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Who may lead a church—and what happens when its leaders break the rules?
The Apostolic Canons brings together eighty-five short rules for clergy and people in the early church. Scholars place the collection in Syria near the end of the fourth century. Though its name invokes the apostles, they are not its authors. Here, church life takes shape through rules about authority, worship, conduct, and shared responsibility.
The collection addresses the ordination and removal of bishops, presbyters, and deacons; gifts, first-fruits, and the Eucharist; discipline and exclusion; Easter, fasts, and baptism. Its final canon lists sacred books. Read these rules to see what this community seeks to protect—and where it draws boundaries around leadership, belief, and daily life.
What you’ll discover
- The making of leaders See how ordination rules place the choice of church leaders in other bishops’ hands.
- A demanding daily life Explore expectations that clergy live soberly and avoid business that distracts from their duties.
- Order at the altar Discover rules for offerings, from oil and incense to seasonal grain and grapes.
- The limits of belonging Understand how deposition and excommunication define the consequences of breaking the community’s rules.
- Books held as sacred Examine the final canon’s list of holy books for clergy and laity.
Is it for you?
This is for readers of church history, canon law and early Christian life who want to see how a community governed itself. It may suit you less if you want a story or a devotional text, since the canons are short, dry rules.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A bishop is made by other bishops
- Clergy must live plainly and soberly
- Gifts, first-fruits and the Eucharist have order
- Discipline ends in deposition or exclusion
- Easter, fasts and baptism follow common rules
- The last canon lists the holy books
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The Apostolic Canons
by Attributed to Clement of Rome· 380
Eighty-five early church rules govern worship, leadership, and discipline.
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Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A bishop is made by other bishops
The collection opens with the question of who may make a church leader. The first canon says a bishop is to be ordained by two or three bishops. The second says a presbyter, a deacon and the other clergy are ordained by a single bishop. The pattern is plain. Authority passes down through a chain of existing leaders, and no one may simply take an office.
Several later canons guard that chain. One forbids a man to gain a church office through the power of worldly rulers. Another condemns anyone who is ordained for money, and it says that the one who ordained him must be removed as well. Early readers knew this sin by the name of Simon the magician in the Acts of the Apostles, which is why it is called simony.
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What are the Apostolic Canons?
They are a collection of eighty-five short rules for church life, covering ordination, clergy conduct, the Eucharist, discipline, Easter and the list of holy books. They were written in Greek, probably in Syria, near the end of the fourth century.
Did the apostles write the Apostolic Canons?
No. Scholars agree the canons were gathered long after the apostles, around the late fourth century. The name reflects the belief that the rules carried the teaching and authority of the apostles, as handed down in the church.
What is the difference between the Apostolic Canons and the Apostolic Constitutions?
The Apostolic Constitutions are a long work of church teaching and order in eight books. The canons are a short list of eighty-five rules that appear at the end of the eighth book but were also copied and used separately.
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