Overview

The Synod of Hippo was a regional gathering of North African bishops held in 393 CE at Hippo Regius (in present-day Annaba, Algeria). It is best known for issuing a list of books regarded as canonical Scripture for the Church in that province. The meeting occurred within a network of late‑antique African synods and monastic and episcopal activity that addressed pastoral, disciplinary and doctrinal concerns.

Context and participants

The synod took place against the backdrop of a well‑organized Latin Church in Roman Africa. Bishops and clerical leaders met regularly to resolve local disputes and to establish uniform practice. Prominent African clerics, including St. Augustine, were connected with these gatherings; Augustine later served as bishop of Hippo and is associated with several provincial councils and their records. See also general background on Hippo Regius and Augustine via Hippo Regius and St. Augustine.

Decisions on the biblical canon

One of the synod's enduring legacies is a catalog of canonical books. In the decisions attributed to the 393 assembly African bishops listed the books of the Old and New Testaments that they accepted for liturgy and instruction. That list included the 27 New Testament books widely recognized today, and an Old Testament roster that corresponded to the Septuagint tradition used in the Western Latin Church, including several deuterocanonical books such as Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch (with the Letter of Jeremiah), 1 and 2 Maccabees, and the additions to Esther and Daniel. The synod's treatment of the canon was later echoed by other North African councils.

Later synods and corroboration

The Synod of Hippo was followed by additional meetings in Hippo and neighbouring Carthage (notably councils in 397 and 419) where similar canonical lists and disciplinary canons were adopted. These regional conciliar decisions helped shape the Latin Church's received canon, and the North African formulation became influential in later Western practice even though it was not an ecumenical council binding the whole Christian world.

Significance and limitations

The importance of the Synod of Hippo lies less in a single decisive act than in its place within a gradual process by which Christian communities converged on an authoritative collection of Scriptures. Scholars emphasize that canon formation was extended and complex; regional councils like Hippo and Carthage reflected local consensus and contributed to broader acceptance. For discussion of the relationship between councils and sacred texts see Sacred Scripture.

Notable facts

  • The 393 synod was one of several provincial gatherings in late fourth‑century Roman Africa (other meetings occurred in 394, 397, 401 and 426).
  • Its canonical list corresponds closely to the later Latin (Roman Catholic) canon and aligns substantially with the Septuagint‑based tradition respected in many Eastern Churches.
  • Decisions were regional and gained wider force through repetition and acceptance rather than by a single ecumenical proclamation.