Some folks seem to find relying on councils a comfort. For these folks, there are some inconvenient facts that they must face. This post is the ninth in what has become a multi-part series.
Quinisext Ecumenical Council (691) - Laity Forbidden to Teach
Canon 64 of the Q council begins:
That a layman must not publicly make a speech or teach, thus investing himself with the dignity of a teacher, but, instead, must submit to the ordinance handed down by the Lord, and to open his ear wide to them who have received the grace of teaching ability, and to be taught by them the divine facts thoroughly.
One cannot help but notice that this canon law has been abandoned by quite a number of "Orthodox" laity on the Internet. I'd say it was also abandoned by a number of the "Catholic" laity on the Internet, but as we learned in the last segment, they don't accept these canons as proceeding from an ecumenical council.
3 comments:
I don't think you understand the context of that canon. Some laymen have always been teachers...throughout the centuries.
My friend Phatcatholic just got his Masters in theology at FSU and he is now teaching at his Parish in Kentucky.
I am taking home courses at Saint Stephens, I plan on getting a masters of Theology, and after I'm done with that I'm looking at Saint Tikhon's.
Alot of us are being trained, and being tought. So there is more to it than you think.
JNORM888
Jnorm888,
The canon doesn't seem to permit of exceptions. That the canon does not correspond to the contemporary practice in Eastern Orthodoxy is plain to me, and is one of the reasons I mentioned the canon. I wouldn't be the least surprised to find that it didn't comply with ancient practices, either.
Justin Martyr, for example, is a notable ancient layman who may be viewed as having taught (though I'd hesitate before being too dogmatic about that).
Jerome opposed a layman who was teaching against the perpetual virginity of Mary in his day.
No other examples pop immediately to mind.
-Turretinfan
And, Phatcatholic, I think, would not be Eastern Orthodox in any event ... would he?
-TurretinFan
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