Sources of Orthodox Canon Law

The body of Orthodox canon law derives from multiple authoritative sources: the Apostolic Canons, the canons of the seven Ecumenical Councils, the canons of recognized local councils, and the canonical writings of the Holy Fathers. These are compiled in standard collections such as the Greek Pedalion and the Russian Kniga Pravil, which together form the canonical foundation for Orthodox church discipline.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

The Apostolic Canons

The 85 Apostolic Canons form the most ancient stratum of Orthodox canonical legislation. Though attributed to apostolic origin and traditionally associated with the Apostolic Constitutions (Book VIII), they were compiled in their present form around 380 AD. They were confirmed as authoritative by Canon 2 of the Quinisext Council (692).

Key Apostolic Canons

Canon	Subject
Canon 1	A bishop shall be ordained by two or three bishops
Canon 2	A presbyter, deacon, and other clergy shall be ordained by one bishop
Canon 3	Clergy shall not offer anything at the altar other than what is prescribed (new grain and grapes in season, oil for the lamps, incense; no honey or milk)
Canon 5	A bishop, presbyter, or deacon shall not put away his wife under pretense of piety
Canon 34	The bishops of every nation must know who is first among them and esteem him as head, and not do anything without his consent; nor shall he do anything without the consent of all – establishing the principle of conciliar governance with primatial coordination
Canon 46	A bishop or presbyter who accepts the baptism or sacrifice of heretics shall be deposed
Canon 50	Baptism shall be by triple immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; those who do not baptize thus shall be deposed
Canon 51	Clergy who abstain from marriage, meat, or wine not for asceticism but out of abhorrence shall either correct themselves or be deposed
Canon 85	Enumerates the books of Holy Scripture received as canonical, including Old and New Testament books and certain other works (the two Epistles of Clement, the Apostolic Constitutions)

The Western Church historically accepted only the first 50 Apostolic Canons (the number translated into Latin by Dionysius Exiguus, c. 500), while the Orthodox Church accepts all 85 (NPNF II/14, introduction to the Apostolic Canons).

Canons of the Ecumenical Councils

The seven Ecumenical Councils produced canons alongside their dogmatic definitions. These canons carry the highest legislative authority in Orthodox canon law.

First Ecumenical Council – Nicaea I (325): 20 Canons

Key canons include:

Canon 4: A bishop should be appointed by all the bishops of the province, or at minimum by three, with the metropolitan’s written consent
Canon 5: Persons excommunicated by one bishop shall not be received by another; provincial synods to be held twice a year (later reduced to once a year by Quinisext Canon 8, repeated by Nicaea II Canon 6)
Canon 6: Confirms the ancient customs regarding the authority of the bishops of Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch over their respective regions
Canon 7: The bishop of Aelia (Jerusalem) shall be honored with the next place of honor, the rights of the metropolitan (of Caesarea) being preserved
Canon 13: Those at the point of death shall not be deprived of communion (the “last, most necessary viaticum”)
Canon 19: Concerning the Paulianists – those baptized by them must be rebaptized
Canon 20: On Sundays and during Pentecost, prayers shall be offered standing, not kneeling

Second Ecumenical Council – Constantinople I (381): 7 Canons

Canon 2: Bishops shall not extend their authority beyond their own dioceses, nor shall they intrude into churches outside their borders
Canon 3: The Bishop of Constantinople shall have the primacy of honor after the Bishop of Rome, because Constantinople is New Rome

Third Ecumenical Council – Ephesus (431): 8 Canons

Canon 7 [originally a conciliar decision in the Acts, later transmitted as a canon]: Forbids the composition of any creed other than the Nicene Creed; anyone who produces, composes, or presents another creed to those wishing to convert shall be deposed (if clergy) or anathematized (if laity). This canon is central to the Orthodox objection to the Filioque addition (see Filioque).
Canon 8: Establishes the autocephaly of the Church of Cyprus

Fourth Ecumenical Council – Chalcedon (451): 30 Canons

Canon 9: Clergy with disputes shall first bring them to their own bishop, then to the synod of the province, then to the exarch of the diocese or to the throne of Constantinople
Canon 17: Rural and village parishes shall remain under the bishop who has held them for thirty years without dispute
Canon 28: Grants equal privileges to the see of Constantinople as to Rome, on the grounds that Constantinople is the imperial city; and grants Constantinople jurisdiction over the dioceses of Pontus, Asia, and Thrace. This canon was disputed by the Roman legates at the time and remains contentious.

