, having removed altogether, stays in another diocese against the will of his own bishop, we order that this man officiate no longer, especially if, when his bishop summons him to return, he has not obeyed, persisting in the disorder; but let him take communion there as a layman.

But if the bishop with whom they are, counting as nothing the suspension decreed against them, receives them as clerics, let him be excommunicated, as a teacher of disorder.

He who has been entangled in two marriages after baptism, or has acquired a concubine, cannot be a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone at all of the priestly list.

He who has taken a widow, or a woman put away, or a courtesan, or a household slave, or one of those on the stage, cannot be a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone at all of the priestly list.

He who has married two sisters, or a niece, cannot be a cleric.

A cleric who gives sureties, let him be deposed.

A eunuch, if he became so through the malice of men, or was deprived of his male parts in persecution, or was so born, and is worthy, let him become a bishop.

He who has mutilated himself, let him not become a cleric; for he is himself his own murderer, and an enemy of God's creation.

If anyone who is a cleric mutilates himself, let him be deposed; for he is a murderer of himself.

A layman who has mutilated himself, let him be excommunicated for three years; for he is a plotter against his own life.

A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon caught in fornication, or perjury, or theft, let him be deposed, and let him not be excommunicated; for the Scripture says: You shall not punish twice for the same thing. Likewise also the other clerics.

Of those who have come into the clergy unmarried, we order that only readers and cantors may marry, if they wish.

A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who strikes believers who sin, or unbelievers who have done wrong, and wishes by such means to make them afraid, we command to be deposed; for nowhere did the Lord teach us this; but on the contrary, He, when struck, did not strike back; when reviled, did not revile in return; when suffering, did not threaten.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, justly deposed for manifest crimes, should dare to touch the ministry once entrusted to him, let this man be cut off altogether from the Church.

If any bishop obtains this dignity through money, or a presbyter, or a deacon, let him be deposed, both he and the one who ordained him, and let him be cut off altogether from communion as well, as Simon the magician was by me, Peter.

If any bishop, making use of worldly rulers, obtains a church through them, let him be deposed and excommunicated, and all who are in communion with him.

If any presbyter, despising his own bishop, holds assemblies apart and sets up another altar, though he has found nothing to condemn in the bishop in piety and righteousness, let him be deposed, as one who loves to rule; for he is a tyrant. And likewise also the other clerics, and as many as join themselves to him; and let the laymen be excommunicated. But let these things be done after one, and a second, and a third entreaty from the bishop.

If any presbyter or deacon is placed under excommunication by a bishop, it is not permitted for him to be received by another, but only by him who excommunicated him, unless the bishop who excommunicated him happens to die.

None of the foreign bishops, or presbyters, or deacons is to be received without letters of commendation; and even when they bring them, let them be examined; and if they are preachers of piety, let them be received; but if not, having supplied them with what they need, do not receive them into communion; for many things are done by fraud.

The bishops of every nation must recognise the first among them, and regard him as head, and do nothing at all without his consent; and each is to do only those things which concern his own diocese and the country districts under it. But neither let that one do anything without the consent of all. For so there will be concord, and God will be glorified, through the Lord, in the Holy Spirit: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

A bishop is not to dare to perform ordinations outside his own bounds, in the cities and country districts not subject to him; and if he should be proved to have done this against the will of those who hold those cities or country districts, let him be deposed, both he and those whom he ordained.

If anyone ordained bishop does not accept the ministry and the care of the people entrusted to him, let this man be excommunicated until he accepts; likewise also a presbyter and a deacon. But if, having gone, he is not received, not through his own will but through the wickedness of the people, let him remain bishop, and let the clergy of the city be excommunicated, because they did not prove instructors of so insubordinate a people.

Let a synod of the bishops be held twice in the year, and let them examine with one another the doctrines of piety, and let them settle the ecclesiastical disputes that arise: once in the fourth week of Pentecost, and a second time on the twelfth of Hyperberetaeus.

Let the bishop have the care of all ecclesiastical property, and let him administer it as under the oversight of God; but let him not be permitted to appropriate any of it, or to give the things of God to his own relatives; and if they are poor, let him provide for them as poor, but let him not under this pretext sell off the things of the Church.

Let the presbyters and the deacons carry out nothing without the consent of the bishop; for he is the one entrusted with the people of the Lord, and from whom the account for their souls will be required.

