Mastodawn

Docetism

This term comes from the Greek word: dokein (“to seem,” “to appear”). This is the doctrine that Jesus wasn’t a human being of flesh & blood. But Jesus was a pure spirit who only appeared to be human, that his human form was an illusion. If God is perfected Spirit, He couldn’t possibly “unite” with matter. Therefore, Jesus’ body was a sort of divine hologram.

The word Doketai (“Illusionists”) referring to early groups who denied Jesus’ humanity, first occurred in a letter by Bishop Serapion of Antioch (197-203). It appears to have arisen over theological contentions concerning the meaning, figurative or literal, of a sentence from the beginning of John’s Gospel: “the Word was made Flesh.”

Docetism was unequivocally rejected at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. This doctrine is heretical by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Armenian Apostolic Church, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, & Anglican Communion & many Protestant denominations such as Calvinist (Reformed Christians), Reformed Baptists, Waldensians, & all Trinitarian Christians.

There are 2 varieties of Docetism. In 1 version, called Marcionism, Jesus was so divine that couldn’t have been human. Since God lacked a material body, which couldn’t physically suffer. Jesus only appeared to be a flesh & blood man. His body was a phantasm.

Marcion of Sinope is perhaps the most famous figure associated with Docetic teachings. He was a wealthy shipowner who moved to Rome around 140 CE. Marcion was obsessed with the contrast between the “wrathful” God of the Old Testament & the “loving” Father of Jesus.

Marcion argued that Jesus was a completely new entity who descended directly from Heaven to Capernaum in 29 CE. He didn’t have a birth, childhood, or biological body. Marcion was the 1st to try & create a “closed” New Testament canon. This forced mainstream Christianity to define its own scriptures.

The other group 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, & abandoned Him upon His death on the cross.

Ignatius of Antioch, writing in the early 2nd century while on his way to be executed in Rome, he was the main “anti-Docetist.” He realized that if Jesus didn’t have a real body, His death & resurrection were meaningless.

Ignatius argued that if Jesus’ suffering was a fake, then the suffering of Christian martyrs was also a waste of time. He insisted on the physical reality of the Eucharist, calling it the “medicine of immortality” because it represented real flesh.

One-Time Monthly Yearly

Make a one-time donation

Make a monthly donation

Make a yearly donation

Choose an amount

$1.00 $5.00 $10.00 $1.00 $5.00 $10.00 $5.00 $10.00 $15.00

Or enter a custom amount

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate Donate monthly Donate yearly

#140CE #203 #29CE #2ndCentury #325 #AnglicanCommunion #ArmenianApostolicChurch #BishopSerapionOfAntioch #BookOfJohn #Calvinist #Capernaum #CatholicChurch #Christianity #CopticOrthodoxChurchOfAlexandria #DivineHologram #Docetism #EasternOrthodoxChurch #EthiopianOrthodoxChurch #Eucharist #FirstCouncilOfNicaea #Gospel #Greek #IgnatiusOfAntioch #Jesus #Marcionism #martyrs #OldTestament #OrthodoxTewahedoChurch #Phantasm #ReformedBaptists #ReformedChristians #Rome #TrinitarianChristians #Waldensians

Spirituality & Religious Studies Jan 30

Polycarp of Smyrna

Polycarp (69-155 AD) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna (modern-day Turkey). According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he passed away a martyr, bound & burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body. Polycarp is regarded as a saint & Church Father in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Lutheranism, & Anglicanism.

Irenaeus & Tertullian said that Polycarp had been a disciple of John the Apostle, one of Jesus’ disciples. This is Polycarp’s primary claim to fame. John the Apostle was the 1 who ordained Polycarp as Bishop of Smyrna. Polycarp is regarded as 1 of 3 chief Apostolic Fathers, along with Clement of Rome & Ignatius of Antioch.

In an period before the New Testament was fully formed into its modern version, Polycarp represented the “Living Voice.” If a dispute came around about what Jesus had meant, people went to Polycarp because he’d heard it from people who were actually there.

The only 1 authentic surviving work credited to Polycarp is the: Epistle/Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians. This Epistle/Letter is essentially a “mosaic” of early Christian writings. Polycarp quoted or alluded to almost 1/2 of the New Testament books (including Paul’s letters, 1 Peter, & the Gospels).

As early as the 2nd century, Polycarp was already fighting Docetism. This is the idea that Jesus only seems to have a body. He called, famously, anyone who denied the reality of Christ’s physical suffering “the 1st born of Satan.”

In particular, Irenaeus had heard the account of Polycarp’s discussion with John & with others who had actually seen Jesus. Irenaeus reports that Polycarp was converted to Christianity by the apostles, was consecrated a presbyter, & communicated with many who had seen Jesus.

Smyrna (modern-day Izmir, Turkey) was the center of “Emperor Worship.” In 26 AD, it won the right to build a Temple to the Emperor Tiberius. Smyrna also had a large, & influential, Jewish population. The tense relationship between the synagogue & the emerging Christian “sect,” which would play a role in Polycarp’s eventual arrest.

In his old age, Polycarp traveled to Rome (circa 154 AD) to meet with is fellow Syrian, the Bishop of Rome, Pope Anicetus. They come together to talk through a major secular & religious disagreement: Quartodecimanism.

Polycarp & the Eastern Churches celebrated Easter on the 14th of Nisan (the Jewish Passover), regardless of what day of the week it fell on. Rome, however, insisted it must ALWAYS be a Sunday. The Pope & Polycarp couldn’t find a compromise. This would become a problem in later centuries.

But Polycarp & the Pope stayed respectful, & friendly, towards each other. Pope Anicetus even let Polycarp celebrate the Eucharist in his own church in Rome as a sign of respect.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp is the 1st recorded account of a Christian martyrdom outside the New Testament. During a period of local unrest, the crowd in the Smyrnaean stadium began shouting for Polycarp. Initially, he didn’t flee but retreated to a small farm.

When he was eventually betrayed by a young servant under torture, he welcomed the guards, fed them a meal, & asked for an hour to pray. The Roman Proconsul, Quadratus, didn’t want to actually kill Polycarp. He pleaded with Polycarp to “have respect for our age” & to simply say, “Away with the atheists” (in this case, “the atheists” were the Christians).

Polycarp looked at the pagan crowd in the stadium, pointed at them (the pagans), & said “Away with the atheists!” Also in Martyrdom of Polycarp, Polycarp is reported to say on the day of his death: “Eighty & six years I have served Him, & He has done me no wrong.”

Polycarp was sentenced to death for not burning incense to the Roman Emperor. He was “burned” at the stake but the flames arched around him like a sail, refusing to touch him. Eventually, he was killed with a dagger/spear.

Relics of Polycarp are under the main altar of the church of Sant’Ambrogio della Massima. The right arm of St. Polycarp had been kept at the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos-Saint Polycarp, in Ampelakiotissa near Nafpaktos, Greece, for over 500 years.

It was stolen on March 14, 2013 & was never found. A fragment, however, taken from the arm on a previous occasion, was discovered & returned to the monastery on July 14, 2019.

In the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, & Greek Catholic Churches, the feast day of St. Polycarp is February 23. In the Coptic Orthodox Church, his feast day is on Amshir 29 (March 8 in the Gregorian Calendar). In the Church of England, he was honored with a Lesser Festival on February 23. In the Lutheran Church, his feast day is on February 23.