Patriarch John IV of Constantinople - The Canons of The Faster

The Canons of The Faster

An important section of the Eastern Orthodox canon law is attibuted to John IV, i.e. the so-called Canons of John the Faster and the Kanonikon attached to them. They can be found in both Greek and Slavonic versions of the canon law, notably in Theodor Balsamon's collection and in the Pedalion of Nicodemus the Hagiorite. The German byzantinist Georg Beck analysed the canons and concluded that they were probably written partly by followers of Basil the Great and partly by John Chrysostom whereas the Kanonikon dates from the 10th century. These writings are interesting as they reflect in detail on the sexual morals as they generally were held prior to Thomas Aquinas, e.g. that sodomy (arsenokoitia) was not thought of primarily in same-sex terms but in terms of anal intercourse. Sodomy between husband and wife was penanced more severely than sodomy between unmarried males (eight years of exclusion from communion rather than just four). Mutual masturbation, regardless whether it was between members of the same sex or not, was penanced with 80 days exclusion from communion. It shows that a) not only extra-marital sex is considered sinful but also certain sexual practies within marriage and b) that the same-sex aspect in sodomy is mitigating rather than aggravating.