What began with rules ( `` canons '' ) adopted by the Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem in the first century has developed into a highly complex legal system encapsulating not just norms of the New Testament , but some elements of the Hebrew ( Old Testament ) , Roman , Visigothic , Saxon , and Celtic legal traditions .
What began with rules ( `` canons '' ) adopted by the Apostles themselves at the Council of Jerusalem in the First Century led to a highly complex and original legal system that included norms of the New Testament , of the Hebrew ( Old Testament ) , Roman , Visigothic , Saxon , and Celtic legal traditions with thousands of years of human experience .