Apostolical CONSTITUTIONS, a collection of regulations attributed to the Apostles, and supposed to have been collected by St Clement, whose name they likewise bear.
It is the general opinion, however, that they are spurious, and that St Clement had no hand in them. They appeared first in the 4th age, but have been much changed and corrupted since that time. They
are divided into eight books, consisting of a great number of rules and precepts, relating to the duties of Christians, and particularly the ceremonies and discipline of the church. Mr Whiston, in opposition to the general opinion, asserts them to be a part of the sacred writings, dictated by the Apostles in their meetings, and written down from their own mouths by St Clement; and intended as a supplement to the New Testament, or rather as a system of Christian faith and polity. The reason why the Constitutions are suspected by the orthodox, and perhaps the reason also why their genuineness is defended by Mr Whiston, is, that they seem to favour Arianism.