Folia Theologica et Canonica 7. 29/21 (2018)
Recensions
RECENSIONS 335 This new initiative made a strong motivation on Card. Peter Erdő, internationally well known scholar of canon law and canon law history, who always had a passion to the ancient history of the Church and her written sources, particularly if those are in relation to the discipline of the Church. He translated to Hungarian and annotated originally volume 5th of the Ancient Christian Writers in 1983. When Peter Erdő decided to compose the revised edition, he liked to introduce some new principles for the detailed introductory analysis and also for the Hungarian translation. These new critical principles improved essentially this new edition of the early ecclesiastical discipline. The introductory article - like a “small monography” - has transformed into a detailed overview on the entire disciplinary system and its development, but in the same time has kept the independent summarizing - interpreting of the translated sources too. In order to reach this double goal, Peter Erdő has used the best, updated commentaries and secondary literature for the introductory part. This special method makes the First Part of this volume by itself an independently useful clear and one of the currently best summary on the early discipline of the Church (pp. 15-127). The Second Part contains the critical translation of the original sources {Traditio Apostolica, Didascalia, Apostolic Church Order (Ecclesiastical canons of the Saint Apostles), Apostolic canons, Council of Elvira, Council of Arles [324], Council of Ancyra [314], Council of Neocesarea [314-319], Council of Nicaea I [325], Council of Antioch [about 330], Council of Gangra [about 340], Council of Serdica [342-343], Council of Cartage I [345-348], Council of Valence [374], Council of Laodicea [before 380], Council of Saragosa I [380], Council of Constantinople I [381], Council of Cartage II [390], Council of Nimes [3961, Breviarium Hipponense, Council of Turin [398], Council of Toledo I [400], Letter of Pope Siricius to Himerius, Canonical letter of Gregory of Thaumaturgus) [pp. 131-544], The material therefore is enlarged - as compared with the 1983 edition - with the Apostolic Church Order and with the Apostolic canons', but substantial novelty the translation of the African canonical material, the councils of Hispania (until 400), and one important text from Gallia. If we observe the text, terminology and the critical apparat of the translated canonical sources, we can assert that every element has been improved. Card. Peter Erdő used the best critical edition of the original ancient text. However, he considered with circumspect research of the disciplinary and doctrinal expressions in order to improve even the text which was used for the critical edition. He inserted much very important information into the footnotes in order to make unambiguous the technical terms in the main text, to facilitate the clear interpretation. He also used his wide Biblical, Roman law, and patristic knowledge - including his profound institutional history skills - to enlighten properly the meaning of the main text.
