Canon 1. Confession of Faith, Fourth Lateran Council (called by Innocent III, in 1215)

“We firmly believe and simply confess that there is only one true God, eternal and immeasurable, almighty, unchangeable, incomprehensible and ineffable, Father, Son and holy Spirit, three persons but one absolutely simple essence, substance or nature {1} . The Father is from none, the Son from the Father alone, and the holy Spirit from both equally, eternally without beginning or end; the Father generating, the Son being born, and the holy Spirit proceeding; consubstantial and coequal, co-omnipotent and coeternal; one principle of all things, creator of all things invisible and visible, spiritual and corporeal; who by his almighty power at the beginning of time created from nothing both spiritual and corporeal creatures, that is to say angelic and earthly, and then created human beings composed as it were of both spirit and body in common. The devil and other demons were created by God naturally good, but they became evil by their own doing. Man, however, sinned at the prompting of the devil.

This holy Trinity, which is undivided according to its common essence but distinct according to the properties of its persons, gave the teaching of salvation to the human race through Moses and the holy prophets and his other servants, according to the most appropriate disposition of the times. Finally the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, who became incarnate by the action of the whole Trinity in common and was conceived from the ever virgin Mary through the cooperation of the holy Spirit, having become true man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh, one person in two natures, showed more clearly the way of life. Although he is immortal and unable to suffer according to his divinity, he was made capable of suffering and dying according to his humanity. Indeed, having suffered and died on the wood of the cross for the salvation of the human race, he descended to the underworld, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. He descended in the soul, rose in the flesh, and ascended in both. He will come at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, to render to every person according to his works, both to the reprobate and to the elect. All of them will rise with their own bodies, which they now wear, so as to receive according to their deserts, whether these be good or bad; for the latter perpetual punishment with the devil, for the former eternal glory with Christ.

There is indeed one universal church of the faithful, outside of which nobody at all is saved, in which Jesus Christ is both priest and sacrifice. His body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the forms of bread and wine, the bread and wine having been changed in substance, by God's power, into his body and blood, so that in order to achieve this mystery of unity we receive from God what he received from us. Nobody can effect this sacrament except a priest who has been properly ordained according to the church's keys, which Jesus Christ himself gave to the apostles and their successors. But the sacrament of baptism is consecrated in water at the invocation of the undivided Trinity -- namely Father, Son and holy Spirit -- and brings salvation to both children and adults when it is correctly carried out by anyone in the form laid down by the church. If someone falls into sin after having received baptism, he or she can always be restored through true penitence. For not only virgins and the continent but also married persons find favour with God by right faith and good actions and deserve to attain to eternal blessedness. “

Note to readers:  Everything I write on my blog is indexed in some form or manner by the U.S. government (and by Google), so I wanted to elevate the content just in case it is useful for evangelizing!

There’s a lot of interesting background about the history of this council which was both religious and political.  Check it at Fourth Lateran Council, Papal Encyclicals Online.

When the council began in the Lateran basilica in November 1215 there were present 404 bishops from throughout the western church, and from the Latin eastern church a large number of abbots, canons and representatives of the secular power. No Greeks were present, even those invited, except the patriarch of the Maronites and a legate of the patriarch of Alexandria. The bond with the Greek church was indeed neglected, and matters became more serious through the actions of Latin bishops living in the east or through the decrees of the council.

Tithes should be paid before taxes

Canon 54. Fourth Lateran Council (Called by Innocent III in 1215) 

It is not within human power that the seed should answer to the sower since, according to the saying of the Apostle, Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but rather he who gives the growth, namely God, who himself brings forth much fruit from the dead seed. Now, some people from excess of greed strive to cheat over tithes, deducting from crops and first-fruits the rents and dues, which meanwhile escape the payment of tithes. Since the Lord has reserved tithes unto himself as a sign of his universal lordship, by a certain special title as it were, we decree, wishing to prevent injury to churches and danger to souls, that in virtue of this general lordship the payment of tithes shall precede the exaction of dues and rents, or at least those who receive untithed rents and dues shall be forced by ecclesiastical censure, seeing that a thing carries with it its burden, to tithe them for the churches to which by right they are due.

Not much has changed in a thousand years

When you have access to a library of a few million books and journals just two miles away and freedom to browse in the stacks, it is easy to come home with topics about which you never gave a thought, such as The reformation of the 12th century by Giles Constable (Cambridge University Press, 1996). So far, I've only made it through the preface and introduction, the extensive bibliography and index, and skimmed a few chapters, but I've seen so much that looks familiar in the religious and secular life of the 11th and 12th centuries that reminds me of the 21st. Other names, titles, and concepts are totally unfamiliar like names of monasteries, phrases in Latin that don't translate well into English, places, and Roman Catholic theology. Even when I get out the dictionary, or check the extensive index, I don't have a frame of reference to understand. A Cluniac is not someone obsessed with movie star George Clooney, nephew of Rosemary, for instance. And black and white monks have nothing to do with race. And then there's the internet problem, always there when I read a book, finding things like The Medieval Sourcebook, which I didn't know I needed until I started browsing.

But before I run off on another tangent about medieval times I'll just note a few phrases that caught my eye, that reminded me that everything we (or at least I) think is contemporary, happened before, because human nature really doesn't change that much.

• . . . reform and revival was seen as a result of the increasing population and approaching end of the world. Whether you're a global warmist fanatic follower of Al Gore, holy Cap and Trade, robed in the vestments of green hype or a Christian dispensationalist scanning the headlines to compare with the Books of Daniel and Revelation--this should sound familier
  
• whether the reformers were from wealthy or humble origins, their followers were often well off [and from my cursory reading, feeling a bit guilty about it], but since it is the writings of the reformers that are available, the diversity and equality that is described may be the exception rather than the rule
  
• charismatic preachers [politicians] recruited actively for converts to their reform movement--transfers from one house or community to another created personal, legal and political problems
  
• rules circulated in written form, such as manuscripts and letters, but were carried out mainly through associations, personal contacts and visits--personal influence and connections were paramount
  
• opponents of reform were not necessarily bad men, but they were set in their ways and opposed to change in principle as well as in practice
  
• when faced with change, they resisted both passively and actively
  
• resistance to change has been recorded by the reformers, not the resisters so is distorted or left out of the record
  
• it was easier to start a new house than reform an old one
  
• reforms of existing institutions and communities almost always involved some pain and difficulty, occasionally with activie resistance and open violence
  
• an involuntary reform or change of order was a blow to the self-esteem of members and resistance was not always selfish or unreasonable
  
• even the poorest monastic community needed land, buildings, books, vestments and other supplies, thus it needed patrons as well as spiritual founders, and these patrons often claimed rights over the community so the interests often clashed
  
• even the most generous patrons hoped to get away as cheaply as possible
  
• some reformers removed existing settlers
  
• recruiting the next generation [of the reformed group] was always a problem when the first generation died out--newcomers didn't share the memories and ideals of the early years. The second generation was often the most dangerous period of institutional development
  
• almost every new, reformed house that survived and flourished later went through a painful period, even a crisis as it grew in wealth and numbers
  
• the new orders and reforms created diversity in the 12th century, with unforeseen consequences of competition and eventually greater uniformity and traditional solutions, so that as the age of experiment drew to a close, the traditional ideals and institutional patterns reasserted themselves within the monastic order and brought the period of change to an end.

Ah, change. It's an interesting concept, isn't it?