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Docetism
docetism
docetism The view that Jesus was a divine being who only appeared to be human, explicitly branded as a
heresy by
Ignatius (d. 107 CE), though it may have existed earlier. It derives from
Hellenistic dualism: the idea that what is created is tainted, ‘fleshly’, and mortal, whereas the divine realm is good, spiritual, and immortal. So, the docetist argument ran, because Jesus the
Saviour belongs to the divine realm, he cannot have been truly human.
Some scholars believe that there are indications of docetic thought within the gospel of John, especially in Ch. 17. It is claimed that in the fourth gospel Jesus lacks the human characteristics of compassion and
mercy; that he is never properly exposed to the sickness and sufferings of our world; and that he is so manifestly ‘always on the side of God’ that he has no solidarity with humanity.
Against this it is urged that the hallmark of Johannine
Christology is John 1: 14, ‘the Word was made flesh’, and that the authenticity of Jesus' humanity is demonstrated in John's gospel by the references to Jesus' mother (2: 1–11) and brothers (7: 3–10); his weariness at the well in
Samaria (4: 6); his thirst (4: 7); his grief (John 11: 33); his
death. On this evidence it is held that the
Christology of John is not docetic: Jesus shares his humanity with all other human persons.
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The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the true revolutionary nature of Jesus' teachings and how they have been corrupted.(Book review)
Magazine article from: Catholic Insight; 2/1/2007; ; 700+ words
; ...Hendricks attacks what he calls "Christians' political docetism." Docetism was the teaching that Jesus was not really human...reality, the Docetist would say, did not die. Docetism was utterly denied by the Church, which always affirmed...
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Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are with What We Buy .(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Journal of Religion and Popular Culture; 6/22/2005; 700+ words
; ...and a contemporary interpretation of Docetism. The upshot is a realistic analysis...that the residues of early Christian Docetism are emerging in modern form. The subordination...wear them. As Beaudoin points out, Docetism (as a heresy) has deleterious effects...
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Divine Freedom and the Doctrine of the Immanent Trinity: in Dialogue with Karl Barth and Contemporary Theology.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Theological Studies; 3/1/2004; ; 700+ words
; ...theology's source. Thus one might think one is avoiding docetism by attending to the human side of things (Jesus' humanity...Scripture, one tends to set up one's interpretations (= docetism) as theology's source. Repeatedly M. goes back to Barth...
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The face of God: what benedict's 'Jesus' offers.(Continuing the Conversation)(Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth)(Book review)
Magazine article from: Commonweal; 8/17/2007; ; 700+ words
; ...Catholicism resolved this difficulty by adopting a semi-docetism. Jesus was simply God in his internal life--his knowledge...the Christ of faith without returning to the earlier semi-docetism or to the biographical and devotional portraits that historical...
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Faithful Interpretation: Reading the Bible in a Postmodern World
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 1/1/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...Criticism Can't Protect Christological Orthodoxy: Reflections on Docetism, Ksemann, and Christology," A. attacks what he perceives...humanity, arguing that the real antonym of, and antidote for, Docetism, whether ancient or contemporary, is not historical criticism...
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Review of A. K. M. Adam, Faithful Interpretation.(Faithful Interpretation: Reading the Bible in a Postmodern World)(Book review)
Magazine article from: Bible and Critical Theory; 6/1/2007; ; 700+ words
; ...Criticism Can't Protect Christological Orthodoxy: Reflections on Docetism, Kasemann, and Christology', Adam critiques Ernst Kasemann's apologetic for historical criticism: it saves us from Docetism. Historical criticism has had difficulty in determining exactly...
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 "Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)")
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IF THE HERETICS WERE GONE, WHO WOULD BE LEFT?(DAYBREAK)
Newspaper article from: Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI); 10/22/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...Americana but have been paraphrased: The first of these is Docetism, which comes from a Greek word meaning "to seem." Docetists...all his acts were just appearances. By the second century, Docetism had morphed into Gnosticism, a belief that spirit is good...
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The Scandalous God: The Use and Abuse of the Cross.(Book review)
Magazine article from: Biblical Theology Bulletin; 9/22/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...beautified" (xi). In the early centuries, Ebionism, Arianism, Docetism and Gnosticism became key theological responses to avoid the...or finitude through the death of Jesus. On the other hand, Docetism and Gnosticism emphasized the divinity of Jesus to the point...
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What Jesus did.(The Reader Replies)(Letter to the editor)
Magazine article from: American Scholar; 6/22/2006; ; 700+ words
; ...Genesis 6:1-4. This view when fully developed becomes Docetism from the Greek dokein, which means to seem or to appear...he is not like us, he has higher rights and powers." Docetism was deemed a heresy by the early church because it eliminates...
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The lure of pure Spirit. (Essay).
Magazine article from: The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide; 7/1/2002; ; 700+ words
; ...often been inclined to see Jesus as only a divine figure and run the risk of the heresy of docetism, whereby Jesus only appears to be human. Docetism obliterates the significance of the Cross by demoting it to a mere way station along the divine...
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docetism
Book article from: A Dictionary of the Bible
docetism The view that Jesus was a divine being who only appeared to be human, explicitly branded as a heresy by Ignatius (d. 107 CE...
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Docetism
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Docetism [Gr.,=to appear], early heretical trend in Christian thought. Docetists claimed that Christ was a mere phantasm who only...
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Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...internal organization of the early Christians. St. Ignatius is the first writer to stress the virgin birth. He firmly denounced Docetism and viewed the mystery of the Trinity as an assumed doctrine of faith. The only guarantee against heresy, he taught, is...
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Christ
Book article from: -Ologies and -Isms
...Christophany one or all of Christ ’ s appearances to men after the resurrection, as recorded in the Gospels. Docetism the teaching of an early heretical sect asserting that Christ ’ s body was not human or material, but celestial...
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Heresy
Book article from: -Ologies and -Isms
...andria, that Christ had only one nature, a composite of the human and the divine. — Cyrillian , n., adj. Docetism a very early heretical belief that held that Christ ’ s body was not material or real, but only the appearance of...
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