CHAP. IV. OF CERINTHUS. SECTION I. Ancient Authors who speak of Cerinthus. THE time of Cerinthus being uncertain, I shall immediately transcribe the passages of divers authors concerning him, beginning with Irenæus, for the sake of his antiquity. And Cerinthus in Asia taught that the world was not made by the supreme God, but by a certain power separate from him, much below him, and ignorant of him. Jesus he supposed not to be born of a virgin, which to him appeared impossible, but to be the son of Joseph and Mary, born altogether as other men are; but he excelled all men in virtue, knowledge, and wisdom. At his baptism the Christ came down upon him, from him who is over all, in the shape of a dove and then he declared to the world the unknown Father, and wrought miracles. At the end the Christ left Jesus; and Jesus suffered and rose again; but the Christ being spiritual, was impassible. b Again he says, ' And there are some who have heard Polycarp say that John the disciple ' of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and seeing Cerinthus already in the bath, came out again in haste, saying to those who were with him, let us flee hence, lest the bath should fall while Cerinthus the enemy of truth is within.' This story I have examined in another place; and shall now add nothing to what was then said, except it be that Basnage, Missuet, and some others, as it seems to me, do not represent it rightly. For they suppose Irenæus to say that he himself had received that account from Polycarp; whereas I think Irenæus says no more than this, that there were some who had heard it from Polycarp. d с In another place Irenæus says they who separate Jesus from the Christ, and say that the Christ was always impassible, whilst Jesus suffered, preferring the gospel according to Mark, may be confuted by it, if they have a love of truth.' Grabe thinks this to be said of the Cerinthians. Massuet disputes this; but perhaps his arguments are of no great moment; however it is not easy to conceive any reason why these persons should prefer Mark before the other evangelists. And moreover it is generally allowed that they received St. Matthew's, if not the other gospels, also. Nevertheless Mr. Lampe is entirely of the same opinion with Grabe. Once more, that learned and pious ancient says, that John the disciple of the Lord wrote his gospel to confute the doctrine lately taught by Cerinthus, and a great while before by a Et Cerinthus autem quidem in Asiâ, non a primo deo factum esse mundum docuit, sed a virtute quâdam valde separatâ et distante ab eâ principalitate, quæ est super universa, et ignorante eum, qui est super omnia, deum. Jesum autem subjecit, non ex virgine natum; (impossibile enim hoc ei visum est) fuisse autem eum Josephi et Mariæ filium, similiter ut reliqui omnes homines, et plus potuisse justitiâ, prudentiâ, et sapientiâ, ab hominibus. Et post baptismum descendisse in eum, ab eâ principalitate quæ est super omnia, Christum figurâ columbæ, et tunc annuntiâsse incognitum patrem, et virtutes perfecisse in fine autem revolâsse iterum Christum de Jesu, et Jesum passum esse, et resurrexisse; Christum autem impassibilem perseverâsse, existentem spiritalem. 1. i. c. 26. al. 25. p. 105. Gr. 102. b L. 3. c. 3. p. 177. Gr. 204. : h perseverâsse Christum, passum vero Jesum dicunt, id quod secundum Marcum est præferentes Evangelium, cum amore veritatis legentes illud corrigi possunt. L. 3. c. xi. p. 190. Mass. Gr. 220, 12. Cerinthum ejusque sequaces indicat; adeo ut hos Marci evangelium recepisse constet. Gr. ad loc. p. 220. h Cerinthianos procul dubio intelligit, quando ait. Qui ' autem Jesum separant a Christo.' Unde saltem patet, quod Marci quoque Evangelio locum fecerint. Lampe, Prol. in Johan. p. 135. i Hanc fidem annuntians Joannes domini discipulus, volens per evangelii enuntiationem auferre eum, qui a Cerintho inseminatus erat hominibus, errorem, et multo prius ab his qui dicuntur Nicolaïtæ, qui sunt vulsio ejus quæ falso cognominatur scientia; ut confunderet eos, et suaderet, quoniam unus deus, qui omnia fecit per verbum suum, et non, quemadmodum illi dicunt, alterum quidem fabricatorem, alium autem Qui autem Jesum separant a Christo, et impassibilem patrem domini, et alium quidem fabricatoris filium, alterum d Ann. An. 101. Vol. 2, p. 6. No. 11. Diss. Iren. p. Ixiv. n. vi. de Cerintho. • Vol. i. p. 325. those called Nicolaitans, a branch of the Gnostics, and to shew that there is one God who • made all things by his word: and not, as