Canon Law Prohibitions on Marriage to Kin in Rus’ and Muscovy

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-141
Author(s):  
George G. Weickhardt
Keyword(s):  
Canon Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Early Church ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Church

Throughout the Kyivan, appanage and Muscovite periods, written Orthodox canon law generally prohibited marriage within the seventh degree of consanguinity. This rule prohibited marriage even between third cousins. This rule, with some notable exceptions, was observed and enforced in Kyivan Rus’ and Muscovy. Prohibition of marriage within the seventh degree went far beyond the Biblical and Justinianic rules, as well as the rules of the early church ecumenical councils, which all allowed marriage between first cousins. The present study will inquire into the origin and purpose of this rule, its reception in Rus’, and its effect on Rus’ and Muscovite society, with particular emphasis on why the church deemed it necessary to extend impediments to marriage far beyond the rules from the Bible, Byzantine civil law and the original canon law from the ecumenical councils.

scholarly journals VII.—Lessing's Religious Development with Special Reference to His Nathan the Wise

PMLA ◽  
1893 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-379
Author(s):  
Sylvester Primer
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Religious Development ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Church Hierarchy ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Church

The primitive purity of the early Church soon yielded to a Church hierarchy. In those early times, before the New Testament was admitted to equal canonical authority with the Old, the Church became the supreme authority and the Bible was subordinate. After the incorporation of the New Testament into the Bible, the Scriptures and the Church appear to be coördinate authority in the patristic writings of that period. During the Middle Ages the Church grew rapidly in political power and the influence of the Scriptures waned accordingly, so that Dante complains of the way in which not merely creeds and fathers but canon law and the decretals were studied instead of the gospels.

The Legal Basis for the Prohibition on Abortion in Jewish Law

1980 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Biblical Law ◽  
Foetal Development ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
The Church

One of the main issues in almost every treatment of abortion in Jewish Law is the legal basis for its prohibition. The recent trend in Rabbinic literature to categorise abortion as a form of homicide, proscribed by Biblical law, seems to constitute a break with the classical Rabbinic view, according to which abortion is neither homicide, nor directly prohibited in the major literary sources of Jewish Law, i.e. the Bible and the Talmud. Moreover, in the few instances in which abortion is discussed in these sources, it would seem that no such prohibition exists.This article will analyse the Biblical and Talmudic passages which deal with abortion, and survey the various Rabbinic opinions as to the legal basis for its prohibition. Particular attention will be paid to the argument that abortion is a biblically-proscribed form of homicide, and to the reasons which may underlie the adoption of that argument by a number of authorities in recent times. We will also analyse the significance in Jewish Law of the stages of foetal development.Our analysis will be both historical and normative, and in this context it will be a valuable exercise to compare the position in Jewish Law to that in the Canon Law of the Church of Rome. Although the Church Fathers held that abortion was a form of homicide, and the contemporary position of the Catholic Church reflects this attitude strictly and unswervingly, the Medieval Canonists adopted the distinction between the formed and the unformed foetus, based on a tradition derived from the Septuagint version of the Biblical passage dealing with the consequences of striking a pregnant woman (Ex. 21:22–23).

Barth and Patristic Theology

2019 ◽  
pp. 69-85
Author(s):  
Tom Greggs
Keyword(s):  
Early Church ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Hypostatic Union ◽  
Critical Heritage ◽  
The Church

This chapter examines Barth’s approach to patristic theology as well as his engagement with key doctrines and councils of the patristic era. It is clear in relation to Barth’s use of, and engagement with, the patristic fathers that the Bible is always sovereign over the church and its teachings; even so, the patristic witness is thought to proffer an authoritative reading of Scripture. This chapter, therefore, explores Barth’s approach to the patristic fathers in relation to the ‘Scripture principle’ and Barth’s Protestant, modern, and critical heritage. Having outlined Barth’s orientation, the chapter considers Barth’s approach to the major councils and definitions of the early church. It pays particular attention to the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed in relation to the divinity of Christ and the Symbol of Chalcedonian in relation to the hypostatic union.

