Gangra, Council of (Concilium Ganr/rense), a syn- od held at Gangra, in Paphlagonia, 4th century, against Eustathius of Sebaste. See Eustatiiians. The pre- cise date of the council is uncertain. Pagi, following Socrates, fixes it about A.D. 3G0 ; Ceillier about A.D. 379 (Aufeurs Sacres, iv, 379); Hefele {Concilienge- schichte, ii, 76o) leaves it uncertain. It has been ques- tioned, also, whether the Eustathians (o'l ivtpl Ei'icra- Oiov), against whom this council was directed, really sprung from Eustathius of Sebaste. " All the facts are in favor of an affirmative answer to this question. Not onl}' is the testimony of Socrates, ii, 43, and of Sozomen, iii, 14, to this effect, but the whole is in per- fect accordance with the character of Eustathius, who was a zealous ascetic, and the first preacher of the as- cetic life in the countries around tlic Pontus, and had formed a whole school. See Basilii Caesareens. ep. 233. (Here wc find mentioned, in fact, the ascetic dress, to which the Eustathians, according to the report of tlic Council of Gangra, ascribed a peculiar sanctity — the Kiva (qiipidaiiaTa, that is, according to the letter of Basilius, to iraxv ifiaTiov, Ka\ ?'; i,i.oi'rj Kai TfiQ nVfi///'/- Tov livpnm ra inroSi'ipaTa'), and e]>. 119 (Epiphanius, Hares. 75.) We perceive, also, in the letters of Basil- ius a trace of opposition to the new monastic spirit in the districts of the Pontus. At least at Neoca3sarea, where tlie attachment to old usages prevailed, the spreading of the ascetic life among men and virgins was brought up as an objection against Basilius of Ca;- sarea. See ep. 207 ad Neocasareens. § 2" (Neander, Ch. History, Torrey's transl. ii, 244).
The acts of the council are ver}' important as testi- monies against certain doctrines and practices which have since characterized the Chnrcli of Rome. Eu- stathius taught that it is unlawful to marry, and to eat certain meats. He separated several married persons ; advised those who disliked the public offices of the Church to communicate at home. He wore, and made
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hi^ followers also wear, an extraordinary' dress ; obliged \, onion to cut off their hair; and directed his followers to avoid, as the greatest i)rol'anation, the communion and the benediction of a married priest living with his wife. In opposition to these errors, twenty-one can- oiw were pulilislied by tiie Council of Gangra. Fifteen bishops subscribed them, and addressed them, togeth- er witli a sj'nodal letter containing briefly the causes which led to the assembling of the council, to the bish- ops of Armenia. Canon 1. Condemns witli anathema those who blame marriage, and who saj'that a woman living with her husband cannot be saved. 2. Con- demns with anathema tliose wlio forbid the eating of meat. 4. Condemns those wlio separate themselves from the communion of a married priest, and refuse to partake of the holj' communion consecrated by him. 1>. Condemns those who embrace the state of virginity or continence, not for the sake of perfection, liut from a horror of the married state. 10. Condemns those who, having themselves embraced the state of virgin- ity, insult married persons. 11. Condemns those who despise the agapae or love-feasts, and refuse to partici- pate in them. 12. Condemns those who, under pre- tence of extraordinary strictness, wear a peculiar dress, and condemn those who wear ordinary clothing. 14. Condemns those who forsake their husbands through a false horror of marriage. 15. Condemns those who, under pretext of leading an ascetic life, forsake their children, without providing for their sustenance or con- version. 16. Condemns children who, upon the same plea, desert their parents. — Landon, Manual of Coun- cils, s. v.; Hefele, /. c. ; Neander, l. c. ; Schrockh, Kirc/ienfjeschichte, vi, 247.
Gano, John, a Baptist minister, was born at Hope- well, New Jerse}', July 22, 1727, and he was there or- dained to the ministry in 1754, His first labors were in the Southern States, where, as an itinerant, he was inferior, it is said, "to none but AVhitefield." During the IJevolutionary War he was an amiy chaplain. In 17G2 he was ordained pastor of the first Baptist church in New York, where he remained until 1788, when he removed to Kentuck}', where he became pastor of the Town Fork Church, near Lexington. Ho died at Frankfort, August 10, 1804. His pulpit talents were of a high order. See Life of Gano, principally an au- tol)iography (1806, 12mo); Benedict, Ilistori/ of the Bap- tist.^, vol. ii ; Sprague, Annals, vi, 62.
Gano, Stephen, a Baptist minister, was l;orn in Now York Dec. 25, 1762. After being educated for the medical profession, he spent two years in the army as surgeon during the Revolutionary War, and then set- tled as a physician in Rockland Co., N. Y. Becoming impressed with the belief that it was his dutj' to preach the Gospel, he was ordained Aug. 2, 178G ; and after being for a while a missionarj' on the Ilusdon, became pastor of the Baptist church at Hillsdale and Hudson. In 1792 he became pastor of the First Baptist Church in Providence, R. I., where his ministrations were very successful. He received the honorary degree of M.A. from Brown University in 1800, having been one of the overseers of that institution since 1794. He died pastor of the church in Providence, Aug. 18, 1828. Mr. Gano published a number of occasional sermons. — Sprague, A nnals, vi, 229.