they say, that there is one the Creator, and another the Father of our Lord and one the Son of the Creator, and another, even the Christ, who descended from above upon the Son of the Creator, and continued impassible, and at length returned to his pleroma or fulness.' St. Jerom has somewhat to the like purpose concerning. the occasion of St. John's writing his gospel. Let us now take Epiphanius's account. His summary is to this purpose: the Cerinthians, called also Merinthians, are Jews, (or of Jewish extract) valuing themselves upon circumcision.. They say, that the world was made by angels, and that Jesus by increase of virtue came to be Christ. e f In his larger work he says that, like the Carpocratians, they say Jesus was born of Joseph ⚫ and Mary, and that the world was made by angels. Indeed they differ little or nothing from them, except that they are for observing the Jewish rites, in part at least. They say that the law and the prophets proceeded from angels, and that he who gave the law was one of the angels that made the world. This Cerinthus lived in Asia, and there first published his ⚫ doctrine. He said that when Jesus was grown up, the Christ, that is, the Holy Spirit, came ' down upon him at Jordan, in the shape of a dove, from the supreme Deity: and revealed to him, and by him to others, the unknown Father. Whereupon when that power had come • down upon him from above, he wrought great miracles. He likewise said that Jesus suffered and rose again, but the Christ that came down upon him from above was always impassible: and that when Jesus suffered, the Christ left him. This same man is one of those, who, in the time of the apostles, caused a disturbance; when James and they that were with him sent letters to the disciples at Antioch, saying, "Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which ⚫ went out from us have troubled you with words." And he was also one of those who "con⚫tended with Peter," when he was returned to Jerusalem, after he had been at the house of • Cornelius by the direction of the Holy Ghost, saying, "thou wentest in to men uncircum-cised, and didst eat with them." But this was before he preached his doctrine in Asia.. This same false apostle Cerinthus was also with those who made a sedition at Jerusalem, when Paul came thither with Titus, saying, " that he had brought uncircumcised men into the temple, and had defiled that holy place.' Epiphanius adds, they use the gospel of Matthew, though not entire; but they prefer this on account of the genealogy which relates 'properly to his flesh. They also endeavour to bring proofs from this gospel in favour of circumcision, arguing from another part, "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master." Christ was circumcised and kept the law, and why should not you likewise? As for Paul they quite reject him, because he was against circumcision, and says, "they who are justified by the law, are fallen from grace :" and "if ye are circumcised Christ shall profit, you nothing." He afterwards says that the same people are also called Merinthians; but he vero de superioribus Christum, quem et impassibilem perseverâsse, descendentem in Jesum filium fabricatoris, et iterum revolâsse in suum pleroma. L. i. c. xi. p. 188. Mass. p. 218. Gr. Novissimus omnium scripsit evangelium-Adversus Cerinthum, aliosque hæreticos, et maxime tunc Ebionitarum dogma consurgens, qui asserunt Christum ante Mariam non. fuisse, &c. De V. I. c. ix. ο Ιεδαίοι τινες την περιτομήν αυχέντες. Ιησεν δε κατα προκοπην Χρισον κεκλησθαι. p. 53. c H. 28. p. 110, &c. * Εν τῷ προσέχειν τῳ Ιεδαϊσμω απο μερες. Η. C. • Ανωθεν δε εκ το άνω θε8 μετα το άδρυνθῆναι τον Ιησεν, κατεληλυθέναι τον χρισον εις αυτόν, τοτ' έσι το πνεύμα άγιον εν είδει περισερας εν τω Ιορδανη, και αποκαλύψαι αυτῷ, και δι' αυτό τοις μετ' αυτό τον αγνωσον πατέρα, και δια τέτο, επειδή ήλθεν ή δύναμις εις αυτον ανωθεν, δυνάμεις επιτελεκεναι περ πονθοτα δε τον Ιησεν, και παλιν εγηγερμένον Χρισον δε του ανωθεν ελθοντα εις αυτόν απαθή αναπταντα. Ib. p. 110. D.. P. 111. B. C. 111. A. g Acts xv. 24. h Acts xi. 22, 23. h m 1 Εποίησε δε τετο Κήρινθος, πριν η εν τη Ασία κηρύξαι το αυτό κήρυγμα, και εμπεσείν εις το περισσότερον της ἑαυτε απωλειας βαραθρον. p. 111. C. 1 Acts xxi. 28. k Ib. n. iv. p. 112. C. D.. m Χρώνται γαρ τῳ κατα Ματθαιον ευαγγελίων από μερες, και όχι όλα, αλλα δια την γενεαλογίαν την ενσαρκον. n. v. p. 113. B. C. This passage.has generally been understood as asserting that the Cerinthians did not receive