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Religious Studies & Theology vocabulary · Scripture and Interpretation

Canon

Meaning in religious studies & theology, with examples

/ˈkænən/nounCommon term

In religious studies & theology, canon means: The official list of books that a religious community accepts as authoritative scripture, such as the biblical canon; also a rule or decree made by a church council.

In Turkish: kanon, kutsal kitaplar listesi

How it is used

Scholars study the formation of the canon and ask when a canon was closed. The adjective canonical describes accepted texts (canonical Gospels) and, in Islamic studies, the six canonical hadith collections. Books outside the canon are non-canonical or apocryphal.

Example sentences

  1. Jewish and Christian communities did not agree on exactly the same canon of scripture.

  2. The council issued several canons on how bishops should be chosen.

Common collocations

  • the biblical canon
  • formation of the canon
  • canonical texts
  • closed canon
  • scriptureThe sacred writings of a religion, regarded by its followers as authoritative and often as revealed or inspired, such as the Qur'an, the Bible or the Vedas.
  • BibleThe sacred scriptures of Christianity, made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament; the Jewish Bible, or Tanakh, largely corresponds to the Old Testament.
  • GospelOne of the four accounts of the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament, attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; also the Christian message itself.
  • canon lawThe body of laws and regulations made by church authorities to govern a Christian church, especially the Catholic Church, its clergy and its members.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Scripture and Interpretation

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