canon

canon in Christianity, in the Roman Catholic Church, decrees of church councils are usually called canons; since the Council of Trent the expression has been especially reserved to dogmatic pronouncements of ecumenical councils. The body of ratified conciliar canons is a large part of the legislation of canon law . The Eucharistic central, mainly invariable part of the Mass is the canon. The term is also applied in the Western Church to certain types of priests. There are canons regular, priests living in community under a rule but not cloistered like monks; the Augustinian, or Austin, canons and the Premonstratensians are the best known of these. The priests attached to a cathedral or large church are sometimes organized into a group, or college, and called canons secular; a church having such a group is a collegiate church. A canon is also an official list, as in canonization, i.e., enrollment among the saints, and of the names of books of the Bible accepted by the church (see Old Testament ; New Testament ; Apocrypha ; Pseudepigrapha ). Cathedral canons often have diocesan charges or pastoral duties apart from the cathedral. Canons of the Church of England are mostly cathedral canons.

canon Term used in Christian religion with several meanings. The basic meaning is a rule or standard. In this sense, a canon is something accepted or decreed as a rule or regulation, such as the official list of saints or the list of books accepted as genuine parts of the Bible. This is the meaning embraced by the term canon law. Initially a canon was also a priest in a cathedral or collegiate church, whose life was regulated by the precepts of canon law. They were distinct from secular canons, who lived outside the cathedral and, although ordained, played a largely administrative role.

canon. The Greek word originally meant a rod or bar; it came to be used of the rules of an art or trade or to signify a list or catalogue. In Christian language it denotes the list of Books regarded by the Church as Scripture (canon of Scripture); the central part of the Mass (Canon of the Mass); and the rules concerning the life and discipline of the Church (canon law).