Cerinthus
Encyclopedia
Cerinthus was a gnostic and to some, an early Christian, who was prominent as a "heresiarch
" in the view of the early Church Fathers
. Contrary to proto-orthodox Christianity
, Cerinthus's school followed the Jewish law, used the Gospel according to the Hebrews, denied that the Supreme God had made the physical world, and denied the divinity of Jesus. In Cerinthus' interpretation, the Christ came to Jesus at baptism
, guided him in his ministry, but left him at the crucifixion
.
He taught that Jesus would establish a thousand-year reign of sensuous pleasure after the Second Coming
but before the General Resurrection
, a view that was declared heretical by the Council of Nicaea
. Cerinthus used a version of the gospel of Matthew as scripture.
Cerinthus taught at a time when Christianity's relation to Judaism and to Greek philosophy had not yet been clearly defined. In his association with the Jewish law and his modest assessment of Jesus, he was similar to the Ebionites
and to other Jewish Christians
. In defining the world's creator as the demiurge
, he matched Greek dualism
philosophy and anticipated the Gnostics.
Early Christian tradition describes Cerinthus as a contemporary to and opponent of John the Evangelist
, who wrote the First Epistle of John
and the Second Epistle of John
to warn the less mature in faith and doctrine about the changes he was making to the original gospel.
All that is known about Cerinthus comes from the writing of his theological opponents.
, onwards, a good few centuries after his death and therefore we do not have a clear understanding of his teachings.
' refutation of Gnosticism, Adversus haereses
, which was written about 170 AD. According to Irenæus, Cerinthus, a man educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians, claimed angel
ic inspiration.
Epistula Apostolorum
, a little known 2nd century text, which is roughly contemporary with the above work of Irenaeus, seems to have been written as a direct refutation of the teachings of Cerinthus.
, the most Jewish of the four canonical gospels. Unlike Marcion of Sinope
, a 2nd century heretic who was hostile to Jewish scripture, Cerinthus honored Jewish scripture and the God of the Hebrews.
) distinct from him. Not Jehovah
but the angels have both made the world and given the law. These creator-angels were ignorant of the existence of the Supreme God
.
His use of the term demiurge (literally, craftsman) for the creator fits Greek philosophy, which dominated the learned environment of the eastern Mediterranean, see also Hellenistic Judaism
. Unlike true Gnostics that followed him, Cerinthus taught that the demiurge was good, more like Philo's logos
than Valentinus's evil god.
and the Christ
. He denied the supernatural birth of Jesus, making him the son of Joseph
and Mary
, and distinguishing him from Christ, who descended upon him at baptism (see also Adoptionism
) and left him again at his crucifixion. But never to embody the flesh. Cerinthus is also said to have taught that Jesus will be raised from the dead at the Last Day, when all men will rise with Him
.
In describing Jesus as a natural-born man, Cerinthus agreed with the Jewish Christian Ebionites. In portraying Christ as a spirit that came from heaven, undertook its divine task in the material world, and then returned, he anticipates the fully developed Christian Gnosticism in later decades.
is termed legalism
. This view contradicts the soteriology conveyed at the Council of Jerusalem
(c. 50 AD), when Paul of Tarsus
established the understanding that Christians are not required to be circumcised
to attain salvation
. The Apostles in Jerusalem were beforehand asserting that circumcision and strict compliance with Mosaic law should not be discontinued upon conversion to Christianity
. The Book of Acts
chapter lists only four lifestyle requirements for Gentile converts to Christianity which many scholars see as a parallel to Noahide Law. Conversely, certain Jewish Christian sects, including the Cerinthians, recognized Mosaic law as both practicable and necessary.
and the spiritual kingdom of God in heaven
.
This belief, premillennialism
, was common among early Christians, as it is a literal interpretation of .
The Council of Nicea and Augustine of Hippo both opposed this belief, and it came to be considered heretical.
told the story that John the Apostle
, in particular, is said to have so detested Cerinthus that he once fled a bathhouse
when he found out Cerinthus was inside, yelling "Let us flee, lest the building fall down; for Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is inside!"
One tradition maintains that John wrote his first two epistles to counter Cerinthus' heresy.
Irenaeus opposed Gnosticism, including the teachings of Cerinthus, in Against Heresies
.