Let the bishop's own property be clearly known (if indeed he has property of his own), and clearly known the Lord's property; so that the bishop, when he dies, may have authority to leave his own property to whom he wishes and as he wishes; and that the bishop's property may not be lost under pretext of the ecclesiastical property, since he sometimes has a wife and children, or relatives, or household slaves. For it is just before God and men that neither the Church should suffer any loss through ignorance of the bishop's property, nor the bishop, or his relatives, be stripped of their goods under pretext of the Church, or those who belong to him fall into troubles, and his death be surrounded with ill report.

We command that the bishop have authority over the property of the Church. For if the precious souls of men are to be entrusted to him, much more would it be needful to give him charge concerning the money, so that all things be administered by his authority, and be supplied to those in need through the presbyters and deacons with the fear of God and all reverence. And he himself also is to partake of what is needed (if indeed he has need) for his necessary uses and those of the brethren staying with him as guests, so that they may in no way be in want; for the law of God has ordained that those who attend upon the altar be nourished from the altar; since not even a soldier ever bears arms against enemies at his own expense.

A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who gives himself to dice and drunkenness, let him either cease or be deposed.

A subdeacon, or reader, or cantor who does the like, let him either cease or be excommunicated; likewise also a layman.

A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who demands interest from those who borrow, let him either cease or be deposed.

A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who has only prayed with heretics, let him be excommunicated; but if he has permitted them to perform anything as clerics, let him be deposed.

A bishop or presbyter who has accepted the baptism or sacrifice of heretics we command to be deposed. For what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

A bishop or presbyter, if he baptises anew one who has baptism in truth, or if he does not baptise one who has been polluted by the impious, let him be deposed, as mocking the Cross and the death of the Lord, and not distinguishing priests from false priests.

If any layman, having put away his own wife, takes another, or one released by another, let him be excommunicated.

If any bishop or presbyter does not baptise, according to the Lord's ordinance, into the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, but into three Unoriginates, or into three Sons, or into three Comforters, let him be deposed.

If any bishop or presbyter does not perform three immersions of one initiation, but one immersion, which is given into the death of the Lord, let him be deposed. For the Lord did not say, Baptise into my death; but, Go, make disciples of all the nations, baptising them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone at all of the priestly list, abstains from marriage, and meat, and wine, not for asceticism but through abhorrence, forgetting that all things are very good, and that God made man male and female, but blasphemously slanders the creation, let him either be corrected, or be deposed and cast out of the Church. Likewise also a layman.

If any bishop or presbyter does not receive one who turns back from sin, but rejects him, let him be deposed; because he grieves Christ, who said: There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon does not partake of meat and wine on the days of the feasts, abhorring them and not for asceticism, let him be deposed, as one seared in his own conscience, and becoming a cause of scandal to many.

If any cleric is caught eating in a tavern, let him be excommunicated; except one who lodges (at an inn) on the road through necessity.

If any cleric insults the bishop, let him be deposed; for you shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.

If any cleric insults a presbyter or a deacon, let him be excommunicated.

If any cleric mocks one who is lame, or deaf, or blind, or crippled in the feet, let him be excommunicated. Likewise also a layman.

A bishop or presbyter who neglects the clergy or the people, and does not instruct them in piety, let him be excommunicated; and if he persists in the neglect and sloth, let him be deposed.

If any bishop or presbyter, when one of the clerics is in want, does not supply what he needs, let him be excommunicated; and if he persists, let him be deposed, as having murdered his brother.

If anyone makes public in the church as holy the falsely inscribed books of the impious, to the ruin of the people and the clergy, let him be deposed.

If any accusation is made against one of the faithful, of fornication or adultery or some other forbidden deed, and he is convicted, let him not be advanced into the clergy.

If any cleric, through fear of men, whether of a Jew, or a pagan, or a heretic, denies: if it is the name of Christ, let him be cast out; but if it is the name of cleric, let him be deposed; and having repented, let him be received as a layman.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone at all of the priestly list, eats meat in the blood of its life, or what has been caught by beasts, or what has died of itself, let him be deposed; for the law has forbidden this; and if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.

If any cleric or layman enters a synagogue of Jews or of heretics to pray, let him be both deposed and excommunicated.

If any cleric, striking someone in a fight, kills him with the one blow, let him be deposed on account of his rashness; and if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.

If any cleric is found fasting on the Lord's day, or on the Sabbath (except the one only), let him be deposed; and if a layman, let him be excommunicated.

