Church CanonsSources of Church Canons

Acts 1• “The former account I made, O

Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”

Establishment of Church Canons• Our Lord Himself instituted some

elements of canons. • He assigned the task of evangelism

to a group of men chosen with divine care and wisdom, the apostles.

• Following His ascension, He endowed them with the authority to make the decisions necessary to assure the continuation of the work −Election of Matthias to take the place of

Judas

Establishment of Church Canons• Soon, the Church began to grow, and

ecclesiastical orders were organized:• “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband

of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach…”(1Tim 3)

• “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint presbyters in every city as I commanded you” (Titus 1)

• “Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money…” (1Tim 3)

Establishment of Church Canons• When issues arose and need to be

discussed and decided on, a “council” was held:−“Now the apostles and elders came together to

consider this matter…It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” (Acts 15)

−"But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.” (Acts 21)

Sources of Church Canons• Canons of the Apostles• Canons of the Ecumenical Councils• Canons of the Local Councils• Canons of Church Fathers• Canons of the Coptic Church in the

middle ages• Canons of the Monastic Orders

1.Canons of the Apostle (127)

• Also known as Saint Clement Canons because he was delivering them to the church.

• Found in two books, one book has 56 cannon and the other 71

• Organized by a Roman Bishop name Saint Hippolytus.

• Disdecalia: Is what the Apostle left us, contains 38 chapter not all canons but it also contains interpretations, and explanation,

2.Canons of the Ecumenical councils

• Also known as the canons of faith• The council of Nicaea 325 AD• The council of Constantinople 381

AD`• The council of Ephesus 431 AD

3.Canons of the Local Councils

• These councils took place before and after the Ecumenical councils

A. The council of Ancyra 314 AD B. The council of Caesarea 315

−“The reason for these two councils is to gather those who left the Faith and the church because of the persecution after Constantine deceleration of Christianity 314 AD”

3.Canons of the Local Councils Cont..

C. The council of Gangra (City between Nicae and Constantinople (20 Canon )

D. The council of Antioch 341 AD (25 Canon)

E. The council of Laodicea 343 ADF. The Council of Sardis 343 AD (12 Canon)G. The council of Carthage 419 AD, was

organized by the Bishop Orelious of Carthage, and attend by Saint Augustine the Bishop of Hippo (138 Canon)

4. The Canons of the church Fathers

A. The canons of Pope Dionysius the Alexandrian the 14th Pope (4 Canon)

B. The Canons of Saint Athanasius the 20th Pope (106 Canon)

C. The Canons of Saint Timothy the 22nd Pope (His answer for some of the questions when he attended the council of Constantinople 381 AD)

D. The Canons of Saint Theophilus the 23rd Pope (14 Canon)

4. The Canons of the church Fathers Cont..

E. The Canon of Saint Cyril the 24th Pope (the Pillar of faith) (12 Canon)

F. The Canons of Saint Gregory the wonder worker the Bishop of Caesarea (12 Canon)

G. The Canons of Saint Basil the great (107 Canons)

H. The Canons of Saint Gregory the Bishop Nisus (the brother of Saint Basil, 8 Canons)

I. The Canons of Saint John Chrysostom.• All these canons are approved by the

church, before the division of the Orthodox Church 451 AD

5. The canons of the Coptic Fathers (Middle ages) 12th and 13th Century

A. The canons of Saint Gabriel Ben Treek the 70th Pope 1131-1145 AD (3 books)

B. The canons of Saint Cyril Ben Loqloq the 75th (1235-1242 AD) (5 books)

• There are also the books of ibn Al3asal who was able to gather it in one document.

6. The Canons of the Monastic orders

A. Saint Bachomious Canons, this canons used until today, and it was spread out in Europe, its known also to the Catholic church and their Benedict monasticism (4 books)

B. Saint Basil the great Canons in the 4th century, as he was a bishop he also was a monastic father

C. Saint Shenouda the archimandrite Canons.

6. The Canons of the Monastic orders• Some Monastic Cannons found also

in some of the monastic fathers books,

• Saint Makarious, Saint Isaiah the hermit, Saint Barsonophious, Saint John the monk, and Saint Philoxinos.

Online versions of Church Canons• Apostolic Constitutions - Didascalia

Apostolorum Book I - VIhttp://www.piney-2.com/DocAposConstitu.html

• NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councilshttp://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.toc.htmlContains canons of the Councils and Church Fathers

• “Al Magmou Al-Safawy Le Ibn Al-Assal” The Collection Of Safey Ibn Al-Assal -- A Collection Of Church And Civil Lawshttp://www.zeitun-eg.org/ASSAL_AL.pdf