Epiphanius of Salamis documented many heresies and heretics, Cerinthus among them, in his Panarion
.
(codex I, text 2 of the Nag Hammadi library
), although the name written is largely illegible. A 2nd- or 3rd-century heretical Christian sect (later dubbed the Alogi
) alleged Cerinthus was the true author of the Gospel of John
and Book of Revelation
. According to Catholic Encyclopedia: Caius: "Additional light has been thrown on the character of Caius's dialogue against Proclus by Gwynne's publication of some fragments from the work of Hippolytus "Contra Caium" (Hermathena, VI, p. 397 sq.); from these it seems clear that Caius maintained that the Apocalypse of John was a work of the Gnostic Cerinthus."
's The Jesus Chronicles. In the book Cerinthus, much to the disciple John's frustration, has begun spreading his gnostic teachings to the populace whereupon John is moved to write his counter-argument: the Gospel of John
.
Heresiarch
A heresiarch is a founder or leader of a heretical doctrine or movement, as considered by those who claim to maintain an orthodox religious tradition or doctrine...
" in the view of the early Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
. Contrary to proto-orthodox Christianity
Proto-orthodox Christianity
Proto-orthodox Christianity is a term, coined by New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman, used to describe the Early Christian movement which was the precursor of Christian orthodoxy...
, Cerinthus's school followed the Jewish law, used the Gospel according to the Hebrews, denied that the Supreme God had made the physical world, and denied the divinity of Jesus. In Cerinthus' interpretation, the Christ came to Jesus at baptism
Baptism of Jesus
The baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of Jesus Christ's public ministry. This event is recorded in the Canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In John 1:29-33 rather than a direct narrative, the Baptist bears witness to the episode...
, guided him in his ministry, but left him at the crucifixion
Death and Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
.
He taught that Jesus would establish a thousand-year reign of sensuous pleasure after the Second Coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
but before the General Resurrection
Resurrection of the dead
Resurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
, a view that was declared heretical by the Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
. Cerinthus used a version of the gospel of Matthew as scripture.
Cerinthus taught at a time when Christianity's relation to Judaism and to Greek philosophy had not yet been clearly defined. In his association with the Jewish law and his modest assessment of Jesus, he was similar to the Ebionites
Ebionites
Ebionites, or Ebionaioi, , is a patristic term referring to a Jewish Christian sect or sects that existed during the first centuries of the Christian Era. They regarded Jesus as the Messiah and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish religious law and rites...
and to other Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....
. In defining the world's creator as the demiurge
Demiurge
The demiurge is a concept from the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy for an artisan-like figure responsible for the fashioning and maintenance of the physical universe. The term was subsequently adopted by the Gnostics...
, he matched Greek dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
philosophy and anticipated the Gnostics.
Early Christian tradition describes Cerinthus as a contemporary to and opponent of John the Evangelist
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...
, who wrote the First Epistle of John
First Epistle of John
The First Epistle of John, often referred to as First John and written 1 John, is a book of the New Testament. This fourth catholic or "general" epistle is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two Epistles of John. This...
and the Second Epistle of John
Second Epistle of John
The Second Epistle of John, often referred to as Second John and often written 2 John, is a book of the New Testament attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two epistles of John.- Composition :The language of this epistle is...
to warn the less mature in faith and doctrine about the changes he was making to the original gospel.
All that is known about Cerinthus comes from the writing of his theological opponents.
Biography
The date of his birth and his death are unknown. In the Roman province of Asia he founded a school and gathered disciples. None of Cerinthus' actual writings seem to have survived, and it is unlikely that any were ever very widely disseminated. Our most detailed understanding of the man Cerinthus' teachings are from the 4th century Epiphanius of SalamisEpiphanius of Salamis
Epiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...
, onwards, a good few centuries after his death and therefore we do not have a clear understanding of his teachings.
Beliefs
The earliest surviving account of Cerinthus is that in IrenæusIrenaeus
Saint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...
' refutation of Gnosticism, Adversus haereses
On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis
On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis, today also called On the Detection and Overthrow of Knowledge Falsely So Called , commonly called Against Heresies , is a five-volume work written by St. Irenaeus in the 2nd century...
, which was written about 170 AD. According to Irenæus, Cerinthus, a man educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians, claimed angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
ic inspiration.
