EP^NETUS
235
EPAPHRAS
Bolar vear above the lunar. As the Julian solr.r year is (nearly) 3G5 days, and the Julian lunar j'ear is (nearly) 354 days, the annual epaet is iiearlj' 11 days. The epact for two Julian years is, therefore, nearly 22 days ; for three years, 33 days ; and so on. When, however, the epact passes oU daj-s, 30 falls to be de- ducted from it, us making an intercalarj' month. For three j'ears, then, the epact is properly 3 ; and for 4 years, adding 11 days, it is 14 days ; and so on. Fol- lowing the cj'cle, starting from a new moon on the 1st of January, we find that the epact becomes 30 or 0 in the 19tli year. The epact for the 20th year is again 11 ; and so on. The years in the cycle are marked by Roman numerals I, II, III, etc., called the Golden Numbers; and a table of the Julian epacts exhibits eacli year in the cycle with its golden number and epact. As the Gregorian year (see Calkxdar) diflers from and is in advance of tiie Julian by 11 da^s (the number lost on the Julian account before the Gregori- an computation of time was introduced in England), and as 11 days is the difference between the solar and lunar years, it follows that the Gregorian epact for any year is the same with the Julian epact for the 5'ear preceding it" (Chambers, Encyclopiedia, s. v.).
Epasn'etus (ETran-'frot-, commendable), a Chris- tian resident at Home when Paul wrote his epistle to the Church in that city, and one of the persons to whom he sent special salutations (liom. xvi, 5). A.D. 55. In the received text he is spoken of as being " the jirst-fridts ofAchuia" (dirapxi'j 7-)/c'A\«ia(-); but "the lirst-fruits oi Asia' (rij(;'A<Tiai;) is the reading of the best MSS. (N A B C D E F G 67), of the Coptic, Arme- nian, ^Ethiopic, Vulgate, the Latin fathers, and Origen (/w Jij). ud Bom. Comment, lib. x, Opera, vii, p. 431 ; In Numer. Horn, xi. Opera, x, p. 109). This reading is preferred by Grotius, Mill, Bengel,"VVhitl)y, Koppe, Ro- senmiiller, Kiickert, Olshausen, and Tholuck; and ad- mitted into the text by Griesbach, Knapp, Tittmann, Scholz, Lachmann, and Tischendorff ; also by Bruder, in his edition of Schmidt's Concordance, Lips. 1842. Dr. Bloomfield, who also adopts it in his Greek Testa- ments (2d ed. 1836), remarks that "the very nature of the term awapxV suggests the idea of one j-ergon only (see 1 Cor. xv, 20), and, as in 1 Cor. xvi, 15, Stephanas is called the a—apx)) rijc 'Axaiac, Epasnetus could have no claim to the name." With respect to the for- mer part of this statement, the learned writer has strangely overlooked such passages as James i, 18, " that we should be a kind of lirst-fruits" (cnrapxiiv Tiva}, and Rev. xiv, 4, ^^ These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits" {aTrapx'))- and as to the latter part, not Stephanas alone, but his house, is said to be the first-fruits, and to have addicted them- selves (tra^av tavTovc) to the ministry of the saints.' Macknight's remark in favor of tlie received reading, that if Epwnetus was one of that house, he was a part of the first-fruits of Achaia, seems somewhat forced. The synopsis of the pseudo-Dorotheus makes him first bishop of Carthage, but Justinian remarks that the African churches do not recognise him. — Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. V.
Epaon, Synod of, Concilmm Epaonense or Epau- nense, a general synod of the Catholic bishops of Bur- gund}', held in 517. A great change in the relation of the Catholic Churcli of Burgundy to the state gov- ernment took place in 516, when the new king Sig- niond, son of the Arian king Gundobald, joined it. The Catholic Churcli thus became the State Church, though it does not appear that Sigmond, like so many kings of his times, aspired to exercise a controlling influence upon Church aflairs. The Council of Epaon, which was to establish Church discipline in the new Catholic kingdom upon a permanent basis, was not called by the king, but by Avitus, bishop of Yienne, and Viventiolus, metropolitan of Lyons. The letters of both bishops are still extant. That of Viventiolus
is addressed to all bishops, clergymen, lords, and nota= bles of the land, complains of want of discipline among the clergj', and invites every one who has to bring charges against the moral conduct of anj' clergyman to appear before the council. The clergymen are com- manded to be present, and the laymen are permitted to attend in order that the people may receive infor- mation of what the bishops Avill decree. The letter of Avitus comjJains that the Church law ordering the holding of two synods every year had entirely fallen into disuse, and states that he had been censured by the Pope on this account, and had been commanded to assemble a synod, to renew and enforce the old Church laws, as far as they were still applicable, and to add, if necessarj', new ones. As no such censure can be found in a letter of the Pope to Avitus, written in Feb. 517, nor in any other papal letter extant, it has been inferred (Vogel, in Herzog's Real-Enycklop. s. v.) that Avitus, in order to secure the meeting of the council, used the papal authority to a greater extent than he was authorized to do. In compliance with the letters of invitation, 24 bishops appeared personally at Epaon, and one sent representatives. Their deliberations were of but short duration, and on Sept. 14, 517, the bishops signed the acts upon which, "under divine in- spiration," the}' had agreed. The acts consist of a brief preface and 40 canons which concern the conduct of bishops, clergymen, monks, secular authorities, and laymen, the intercourse with the Arian heretics, the propert}- and discipline of the Church. The provis- ions concerning the heretics are of special importance. Catholic clergymen, under severe penalties, are forbid- den to sit at table with heretics. AMth a Jew no lay- man shall dine, under penalty of being never admitted to a clergyman's table. Heretics who wish to join the Church must apply to the bishops personal]}' ; only when thev are on the death-bed they may be received by a priest. The church edifices of tlie heretics are declared to be objects worthy of special horror, and their purification is declared impossible. The SOt.h canon forbids marriages with near relatives, in partic- ular with the sister of a deceased wife. This canon directly concerned a prominent officer at the roj'al court, Stephanus, who was married to his sister-in- law Palladia. The bishops seem to have anticipated trouble from the opposition of Stephanus, for, after the dissolution of the Council of Epaon, eleven bishops, among whom was Apollinaris, bishoj) of Valence and brother of Avitus, went to Lyons, where, under the presidenc}' of Viventiolus, they agreed upon a line of conduct for the enforcement of the canon, providing even for the case that the king should leave the Church, and appoint Arian bishops for some of the episcopal sees.