Sources of Ecclesiastical Law
Ecclesiastical Laws
Sources of Ecclesiastical Law
The first source of ecclesiastical laws is the Holy Bible. Then come the collections of laws laid down by the Apostolic Fathers, the Holy Councils, and the great Teachers of the Church. Also included are what has reached us through Tradition, and what is implicitly contained in the rites of the Church.
We shall attempt to address each of these sources in detail.
The Holy Bible:
There are important matters for which the Holy Bible has laid down explicit rules. These cannot be changed by the Church, nor can it establish any laws that contradict them. The authority of binding and loosing granted to the Church is an authority exercised within the teachings of the Holy Bible. Therefore, Saint Paul the Apostle says: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be anathema” (Gal. 1:8).
As an example of biblical legislation, there are the texts concerning marriage and divorce. Marriage is a divine bond, as understood from the Lord’s saying in Scripture: “What God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matt. 19:6). God joins the two parties of marriage through the Church, through His servants, “stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1).
Thus, the Church does not recognize civil marriage, for example, because it is the civil authorities who bind it, not God.
The Bible has made this sacred bond—the bond of marriage—a lifelong bond, saying: “For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress” (Rom. 7:2–3). The lifelong nature of the marriage bond is commanded in Holy Scripture to be dissolved only on account of adultery.
There are four passages in the Holy Gospel that establish this legislation: (Matt. 5:32), (Matt. 19:9), (Mark 10:11), and (Luke 16:18). For example, in the Gospel of Matthew it says: “Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery” (Matt. 19:9).
This verse clearly indicates the prohibition of polygamy. If polygamy were permitted in Christianity, the second marriage would have been considered lawful and not adultery, regardless of whether the reason for divorce was legitimate or not. But because Christianity does not allow a man to be joined to two wives, it is also said in the Gospel of Mark with the same meaning: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her” (Mark 10:11).
All the verses in the Gospel that speak about the wife are in the singular. The Lord says: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Mark 10:7–8). The second wife would be a third body entering between the two to separate them in order to form a unity with one of them. Consider the principle of one flesh in our Book: the law of one wife in Christianity.
We also note in (Matt. 19:29) that what can be plural is mentioned in the plural, and what cannot be except singular is mentioned in the singular, such as father, mother, and wife. In this regard, the Lord says: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Matt. 19:29). The same meaning appears in (Luke 14:26).
The Holy Bible also states the possibility of separation between spouses in the case of difference in religion: “But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases” (1 Cor. 7:15).
In the Holy Bible there are also cases of impediments to marriage due to kinship, in a long list found in (Lev. 18:6–18).
All these matters mentioned by the Holy Bible are things that the Church can never تجاوز or change, regardless of the authority of binding and loosing granted to it.
The Holy Bible also laid down regulations concerning bishops, priests, and deacons, and the service of widows and virgins in the Church, as stated in (1 Tim. 2), (1 Tim. 5), and (Titus 1), along with other texts related to the priesthood in various topics.
It also provided specific texts concerning baptism and the other sacraments of the Church, such as what is mentioned about baptism in (Mark 16:16), (Acts 2:38), (Gal. 3:27), (John 3:3,5), (Acts 22:16), (Titus 3:5), and (Rom. 6:3–6).
Likewise, what is mentioned about the Sacrament of the Eucharist in (1 Cor. 11) and (John 6); about the Sacrament of Holy Chrism in (1 John 2:20,27); about the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick in (James 5); and about the Sacrament of Confession in (Matt. 3:6) and (Acts 19:18). All these are laws by which we proceed, and we have no authority to change them.
The Holy Bible also laid down laws governing spiritual and social life in many aspects that we cannot enumerate here. It suffices to say that the Holy Bible is not only the first source of ecclesiastical laws, but also the precise standard by which all other sources of laws are measured.
Liturgical Books:
Liturgical books are another source of laws, because while collections of laws mention these laws theoretically, the liturgical books explain the practical application of laws that are either mentioned in those collections or laws that we can infer from the rites.