Epistula Apostolorum
Epistula Apostolorum
The Epistula Apostolorum is a work from the New Testament apocrypha. The work was lost to the West until a complete version in Ethiopic translation was discovered and published in the early twentieth century. The text was used regularly by the relatively isolated Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and was...
, a little known 2nd century text, which is roughly contemporary with the above work of Irenaeus, seems to have been written as a direct refutation of the teachings of Cerinthus.
Scripture
Prior to Irenaeus, various Christian communities commonly used one gospel over the others. Cerinthus used a version of the Gospel of MatthewGospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
, the most Jewish of the four canonical gospels. Unlike Marcion of Sinope
Marcion of Sinope
Marcion of Sinope was a bishop in early Christianity. His theology, which rejected the deity described in the Jewish Scriptures as inferior or subjugated to the God proclaimed in the Christian gospel, was denounced by the Church Fathers and he was excommunicated...
, a 2nd century heretic who was hostile to Jewish scripture, Cerinthus honored Jewish scripture and the God of the Hebrews.
Creation
He taught that the visible world and heavens were not made by the supreme being, but by a lesser power (DemiurgeDemiurge
The demiurge is a concept from the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy for an artisan-like figure responsible for the fashioning and maintenance of the physical universe. The term was subsequently adopted by the Gnostics...
) distinct from him. Not Jehovah
Tetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
but the angels have both made the world and given the law. These creator-angels were ignorant of the existence of the Supreme God
Supreme Being
The term Supreme Being is often defined simply as "God", and it is used with this meaning by theologians of many religious faiths, including, but not limited to, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Deism. However, the term can also refer to more complex or philosophical interpretations of the...
.
His use of the term demiurge (literally, craftsman) for the creator fits Greek philosophy, which dominated the learned environment of the eastern Mediterranean, see also Hellenistic Judaism
Hellenistic Judaism
Hellenistic Judaism was a movement which existed in the Jewish diaspora that sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism...
. Unlike true Gnostics that followed him, Cerinthus taught that the demiurge was good, more like Philo's logos
Logos
' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...
than Valentinus's evil god.
Jesus
Cerinthus distinguished between the man JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and the Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
. He denied the supernatural birth of Jesus, making him the son of Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
and Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
, and distinguishing him from Christ, who descended upon him at baptism (see also Adoptionism
Adoptionism
Adoptionism, sometimes called dynamic monarchianism, is a minority Christian belief that Jesus was adopted as God's son at his baptism...
) and left him again at his crucifixion. But never to embody the flesh. Cerinthus is also said to have taught that Jesus will be raised from the dead at the Last Day, when all men will rise with Him
Resurrection of the dead
Resurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
.
In describing Jesus as a natural-born man, Cerinthus agreed with the Jewish Christian Ebionites. In portraying Christ as a spirit that came from heaven, undertook its divine task in the material world, and then returned, he anticipates the fully developed Christian Gnosticism in later decades.
Jewish law
Cerinthus instructed his followers to maintain strict adherence to Mosaic law for the attainment of salvation. This soteriological worldviewSoteriology
The branch of Christian theology that deals with salvation and redemption is called Soteriology. It is derived from the Greek sōtērion + English -logy....
is termed legalism
Legalism (theology)
Legalism, in Christian theology, is a sometimes-pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of...
. This view contradicts the soteriology conveyed at the Council of Jerusalem
Council of Jerusalem
The Council of Jerusalem is a name applied by historians and theologians to an Early Christian council that was held in Jerusalem and dated to around the year 50. It is considered by Catholics and Orthodox to be a prototype and forerunner of the later Ecumenical Councils...
(c. 50 AD), when Paul of Tarsus
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
established the understanding that Christians are not required to be circumcised
Circumcision controversy in early Christianity
There is evidence of a controversy over religious male circumcision in Early Christianity. A Council of Jerusalem, possibly held in approximately 50 AD, decreed that male circumcision was not a requirement for Gentile converts. This became known as the "Apostolic Decree" and may be one of the...
to attain salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
. The Apostles in Jerusalem were beforehand asserting that circumcision and strict compliance with Mosaic law should not be discontinued upon conversion to Christianity
Conversion to Christianity
Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to some form of Christianity. It has been called the foundational experience of Christian life...
