a collection of 38 canons (church regulations) preserved in an Arabic translation. The original text was Greek and written in Egypt; the Arabic version may rest on a Coptic translation.
These canons are neither the authentic work of St. Hippolytus nor the oldest church regulations but are a later adaptation of the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus. The unknown author of the canons generally follows the order of his source and treats the same subjects: ordination, catechumenate, Baptism, prayer, and discipline of the Christian community. But he alters the text when he wishes and makes additions of his own. Internal evidence indicates that he lived after the Council of Nicaea (ad 325) but that he wrote before the Roman Empire officially became Christian at the end of the 4th century. Unlike the Apostolic Tradition, the canons do not seem to describe an actual Christian community but instead contain a mixture of apostolic fiction, ideal reform, and actual practice.
Link to this article and share the full text with the readers of your Web site or blog-post.
If you think a reference to this article on "Canons of Saint Hippolytus" will enhance your Web site,
blog-post, or any other web-content, then feel free to link to this article,
and your readers will gain full access to the full article, even if they do not subscribe to our service.
You may want to use the HTML code fragment provided below.
We welcome your comments. Any revisions or updates suggested for this article will be reviewed by our editorial staff. Contact us here.
Regular users of Britannica may notice that this comments feature is less robust than in the past. This is only temporary, while we make the transition to a dramatically new and richer site. The functionality of the system will be restored soon.