two bishops were present, from different provinces of ; ter of the church leaving the gate for a moment, even Asia, and sixty canons were published, which were ac- in order to pray. 44. Forbids women entering mto the cepted by the other churches. 1. Permits the adminis- altar. 45. Forbids receiving those who do not present tration of communion to persons who have married a sec- I themselves for the Easter baptism before the second ond time, after their remaining a while in retreat, fasting week in Lent. 40. Orders that all catechumens to be and praying. 2. Directs holy communion to be given i baptized shall know the Creed by heart, and shall repeat to those who have completed their penance. 3. Forbids ; it before the bishop or priest on the fifth day of the week, to raise neojihytes to the sacertlotal order. 4. Forbids ^ 47. Those who have been baptized in sickness, if thev
usury among the clergy. 5. Ordination not to be ad- ministered in the presence of those who are in the rank of hearers. 0. No heretics to enter within the church.
recover, must learn the Creed. 48. Orders that those who have been baptized shall be anointed with the holy chrism, and partake of the kingdom of God. 49. For-
7. Any Novatians, Photinians, or Quartodecimani who bills celebrating the holy eucharist during Lent on any arc to be received into the Church must first abjure ev- days but Saturdavs and Sundays. 50. Forbids eating ery heresy, be instructed in the true faith, and anointed i anything on the I'hursday in the last week of Lent, or with the holy chrism. 8. All Cataiihrygians or Monta- j during the whole of Lent anything except dry food. 51. nists to be instructed and baptized before being received ' Forbids celebrating the festivals of the martyrs during into the Church. 9. Excommunicates the faithful who ; Lent; orders remembrance of them on Saturdays and
go to the places of worship or burial-grounds of here- tics. 10. Forbids the faithful to give their children in marriage to heretics. 11. Forbids the ordination of priestesses {■iTp((j3vTici(;) (see below). 12. Bishops to be appointed by the metropolitan and his provincials. 13, Priests not to be elected l)y the people. 14. Conse- crated eleniLMits not to be sent into other parishes at I^aster by way of eulogi;e. 15. Only those chanters named in the Church roll shall ascend the pulpit and chant. 10. The Gospels to be read, as well as the other books of Scripture, on Saturday. 17. A lesson shall be read between each psalm. 18. The same prayer to be repeated at nones as at vespers. 19. After the bishop's sermon the prayers for the catechiunens shall be said separately, then those for the penitents, and, lastly, those of the faithful; after which the kiss of peace shall be given, and after the priests have given it to the bishop,
Sundays. 62. Forbids celebrating marriages and birth- day feasts during Lent. 53. ICnjoins proper behavior at marriage festivals, and forbids all dancing. 54. Forbids the clergy attending the shows and dances given at wed- dings. 55. None of the clergy or laity to club together for drinking- parties. 50. Forbids the priests taking their seats in the sanctuary before the bishop enters, except he be ill or absent, 57. Directs that bishops shall not be placed in small towns or villages, but sim- ply visitors, who shall act under the direction of the bishop in the city. 58. Forbids both bishops and priests celebrating the holy eucharist in private houses. 59. Forbids singing uninspired hymns, etc., in church, and reading the uncanonicr.l books. 00. Declares which are the canonical books of Scripture. In this list the Apoc- ri-pha and the book of Kevelation are omitted. See Canon of Scriptuke. Of particular interest among
LAODICEAN
238
LAOS
the decisions of this council is canon 1 1 , forbiddint; the employment of women as jireachers. Ilefele holds that the canon has hardly been properly translated, and that the desire of the council was simply to forbid stipeiior iliucuiit'.iseg in the C'hurcli. But for a detailed discussion we must refer to Ilefele, Concilienijeschichte, i, 731 sq. The difficulty as to the meaning arises from the fact that the canons were written in (ireek, and the question hini;os on the mtanimj intended for TrpscylivTiceg and TrpoKii^ill^in'cn.
Laodice'an (AaociKivi;'), an inhabitant of the city of Laodicea, in Phrygia (^Coloss. iv, IG; Kev. iii, 14), from which passages it appears that a Christian Church was established there bv the apostles. See below.
LAODICE ANS, EPISTLE TO THE. " In the con- clusion of the Epistle to the Colossians (Colos. iv, IG), the ajiostle, after sending to the Cf)lossians the saluta- tions of himself and others who were with him, enjoins the Colossians to send this epistle to the Laodiceans, and that they likewise should read the one from Laodi- cea {t))v tK AaoScKEiac). It is disputed whether by these concluding words Paul intends an epistle from him to the Laodiceans or one from the Laodiceans to him. The use of the preposition t/c favors the latter conclusion, and this has been strongly urged by Thcod- oret, Chrysostom, Jerome, Philastrius, (Ecumenius, Cal- vin, Ueza, Storr, and a multitude of other interj^reters. Winer, however, clearly shows that the preposition here may be under the law of attraction, and that the full force of the passage may be thus given : ' that written to the Laodiceans, and to be brought J'lom Laodicea to you' (G rammaiik d. Neutestamentl. Sprachidioms, p. 43-i, Lpz. MoQ). It must be allowed that such an interjire- tation of the apostle's words is in itself more probable than the other; for, supposing him to refer to a letter from the Laodiceans to him, the questions arise, How were the Colossians to procure this unless he himself sent it to them? And of what use would such a docu- ment be to them? To this latter (luestion it has been replied that probably the letter from the Laodiceans contained some statements which inthienced the apostle in writing to the Colossians, and which refpiired to be known before his letter in rejjly could be perfectly un- derstood. But this is said without the slightest shadow of reason from the epistle before us ; and it is opposed by the fact that the Laodicean epistle was to be used by the Colossians after they had read that to themselves (iirai' afayvio(y'bij,K. t. A.)- It seems, upon the whole, most likely that the apostle in this passage refers to an epistle sent by him to the Church in Laodicea some time before that to the Church at Colossa;" (Kitto). The suggestion of Grotius (after IMarcion) that it is identical with the canonical Epistle to the Ephesians has sub- stantially been adopted by ISIill and Wetstein, and many modern critics : see, especially, Holzhausen, Der Bnf an die Kphesen (Hannover, 183-1) ; Baur, Pauliis (2d ed. Lpz. 18GG-7), ii, 47 sq. ; Riibiger, De Cliristolot/ia Pauli- na (Breslau, 1852), p. 48 ; Bleek, Einleiiumj in das N. T. (2d ed. Berlin, 1866), p. 454 sq. ; Hausrath, Der Ajwstel Paidu.i (Heidelb. 1865), p. 2; Volkmar, Commentar ziir Off'e/ih. Jo/i. (Ziirich, 1862), p. 6G ; Kiene, in the Shid. v. Krit. 18G9, p. 323 sq. ; Klostermann, in the Jdhrh.fur deittschc Theol. 1870, p. 160 sq. ; Hitzig, Zur Kritik Paii- linisrhen Brife (Lpz. 1870), p. 27. The only supposi- tion that seems to meet all the circumstances of the case is that the Epistle to the Ephesians, although not exactly encyclical, was designed (as indeed its character evinces) for general circulation; and that Paul, after having dispatched this, addressed a special ejustle to the Colossians on occasion of writing to Philemon, and recommends the perusal of that to the Ephesians, which would l)y that time reach them by way of Laodi"cea. This explains the doubtfid reacUng iv 'E^fdi/j, flnd the absence of personal salutation in the Epistle to the Ephesians. and at the same time the allusion to a letter from Laodicea; while it obviates the objectionable hy- pothesis of the loss of an inspireil epistle, to which par-