View source for Docetism

{{Short description|View that Jesus' body was illusory}}
{{Distinguish|Donatism}}
{{Christology|expanded=Doctrines}}

In the [[history of Christianity]], '''docetism''' (from the {{langx|grc-x-koine|δοκεῖν/δόκησις}} ''dokeĩn'' "to seem", ''dókēsis'' "apparition, phantom"<ref>{{harvnb|González|2005|pp=46–47}}: "A term derived from the Greek ''dokein'', to seem, or to appear."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Strecker|2000|p=438}}.</ref>) was the doctrine that the phenomenon of [[Jesus]], his historical and bodily existence, and above all the human form of Jesus, was mere semblance without any true reality.<ref>{{harvnb|Brox|1984|p=306}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Schneemelcher|Maurer|1994|p=220}}.</ref> Broadly, it is taken as the belief that Jesus only seemed to be human, and that his human form was an illusion.

The word {{lang|grc|Δοκηταί}} ''Dokētaí'' ("Illusionists") referring to early groups who denied Jesus's humanity, first occurred in a letter by Bishop [[Serapion of Antioch]] (197–203),{{sfn|Breidenbaugh|2008|p=179–81}} who discovered the doctrine in the [[Gospel of Peter]], during a pastoral visit to a Christian community using it in [[Arsuz|Rhosus]], and later condemned it as a forgery.{{sfn|Ehrman|2005|p=16}}<ref>{{harvnb|Foster|2009|p=79}}. Serapion first approved its use, and only reversed his opinion on returning to his bishopric in Antioch, after being informed of its contents. He wrote a "Concerning the So-Called Gospel of St&nbsp;Peter", which is alluded to in [[Eusebius]]'s ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Church History]]'' VI&nbsp;12.3–6.</ref> It appears to have arisen over theological contentions concerning the meaning, figurative or literal, of a sentence from the [[Gospel of John]]: "the Word was made Flesh".<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|Wace|1877|pp=867–870}}.</ref>

Docetism was unequivocally rejected at the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325<ref name="Ridgeon 2001 xv">{{harvnb|Ridgeon|2001|p=xv}}.</ref> and is regarded as [[heresy in Christianity|heretical]] by the [[Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]], [[Armenian Apostolic Church]], [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]],{{sfn|Arendzen|2012}} and many Protestant denominations that accept and hold to the statements of these early church councils, such as [[Calvinist]] ([[Reformed confessions of faith|Reformed Christians]]), [[Reformed Baptists]], [[Waldensians]], and all [[Trinity|Trinitarian Christians]].

==Definitions==
Docetism is broadly defined as the teaching that claims that Jesus' body was either absent or illusory.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gonzalez|first=Justo|title=Essential Theological Terms|year=2005|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|location=Louisville|isbn=0-664-22810-0|pages=46–47|quote=Docetism is the claim that Jesus did not have a physical human body, but only the appearance of such.}}</ref> The term 'docetic' is rather nebulous.<ref>{{harvnb|Brox|1984|pp=301–314}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Schneemelcher|Maurer|1994|p=220}}: "N Brox has expressed himself emphatically against a widespread nebulous use of the term, and has sought an exact definition which links up with the original usage (e.g. in Clement of Alexandria). Docetism is 'the doctrine according to which the phenomenon of Christ, his historical and bodily existence, and thus above all the human form of Jesus, was altogether mere semblance without any true reality.'"</ref> Two varieties were widely known. In one version, as in [[Marcionism]], Christ was so divine that he could not have been human, since God lacked a material body, which therefore could not physically suffer. Jesus only ''appeared'' to be a flesh-and-blood man; his body was a phantasm. Other groups who were accused of docetism held that Jesus was a man in the flesh, but Christ was a separate entity who entered Jesus' body in the form of a dove at his baptism, empowered him to perform miracles, and abandoned him upon his death on the cross.<ref>{{harvnb|Ehrman|2005|p=16}}</ref>