scholarly journals Lessons from the Early Church for Today’s Evangelical Christianity

Kairos ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-90
Author(s):  
Ervin Budiselić
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Evangelical Christianity ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

Presuming that within Evangelical Christianity there is a crisis of biblical interpretation, this article seeks to address the issue, especially since Evangelicals view the existence of the church as closely connected to the proclamation of the Truth. Starting with a position that Evangelical hermeneutics is not born in a vacuum, but is the result of a historical process, the first part of the article introduces the problem of sola and solo scriptura, pointing out some problematic issues that need to be addressed. In the second part, the article discusses patristic hermeneutics, especially: a) the relationship between Scripture and tradition embodied in regula fidei and; b) theological presuppositions which gave birth to allegorical and literal interpretations of Scripture in Alexandria and Antioch. In the last part of the article, based on lessons from the patristic era, certain revisions of the Evangelical practice of the interpretation of Scripture are suggested. Particularly, Evangelicals may continue to hold the Bible as the single infallible source for Christian doctrine, continue to develop the historical-grammatical method particularly in respect to the issue of the analogy of faith in exegetical process, but also must recognize that the Bible cannot in toto play the role of the rule of faith or the analogy of faith. Something else must also come into play, and that “something” would definitely be the recovery of the patristic period “as a kind of doctrinal canon.”

scholarly journals Fundamental Rights—Comparison of the Approaches in the Canon Law and in the Civil Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 73-95
Author(s):  
Stanislav Přibyl
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Modern State ◽  
Code Of Canon Law ◽  
The Church

The Code of Canon Law of 1983 came up with a list of obligations and duties of the Catholic faithful. This list is analogical to those of the charters of fundamental rights and freedoms found in the documents of international law and in the constitutions of democratic countries. the inspiration of church law by civilian law was a reality from the very beginnings of the development of Canon Law: first by Roman Law, in the modern world by complex codifications of civil law, and after Vatican II also the idea of universal human rights. The specifics of the Catholic Church in relation to a democratic state is the incorporation of the subject of law into the Church through baptism which brings, above all, duties and obligations. Thus the catalogue which may now be seen in the Code contains first and foremost a list of duties, not rights, which are not stressed in the modern state. In fact, the modern state has very few demands; often just the payment of taxes and compulsory school attendance. The article deals with the individual obligations and rights found in the Code of Canon Law and compares them with their analogies in constitutions. The concept of civil and canonical norms tends to get closer primarily in the case of inspiration by natural law, whereas the obligations of the faithful represent a specifically ecclesiastical goals, for which no analogy in civil law can be found. After all, the supreme law of the Church is the salvation of souls, indeed, the state does not have such a supernatural goal.

The English Canon Law Relating to Suicide Victims

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte L Wright
Keyword(s):  
Canon Law ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Current Position ◽  
Electoral Roll ◽  
Attitudes Towards Suicide ◽  
The Law ◽  
Sound Mind ◽  
The Church

Society has historically viewed suicide with hostility and fear. For centuries this hostility was reflected in the English civil law, which condemned suicide as homicide, and in the Church's position towards suicide victims, which historically considered suicide to be a mortal sin. Under the current canon law, set out in Canon B 38, it is the duty of the minister to bury all parishioners, those who die in the parish, or those entered on the electoral roll of the parish according to the rites of the Church of England, except for (among others) those who ‘being of sound mind have laid violent hands upon themselves’. This canon has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years as society's attitudes towards suicide have become more tolerant. As a result, General Synod recently voted that this canon should be amended. This article explores the development of the law relating to suicide victims in order to understand the Church's current position. It then considers the shortcomings of the current canon law and reviews the position adopted by the Roman Catholic and Methodist churches. Finally, it examines the proposals for changing Canon B 38.