. The Book of Acts
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
chapter lists only four lifestyle requirements for Gentile converts to Christianity which many scholars see as a parallel to Noahide Law. Conversely, certain Jewish Christian sects, including the Cerinthians, recognized Mosaic law as both practicable and necessary.
Eschatology
Cerinthus believed that Christ would establish a 1,000-year earthly kingdom prior to the general resurrectionResurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
and the spiritual kingdom of God in heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
.
This belief, premillennialism
Premillennialism
Premillennialism in Christian end-times theology is the belief that Jesus will literally and physically be on the earth for his millennial reign, at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration...
, was common among early Christians, as it is a literal interpretation of .
The Council of Nicea and Augustine of Hippo both opposed this belief, and it came to be considered heretical.
Christian opponents
According to Irenaeus, PolycarpPolycarp
Saint Polycarp was a 2nd century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him...
told the story that John the Apostle
John the Apostle
John the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...
, in particular, is said to have so detested Cerinthus that he once fled a bathhouse
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
when he found out Cerinthus was inside, yelling "Let us flee, lest the building fall down; for Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is inside!"
One tradition maintains that John wrote his first two epistles to counter Cerinthus' heresy.
Irenaeus opposed Gnosticism, including the teachings of Cerinthus, in Against Heresies
On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis
On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis, today also called On the Detection and Overthrow of Knowledge Falsely So Called , commonly called Against Heresies , is a five-volume work written by St. Irenaeus in the 2nd century...
.
Epiphanius of Salamis documented many heresies and heretics, Cerinthus among them, in his Panarion
Panarion
In early Christian heresiology, the Panarion , to which 16th-century Latin translations gave the name Adversus Haereses , is the most important of the works of Epiphanius of Salamis...
.
Works attributed to Cerinthus
Cerinthus may be the alleged recipient of the Apocryphon of JamesApocryphon of James
The Apocryphon of James, also known by the translation of its title - the Secret Book of James, is a pseudonymous text amongst the New Testament apocrypha. It describes the secret teachings of Jesus to Peter and James, given after the Resurrection but before the Ascension.A major theme is that one...
(codex I, text 2 of the Nag Hammadi library
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant named Mohammed Ali Samman...
), although the name written is largely illegible. A 2nd- or 3rd-century heretical Christian sect (later dubbed the Alogi
Alogi
The Alogi were a group of Christian heretics in Asia Minor that flourished around 170 CE. What we know of them is derived from their doctrinal opponents, whose literature is still extant, particularly St. Epiphanius of Salamis...
) alleged Cerinthus was the true author of the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
and Book of Revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
. According to Catholic Encyclopedia: Caius: "Additional light has been thrown on the character of Caius's dialogue against Proclus by Gwynne's publication of some fragments from the work of Hippolytus "Contra Caium" (Hermathena, VI, p. 397 sq.); from these it seems clear that Caius maintained that the Apocalypse of John was a work of the Gnostic Cerinthus."
Cerinthus in Literature
Cerinthus is featured in John's Story: The Last Eyewitness, part of Christian writer Tim LaHayeTim LaHaye
Timothy F. LaHaye is an American evangelical Christian minister, author, and speaker. He is best known for the Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-wrote with Jerry B. Jenkins. He has written over 50 books, both fiction and non-fiction.-Early life:LaHaye was born in Detroit,...
's The Jesus Chronicles. In the book Cerinthus, much to the disciple John's frustration, has begun spreading his gnostic teachings to the populace whereupon John is moved to write his counter-argument: the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
.
Further Reading
- CHARLES E. HILL, Cerinthus, Gnostic or Chiliast? A New Solution to an Old Problem, in JOURNAL OF EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES (8.2, Summer 2000)
External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia: 'Cerinthus'
- Cerinthus from Encyclopædia Britannica (1911)
- Cerinthus from New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1952)
- Schaff's History of the Christian Church, volume II, chapter XI: THE HERESIES OF THE ANTE-NICENE AGE section 123: Cerinthus
- EarlyChurch.org.uk: Cerinthus
- Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, Book I (Chapter XXVI, §1-2)
- Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, Book III (Chapter II, §1; Ch. III, §4; Ch. XI, §1)
- Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiae.
- Gaius argument for Cerinthus' authorship of the Gospel of John