the entire gospel of Matthew, on account of the genealogy, which they rejected. Whereas the true meaning of the passage is that they preferred. this gospel to the others, because of the gene-alogy. From whence they thought they could prove Christ to be really a mere man, born of Joseph and Mary. The other words, in part' and 'not entire,' come in by way of parenthesis. This, which is the genuino sense of the words, reconciles what is here said, with what is said of them by Epiphanius, under the article Ebionites; quoted page 570, note h n Matt. x. 25. • Τον δε Παύλον αθετεσι δια το μη πείθεσθαι τη περιτομή Ib. n. v. p. 113. C. P Gal. v. 2, 4. Ibid. n. 8. p. 115. D. does not know whether Cerinthus was also called Merinthus, or whether there was another called Merinthus, who was joined with him. But, as we have already said, he often * opposed the apostles not only at Jerusalem, but in Asia also, both he and his adherents. This is Epiphanius's account, who, as we see, makes additions to Irenæus, saying that he opposed the apostles in Judea, and out of it, early and late.' b Let us now see what Theodoret says: About the same time,' (he had before mentioned the Ebionites and Nazarenes) Cerinthus was the author of another heresy or sect. Having been a long while in Egypt, and studied philosophical learning; at length he came into Asia, and gathered disciples, which he called after his own name. He taught that there is one God over all; nevertheless he did not make the world, but some other powers separate from him, and ignorant of him. He said, as the Jews generally do, that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary, but that he excelled other men in wisdom, temperance, righteousness, and all virtues ; that the Christ descended upon him from above in the shape of a dove, and then he preached the unknown God, and performed the miracles which are recorded of him; that at the time ' of his passion the Christ withdrew from him, and that Jesus only suffered. He forged some ⚫ revelations as seen by himself, adding certain woes and threatenings. He said that the king'dom of our Lord is terrestrial, or that he would reign on this earth; for he dreamed of eating • and drinking, and marriage, and sacrifices, and festivals to be accomplished at Jerusalem, and 'to last for a thousand years: for so long he thought the kingdom of the Lord would endure. Against him wrote not only the fore-mentioned authors, but Caius also, and Dionysius bishop of Alexandria. And it is said that the divine evangelist John, going to bathe, and seeing Cerinthus, said "Let us flee hence, lest the bath should fall upon Cerinthus, and we share in the same ruin." 999 SECTION II. Observations relative to the Time of Cerinthus. I Now proceed to make remarks. Other authors have spoken of Cerinthus; but I hope to bring in their accounts under the following observations. One thing is very observable, that these three learned writers vary very much. Epiphanius and Theodoret say divers things of Cerinthus, which Irenæus, the most ancient, takes no notice of. That I may omit no particular of moment, I shall consider the time and history of Cerinthus, then his sentiments, next his manners, and, lastly, the scriptures received by him. Baronius speaks of Cerinthus at several years of the first century, not very long after our Saviour's ascension; Le Clerc at the year 80; Basnage at the year 101, in their several ecclesiastical histories. By some he is esteemed a heretic of the first, by others of the second, century. It is reckoned to be observable that Epiphanius placeth the Cerinthians after the Carpocratians. And Irenæus intimates that the doctrine of the Cerinthians had been long before taught by the Nicolaitans. Theodoret, in a place not yet quoted, says, it was reported that * Ότι 8 μόνον αυτός εν Ιεροσολυμαις πολλακις αντες η τοις αποςόλοις, αλλά και οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ εν Ασία. N. 3. p. 116. • Ένα μεν είναι τον των όλων θεόν. Τον Ιησαν δε, τοις Εβραιοις παραπλησίως, έφησε κατα φυσιν εξ ανδρος γεγενησ θαι και γυναίκες, το Ιωσήφ και της Μαρίας, σωφροσυνη δε, και δικαιοσύνῃ, και τοις άλλοις αγαθοις διαπρέψαι. Τον δε Χρισον εν είδει περιστεράς ανωθεν εις αυτόν κατελθειν, και τηνικαυτα τον αγνοέμενον κηρύξαι θεον, και τας αναγραπτας επιτελεσαι θαυματεργίας. Κατα δε τον τα παθος καιρον αποσηναι μεν τον Χρισόν, το δε παθος ὑπομειναι τον Ιησεν. Ούτος αποκαλύψεις τίνας, ὡς αυτος τεθεαμένος, επλασατο, και απειλων τινων δι δασκαλιας συνέθηκε και το κυριε την βασιλειαν έφησεν επιγειον Eσεσa. H. T. lib. 2. cap. 2. p. 219. e Non disputo nunc de Cerinthi ætate, quæ saltem quoad erroris propalationem Joanne recentior videtur, uti infra indicabitur. Lamp. Proleg. p. 69. in. Cerinthum veto seculo demum secundo, et quidem non ante Hadrianum vel Antoninum Pium, emersisse, vix dubitamus. Id. ib. p. 182. Vid. et p. 184, 186. 