Promulgation of Canon Law
The council promulgated twenty new church laws, called canons, (though the exact number is subject to debate), that is, unchanging rules of discipline. The twenty as listed in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers are as follows:
- 1. prohibition of self-castration
- 2. establishment of a minimum term for catechumen (persons studying for baptism)
- 3. prohibition of the presence in the house of a cleric of a younger woman who might bring him under suspicion (the so called virgines subintroductae)
- 4. ordination of a bishop in the presence of at least three provincial bishops and confirmation by the Metropolitan bishop
- 5. provision for two provincial synods to be held annually
- 6. exceptional authority acknowledged for the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome (the Pope), for their respective regions
- 7. recognition of the honorary rights of the see of Jerusalem
- 8. provision for agreement with the Novatianists, an early sect
- 9–14. provision for mild procedure against the lapsed during the persecution under Licinius
- 15–16. prohibition of the removal of priests
- 17. prohibition of usury among the clergy
- 18. precedence of bishops and presbyters before deacons in receiving the Eucharist (Holy Communion)
- 19. declaration of the invalidity of baptism by Paulian heretics
- 20. prohibition of kneeling on Sundays and during the Pentecost (the fifty days commencing on Easter). Standing was the normative posture for prayer at this time, as it still is among the Eastern Christians.
On July 25, 325, in conclusion, the fathers of the council celebrated the Emperor's twentieth anniversary. In his farewell address, Constantine informed the audience how averse he was to dogmatic controversy; he wanted the Church to live in harmony and peace. In a circular letter, he announced the accomplished unity of practice by the whole Church in the date of the celebration of Christian Passover (Easter).
Read more about this topic: First Council Of Nicaea
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—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)
“There is a Canon which confines
A Rhymed Octosyllabic Curse
If written in Iambic Verse
To fifty lines.”
—Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953)
“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest. What force has a multitude? They can only force me who obey a higher law than I.... I do not hear of men being forced to live this way or that by masses of men. What sort of life were that to live?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)