Excerpt from the Acts of the Synod of Constantinople (April 449 CE)

Excerpt from the Acts of the Synod of Constantinople (April 449 CE)

As recorded in the Minutes of the First Session of the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE).  Acta of Chalcedon, 1.566-571.  All the Bishops at the Synod of Constantinople are requested by imperial authority [Theodosius II & Valentinian III] to guarantee the minutes of the synod by oath. Basil of Seleucia voices his concern citing Mt. 5:34-36. It is unclear whether the request for the oath was pressed further or whether the bishops took the oath.

Source: Richard Price and Michael Gaddis. The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon: 3 Vols. Translated Texts for Historians: Vol. 45. Liverpool University Press, 2005.p. I.233.

566. The most magnificent patrician said: ‘Let the most illustrious tribune, notary and referendary testify what he knows his orders on the matter to be.’
567. Macedonius the most illustrious tribune, notary and referendary said: ‘Our most pious master, learning that the aforesaid person has been deposed, has given orders on his account that in every way his representatives should be admitted and, through the reading of the documents, should verify what was said by the most holy archbishop to him and what he said to the most holy archbishop.’
568. The most magnificent patrician said: ‘This request is straightforward. So let them be admitted, and let the petition be read in their presence.’
569. When the most devout monks Constantine, Eleusinius and Constantius had entered and taken their stand in the centre, Macedonius the most illustrious tribune and notary produced the holy gospel-book and said: ‘I must relate all the orders of their piety. He has ordered that the most holy bishops who were then present declare under oath, when the minutes are read, whether the testimonies of each of the two parties are authentic.’
570. Basil the most devout bishop of the church of Seleucia said: ‘Never till now have we heard of oaths being required of bishops, since we are commanded by Christ the Saviour “to swear neither by heaven, since it is the throne of God, nor by the earth, since it is his footstool”, nor by one’s head, since no one can make a single one of the hairs created by God. But each of us, standing at the altar with the fear of God before his eyes, and keeping his conscience pure for God, will be unable to omit anything that is in his memory.’
571. The most magnificent patrician Florentius said: ‘As I said once already, the reading of the petition will now proceed.’