We regard the fixed rites as laws to which we adhere. Examples include the rites for building churches, the rites for the holy sacraments of the Church, and the rites for certain prayers, such as the Laqan, the blessing of new homes, and the consecration of virgins, nuns, and monks.
Indeed, from the liturgical books we can extract laws that may not be written in the books of laws.
For example, we can understand the competencies of each rank of church service from what is stated in the ordination rite for that rank. We can also understand the efficacy of each liturgical prayer from what its rite contains. Regarding the priestly ranks, for instance, we understand much about them from the laying on of hands, the holy breath, the proclamation, the prayers, and the commandment. Even the priestly vestments themselves are accompanied by prayers, each containing a specific meaning that may not exist in the books of laws.
Most fixed rites are ecclesiastical laws that have reached us through practical transmission, and they are in no way inferior to laws that have reached us in written form. We may say that rites are older laws that the Church practiced practically before sending them in written form to the churches. The rites and the laws moved together within one framework. When the Church used a particular system of ecclesiastical penalties, the rite of church building corresponded to the laws of penalties in terms of the narthexes of the church and its divisions.
Just as the rites give the practical application of the laws, so Church history gives us the practical picture of the laws.
Church History:
By history we do not mean history filled with errors, but rather the history of the saints and of the Church in its holy ages. These distinguished historical precedents are considered examples of laws put into practice.
The history of the popes, for example, and the history of saintly patriarchs in other churches, such as Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Ambrose, and Saint Basil the Great, give us a clear idea of the competencies of the pope or patriarch and his authority in a detailed practical manner that may not be found in the books of laws.
Although some sayings of the Fathers were considered laws—such as the laws of Pope Timothy of Alexandria—the actions of these Fathers are in fact an echo of unwritten laws or a detailed explanation of what is stated in the laws in a summarized way.
All this gives us an understanding of the sources of ecclesiastical laws and how they expand to include many matters beyond the level of texts. Therefore, among their sources may also be traditions.
Traditions of the Church:
Just as we say that not all the teachings of the Lord to His Church were written, but reached us through tradition, so we also say that not all the teachings of the holy Apostolic Fathers were written, but likewise reached us through tradition—that is, one generation hands over its entire heritage to another generation—as Saint Paul the Apostle said: “Now the rest I will set in order when I come” (1 Cor. 11:34). Scripture did not tell us how Saint Paul arranged those remaining matters, but this arrangement undoubtedly reached us through the traditions of the Church or its rites.
Likewise, Saint John the Apostle said: “Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face” (2 John 12; 3 John 13–14). Scripture did not tell us what those matters were that this great saint preferred not to write, choosing instead to speak face to face. But perhaps they reached us through tradition or through the rites.
The laws of the Church appear above all in the life of the Church.
We look at the life of the Church in its sound ages, in its rites, and in its traditions, and we know what the laws of the Church are.
A clear secular example in our generation is the British constitution. It is not a written constitution, but rather the constitutional life that Britain lives.
Therefore, the student of ecclesiastical law must be religiously cultured in many aspects and not suffice with merely the texts of the laws. Just as he studies ecclesiastical laws in their known collections, he must also be a student of the Holy Bible, the rites of the Church, its history, and its traditions.
From all this combined heritage, he extracts the ecclesiastical legal concept for any given issue.
Two Notes:
The first note is understanding the spirit of the law, not merely limiting oneself to its text. Here, explanation is required alongside the text. Some words need interpretation, such as the word digamy: does it mean a second marriage, or the union with two wives? Similarly, the word polygamy: does it mean multiple marriages after widowhood, or multiple wives?
It is necessary to understand temporary laws and distinguish them from permanent laws. For example, when the Manichaean heresy and the Montanist heresies spread—regarding the criminalization of meat and the prohibition of wine—one ecclesiastical law was issued to combat these heresies, requiring believers to eat meat and drink wine during feasts to prove that they were against those heresies. When the time of those heresies ended, the application of that law also ended, because it was merely a temporary law to resist a heresy, not a permanent, enduring law.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Thirty-Seventh Year (Issues 5 & 6), 6 March 2009.
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