docetism
{{unreferenced|date=February 2008}}In
Christianity,
Docetism (from the
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" (
John 1:14) as merely figurative. Docetism has historically been regarded as
heretical by most Christian theologians
weblink.
Christology and theological implications
This belief is most commonly attributed to the
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
orthodox view. Docetism was rejected by the
ecumenical councils 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 mythicism.
Texts including docetism
Non-canonical Christian texts
See also
External links
- Docetae in the Catholic Encyclopedia
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(...as imported from WP)
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