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The sources pertaining to the early church concur that all church authority comes from God (Ring, 1975, 64). Jesus (Christ, Jesus, 01: Survey) himself already gave the church all essential rules of discipline during his lifetime. The authoritative mediators and interpreters of these rules are the twelve apostles (Apostle/Disciple), insofar as they genuinely witnessed the proclamation of Jesus with their own eyes and ears. God himself caused many of these rules to be written down in the Ne…

From the very beginning, the organization of the ancient church found itself in a process of increasing complexity that remains without parallel in the history of ancient religions.Development of the Local Congregation in the First Three Centuries CEThe process began with a variety of different congregational models. While the Corinthian congregation of Paul’s (Paul [Apostle])  lifetime only exhibited a low degree of organization and probably got by without a formal congregational leadership, officials vested with leadership f…

A precursor of the inner ecclesial court and thus also of the legal complaint that is brought forward at this court is found in 1 Cor 6:1–11. Paul states explicitly that Christians should under no circumstances bring their fellow Christians before secular courts. He criticizes that such legal disputes occur at all among Christians and advises the Corinthians to seek the arbitration of a wise man in order to settle these brotherly quarrels within the congregation. Such a ban on instituting legal proceedings before external judges is also attested in Jewish communities (Jos. Ant. 14.235; Schrage, 1991, 408). Similar bans are also encountered in private cultic associations of the Roman imperial period, as for instance among the Athenian Iobacchoi, whose statutes provided for a punishment of those members who brought their mutual quarrels before public courts (SIG, vol. III, 3rd ed., inscription no 1109, ll. 90–95; Poland, 1909, 501).The Ecclesial Court in the 3rd Century CEBy the early 3rd century, the arbitration of disputes demanded by Paul (Paul [Apostle]) had developed into an inner-congregational jurisdiction (see also Cyp. Test. 3.44) that is …

Soon after the Easter events, baptism became the act through which believers were incorporated into the church (Gaudemet, 1989, 55–69; Ferguson, 2009, 132–198), a relationship that was exclusive. According to early Christian understanding, it precludes all other paths to salvation in the sense of a religious pluralism. Accordingly, excommunication signifies the forsaking of salvation in this world and the next, at least as long as it is not rescinded. Membership in the church always has two dime…

[English Version] . P. bzw. Pfarrei geht auf den griech. Terminus παροικι´α/paroiki´a (»Beisassenschaft«) zurück, der im Urchristentum die Fremdheit der Christen in der Gesellschaft bez. Ausgehend von diesem grundlegenden Lebensgefühl wurden die Einzelgemeinden seit dem 2.Jh. παροικι´αι/paroiki´ai gena…

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[German Version] By the early 2nd century at the latest, the church included women who chose to live as virgins; they enjoyed great respect. In the late 2nd century, there developed an order of virgins, which attracted many women. Originally they bound themselves by private pledges, later by public consecration and vows, the brea…

[German Version] The German Sprengel, originally an implement for sprinkling (holy) water, denotes the area of a…

[German Version] (217–222), bishop of Rome. His life and teachings are known almost exclusively from the portrayal by his competitor and opponent Hippolytus ( Haer. 9.11f.; 10.27), who depicts him as a social climber and careerist. Born a slave, Callistus was entrusted with the banking affairs of his Christian master. A conflict with Roman Jews (debtors?) led to his condemnation as a Christian a…

[German Version] The Letter to Diognetus (titled simply “To Diognetus” in the authoritative manuscript) is not a letter at all but an anonymous apologetic and protreptic tract. After an introduction listing the topics of discussion (ch. 1), a refutation of the gods of the Greeks (ch. 2), and derision of the Jewish cult and ritual law (chs. 3f.), which follow the traditional schemes …

[German Version] I. Early Church – II. Orthodox Canon Law I. Early Church The metropolitanate is an outgrowth of the emergence of synods, which in the late 2nd century slowly began to develop into the most important regional ecclesiastical authorities (see also Church polity: I, 3.a). As soon as synods began to assemble regularly on a provincial level (Ecclesiastical province), the bishop of the provincial capital acquired new authority, which increasingly became legally codified. At the beginning of the 4…

[German Version] I. New Testament – II. History – III. Ethics I. New Testament The summary descriptions in Acts paint a picture of the first Christian community in Jerusalem in which the ¶ unanimity of the believers finds expression in the community of goods (2:44f.; 4:32–35). This community is depicted as free, not forced (5:4), and not egalitarian: The goods offered to the community were divided according to the needs of each individual (2:45; 4:35). The community of goods is only an element of the koinōnía of worship, prayer and Eucharist that charact…

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[German version] I. Mesopotamia From the 3rd millennium to the end of Mesopotamian civilization, the staff of Mesopotamian temples consisted of the cult personnel in the narrower sense - i.e. the priests and priestesses who looked after the official cult in the temples, the cult musicians and singers - and the service staff (male and female courtyard cleaners, cooks, etc.). In addition, there was the hierarchically structured administrative and financial staff of the temple households, wh…

[English version] I. Mesopotamien Das Personal mesopot. Tempel setzte sich seit dem 3. Jt. bis ans Ende der mesopot. Zivilisation aus dem Kultpersonal im engeren Sinn - d. h. den P. und P.innen, die den offiziellen Kult in den Tempeln besorgten, den Kultmusikanten und Sängern - sowie dem Dienstpersonal (Hofreinigern un…

[German Version] I. History – II. The Present – III. Orthodox Church – IV. The Study of Canon Law and Church Law – V. Practical Theology – VI. Oriental Orthodox Canon Law …