Subject: Re: Non Judgmental Christian Church
Date: 4 Aug 1999 01:37:47 GMT
From: Kathy Moser <>
Organization: Hewlett Packard
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
The moderator wrote:
: [The Biblical references I know of talk about removing someone from
: the church. That is the highest sanction in the PC(USA). There is a
: difference in our situation that makes it hard to get the exact
: equivalence of the NT church. The NT church seems to have met in
: private in members' homes.

>From Canon XI of the First Ecumenical Council (325 A.D.):

"As many as were communicants, if they heartily repent, shall pass three
years
among the hearers; for seven years they shall be prostrators; and for
two
years they shall communicate with the people in prayers, but without
oblation."

There is a another group mentioned elsewhere:

"From the fourth century the penitents of the Church were divided into
four
classes. Three of these are mentioned in the eleventh canon, the fourth,
which is not here referred to, was composed of those styled
sugklai/ontej,
flentes or weepers. These were not allowed to enter into the body of the
church at all, but stood or lay outside the gates, sometimes covered
with sackcloth and ashes. This is the class which is sometimes styled
xeimozome/noi, hybernantes, on account of their being obliged to endure
the inclemency of the weather."

More detail is obtained from the following description of the church
buildings of the time:

"Before the church there was commonly either an open area surrounded
with
porticoes, called mesau/lion or atrium, with a font of water in the
centre,
styled a cantharus or phiala, or sometimes only an open portico, or
propu/laion. The first variety may still be seen at S. Ambrogio's in
Milan,
and the latter in Rome at S. Lorenzo's, and in Ravenna at the two S.
Apollinares. This was the place at which the first and lowest order of
penitents, the weepers, already referred to, stood exposed to the
weather. Of
these, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus says: "Weeping takes place outside the
door
of the church, where the sinner must stand and beg the prayers of the
faithful as they go in."

The church itself usually consisted of three divisions within, besides
these
exterior courts and porch. The first part after passing through "the
great
gates," or doors of the building, was called the Narthex in Greek, and
Faerula in Latin, and was a narrow vestibule extending the whole width
of the
church. In this part, to which Jews and Gentiles, and in most places
even
heretics and schismatics were admitted, stood the Catechumens, and the
Energumens or those afflicted with evil spirits, and the second class of
penitents (the first mentioned in the Canon), who were called the
a0kow=menoi, audientes, or hearers. These were allowed to hear the
Scriptures
read, and the Sermon preached, but were obliged to depart before the
celebration of the Divine Mysteries, with the Catechumens, and the
others
who went by the general name of hearers only.
The second division, or main body of the church, was called the Naos or
Nave.
This was separated from the Narthex by rails of wood, with gates in the
centre, which were called "the beautiful or royal gates." In the middle
of
the Nave, but rather toward the lower or entrance part of it, stood the
Ambo,
or reading-desk, the place for the readers and singers, to which they
went up
by steps, whence the name, Ambo. Before coming to the Ambo, in the
lowest
part of the Nave, and just after passing the royal gates, was the place
for
the third order of penitents, called in Greek gonukli/nontej, or
u9popi/ptontej,and in Latin Genuflectentes or Prostrati, i.e., kneelers
or
prostrators, because they were allowed to remain and join in certain
prayers
particularly made for them. Before going out they prostrated themselves
to
receive the imposition of the bishop's hands with prayer. This class of
penitents left with the Catechumens.

In the other parts of the Nave stood the believers or faithful, i.e.,
those
persons who were in full communion with the Church, the men and women
generally on opposite sides, though in some places the men were below,
and
the women in galleries above. Amongst these were the fourth class of
penitents, who were called sunestw=tej, consistentes, i.e., co-standers,
because they were allowed to stand with the faithful, and to remain and
hear
the prayers of the Church, after the Catechumens and the other penitents
were
dismissed, and to be present while the faithful offered and
communicated,
though they might not themselves make their offerings, nor partake of
the
Holy Communion. This class of penitents are frequently mentioned in the
canons, as "communicating in prayers," or "without the oblation;"
and it
was
the last grade to be passed through previous to the being admitted again
to
full communion. The practice of "hearing mass" or "non-communicating
attendance" clearly had its origin in this stage of discipline. At the
upper
end of the body of the church, and divided from it by rails which were
called
Cancelli, was that part which we now call the Chancel. This was
anciently
called by several names, as Bema or tribunal, from its being raised
above the
body of the church, and Sacrarium or Sanctuary. It was also called Apsis
and Concha Bematis, from its semicircular end. In this part stood the
Altar,
or Holy Table (which names were indifferently used in the primitive
Church),
behind which, and against the wall of the chancel, was the Bishop's
throne,
with the seats of the Presbyters on each side of it, called synthronus.

On
one side of the chancel was the repository for the sacred utensils and
vestments, called the Diaconicum, and answering to our Vestry; and on
the
other the Prothesis, a side-table, or place, where the bread and wine
were
deposited before they were offered on the Altar. The gates in the
chancel
rail were called the holy gates, and none but the higher orders of the
clergy, i.e., Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, were allowed to enter
within
them. The Emperor indeed was permitted to do so for the purpose of
making
his offering at the Altar, but then he was obliged to retire
immediately, and
to receive the communion without."
(Thomassin. Ancienne et Nouvelle Discipline de l'Eglise. Tom. I. Livre
II.
chap. xvj. somewhat abridged.) 

Kathy Moser