Samuel Hallifax (1733–1790)

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Norman Doe
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Direct Connection ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Ecclesiastical Law ◽  
The Church ◽  
Regius Professor

Trinity Hall, Cambridge was founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, for the study of canon law and civil law, as provided in its statutes. It later developed a direct connection with Doctors’ Commons in London, the College of Advocates practising in the church and admiralty courts. In the period 1512–1856, of the 462 admitted as advocates, 85 were from the Hall, including 15 masters and 45 fellows. From 1558 to 1857, the Hall had 9 out of about 25 Deans of Arches: two under Elizabeth, three at the end of the seventeenth century, three in the eighteenth century and one in the nineteenth. It has also provided more than 24 diocesan chancellors. As a result, within Cambridge University, Trinity Hall became the ‘nursery for civilians’, and the usual home for the Regius Professor of Civil Law. Among the first 12 of these (1540–1666), the Hall had 5. From 1666 to 1873, all of the next 12 holders were Trinity Hall by origin or adoption. Uniquely, all four of those holding this chair from 1757 to 1847 were clergy. These included Samuel Hallifax, Regius Professor of Civil Law 1770–1782. What follows deals with the life and career of Hallifax; his legal treatise An Analysis of the Roman Civil Law Compared with the Laws of England (with particular reference to its treatment of ecclesiastical law), its use and later editions; and the part played by it in a development which saw Trinity Hall become the centre for the new Civil Law classes (1816–1857), the forerunner of the modern Cambridge Law Tripos.

scholarly journals The Necessity for Legislation rê Suicide

1894 ◽  
Vol 40 (171) ◽  
pp. 605-609
Author(s):  
S. A. K. Strahan
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Church ◽  
Temporary Insanity

Up to the end of the sixteenth century the body of the suicide was treated with barbarous cruelty. This was the outcome of the canon law rather than the civil law, and the Church still clings to a belief in the efficacy of old-time procedure. Only the other day (February, 1894) the Archbishop of Canterbury said that “the increase of suicide is largely due to the now almost universal verdict of temporary insanity given at coroners' inquests;” and he further referred to the burial of suicides in consecrated ground with former practices. The sole disability under which a suicide now lies is that which he suffers at the hands of the Church, and it is to enable him to escape that that coroners' juries deliberately perjure themselves by finding verdicts of temporary insanity where there is not a tittle of evidence to support such verdicts.

scholarly journals nexus between church and gender

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angeline Savala
Keyword(s):  
Early Church ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Church Mission ◽  
The Bible ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Church

Interface between the Bible and ideas about gender and church mission work in Africa is a phenomenon that calls for discussion within theological forums. Despite both men and women being active in church activities, the early church depicts men as being at the forefront while women quietly participated. Concerning the missionary era, men publicly were the leaders as women followed or privately served as the personal assistant or as administrators. In addition, looking now at the contemporary church, in the traditional (orthodox) churches, the so-called historical or mainstream churches, men take the top leadership roles while women deputize them. However, this position is being challenged by the new religious movements and Christian ministries movements where women are usurping the top leadership positions. This paper therefore seeks to paint a seemingly more balanced account of gender roles that would benefit men and women alike by exploring historical and theological leadership roles and gender in the church.

scholarly journals Rural Pastoral Transfers in Classical Pentecostal Churches in Ghana and Pastors Children’s Holistic Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
Job Wiredu
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Holistic Development ◽  
Unequal Treatment ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
The Church

The transfer of pastors is an age-old phenomenon dating from the early church as recorded in the Bible. This process was conducted in consultation with the Holy Spirit and the leaders of the Church. In the contemporary Church, the same format is used. However, what is lacking is unequal treatment given to pastors who are posted to rural areas that were not evident in the early church. This paper employed the qualitative research approach in studying rural pastoral care in three Classical Pentecostal churches in Ghana. The study findings indicate that children of rural pastors face challenges which affect their holistic development. It recommends pastors and their families should be given fair treatment in the transfer process to ensure the holistic development of their children. Keywords: Rural Pastoral Transfer, Equity, Holistic Development

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