4 Και Κήρινθον δε φασιν, Ιωάννα το πανευφημε τε το θείον συγγραψαντος ευαγγέλιον έτι περιόντος, τα της οικείας αίρεσεως wapаσπεipal ZiZavia. H. F. 1. 2. Pr. p. 216. C. a • Cerinthus sowed the seeds of his principles whilst the excellent evangelist John was still living' which implies that Cerinthus did not arise in the early days of the apostles, but only some short time before the death of St. John, who was the longer liver of them. And in the appendix to Tertullian's book of Prescriptions, it is expressly said that Cerinthus arose after the Carpocratians, as it is in Philaster likewise. I might add that Jerom also has this order, Saturninus, Carpocrates, Cerinthus and Ebion, whom he calls his successor. However, I cannot say that all this is sufficient to fix the time of Cerinthus with any certainty or exactness. SECTION III. Observations tending to illustrate his History. с As for his history, there is scarce any one thing in which the three forementioned writers of heresies agree, except in this, that he was of Asia, or that he lived there chiefly. Epiphanius says that the Cerinthians were Jews, but neither of the other two says so expressly. Epiphanius speaks much of the opposition made by Cerinthus to the apostles upon the point of circumcision, of which the other two say nothing. And the truth of this is disputed by some learned moderns, particularly Basnage, and Lampe. They say there wanted not any particular leader in that affair. The prevailing sentiments of the Jewish people, especially of the Pharisees, would incline many to insist upon circumcision as necessary. If Cerinthus had been at the head of all the disturbances raised at Jerusalem upon that account in the time of the apostles, why should. he not have been named as well as Simon Magus, Alexander, Hymenæus, and Philetus? Farther, they say that Cerinthus did not appear in the world till afterwards. They think these considerations sufficient to overthrow a story that relies almost entirely upon the credit of Epiphanius,' and is not mentioned by more early writers. SECTION IV. Of his Principles and Sentiments. WE come now to his principles: what they are said to have been we have seen; but the accounts are not without their difficulties. Tillemont therefore at the beginning of his article. of the Cerinthians says not much beside the purpose. The church was from the beginning disturbed with two opposite heresies, which produced each one divers sects. One, which had Simon for its author, held two principles, and said that our Saviour was man in appearance only, who are generally called Gnostics and Docetæ. The other heresy opposite to this is that of the Jews, who embraced the Christian faith, but not in all its extent. They acknowledged one principle, and one God, and the reality of the human nature in Jesus Christ. But they denied his divinity, and were fond of the ceremonies of the law. Nevertheless, however contrary these. opinions are to each other, as well as to truth, the devil found means to join them, in order to form the monstrous body of the doctrine of the Cerinthians. convocatum est. Ann. ad An. 101. No. xi. p. 6. Vol. 2. Vid. However it is likewise mentioned by Philaster, who says: a Cerinthus accordingly is reckoned by not a few moderns a Gnostic; and yet he is no where said to have held the eternity of matter; nor was he a Docete, for he asserted the real humanity of Jesus. Moreover he is placed by Theodoret in the second book of his heretical tables among those who held one principle. However, let us go over particulars. And in one thing all the forementioned writers agree, that Cerinthus taught one supreme God, but that the world was not made by him, but by angels. Concerning the person of Jesus likewise, their accounts agree in the main; that he said Jesus was a man born of Joseph and Mary, and that at his baptism the Holy Ghost, or the Christ, descended upon him, after which he wrought the miracles recorded of him, and in the end died and rose again; but that the Christ was impassible. And much to the same purpose we may observe in Philaster, Augustine, and the author of the Appendix