page_title: Laodicea on the Lycus
section_title: Christianity at Laodicea
hierarchical_section_title: Laodicea on the Lycus / Christianity at Laodicea
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Blick auf die ausgegrabene aber leider auch 2017 immer noch nicht zugängliche Kirche aus dem 4. Jh
context_page_description: Laodicea on the Lycus was an ancient city built on the river Lycus. It was located in the Hellenistic regions of Caria and Lydia, which later became the Roman Province of Phrygia Pacatiana. It is now situated near the modern city of Denizli, Turkey. In 2013 the archaeological site was inscribed in the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey.
  It contained one of the Seven churches of Asia mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
context_section_description: With its large Jewish community, Very early Laodicea became a seat of Christianity and a bishopric. The Epistle to the Colossians mentions Laodicea as one of the communities of concern for Paul the Apostle. It sends greetings from a certain Epaphras from Colossae, who worked hard for the Christians of the three Phrygian cities of Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis. Asking for greetings to be sent to the Laodicean Christians, the writer requests that his letter be read publicly at Laodicea (Colossians 4:16) and that another letter addressed to the Laodiceans (see Epistle to the Laodiceans) be given a public reading at Colossae. Some Greek manuscripts of the First Epistle to Timothy end with the words: "Written at Laodicea, metropolis of Phrygia Pacatiana". Laodicea is also one of the seven churches of Asia mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
  The first three bishops attributed to the see of Laodicea are very uncertain, their names recalling people mentioned in the New Testament: Archippus (Colossians 4:17); Nymphas, already indicated as bishop of Laodicea by the Apostolic Constitutions of the last quarter of the 4th century (a man named Nymphas or, according to the best manuscripts, a woman named Nympha is mentioned in Colossians 4:15); and Diotrephes (3 John 9). After these three comes Sagaris, martyr (c. 166). Sisinnius is mentioned in the Acts of the martyr Saint Artemon, a priest of his church. Nunechius assisted at the Council of Nicaea (325). Eugenius, known by an inscription, was probably his successor. The Arian Cecropius was transferred by Constantius to the See of Nicomedia.
  When Phrygia was divided into two provinces, Laodicea became the metropolis of Phrygia Pacatiana: it figures under this title in all the Notitiae Episcopatuum. Some twenty incumbents are known besides those already enumerated; the last occupied the see in 1450. Since then, the bishopric has become a titular see, listed as Laodicea in Phrygia by the Catholic Church, which has appointed no further titular bishops to the see since the transfer of the last incumbent in 1968.
  Sixty canons of a Council of Laodicea, written in Greek, exist. The testimony of Theodoret asserts this assembly was actually held,  the date of this assembly being much discussed. Some have even thought that the council must have preceded that of Nicaea (325), or at least that of Constantinople (381). It seems safer to consider it as subsequent to the latter. The canons are, undoubtedly, only a resume of an older text, and indeed appear to be derived from two distinct collections. They are of great importance in the history of discipline and liturgy; some Protestants have invoked one of them in opposition to the veneration of angels.
caption: The Church of Laodicea
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