Canon (canon law)

Canons 1 to 4 of the Apostolic Canons[note 1] (which are attributed by some to the Apostles) in Greek (left) and Latin (right) from a 1715 edition

In canon law, a canon designates some law promulgated by a synod, an ecumenical council, or an individual bishop.[2]

The word "canon" comes from the Greek kanon, which in its original usage denoted a straight rod that was later the instrument used by architects and artificers as a measuring stick for making straight lines. Kanon eventually came to mean a rule or norm, so that when the first ecumenical councilNicaea I—was held in 325, kanon started to obtain the restricted juridical denotation of a law promulgated by a synod or ecumenical council, as well as that of an individual bishop.[2]

  1. ^ "Philip Schaff: ANF07. Fathers of the Third and Fourth Centuries: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, Homily, and Liturgies - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". www.ccel.org.
  2. ^ a b Berman (1983). Law and revolution: the formation of the Western legal tradition. Cambridge, Mass. p. 199. ISBN 0-674-51774-1. OCLC 8827871.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).