Disciplina arcani
Encyclopedia
Disciplina Arcani or Discipline of the Secret or Discipline of the Arcane, is a theological term used to describe the custom which prevailed in Early Christianity
, whereby knowledge of the more intimate mysteries of the Christian religion was carefully kept from non-Christians and even from those who were undergoing instruction in the faith.
Some state that a nucleus of oral teaching was inherited from Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaism
and formed the basis of a secret oral tradition in the early stages of Christianity
. This nucleus of oral teachings (which reflected older traditions and which can be shown to form the background of both Jewish Christian and Gnostic conceptions), formed what came to be called disciplina arcani in the 4th century
.
, in Contra Celsum, argues that it is the doctrine of the Christians, and not only their rites, which should be secret in character. Even if the elements of ritual performance, such as missa fidelium and other Christian rites were under the disciplina arcani during the early stages of Christianity (especially during the 3rd-4th century), nobody at the present time can definitively state which other subjects comprised the disciplina.
Indeed, Origen
, Clement of Alexandria
, Tertullian
, St. Basil, St. Ambrose of Milan and many other Church Fathers
of early Christianity mention an "oral tradition," as in St. Basil's appeal to the "unwritten tradition" in de Spiritu Sancto:
Early Christianity
Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
, whereby knowledge of the more intimate mysteries of the Christian religion was carefully kept from non-Christians and even from those who were undergoing instruction in the faith.
Disciplina Arcani in the early stages of Christianity
The idea of a disciplina arcani, a law imposing silence upon Christians with respect to their rites and doctrines, has been well-studied in the past century.Some state that a nucleus of oral teaching was inherited from Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaism
Hellenistic Judaism
Hellenistic Judaism was a movement which existed in the Jewish diaspora that sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism...
and formed the basis of a secret oral tradition in the early stages of Christianity
Early Christianity
Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
. This nucleus of oral teachings (which reflected older traditions and which can be shown to form the background of both Jewish Christian and Gnostic conceptions), formed what came to be called disciplina arcani in the 4th century
Christianity in the 4th century
Christianity in the 4th century was dominated by Constantine the Great, and the First Council of Nicea of 325, which was the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils and the attempt to reach an orthodox consensus and to establish a unified Christendom as the State church of...
.
The Object of the Discipline
It is characteristic of the disciplina that the subject of the silence was not the dogma and the sacramental gift, but the elements and the ritual performance. OrigenOrigen
Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
, in Contra Celsum, argues that it is the doctrine of the Christians, and not only their rites, which should be secret in character. Even if the elements of ritual performance, such as missa fidelium and other Christian rites were under the disciplina arcani during the early stages of Christianity (especially during the 3rd-4th century), nobody at the present time can definitively state which other subjects comprised the disciplina.
Indeed, Origen
Origen
Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens , known as Clement of Alexandria , was a Christian theologian and the head of the noted Catechetical School of Alexandria. Clement is best remembered as the teacher of Origen...
, Tertullian
Tertullian
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
, St. Basil, St. Ambrose of Milan and many other Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
of early Christianity mention an "oral tradition," as in St. Basil's appeal to the "unwritten tradition" in de Spiritu Sancto:
"Of the dogmata and kerygmata, which are kept in the Church, we have some from the written teaching (εκ της εγγραφου διδασκαλιας), and some we derive from the Apostolic tradition, which had been handed down en mistirio (εν μυστηριω). And both have the same strength (την αυτην ισχυν) in the matters of piety. [...] They come from the silent and mystical tradition, from the unpublic and ineffable teaching".
See also
- Greco-Roman mysteriesGreco-Roman mysteriesMystery religions, sacred Mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious cults of the Greco-Roman world, participation in which was reserved to initiates....
- GnosticismGnosticismGnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
- Esoteric ChristianityEsoteric ChristianityEsoteric Christianity is a term which refers to an ensemble of spiritual currents which regard Christianity as a mystery religion, and profess the existence and possession of certain esoteric doctrines or practices, hidden from the public but accessible only to a narrow circle of "enlightened",...
- Gnosticism and the New TestamentGnosticism and the New TestamentGnosticism and the New Testament is the connection between the Christian sects described by Irenaeus , and other writers, as gnostikos, and the New Testament, and also the use of the New Testament in the Nag Hammadi texts ....
Basic Bibliography
17th-19th century texts on Disciplina Arcani- G. T. Meier, De recondita veteris ecclesiæ theologia, Helmstedt, 1670;
- E. von Schelstrate, Antiquitas illustrata circa concilia generalia et provincialia and Commentatio de s. Antiocheno concilio, Antwerp, 1678, 1681;
- W. E. Tentzel, Exercitationes selectæ, ii., Leipsic, 1692, contains Tentzel’s Dissertatio de disciplina arcani, 1683;
- Schelstrate, Dissertatio apologetica de disciplina arcani contra disputationem E. Tentzelii', 1685;
- G. C. L. T. Frommann, De disciplina arcani, Jena, 1833;
- R. Rothe, De disciplinæ arcani origine, Heidelberg, 1841;
- K. A. Credner, in the Jenaer allgemeine Litteraturzeitung, 1844;
- T. Harnack, Der christliche Gemeindegottesdienst im apostolischen und altkatholischen Zeitalter, pp. 1–66, Erlangen, 1854;
- G. von Zezschwitz, System der Katechetik, i. 154-209, Leipsic, 1863;
- E. Hatch, The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church, chap. x., London, 1890;
- G. Anrich, Das antike Mysterienwesen in seinem Einfluss auf das Christentum, Göttingen, 1894;
- G. Wobbermin, Religionsgeschichtliche Studien zur Frage der Beeinflussung des Urchristentums durch das antike Mysterienwesen, Berlin, 1896;
- P. BatiffolPierre BatiffolPierre Batiffol was a prominent French catholic priest and Church historian, known particularly as a historian of dogma....
, Études d’histoire et de théologie positive, Paris, 1902; - H. Gravel, Die Arkandisciplin, part i., Münster, 1902.
- K. von Eckartshausen, "The Cloud Upon The Sanctuary" 1752 / 1803
External links
- The Discipline of the Arcane by Tommaso PalamidessiTommaso PalamidessiTommaso Palamidessi was an Italian esotericist. Precociously attracted by astrology, parapsychology and yoga-tantric doctrines, he was led by his manifold interests in the field of the occult and by his intense spiritual pursuit to build up an original form of Esoteric Christianity, which he...
- The Discipline of the Secret The Catholic Encyclopedia