Quinisext Council – Trullo (692): 102 Canons

The Council in Trullo (also called the Quinisext or Penthekte Council, as it supplied canons for the Fifth and Sixth Ecumenical Councils, which had issued only dogmatic definitions) is the single most important source of Orthodox disciplinary canons. Key canons include:

Canon 2: Confirms the authority of the 85 Apostolic Canons, the canons of all previous Ecumenical Councils, and specified local councils and patristic canons
Canon 6: Forbids marriage after ordination to the subdiaconate or above
Canon 12: Bishops may not continue to live with their wives after consecration; this differs from the earlier practice
Canon 13: Married clergy (priests and deacons) in the Eastern Church shall not be compelled to separate from their wives, in contrast to the Roman practice of clerical celibacy
Canon 16: Rules that the seven of Acts 6 were appointed to serve at tables, not deacons of the mysteries, and that the number of deacons in a city therefore need not be limited to seven (correcting the reading behind Canon 15 of Neocaesarea)
Canon 36: Renews Canon 3 of Constantinople and Canon 28 of Chalcedon regarding Constantinople’s rank
Canon 55: Rome is reproached for fasting on Saturdays during Lent
Canon 73: The cross shall not be depicted on the ground where it could be trodden upon
Canon 82: Christ shall be depicted in human form, not symbolically as a lamb
Canon 102: Bishops receiving penitents shall adapt penance according to the person’s spiritual condition, demonstrating the principle of pastoral economy

The Western Church has never fully accepted the Quinisext Council: Pope Sergius I refused to sign its canons, several of which censure Roman practice, and later papal acceptance was at most partial (NPNF II/14, introductory note to the Council in Trullo). The Orthodox Church regards its canons as having ecumenical authority, since they were issued in the name of the Sixth Ecumenical Council and confirmed by Canon 1 of Nicaea II.

Seventh Ecumenical Council – Nicaea II (787): 22 Canons

Canon 2: A candidate for bishop must know the Psalter and be examined on his knowledge of the canons, the Gospels, the Apostle (Pauline epistles), and all divine Scripture
Canon 3: Secular rulers shall not participate in the election of bishops
Canon 13: Consecrated buildings shall not be converted to secular use
Canon 20: Double (mixed) monasteries of men and women together are forbidden

Canons of Recognized Local Councils

The following local councils’ canons have been received as universally binding, confirmed by Canon 2 of the Quinisext Council:

Council	Date	Notable Canons
Ancyra	314	25 canons, including on the reconciliation of the lapsed
Neocaesarea	c. 315	15 canons, on clerical discipline
Gangra	c. 340	21 canons, condemning extreme ascetical practices (rejecting marriage, refusing to eat meat, etc.)
Sardica	343	20 canons in the Greek text [Disputed: the Greek tradition, followed by The Rudder and NPNF II/14, transmits 20 canons; the Latin tradition counts 21], on the rights of bishops and appeals
Antioch	341	25 canons, on church governance and synodal procedure
Laodicea	c. 360	60 canons, including Canon 59/60 on the biblical canon, regulating liturgical practices and restricting unauthorized hymns
Carthage	419	The African Code [Disputed: collections number its canons differently — 138 in the Latin numbering printed in NPNF II/14, 141 in The Rudder], including the African canon of Scripture; extensive canons on clerical discipline, the Donatist controversy, and appeals to Rome
Constantinople (394)	394	A single ruling, on the need for multiple bishops at depositions (divided into two canons in The Rudder)
Constantinople (861)	861	The “First-Second” Council (Protodeutera), 17 canons on monastic and clerical discipline
Constantinople (879-880)	879-880	3 canons; the council that rehabilitated Patriarch Photius; regarded by some Orthodox theologians (Romanides, Dragas, Met. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) as the Eighth Ecumenical Council, though this is not a pan-Orthodox consensus

Patristic Canons

The canonical epistles and rulings of certain Church Fathers have been received as authoritative canon law. These were confirmed by Canon 2 of the Quinisext Council.

St. Basil the Great (330-379): 92 Canons

The most extensive and influential body of patristic canonical legislation. Canons 1-85 come from Basil’s three canonical epistles to Amphilochius of Iconium: canons 1-16 from Epistle 188, canons 17-50 from Epistle 199, and canons 51-85 from Epistle 217. The remaining canons were drawn from other writings: canon 86 from Epistle 236 (also to Amphilochius), canon 87 from Epistle 160 to Diodorus of Tarsus (on marriage with a deceased wife’s sister), canons 88-90 from Epistles 55, 54, and 53, and canons 91-92 from chapters 27 and 29 of On the Holy Spirit (Nikodim Milash, The Canons of the Orthodox Church with Commentaries, on the canons of St. Basil).

Key canons:

Canon 1: Distinguishes three categories of separation from the Church – heresies (complete departure from the faith), schisms (separation over disciplinable questions), and parasynagogues (unauthorized assemblies by disobedient clergy). This classification remains foundational for the reception of converts.
Canons 2-9: Specify penance periods for various sexual sins
Canon 9: A woman who leaves her husband and goes to another is an adulteress, while custom treats the offense of a husband who falls with an unmarried woman more leniently, as fornication – an asymmetry Basil himself notes is custom rather than the Lord’s teaching, which applies equally to both (NPNF II/8, Letter 188)
Canon 13: Killing in war is not reckoned as murder, “yet perhaps it is well to counsel that those whose hands are not clean only abstain from communion for three years” (NPNF II/8, Letter 188)
Canons 56-84: Various disciplinary canons on specific offenses
Canons 91-92: From On the Holy Spirit chapters 27 and 29, on the authority of the Church’s unwritten traditions

