Docetism

Home > ... > Philosophy and Religion > Christianity > Christianity: General > ...

Essential reading Compare
side-by-side The Concise Oxford Dictionary ... The Concise Oxford Dictionary ... The Columbia Encyclopedia, ...

Docetism

Docetism [Gr.,=to appear], early heretical trend in Christian thought. Docetists claimed that Christ was a mere phantasm who only seemed to live and suffer. A similar tendency to deny Jesus' humanity appeared in the teachings of Simon Magus, Marcion, Gnosticism, and certain phases of monarchianism.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-Docetism" title="Facts and information about Docetism">Docetism</a>

Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Docetism." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Docetism." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (November 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Docetism.html

"Docetism." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Docetism.html

Learn more about citation styles

Docetism

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Docetism (Gk., dokeō, ‘I seem’). The doctrine that the humanity and sufferings of Christ were apparent rather than real. The view that Jesus miraculously escaped death on the cross (such as, on the usual or orthodox understanding of the Arabic, in the Qurʾān, 4. 157) may also be termed docetic.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O101-Docetism" title="Facts and information about Docetism">Docetism</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

JOHN BOWKER. "Docetism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Docetism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (November 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Docetism.html

JOHN BOWKER. "Docetism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved November 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Docetism.html

Learn more about citation styles

Docetism

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | 2000 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Docetism. In the early Church a tendency, rather than a formulated doctrine, which considered the humanity and sufferings of the earthly Christ as apparent rather than real. In some forms it held that Christ miraculously escaped death, e.g. by Judas Iscariot or Simon of Cyrene exchanging places with Him just before the Crucifixion. It reached its zenith in the 2nd cent., particularly among the Gnostics.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O95-Docetism" title="Facts and information about Docetism">Docetism</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Docetism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Docetism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (November 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Docetism.html

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Docetism." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved November 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Docetism.html

Learn more about citation styles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauruses

A Dictionary of the Bible entry for docetism

Rate these entries|See all related entries

Free newspaper and magazine articles

	The Scandalous God: The Use and Abuse of the Cross.(Book review) Magazine article from: Biblical Theology Bulletin; 9/22/2008
	Our lives radically altered.(Jesus Christ's impact)(Brief Article) Magazine article from: National Catholic Reporter; 12/24/1999
	Can there be a center without a circumference? A response to Lewis Mudge.(response to article by Lewis S. Mudge in this issue, page 392)(Cover Story) Magazine article from: The Christian Century; 4/12/1995

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

	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...
	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...
	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...
	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...
	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...
	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...
	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...
	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...
	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...
	The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus: Modern Foundations Reconsidered Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 7/1/2008; ; 700+ words ; ...explained by reference to John in Mark 9:38-41. A. relates Docetism to what he views as the emerging emperor cult, with emphasis...part of life in the East from the inauguration of Roman rule. Docetism appealed not because it authorized participation in this cult...