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CERINTHUS (c. A.D. 100)

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 761 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CERINTHUS (c. A.D. 100) , an See also:early See also:Christian heretic, See also:con-temporary with the closing years of the apostle See also:John, who, according to the well-known See also:story of See also:Polycarp, reported by See also:Irenaeus (iii. 3) and twice recorded in See also:Eusebius (Hist. Eccl, iii. 28, iv. 14), made a hasty exit from a See also:bath in See also:Ephesus on learning that Cerinthus was within. Other early accounts agree in making the See also:province of See also:Asia the See also:scene of his activity, and See also:Hippolytus (Haer. vii. 33) credits him with an See also:Egyptian training. There can be no truth in the See also:notice given by See also:Epiphanius (Haer. See also:xxviii. 4) that Cerinthus had in earlier days at See also:Jerusalem led the judaizing opposition against See also:Paul. The difficulty of defining Cerinthus's theological position is due not only to the paucity of our See also:sources but to the fact that the See also:witness of the two See also:principal authorities, Irenaeus (i.

26, iii. i1) and Hippolytus (Syntagma), does not agree. Further, Irenaeus himself in one passage fails to distinguish between Cerinthian and Valentinian doctrines. It would appear, however, that Cerinthus laid stress on the rite of See also:

circumcision and on the observance of the See also:Sabbath. He taught that the See also:world had been made by angels, from one of whom, the See also:god of the See also:Jews, the See also:people of See also:Israel had received their See also:Law, which was not perfect. The only New Testament See also:writing which he accepted was a mutilated See also:Gospel of See also:Matthew. Jesus was the offspring of See also:Joseph and See also:Mary, and on him at the See also:baptism descended the See also:Christ,' revealing the hitherto unknown See also:Father, and endowing him with miraculous See also:power. This Christ See also:left Jesus again before the See also:Passion, and the resurrection of Jesus was still in the future. Together with these somewhat gnostic ideas, Cerinthus, if we may See also:trust the notices of See also:Gaius the See also:Roman See also:presbyter (c. 290) and See also:Dionysius of See also:Alexandria (c. 340), held a violent and crude See also:form of See also:chiliasm. But the See also:chief significance of the See also:man is his " See also:combination of zeal for legal observances with bold See also:criticism of the Law itself as a whole and of its origin," which reminds us of the Clementine Recognitions. Cerinthus is a blend of judaizing christian and gnostic.

End of Article: CERINTHUS (c. A.D. 100)

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