what did docetism teach

Docetism, (from Greek dokein, “to seem”), Christian heresy

and one of the earliest Christian sectarian doctrines, affirming that Christ did not have a real or natural body during his life on earth but only an apparent or phantom one.

Full Answer

What is docetism?

Docetism allowed that Jesus may have been in some way divine, but it denied His full humanity. Hardcore Docetists taught that Jesus was only a phantasm or an illusion, appearing to be human but having no body at all. Other forms of Docetism taught that Jesus had a “heavenly” body of some type but not a real, natural body of flesh.

What did Docetists believe about the nature of Jesus?

Docetists focused on Jesus' divinity rather than his humanity. They believed that because he was so divine, he could hardly be human. And until the church explicitly defined the relationship between members of the Trinity, and Jesus’ divine and human natures, numerous heretical beliefs sprouted up to explain complicated theological ideas.

Why should Christians reject docetism?

Docetism must be rejected because it is not a biblical view of Jesus’ nature. In fact, Docetism stands in flat denial of biblical truth. Jesus Christ did not simply appear human; He was truly human, as well as truly God.

Was Jesus Christ a docetic man?

The term 'docetic' is rather nebulous. Two varieties were widely known. In one version, as in Marcionism, Christ was so divine that he could not have been human, since God lacked a material body, which therefore could not physically suffer. Jesus only appeared to be a flesh-and-blood man; his body was a phantasm.

What happened docetism?

Docetism largely died out during the first millennium AD. The opponents against whom Ignatius of Antioch inveighs are often taken to be Monophysite docetists.

What did the Gnostics teach about Jesus?

Jesus is identified by some Gnostics as an embodiment of the supreme being who became incarnate to bring gnōsis to the earth, while others adamantly denied that the supreme being came in the flesh, claiming Jesus to be merely a human who attained enlightenment through gnosis and taught his disciples to do the same.

How is gnosticism different from Christianity?

In Gnostic systems, there is a denial of what was becoming standard Christian teaching, eschatology, or the future return of Christ to usher in the kingdom of God. For Gnostics, the kingdom is within the individual.

What do Gnostics believe about God?

The Gnostics, in their reading of Scripture, acknowledged no such debt; for they believed that the Hebrew Bible was the written revelation of an inferior creator god (dêmiourgos), filled with lies intended to cloud the minds and judgment of the spiritual human beings (pneumatikoi) whom this Demiurge was intent on ...

Do Gnostics believe Jesus was crucified?

Some Gnostics believed Jesus was not crucified but it was someone else, and therefore he was not killed.

What were the main teachings of Gnosticism?

In general, Gnostics taught cosmological dualism, strict asceticism, repudiation of material creation as evil, docetism, and the existence of the divine spark in humans.

Do Gnostics believe in the Trinity?

In Gnosticism, Sophia is a feminine figure, analogous to the human soul but also simultaneously one of the feminine aspects of God. Gnostics held that she was the syzygy (female twin divine Aeon) of Jesus (i.e. the Bride of Christ), and Holy Spirit of the Trinity.

What is in the Gnostic Gospels?

The Gnostic Gospels: The 52 texts discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt include 'secret' gospels poems and myths attributing to Jesus sayings and beliefs which are very different from the New Testament. Scholar Elaine Pagels explores these documents and their implications.

What is the doctrine of docetism?

In the history of Christianity, docetism (from the Koinē Greek: δοκεῖν/δόκησις dokeĩn "to seem", dókēsis "apparition, phantom") is the heterodox doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, and above all the human form of Jesus, was mere semblance without any true reality. Broadly it is taken as the belief that Jesus ...

Where did docetism originate?

