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Nick: Protected "Docetism" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

Nick — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:13:54 GMT

Protected "Docetism" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

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Nick: New page: In Christianity, '''Docetism''' (from the Greek {{polytonic|δοκέω}} [dokeō], "to seem") is the belief that Jesus' physical body was an illusion, as was his...

Nick — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:13:37 GMT

New page: In Christianity, '''Docetism''' (from the Greek {{polytonic|δοκέω}} [dokeō], "to seem") is the belief that Jesus' physical body was an illusion, as was his...

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In [[Christianity]], '''Docetism''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{polytonic|δοκέω}} [dokeō], "to seem") is the belief that [[Jesus]]' physical body was an illusion, as was his [[crucifixion]]; that is, Jesus only ''seemed'' to have a physical body and to physically die, but in reality he was incorporeal, a pure spirit, and hence could not physically die. This belief treats the sentence "the Word was made Flesh" (''[[Gospel of John|John]] 1:14'') as merely figurative. Docetism has historically been regarded as [[Christian heresy|heretical]] by most Christian theologians [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05070c.htm].

==Christology and theological implications==
This belief is most commonly attributed to the [[Gnosticism|Gnostics]], many of whom believed that matter was evil, and as a result [[God]] would not take on a material body. This statement is rooted in the idea that a divine spark is imprisoned within the material body, and that the material body is in itself an obstacle, deliberately created by an evil, lesser god (the [[demiurge]]) to prevent man from seeing his divine origin.

Docetism can be further explained as the view that since the human body is temporary and the spirit is eternal, the body of Jesus must have been an illusion and, likewise, his crucifixion. Even so, saying that the human body is temporary has a tendency to undercut the importance of the belief in [[resurrection of the dead]] and the goodness of created matter, and is in opposition to this [[Orthodoxy|orthodox]] view. Docetism was rejected by the [[ecumenical council]]s and mainstream Christianity, and largely died out during the first millennium A.D. Gnostic movements that survived past that time, such as [[Catharism]], incorporated docetism into their beliefs, but such movements were destroyed by the [[Albigensian Crusade]] (1209-1229).

[[Ignatius of Antioch]] wrote very harshly against docetism in around the year 110 AD in his [[letter to the Smyrnaeans]]. In 7:1, he said, "They [the docetists] abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes". Since one of the main beliefs of docetism was that the body of Jesus was an illusion, docetists could not accept that the bread and wine used in the [[Eucharist]] were the actual flesh and blood of Jesus.
Other detailed criticisms were given by [[Irenaeus]] and [[Tertullian]].

[[Earl Doherty]] and [[Timothy Freke]] have suggested docetism arose from [[Christ myth theory|Christ mythicism]].

==Texts including docetism==

===Non-[[canonical]] Christian texts===
*[[Gospel of Phillip]]
*[[Second Treatise of the Great Seth]]
*[[Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter]]
*[[Gospel of Judas]]
*In the ''contra epistulam fundamenti'', [[Augustine of Hippo]] makes reference to the [[Manichaeans]] believing that [[Jesus]] was Docetic.

== See also ==
*[[Christology]]
*[[Adoptionism]]
*[[Adoptivi]]
*[[Arianism]]
*[[Binitarianism]]
*[[Monophysitism]]
*[[Avatar]]
*[[Christian heresy]]

==External links==
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05070c.htm Docetae] in the Catholic Encyclopedia

[[Category:Christian mysticism]]
[[Category:Trinitarianism]]
[[Category:Gnosticism]]
[[Category:Christology]]

Docetism - Revision history

Beza 1598: /* External links */

Nick: Protected "Docetism" [edit=autoconfirmed:move=autoconfirmed]

Nick: New page: In Christianity, '''Docetism''' (from the Greek {{polytonic|δοκέω}} [dokeō], "to seem") is the belief that Jesus' physical body was an illusion, as was his...