to Tertullian, the remainder of whose article concerning Cerinthus I now transcribe at the bottom of the page. But perhaps it may be questioned whether the opinion of the Cerinthians be rightly represented. They might speak of Jesus as a man only, though they thought him to be born of a virgin. That they allowed this, may be argued with a good deal of force, if they received St. Matthew's genealogy, as it perhaps may appear afterwards that they did. The opinion that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary was not only wrong, but likewise unpopular among Christians. And I apprehend that this is falsely ascribed to some who spoke of Jesus as a man only, till the Holy Ghost came down upon him. Epiphanius, in his article of the Alogians, having observed Matthew's account of our Lord's being born of a virgin, and that he was descended from David and Abraham, says, hence Cerinthus and Ebion argue that Jesus was a mere man, as do also Merinthus and Cleobius, or Cleobulus, and Claudius, and Demas and Hermogenes.' But what reason has Epiphanius to ascribe to all these, particularly to Demas and Hermogenes, the same opinion that he sometimes ascribes to Cerinthus, that Jesus was born as other men are? However, if they received the genealogy in Matthew, as he says they did,' they might argue that Jesus was truly a man, but must allow that he was born of a virgin. e They allowed the Holy Ghost to have descended upon Jesus at his baptism; which is agreeable to our gospels. But by the Holy Ghost probably they did not mean a person but a power, as Epiphanius expresseth it. And as to what is said that the Holy Ghost, or the Christ, was impassible, and left Jesus to suffer alone, their real opinion may have been only and no more than this, that the divine nature in Jesus, or the power that came down upon him at baptism, and by which he wrought miracles, did not suffer. 6 g b Irenæus and Epiphanius, in passages before cited, said expressly that Jesus rose again after he had suffered; which is not denied by Theodoret. Nevertheless, in another place he says, they supposed that Christ, or rather Jesus, who suffered and was crucified, was not risen, but would rise again in the general resurrection of the dead.' And so likewise say Philaster and Augustine. What they mean by this I cannot tell; but I take the former account to be right, that they said Jesus was risen. However, we have here a farther proof that these people believed the resurrection of the dead; in which too they differed from those called Gnostics. • Cerinthus enim, quâtenus nobis ex historiâ vetere innotuit, vere fuit Gnosticus, et ex disciplinâ Gnosticorum sui petiit subsidia erroris. Lampe. Prol. in Johan. Vid. etiam Clerici Hist. Ecc. An. 80. p. 493. 1. Rectius cum Gnosticis componitur Cerinthus. Mosh. H. Ecc. Seculum 1. pt. 11. c. 5. sect. 16. p. 66. Helms. 1755. b Cerinthus successit hujus (Carpocratis) errori, et similitudini vanitatis, docens de generatione itidem salvatoris, deque creaturâ angelorum, in nullo discordans ab eo, nisi quia ex parte solum legi consentit, quod a deo data sit, et ipsum dominum Judæorum esse æstimat, qui legem dedit filiis Israël. Docet autem circumcidi, et sabbatizare, et Christum nondum resurrexisse a mortuis, sed resurrecturumi annuntiat. H.36. • Mundum ab angelis factum esse dicentes, et carne circumcidi oportere, atque alia hujusmodi legis præcepta servari; Jesum hominem tantummodo fuisse, nec resurrexisse, sed resurrecturum asseverantes. H. 8. d Post hunc (Carpocratem) Cerinthus hæreticus erupit, similia docens. Nam et ipse mundum institutum esse ab illis dicit: Christum ex semine Joseph natum proponit; hominem illum tantummodo sine divinitate contendens, ipsam quoque legem ab angelis datam perhibens; Judæorum deum non dominum, sed angelum promens. Pr. cap. 48. p. 252. A. p. 216, 14. e • Ενθεν γαρ οι περι Κέρινθον ψιλον τον ανθρωπον κατέσχον -Αντιλεγοντες γαρ τοις τε κύριε μαθηταις κατ' εκείνου καιρο, απο της κατά τον Αβρααμ, και Δαβιδ γενεαλογίας, την αυτών AVOIY ETTEI WYTo wapisav. Ep. Her. 51. p. 427. C. D. † Ὁ μεν γαρ Κήρινθος και Καρποκρας τῳ αὐτῷ χρωμένοι δήθεν παρ' αυτοίς Ευαγγελία από της αρχής τε κατα Ματθαιον Ευαγγελία, Δια της γενεαλογίας βέλονται παρίσαν εκ σπερμα τος Ιωσηφ και Μαρίας είναι τον Χρισον. Ad. Hær. 30. No. 14. p. 138. C. D. See also the quotation, note d. 8 Χρισον πεπονθέναι και εσαυρωσθαι, μήπω διεγηγερθαι, μελλειν δε ανιςασθαι όταν ἡ καθολο γενηται νεκρών ανασασις. H. 28. n. 6. p. 113. D. h See notes b and c. |