Docetism's origin within Christianity is obscure. Ernst Käsemann controversially defined the Christology of St John’s Gospel as "naïve docetism" in 1968. The ensuing debate reached an impasse as awareness grew that the very term "docetism", like "gnosticism", was difficult to define within the religio-historical framework of the debate. It has occasionally been argued that its origins were in heterodox Judaism or Oriental and Grecian philosophies. The alleged connection with Jewish Christianity would have reflected Jewish Christian concerns with the inviolability of (Jewish) monotheism. Docetic opinions seem to have circulated from very early times, 1 John 4:2 appearing explicitly to reject them. Some 1st‑century Christian groups developed docetic interpretations partly as a way to make Christian teachings more acceptable to pagan ways of thinking about divinity.

Why was the heresy of docetism called the heresy of docetism?

In ancient times, this extreme view was named the heresy of docetism (seeming) because it maintained that Jesus never came into the world "in the flesh", but only seemed to; (I John 4:2) and it was given some encouragement by Paul's lack of interest in his fleshly existence.

What is the heterodox doctrine of Jesus?

In the history of Christianity, docetism (from the Koinē Greek: δοκεῖν/δόκησις dokeĩn "to seem", dókēsis "apparition, phantom") is the heterodox doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, and above all the human form of Jesus, was mere semblance without any true reality.

When was docetism rejected?

Docetism was unequivocally rejected at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and is regarded as heretical by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Orthodox Tewahedo, and many Protestant denominations that accept and hold to the statements of these early church councils, such as Reformed Baptists, Reformed Christians, and all Trinitarian Christians .

Was Jesus a dove?

Other groups who were accused of docetism held that Jesus was a man in the flesh, but Christ was a separate entity who entered Jesus' body in the form of a dove at his baptism, empowered him to perform miracles, and abandoned him upon his death on the cross.

Is the Christ myth theory fringe theory?

Such theorems are rejected by modern scholarship, which considers the Christ myth theory a fringe theory, which is generally not taken seriously.

What is the doctrine of docetism?

Docetism, (from Greek dokein,“to seem”), Christian heresyand one of the earliest Christian sectarian doctrines, affirming that Christdid not have a real or natural body during his life on earth but only an apparent or phantom one.

What were the early heresies of Jesus called?

Jesus: Early heresies. …not-real body; they were called docetists. Most of the struggle over the person of Christ, however, dealt with the question of his relation to the Father. Some early views were so intent upon asserting his identity with the Father that the distinction of his person was lost, and he became….

What is the history of docetism?

Docetism, (from Greek dokein, “to seem”), Christian heresy and one of the earliest Christian sectarian doctrines, affirming that Christ did not have a real or natural body during his life on earth but only an apparent or phantom one.

What is Arianism and docetism?

Docetism — Jesus was only divine, his body was only an appearance. ( More a tendency than a particular school of thought) Arianism — Jesus, as Logos, was a superhuman creature (something like an angel) between God and humans.

Who wrote the Gospel of the Nazarenes?

Origen adds to this by stating that, among the four gospels, Matthew, the one-time tax collector who later became an apostle of Jesus Christ, first composed the gospel for the converts from Judaism, published in the Hebrew language.

What was the heresy of Arianism?

Arianism is a fourth‐century heresy, which affirmed Christ to be divine, but not in the same full sense in which God the Father is divine. Traditional Trinitarianism, with its classical expression in the Nicene Creed, emerged out of controversy with Arianism and defined Christ as being of one substance with the Father.

What did pelagius teach?

Pelagianism, also called Pelagian heresy, a 5th-century Christian heresy taught by Pelagius and his followers that stressed the essential goodness of human nature and the freedom of the human will.

What are Gnostic beliefs?

Gnosticism is the belief that human beings contain a piece of God (the highest good or a divine spark) within themselves, which has fallen from the immaterial world into the bodies of humans. All physical matter is subject to decay, rotting, and death.

How does docetism relate to Gnosticism?

Docetism, a spin-off from Gnosticism, comes from the Greek word dokesis, meaning appearance. In the first and second centuries a.d., Docetists asserted that Jesus Christ only appeared to be human. … The Gnostic antagonism between the spiritual and the material worlds led Docetists to deny that Jesus was true man.

What was the problem with docetism?