==Christology and theological implications==
Docetism's origin within Christianity is obscure. [[Ernst Käsemann]] controversially defined the [[Christology]] of the [[Gospel of John]] as "naïve docetism" in 1968.<ref>{{harvnb|Ehrman|1996|p=197}}.</ref> The ensuing debate reached an impasse as awareness grew that the very term "docetism", like "[[gnosticism]]", was difficult to define within the religio-historical framework of the debate.<ref>{{harvnb|Larsen|2008|p=347}}</ref> It has occasionally been argued that its origins were in heterodox [[Judaism]] or Oriental and Grecian philosophies.<ref>{{harvnb|Gavrilyuk|2004|p=80}}.</ref> The alleged connection with [[Jewish Christian]]ity would have reflected Jewish Christian concerns with the inviolability of (Jewish) [[monotheism]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schneemelcher|Maurer|1994|p=220}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Brox|1984|p=314}}.</ref> Docetic opinions seem to have circulated from very early times, [[Epistles of John#First Epistle of John|1 John]] {{bibleverse-nb|1 John|4:2|31}} appearing explicitly to reject them.<ref name="González2005">{{harvnb|González|2005|pp=46–7}}</ref> Some 1st{{nbhyph}}century Christian groups developed docetic interpretations partly as a way to make Christian teachings more acceptable to non-Christian ways of thinking about divinity.<ref>{{harvnb|Gavrilyuk|2004 |p=81}}.</ref>

In his critique of the theology of [[Clement of Alexandria]], [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]] in his [[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Myriobiblon]] held that Clement's views reflected a quasi-docetic view of the nature of Christ, writing that "[Clement] hallucinates that the Word was not incarnate but ''only seems to be''." (ὀνειροπολεῖ καὶ μὴ σαρκωθῆναι τὸν λόγον ἀλλὰ ''δόξαι''.)  In Clement's time, some disputes contended over whether Christ assumed the "psychic" flesh of mankind as heirs to [[Adam]], or the "spiritual" flesh of the resurrection.<ref>{{harvnb|Ashwin-Siejkowski|2010|p=95, n.2}} citing {{harvnb|Edwards|2002|p=23}}.</ref> Docetism largely died out during the first millennium AD.

The opponents against whom [[Ignatius of Antioch]] inveighs are often taken to be [[Monophysite]] docetists.<ref>{{harvnb|Streett|2011|p=40}}.</ref> In his [[letter to the Smyrnaeans|letter to the Smyrnaeans, 7:1]], written around 110{{nbsp}}AD, he writes:
{{blockquote|They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes.}} 
While these characteristics fit a Monophysite framework, a slight majority of scholars consider that Ignatius was waging a polemic on two distinct fronts, one Jewish, the other docetic; a minority holds that he was concerned with a group that commingled Judaism and docetism. Others, however, doubt that there was actual docetism threatening the churches, arguing that he was merely criticizing Christians who lived Jewishly or that his critical remarks were directed at an [[Ebionism|Ebionite]] or [[Cerinthus|Cerinthian]] possessionist Christology, according to which Christ was a heavenly spirit that temporarily possessed Jesus.<ref>{{harvnb|Streett|2011|pp=42–44}}.</ref>

==Islam and docetism==
{{main|Islamic views on Jesus' death}}

Some commentators have attempted to make a connection between Islam and docetism using the following Quranic verse:<ref name=parrinder>{{cite book|title=Jesus in the Qur'an|author=Geoffrey Parrinder|publisher=Oneworld Publications|year=2013|pages=112, 118–119}}</ref>

{{blockquote|And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger – they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain. But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise. {{Cite Quran Ayah|4|157-158|s=y|b=yl|t=p}} }}

