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, where 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. ^[1] Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      The term Early Christianity...

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 rather well studied in the past century ^[2]. Most of modern scholars think that a nucleus of oral teaching was inherited from Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaism and formed the basis of secret oral tradition in the early stages of Christianity. This nucleus of oral teachings (which reflected older trends and which can be shown to form the background of both Jewish-Christian and Gnostic conceptions)^[3] formed what came to be called in the IV century disciplina arcani.^[4][5]

The Object of the Discipline

It is characteristic of the disciplina that the object of the silence was not the dogma and sacramental gift, but the elements and the ritual performance.^[6] Anyway Origen in Contra Celsum argues that it is the doctrine of the Christians and not only their rites to be secret in character.^[7] Therefore, even if, undoubtedly, the elements of ritual performance as missa fidelium and other christian rites were under the disciplina arcani during the early stages of Christianity (expecially during the III-IV century), nobody at the present time can exactly state which was the complete object of the disciplina. Indeed, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, St. Basil, St. Ambrose of Milan and many Church Fathers of early Christianity mention an oral tradition as in the St.Basil's appeal to the "unwritten tradition" in de Spiritu Sancto: Origen Origen (Greek: ÅŒrigénÄ“s, 185–ca. ... Origen Origen (Greek: ÅŒrigénÄ“s, 185–ca. ... Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ... Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian, (ca. ... Basil (ca. ... Saint Ambrose, Latin Sanctus Ambrosius, Italian SantAmbrogio (circa 340 - April 4, 397), bishop of Milan, was one of the most eminent fathers of the Christian church in the 4th century. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers...

"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".^[8]

References

Basic Bibliography

XVII-XIX 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. Batiffol, Études d’histoire et de théologie positive', Paris, 1902;
• H. Gravel, Die Arkandisciplin, part i., Münster, 1902.

External links

• The Discipline of the Arcane by Tommaso Palamidessi
• The Discipline of the Secret The Catholic Encyclopedia