For early church fathers, the problem with docetism was that if Jesus wasn’t fully human, then he couldn’t really live, die, or be resurrected. If his body was an illusion, then so was the redemption he offered. The hope of the gospel and the salvation Christianity professed was completely based on Jesus’ physical death and resurrection. ( Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians 15:17.)

Where did the word "docetism" come from?

The word “docetism” comes from the Greek word, dokeĩn, which means “to seem.”. The earliest evidence of this heresy actually comes from 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John, where the Apostle John writes about a group who seemed to deny that Jesus came in the flesh: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are ...

Why did Jesus tell his disciples to touch him?

Stop doubting and believe’” (John 20:27). When Jesus appeared to his disciples after the resurrection, the disciples thought he was a ghost, and he told them to touch him in order to prove that he was really there in a physical body (Luke 24:39).

What was the church deemed heretical?

They were trying to reconcile his physical form with his divine identity. What the church deemed heretical were beliefs that suggested Jesus was one but not the other.

Was Jesus a divine being?

Jesus had to be both fully divine, and fully human.

What does the Apostle John say about docetism?

In 2 John 7, the Apostle John says it is false teaching to deny that Jesus Christ came “in the flesh.”.

What does John mean by "docetic teaching"?

He is referring to docetic teaching or at least to teaching that would later blossom into full-fledged docetism. Before John died, he had to remind the church that the Son of God came in the flesh, that He possesses a true human nature that includes a true human body.

Why did the Docetists reject the true humanity of Christ?

The docetists rejected the true humanity of Christ because of a notion that the physical world is inherently defective. Biblical Christianity affirms something different. Although the creation is presently fallen, God originally made it very good. Thus, there is no inherent obstacle to the Son of God’s uniting Himself to a human nature in the incarnation. We need not disdain the created order, for God will redeem it.

What is the docetic heresy?

The Docetic Heresy. “For many decei vers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.”. Groups who denied the deity of Christ outright, such as the Arians, were not the most significant threats to Christian orthodoxy in the earliest years ...

What does the New Testament show about the denial of the human nature of Jesus?

In fact, the New Testament demonstrates that the denial of the true human nature of Jesus began during the lifetime of the Apostles. We are talking specifically about the heresy of docetism.

Was Christianity influenced by Greek thinking?

Remember that Christianity was born in a world heavily influenced by Greek thinking, and Greek philosophers tended to look down upon the physical world. For many Greek thinkers, embodied existence was not a good thing, and they looked forward to the time when the soul would be released from the “prison” of the body.

What is Donatism in Christianity?

Updated February 12, 2019. Donatism was a heretical sect of early Christianity, founded by Donatus Magnus, which believed that sanctity was a requisite for church membership and administration of sacraments. Donatists lived primarily in Roman Africa and reached their largest numbers in the 4th and 5th centuries.

Who was the traitor of the faith?

One of those who agreed to do this was Felix of Aptunga, which made him a traitor to the faith in the eyes of many. After Christians regained power, some believed that those who obeyed the state rather than become martyrs should not be allowed to hold church offices, and that included Felix.

What was the heresy of the Synod of Arles?

This position was declared a heresy at the Synod of Arles in 314 CE, where it was decided that the validity of ordination and baptism were not dependent upon the merit of the administrator in question. Emperor Constantin e agreed with the ruling, but the people in North Africa refused to accept this and Constantine tried to impose it by force, but he was unsuccessful. Most Christians in North Africa were probably Donatists by the 5th century, but they were wiped out in the Muslim invasions which occurred in the 7th and 8th centuries.

Overview

Definitions

Docetism is broadly defined as any teaching that claims that Jesus' body was either absent or illusory. The term 'docetic' is rather nebulous. Two varieties were widely known. In one version, as in Marcionism, Christ was so divine that he could not have been human, since God lacked a material body, which therefore could not physically suffer. Jesus only appeared to be a flesh-and-blood man; his body was a phantasm. Other groups who were accused of docetism held that Je…

Christology and theological implications

Islam and docetism

Docetism and Christ myth theory

Texts believed to include docetism

See also

Further reading