Some scholars theorise that Islam was influenced by [[Manichaenism|Manichaeism]] (Docetism) in this view. However, the general consensus is that [[Manichaeism]] was not prevalent in [[Mecca]] in the 6th and 7th centuries, when Islam developed, and the influence can therefore not be proven.<ref>{{harvnb|Gil|1992|p=41}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manicheism-iv-missionary-activity-and-technique-|title=MANICHEISM v. MISSIONARY ACTIVITY AND TECHNIQUE|quote=That Manicheism went further on to the Arabian peninsula, up to the Hejaz and Mecca, where it could have possibly contributed to the formation of the doctrine of Islam, cannot be proven. A detailed description of Manichean traces in the Arabian-speaking regions is given by Tardieu (1994).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=M. Tardieu, "Les manichéens en Egypte,"&nbsp;Bulletin de la Société Française d'Egyptologie&nbsp;94, 1982}}</ref>

==Docetism and Christ myth theory==
{{See also|Christ myth theory}}
Since [[Arthur Drews]] published his ''[[The Christ Myth]]'' (''Die Christusmythe'') in 1909, occasional connections have been drawn between docetist theories and the modern idea that Christ was a myth. [[Shailer Mathews]] called Drews' theory a "modern docetism".{{Sfn |Mathews|2006 |p= 37}} [[Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare]] thought any connection to be based on a misunderstanding of docetism.{{Sfn |Conybeare|1914|p= 104}} The idea recurred in [[classicist]] [[Michael Grant (author)|Michael Grant]]'s 1977 review of the evidence for Jesus, who compared modern scepticism about a historical Jesus to the ancient docetic idea that Jesus only ''seemed'' to come into the world "in the flesh". Modern supporters of the theory did away with "seeming".{{Sfn |Grant |2004 |pp= 199–200 | ps =: "This skeptical way of thinking reached its culmination in the argument that Jesus as a human being never existed at all and is a myth. In ancient times, this extreme view was named the heresy of docetism (seeming) because it maintained that Jesus never came into the world "in the flesh", but only seemed to; (I John 4:2) and it was given some encouragement by Paul's lack of interest in his fleshly existence. Subsequently, from the eighteenth century onwards, there have been attempts to insist that Jesus did not even "seem" to exist, and that all tales of his appearance upon the earth were pure fiction. In particular, his story was compared to the pagan mythologies inventing fictitious dying and rising gods."}}

==Texts believed to include docetism==

===Non-canonical Christian texts===
* [[Acts of John]]
* [[Fundamental Epistle]]: In ''Against the Fundamental Epistle'', [[Augustine of Hippo]] makes reference to [[Manichaeism|Manichaeans]] believing that Jesus was docetic.
* [[Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter]]
* [[Gospel of Basilides]]
* [[Gospel of Judas]]
* [[Gospel of Peter]]
* [[Gospel of Philip]]
* [[Second Treatise of the Great Seth]]

==See also==
{{columns-list|
* [[Adoptionism]]
* [[Arianism]]
* [[Avatar]]
* [[Binitarianism]]
* [[Christology]]
* [[Eidolon]]
* [[Lokottaravāda]]
* [[Patripassianism]]
* [[Spanish Adoptionism]]
}}
{{clear}} <!-- Please leave the "clear" tag at the end of this section -->

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|30em}}
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{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book |title = Docetism (Buddhist). In: Hastings, James; Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics, vol. 4
  |last = Anesaki
  |first = Masaharu
  |publisher = Edinburgh: Clark
  |year = 1911
  |pages = 835–840
  |url = https://archive.org/details/EncyclopaediaReligionsEthics.hastings.13vols.1908-1914.1926
}}
*{{Cite book  |title = Phantom Jesus - Intro to Docetism
  |last = Blakemore
  |first = Joseph
  |year = 2020
  |pages = 10
  |url = https://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Jesus-Docetism-Joseph-Blakemore-ebook/dp/B08FDZ6DG1/ref=sr_1_2?crid=18HM5PR62LPRH&keywords=Phantom+Jesus&qid=1655938713&sprefix=phantom+jesus%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-2
}}

==External links==
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05070c.htm Docetae] in the Catholic Encyclopedia

{{History of Christianity|state=expanded}}
{{Heresies condemned by the Catholic Church}}

[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Gnostic terms and concepts]]
[[Category:Nature of Jesus Christ]]