What happened at the Council of Laodicea?

Answer

The Council of Laodicea took place in AD 364 and is regarded as a minor assembly in the history of Christianity. The gathering consisted of approximately thirty members, all representing the local churches in the Middle East. Laodicea is situated in the southwestern region of present-day Turkey and is identified as one of the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation (Revelation 3:14-15).

The Council of Laodicea established sixty decrees, known as canons, addressing a wide array of subjects. These decrees included regulations on fasting, deliberations on ministering to Jews and heretics, a clear denouncement of astrology, the designation of the proper Christian “Sabbath day,” and a strong emphasis on modesty. Additionally, the council issued two decrees concerning the canon of Scripture.

The 59th decree of the Council of Laodicea stipulated that only canonical books should be read in church. The 60th decree specified the canon as the traditional 27 books of the New Testament, excluding Revelation, and the 39 books of the Old Testament, along with the book of Baruch and its appended section, the Epistle of Jeremiah.

Consistent with the teachings of early Christians like Origen, Melito, Jerome, Cyril, and Athanasius, early assemblies such as the Council of Laodicea typically distinguished the Apocrypha as a separate category from inspired Scripture. The apocryphal books were viewed as beneficial, even sacred, but not inspired and not equivalent to the established canon.