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Docetism
Docetism was an error
with several variations concerning the nature of Christ. Generally, it taught
that Jesus only appeared to have a body, that he was not really incarnate,
(Greek, "dokeo" = "to seem"). This error developed out
of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil, that
God could not be associated with matter, and that God, being perfect and
infinite, could not suffer. Therefore, God as the word, could not have
become flesh per
John 1:1,14, "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh, and dwelt
among us.. " This denial of a true incarnation meant that Jesus
did not truly suffer on the cross and that He did not rise from the dead.
The basic principle of Docetism was refuted by the
Apostle John in 1 John 4:2-3. "By this you know the Spirit of God:
every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and
this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming,
and now it is already in the world." Also,
2 John 7, "For
many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus
Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist."
Ignatius of Antioch (died 98/117) and Irenaeus
(115-190), and Hippolatus (170-235) wrote against the error in the early part of
the second century.
Docetism was condemned at the Council of Chalcedon in
451.
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