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The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1 - Contents
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    II. Examples of Religions Legislation as Embodied in Civil Law

    1. CODE EMBODIES EXISTING RELIGIOUS LAWS

    The Code groups together in book 1 the various religious laws of emperors since Constantine.PFF1 934.2

    In this book, title 1, “Concerning the Most Exalted Trinity and the Catholic Faith, and Providing That No One Shall Dare to Publicly OpposePFF1 934.3

    Them,” begins by defining and establishing orthodoxy, penalizing dissenters, and including Justinian’s correspondence with John and Epiphanius relating to the Nestorians and asserting the pope’s headship. Title 2 is concerned with the property and privileges of churches, titles 3 and 4 with the status of the clergy and the legal functions and jurisdiction of the bishops. Title 5 confirms the decrees against heresy, which, together with Justinian’s own enactments in the Novellae, laid the foundation upon which the Inquisition was later built. 7Gosselin, op. clt., vol. 1, pp. 78-80. Titles 6-13 deal with various religious subjects.PFF1 934.4

    Although most of the religious legislation is in the first part of book 1, we find in book 3, title 12, the laws concerning festivals, including both secular holidays and religious days such as Christmas and Easter, as well as Sunday laws beginning with Constantine’s first Sunday edict of 321.PFF1 934.5

    2. JUSTINIAN’S NOVELLAE EXTEND EXISTING LAWS AND INCORPORATE CANON LAW

    The Novellae, or New Constitutions, in nine collections, include various religious enactments of Justinian, two of which, numbers 9 and 131, have been quoted in part. It is to be noted that, in addition to confirming the older laws in the Code and making new enactments in the Novellae, Justinian also incorporated into the imperial Civil Law the body of canon law recognized in the church.PFF1 934.6

    Novella 131 enacts for the whole empire the canons of the first four general councils, Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, thereby including many enactments of lesser synods which were declared in force by the first canon of the council of Chalcedon. 8The first canon of the General Council of Chalcedon (451) declared in force and thus made obligatory upon the entire church the provisions of certain local synods:
    Canon 1. “The canons hitherto put forth by the holy fathers in all the Synods shall have validity.” (Hefele, op. cit., vol. 3, p. 385.) Justinian takes note of this in his Novella 131, as he refers to canons adopted and confirmed by the first four general councils, which are now denominated “laws.” He doubtless meant to enforce the canons of all the councils in the ancient collection as current in his day, up to and including Chalcedon. Thus, by incorporation into the imperial code, they were given the force and validity of civil law, and their infraction became a crime against the state.
    Thus Justinian not only codified the religious laws of his predecessors but also specifically designated the bishop of Rome the head of the church and corrector of heretics, and made the canon law of the church up to 451 part of the civil law of the empire, thus consummating the union of church and state.
    PFF1 934.7

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