Encyclopedia of Canon Law (Legislative Theology)

Church Canons

Church Canons

1. The Collection of the Apostolic Fathers’ Canons

2. The Collection of Ecumenical Council Canons

3. The Collection of Local Council Canons

4. The Collection of the Great Fathers’ Canons

5. Coptic Church Canons in the Middle Ages

6. Collections of Canons

7. Monastic Canons

I am pleased to begin with you a series of articles on Church Canons, starting with a general study, then addressing specific topics, followed by answers to questions about ecclesiastical laws. This study will also include what concerns marriage, divorce, and family laws.

1. The Collection of the Apostolic Fathers’ Canons
This collection includes 127 canons in two books, one containing 56 canons and the other 71. They were published in the series Patrologia Orientalis in Paris. The Greeks, however, compile only 81 canons.
The Apostolic Canons are sometimes called the Clementine Canons, since the Apostles are said to have sent them through Clement in sets to the churches—thus, he was their messenger, not their author. Saint Hippolytus, one of the bishops of the Roman See, summarized these canons in a collection bearing his name, known in Arabic references as the Canons of Abulidis.
The canons attributed to the Apostles and mentioned by Ibn Kabar in his book Misbah al-Zulmah under the title Canons of the Upper Room of Zion, claiming that the Apostles composed them there, are not authentic and cannot be traced back to the Apostolic era.
Among the works left to us by the Apostles is also the book known as the Didascalia, which includes 38 chapters. It is not merely a collection of legal texts, but also teachings and explanations, and for that reason it was called The Teachings of the Apostles.

2. The Canons of the Ecumenical Councils
These include the canons of the three Ecumenical Councils recognized by our Church: the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), the Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.), and the Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.).
These holy councils issued canons concerning the Christian faith, condemning the heretical teachings of Arius, Macedonius, and Nestorius, as well as general canons governing the Church’s administration, order, and teaching.
The most important of these is the collection from the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which includes only twenty canons. However, a Western collection falsely attributed 81 other canons to it, which our Church and most Apostolic Churches reject due to their clear errors.
The Greek Church recognizes seven Ecumenical Councils, each with its own canons. Those working in the field of “Christian unity” encounter these canons as points of disagreement requiring resolution.

3. The Canons of the Local Councils
These include the canons of two councils held before Nicaea and others held afterward.
The two pre-Nicene councils are:
a. The Council of Ancyra (314 A.D.)
b. The Council of Neocaesarea (315 A.D.)
Since these were the first local councils after Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan (313 A.D.), which granted religious freedom, many who had lapsed during persecution returned to the faith. Therefore, their canons focused on receiving apostates under certain penances.
Other local councils recognized by the universal Church include:
c. The Council of Gangra (between Nicaea and Constantinople) — issued 20 canons.
d. The Council of Antioch (341 A.D.) — issued 25 canons.
e. The Council of Laodicea (343 A.D. or later) — issued canons concerning the reception of heretics and liturgical matters.
f. The Council of Sardica (around 343 A.D.) — issued 12 canons.
g. The Council of Carthage (419 A.D.), also called the Council of Africa, presided over by St. Aurelius of Carthage and attended by St. Augustine of Hippo, issued 138 canons.
An earlier Carthaginian Council, presided over by St. Cyprian (257 A.D.) and attended by 71 bishops, discussed the baptism of heretics and rejected its validity. It probably met three times between 256 and 258 A.D.

4. The Canons of the Great Fathers
These refer to the pillars of the Church whose canons were recognized by councils and became laws of the universal Church. They include:
a. St. Dionysius of Alexandria (14th Patriarch) — 4 canons.
b. St. Peter the Seal of the Martyrs (17th Patriarch) — 15 canons.
c. St. Athanasius the Apostolic (20th Patriarch) — 106 canons.
d. St. Timothy of Alexandria (22nd Patriarch) — his answers to questions posed at the Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.) became universal canons.
e. St. Theophilus of Alexandria (23rd Patriarch) — 14 canons.
f. St. Cyril the Great (Pillar of Faith, 24th Patriarch) — 12 anathemas against Nestorius and the Nestorians.
g. St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea — 12 canons.
h. St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia — 107 canons in our manuscripts (93 in the Greek collection).
i. St. Gregory of Nyssa — 8 canons.
j. St. John Chrysostom — his canons exist in our manuscripts.
All these canons were accepted by the universal Church before the Chalcedonian Schism (451 A.D.) and were published in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. XVI, and also in The Canon Law issued by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate under Patriarch Elias IV in 1975.

5. Coptic Church Canons
The most famous were issued in the 12th century under Pope Gabriel ibn Turaik and in the 13th century under Pope Cyril ibn Laqlaq.
a. Canons of Pope Gabriel ibn Turaik (70th Patriarch, 1131–1145 A.D.) — three books:

• Book I: 32 canons on Church administration.

• Book II: chapters on the clergy and rites.

• Book III: a summary on inheritance laws.
  b. Canons of Pope Cyril ibn Laqlaq (75th Patriarch, 1235–1242 A.D.) — five books:

• Books I & II (Sept. 1238): Church governance and organization.

• Books III & IV (Apr. 1239): Endowments, charities, and rituals.

• Book V (Sept. 1240): completed the set.

Collections of Canons
The two most famous collections are Al-Majmu‘ al-Safawi by Ibn al-‘Assal and Misbah al-Zulmah fi Idah al-Khidmah by Ibn Kabar.
Ibn al-‘Assal lived in the 13th century, contemporary with Pope Cyril ibn Laqlaq, while Ibn Kabar was a prominent 14th-century writer. Both worked diligently in compiling, organizing, and classifying canons. However, their works contain errors, as they mixed authentic, forged, and royal laws, adding and omitting various parts. Therefore, their contents must be critically examined, which we shall address later, God willing.

Monastic Canons
Monastic life began as solitary without formal rules—just spiritual principles handed from father to disciple. When monastic communities and monasteries were established, regulations became necessary to maintain order and prevent deviation.
Saint Pachomius the Great was the first to create monastic rules. His canons spread from Egypt to the Middle East and Europe through John Cassian, forming the foundation for Benedictine monasticism among Catholics. Cassian included them in four chapters of his Institutes and Conferences.
In the 4th century, St. Basil the Great also established monastic rules. While Archbishop of Cappadocia, he was also a monastic father. His Ascetica was published by the Monastery of the Syrians.
Among the most renowned authors of monastic canons was St. Shenouda the Archimandrite, whose rules were recorded in his biographies and guided the monks of the White Monastery.
Monastic principles are also found in The Paradise of the Fathers, Lives of the Saints, and ascetical writings of St. Macarius the Great, St. Isaiah the Hermit, St. Barsanuphius, St. John the Ascetic, and Syrian fathers such as St. Philoxenus.

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