Other Patristic Canonical Authors

Father	Approximate Dates	Number of Canons
St. Gregory of Nyssa	c. 335-395	8 canons (canonical epistle to Letoius of Melitene)
St. Athanasius of Alexandria	c. 296-373	Excerpts from his Festal Epistles (on the canon of Scripture) and Epistle to Rufinianus (on reception of repentant heretical clergy)
St. Gregory the Theologian	329-390	A poem on the canonical books of Scripture
St. Timothy of Alexandria	d. 385	18 canonical responses on liturgical and disciplinary questions
Theophilus of Alexandria	d. 412	14 canons
St. Cyril of Alexandria	d. 444	5 canons (from epistles)
Gennadius of Constantinople	d. 471	Encyclical epistle on simony
Tarasius of Constantinople	d. 806	Epistle on simony
St. John the Faster	d. 595	Penitential canons (35 in The Rudder; widely used in Orthodox practice, though the penitential works transmitted under his name – the Kanonarion and related texts – are regarded by scholars as later compilations by various authors: see John H. Erickson, “Penitential Discipline in the Orthodox Canonical Tradition,” St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 21 [1977])

Standard Canonical Collections

The Pedalion (The Rudder)

The Pedalion (Pidalion) is the standard Greek canonical collection, compiled by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain (1749-1809) in collaboration with Hieromonk Agapios. It was first published in 1800 in Leipzig. The title metaphor presents the canons as the “rudder” by which the ship of the Church is steered.

The Pedalion contains:

The full text of all received canons (Apostolic, Ecumenical, local, and patristic)
Extensive commentaries drawing on earlier Byzantine canonists (Zonaras, Balsamon, Aristenos)
Footnotes with further explanation and cross-references by Nikodemos

The Pedalion has enormous authority in Greek-speaking Orthodoxy and is widely referenced across all Orthodox jurisdictions. St. Nikodemos’ commentaries, while not themselves canonical, are highly influential.

The Kniga Pravil (Book of Rules)

The Kniga Pravil is the standard Russian canonical collection, serving a parallel function to the Pedalion in the Russian Orthodox tradition. It contains the same canonical texts in Church Slavonic and Russian translation, with notes from the same Byzantine commentators (Zonaras, Balsamon, Aristenos).

The Nomocanon Tradition

A nomocanon is a collection that combines ecclesiastical canons (kanones) with imperial civil laws (nomoi) on religious matters. The most important examples are:

The Nomocanon in Fourteen Titles, traditionally attributed to Patriarch Photius (in the revision of 883): the most influential canonical collection in Byzantium, organized in fourteen titles. It combined the canons of the councils with relevant civil legislation from the Justinianic Code.
The Nomocanon in the Kormchaia Kniga: the Russian Kormchaia (“Pilot Book”) is the Slavic equivalent of the Nomocanon tradition, containing translated canons and Byzantine civil legislation adapted for Russian use.

The nomocanon tradition reflects the Byzantine principle of symphonia (symphoneia) – the harmonious cooperation of Church and state. While the civil law component is no longer directly applicable in most contexts, the ecclesiastical canons within these collections retain their authority.

Byzantine Canonical Commentators

Three great Byzantine canonists produced commentaries that remain standard references:

John Zonaras (12th century): wrote commentaries on the Apostolic, conciliar, and patristic canons
Theodore Balsamon (12th century): Patriarch of Antioch in exile; produced the most legally precise commentaries, integrating canon and civil law
Alexios Aristenos (12th century): wrote more concise commentaries, sometimes offering interpretations differing from Zonaras and Balsamon

References

The Rudder (Pedalion), compiled by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and Hieromonk Agapios (first published Leipzig, 1800); English trans. D. Cummings, Chicago: Orthodox Christian Educational Society, 1957
The Seven Ecumenical Councils (NPNF II/14), ed. Schaff and Wace – canons of the councils with the ancient epitomes and notes
Kniga Pravil (Book of Rules), Russian canonical collection
Basil the Great, Canonical Epistles (Epistles 188, 199, 217 to Amphilochius of Iconium; with Epistles 236, 160, 55, 54, 53 and On the Holy Spirit 27, 29 for canons 86-92), trans. NPNF II/8
Quinisext Council (Council in Trullo), 692, Canon 2 (confirming all received canonical sources)
Nikodim (Milash), Bishop, The Canons of the Orthodox Church with Commentaries (Pravila pravoslavne crkve s tumačenjima), 2 vols., Novi Sad, 1895-96 (Serbian; Russian translation St. Petersburg, 1911-12)
John H. Erickson, “Penitential Discipline in the Orthodox Canonical Tradition,” St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 21 (1977)
Protopresbyter John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes (1974)
Lewis J. Patsavos, Spiritual Dimensions of the Holy Canons, Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2003
Patrick Viscuso, A Quest for Reform of the Orthodox Church: The 1923 Pan-Orthodox Congress, Berkeley, CA: InterOrthodox Press, 2006 (for historical context on canonical reform)