Sinodos: The Statutes of the Apostles 1

Presented as decrees of the twelve apostles, each speaking in turn; actual compiler unknown. The Ethiopic Sinodos of the Apostles (Ludolf's Statuta Apostolorum) is the Ethiopic form of a church order that also survives in Sahidic Coptic and Arabic; its two later parts coincide closely with Book VIII of the Apostolic Constitutions, and the date of the underlying Greek text is disputed. It is preserved here in George Horner's 1904 English translation, in 72 statutes: the Apostolic Church Order (ordination of bishops, readers, deacons, and widows), the order of the Oblation and of baptism, and rules on fasting, first-fruits, trades, the sabbath, and the memorial of the dead. A church-order text, not scripture in kind: it belongs to the Sinodos of the Ethiopian and Eritrean broader canon.

1Said Yuhanes, Matewos and Petros and Filepos and Seme'on and Yaekob and Natnael and Tomas and Kefas and Endreyas and Bartalomewos and Yehuda and Ya'ekob the brother of our Lord: When we were assembled together with the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, he commanded us and said to us: Divide the earth amongst yourselves, that every one of you may take his place according to your number. Take the order of Bishops, and the seat of Presbyters, and the works of Deacons, and the intelligence of Readers, and blameless Widows; and the work on which the foundations of the Church may be confirmed, and by which they may make a pattern of that which is in the heavens; and that they may keep from all wickedness; and know that they themselves will answer in the day of Judgment because they heard but did not keep. And he commanded us to send these words into all the world. And it is proper that every one of us should be according as our Lord — to him be glory — revealed to us with the will of God the Father by the Holy Spirit; and remembering his word, that we should command you therewith, as a reminder and instruction, O brethren.