Canon
XXXIX. (Greek xlii.)
That a bishop should not be called the chief of the
priests.
441
That
the bishop of the first see
shall not be called Prince of the Priests or High Priest (
Summus
Sacerdos
) or any other name of this kind, but only Bishop of the
First See.
Notes.
Ancient Epitome of Canon
XXXIX.
The first bishop shall not be called Prince of the
Priests nor High Priest but Bishop of the first see.
This canon is Canon xxv. of the Synod of Hippo,
a.d.
393.
Johnson.
“The bishop of the Prime See,” i.e., The
primate. So Xantippus is called bishop of the Prime. So in
Numidia, Nicetius in Mauritania, in the original Latin between Can. 85,
and Can. 86, and see Can. 86.
N.B. Justellus on this canon shews, that
Tertullian, Optatus, and Augustine, did apply these titles to their own
African bishops; and therefore supposes, that the meaning of the canon
was to suppress the flame of vain glory, which proceeded from these
sparks of lofty titles.
441
The Greek reads for
“bishop,” “a Primate.”