Glory to Jesus Christ!
CANON
From the Greek meaning a “rule” or “standard.” In architecture it is a standard of proportion. In literature it is the authentic list of an author’s works. In music it is the melodic line sung by overlapping voices in strict imitation. In religious terms it represents the authentic books in the Bible or the authoritative prayer of the Eucharist in the Mass or the authoritative law of the church promulgated by ecclesiastical authority.
The Canons were first set out to define doctrine.
The is only one God, and only one Truth, or set of facts and principles about the natural and supernatural “world” or universe.
The first Canons were described in church Councils dealing with heresies, the teachings that were suspected of being un-Apostolic in origin and thereby false. As a result:
Most Protestants today still believe in the Triune God. This is was first laid out in the Canons of the church.
Most Protestants believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, with a human nature and a divine nature, this was set out in the Canons.
Most Protestants believe that the Bible is the Word of God, this was set out in the Canons. The actual set of books of the Bible are called the Canon of Scripture.
Canon Law of the church is actually responsible for the core beliefs of all Christians.
Canons continued to be written to determine governance and policy of the church. For instance, when the faith continued to grow and more and more towns and villages had churches and priests of their own the time came when the areas of authority of the bishops extended out toward the cities of other bishops. No doubt there were cases when some towns had priests sent by two different bishops and that conflict needed to be addressed. We have Canons that tell us that there is to be only one Ordinary Bishop in a place. This is church discipline.
There were different levels of training and background for clerics in distant areas of the world, Canons were written to standardize the qualifications of priests, deacons and bishops, as well as how to ordain them. Another example of church discipline.
When we ask a priest for guidence on religious matters, we expect him to speak for the church, and not for himself. That priest will refer to the Canons, or use a guidebook (or commentary) that is based upon the Canons. There is no independent interpretation of scripture that may cause one minister to say one thing and one to say another.
So Canon Law has it’s place. It helps the church speak with one voice in the Apostolic tradition, it helps reduce confusion.
The situation the Jews had with Law was completely different, some thought that a fastidious observance of the Mosaic law would justify them, regardless of how they thought or felt inside. It is not so for Christians, and Canon Law does not serve that purpose. We rely on the Canons to regulate the teaching and governance of the church. We are saved by what is written in our hearts, and how we live it out.
In modern times we have a Code of Canons, the Canons of the church have been codified in the West and collected into a bound volume. This minimizes the amount of effort it would take to research a concern, and makes study of the Canons easier. The Canons of the Eastern church are not traditionally codified, but Eastern Catholic Sui Iuris churches received their Code of Canons for the first time in the 1990’s. One problem with the Eastern Code is that it is intended to serve for
all of the Eastern churches, regardless of Tradition, also there have been some insertions by Rome that probably do not belong there and might be removed later, but overall it serves it’s purpose.
I hope this helps.