If anyone, having taken an unbetrothed virgin by force, holds her, let him be excommunicated; and let him not be permitted to take another, but let him keep that one whom he chose, even if she happens to be poor.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon receives a second ordination from anyone, let him be deposed, both he and the one who ordained him; unless indeed it be established that he has his ordination from heretics. For those who have been baptised or ordained by such can be neither faithful nor clerics.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or subdeacon, or reader, or cantor does not fast the holy Forty Days of Pascha, or Wednesday, or Friday, let him be deposed, unless he is hindered by bodily weakness; and if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.

If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone at all of the list of clerics, fasts with Jews, or keeps feast with them, or receives from them the gifts of the feast, such as unleavened bread or anything of the kind, let him be deposed; and if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.

If any Christian carries oil to a temple of the heathen, or to a synagogue of Jews, at their feasts, or lights lamps, let him be excommunicated.

If any cleric or layman takes away wax or oil from the holy church, let him be excommunicated, and let him add the fifth part to what he took.

A vessel of gold or silver that has been sanctified, or a linen cloth, let no one any longer appropriate to his own use; for it is unlawful. And if anyone is caught, let him be punished with excommunication.

A bishop accused of anything by men worthy of belief must himself be summoned by bishops; and if he appears and confesses, or is convicted, let the penalty be determined. But if, when summoned, he does not obey, let him be summoned also a second time, two bishops being sent to him. And if even so he does not obey, let him be summoned also a third time, two bishops again being sent to him. But if even so, in contempt, he does not appear, let the synod pronounce against him what seems good; so that he may not seem to profit by evading judgement.

For testimony against a bishop a heretic is not to be received, nor even one believer alone. For at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.

That a bishop ought not, as a favour to his brother, or his son, or another relative, to ordain whom he wishes to the dignity of the episcopate; for it is not just to make heirs of the episcopate, bestowing the things of God out of human passion; for he ought not to put the Church of God under heirs. And if anyone does this, let the ordination remain void; and let him himself be punished with excommunication.

If anyone is maimed in the eye, or injured in the leg, but is worthy of the episcopate, let him become a bishop; for it is not a blemish of the body that defiles him, but pollution of the soul.

But if he is deaf and blind, let him not become a bishop; not as being defiled, but so that ecclesiastical affairs may not be hindered.

If anyone has a demon, let him not become a cleric, nor even pray with the faithful; but when he has been cleansed, let him be received, and, if he is worthy, let him become one.

It is not right that one who has come from a heathen life and been baptised, or from an evil manner of life, should be straightway promoted bishop; for it is unjust that one who has not yet given proof of himself should be a teacher of others; unless perhaps this comes about by divine grace.

We have said that a bishop or presbyter ought not to involve himself in public administrations, but to give his time to ecclesiastical needs. Either, then, let him be persuaded not to do this, or let him be deposed. For no one can serve two lords, according to the Lord's command.

We do not permit household slaves to be promoted into the clergy without the consent of their masters, to the grief of the masters who own them; for such a thing works the overthrow of households. But if ever a household slave should appear worthy of ordination to a rank, as our Onesimus also appeared, and the masters consent, and set him free, and send him out of the house, let him become one.

A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who gives himself to military service and wishes to hold both, Roman office and priestly administration, let him be deposed. For the things of Caesar, to Caesar; and the things of God, to God.

If anyone insults a king or a ruler contrary to justice, let him pay the penalty; and if he is a cleric, let him be deposed; and if a layman, let him be excommunicated.

Let there be for all of you, clerics and laymen, venerable and holy books: of the Old Testament, of Moses, five: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; of Joshua son of Nun, one; of Judges, one; of Ruth, one; of the Kingdoms, four; of the Paralipomena, of the book of the days, two; of Esdras, two; of Esther, one; of the Maccabees, three; of Job, one; of the Psalter, one; of Solomon, three: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs; of the Prophets, twelve; of Isaiah, one; of Jeremiah, one; of Ezekiel, one; of Daniel, one. And besides these, let it be further recorded for you that your young should learn the Wisdom of the very learned Sirach. And ours (that is, of the New Testament): Gospels, four: of Matthew, of Mark, of Luke and of John; epistles of Paul, fourteen; epistles of Peter, two; of John, three; of James, one; of Jude, one; epistles of Clement, two; and the Constitutions addressed to you bishops through me, Clement, in eight books, which ought not to be made public before all because of the mystical things in them; and the Acts of us the Apostles.