Synod of Gangra

The Synod of Gangra was held in 340. The synod condemned Manichaeans, and their practices. The concluding canons of the Synod condemned the Manichaeans for their actions, and declared many of their practices anathematised.

The canons of the synod condemned and anathematised, the practices of the condemnation of marriage, forbidding the eating of most forms of meat, urging slaves to flee their masters, arguing that married priests could not perform valid sacraments, condemning normal church services and holding their own, distributing church revenues without the consent of the bishop, remaining celibate for reasons other than holiness, reviling married persons and the celebration of Christian love-feasts, wearing certain types of ascetic clothing "as if this gave him righteousness" and condemning others, women wearing men's clothing under the pretense of asceticism, women leaving their husbands, parents abandoning their children, children leaving their parents, women cutting off their hair "from pretended asceticism", fasting on a Sunday under the pretense of asceticism, and refusing to honour Christian martyrs.[1]

Although merely a local synod, its decisions were later ratified by the Council of Chalcedon, which is of immense importance in the early history of Christianity (see also First seven Ecumenical Councils). Most modern Christian groups, whether Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Eastern Orthodox, accept the Council of Chalcedon's decisions, but some Eastern Christians, including the Oriental Orthodox and the Assyrians, reject it.