Valesians

Last updated

The Valesians were a Christian sect that advocated self-castration. The sect was founded by Valens (of Bacetha Metrocomia; [1] not to be confused with the Roman Emperor of the same name), an Arabian philosopher who established the sect sometime in the second century AD. [2] They were notorious for forcibly castrating travelers whom they encountered and guests who visited them. [3]

They are known chiefly from the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, which describes how disciples of the sect were not allowed to eat meat until they had been castrated, because those who are not castrated might be tempted to lust by eating certain foods. According to the Panarion, their views on authorities and powers were similar to those of Sethianism or of the Archontics. [4]

Their doctrine was condemned as heresy by the Synod of Achaia [5] in approximately 250 AD. [3] The sect appears in The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Flaubert.

See also

Related Research Articles

Nicolaism was an early Christian sect mentioned twice in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament. The adherents were called Nicolaitans, Nicolaitanes, or Nicolaites. They were considered heretical by the mainstream early Christian Church. According to Revelation 2:6 and 15, they were known in the cities of Ephesus and Pergamum. In this chapter, the church at Ephesus is endorsed for "[hating] the works of the Nicolaites, which I also hate"; and the church in Pergamos is rebuked: "So thou hast also some [worshiping in their midst] who hold the teaching of the Nicolaites". In the original Greek, they are called, in genitive, Νικολαϊτῶν (Nikolaïtōn).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebionites</span> Early Christian sect

The Ebionites were a Jewish Christian sect that existed during the early centuries of the Common Era,

According to the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, and Theodoret's Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium, the Borborites or Borborians were a Christian Gnostic sect, said to be descended from the Nicolaitans. It is difficult to know for sure the practices of the group, as both Epiphanius and Theodoret were opponents of the group. According to Epiphanius, the sect were libertines who embraced the pleasures of the earthly world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epiphanius of Salamis</span> 4th–century Christian bishop and saint

Epiphanius of Salamis was the bishop of Salamis, Cyprus, at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy. He is best known for composing the Panarion, a compendium of eighty heresies, which included also pagan religions and philosophical systems. There has been much controversy over how many of the quotations attributed to him by the Byzantine Iconoclasts were actually by him. Regardless of this, he was clearly strongly against some contemporary uses of images in the church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazarene (sect)</span> First-century Christian sect

The Nazarenes were an early Jewish Christian sect in first-century Judaism. The first use of the term is found in the Acts of the Apostles of the New Testament, where Paul the Apostle is accused of being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes before the Roman procurator Antonius Felix at Caesarea Maritima by Tertullus. At that time, the term simply designated followers of Jesus of Nazareth, as the Hebrew term נוֹצְרִי‎, and the Arabic term نَصْرَانِي, still do.

The Cainites or Cainians were a Gnostic and antinomian sect known to venerate Cain as the first victim of the Demiurge, the deity of the Old Testament, who was identified by many groups of Gnostics as evil. The sect was relatively small. They were mentioned by Tertullian and Irenaeus as existing in the eastern Roman Empire during the 2nd century. One of their purported religious texts was the Gospel of Judas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alogi</span> Group of heterodox Christians in the Asia Minor region

The Alogi, also called Alogoi or Alogians, were a group of heterodox Christians in Asia Minor that flourished c. 200 CE, and taught that the Gospel of John and the Apocalypse of John were not the work of the Apostle, but his adversary Cerinthus. What we know of them is derived from their doctrinal opponents, whose literature is extant, particularly Epiphanius of Salamis. It was Epiphanius who coined the name "Alogi" as a word play suggesting that they were both illogical and they were against the Christian doctrine of the Logos. While Epiphanius does not specifically indicate the name of its founder, Dionysius Bar-Salibi, citing a lost work of Hippolytus, writes in his commentary on the Apocalypse,

Hippolytus of Rome says: A man appeared, named Caius, saying that the Gospel is not by John, nor the Apocalypse but that it is by Cerinthus the heretic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gospel of the Ebionites</span> Apocryphal gospel

The Gospel of the Ebionites is the conventional name given by scholars to an apocryphal gospel extant only as seven brief quotations in a heresiology known as the Panarion, by Epiphanius of Salamis; he misidentified it as the "Hebrew" gospel, believing it to be a truncated and modified version of the Gospel of Matthew. The quotations were embedded in a polemic to point out inconsistencies in the beliefs and practices of a Jewish Christian sect known as the Ebionites relative to Nicene orthodoxy.

Collyridianism was an alleged Early Christian movement in Arabia whose adherents worshipped the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, as a goddess, and possibly as a member of the Trinity. The existence of the sect is subject to some dispute by scholars, as the only contemporary source to describe it is the Panarion of St. Epiphanius of Salamis.

The Antidicomarians or Antidicomarianites, also called Dimoerites, were a Christian sect active from the 3rd to the 5th century. Their name was invented by an opponent, Epiphanius of Salamis, who described them as heretical in his Panarion. The existence of the Antidicomarians as an organized sect may be doubted, as it is attested only in Epiphanius, but the doctrines he attributes to them were certainly matters of live debate in the late 4th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jude, brother of Jesus</span> Member of Jesus family according to the New Testament

Jude is one of the "brothers" of Jesus (Greek: ἀδελφοί, romanized: adelphoi, lit. 'brethren') according to the New Testament. He is traditionally identified as the author of the Epistle of Jude, a short epistle which is reckoned among the seven general epistles of the New Testament—placed after Paul's epistles and before the Book of Revelation—and considered canonical by Christians. Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians believe this Jude is the same person as Jude the Apostle; Catholics hold that Jude was a cousin, but not literally a brother of Jesus, while the Eastern Orthodox hold that Jude is St. Joseph's son from a previous marriage.

In early Christian heresiology, the Panarion, to which 16th-century Latin translations gave the name Adversus Haereses, is the most important of the works of Epiphanius of Salamis. It was written in Koine Greek beginning in 374 or 375, and issued about three years later, as a treatise on heresies, with its title referring to the text as a "stock of remedies to offset the poisons of heresy." It treats 80 religious sects, either organized groups or philosophies, from the time of Adam to the latter part of the fourth century, detailing their histories, and rebutting their beliefs. The Panarion is an important source of information on the Jewish–Christian gospels, the Gospel of the Ebionites, and the Gospel of the Hebrews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elcesaites</span> Ancient Jewish Christian sect in Sassanid southern Mesopotamia

The Elcesaites, Elkasaites, Elkesaites or Elchasaites were an ancient Jewish Christian sect in Lower Mesopotamia, then the province of Asoristan in the Sasanian Empire that was active between 100 and 400 CE. The members of this sect, which originated in the Transjordan, performed frequent baptisms for purification and had a Gnostic orientation.

The Apotactics or Apotactites were a Christian sect in the western and southern parts of Asia Minor starting in about the third century. They were also known as Apostolics, because they attempted to follow the manner of life of the Twelve Apostles.

Aerius of Pontus was a 4th-century presbyter of Sebaste in Pontus. He taught doctrines that were in opposition to 4th-5th century Christian beliefs. His views are known from St Epiphanius's Panarion in which he was accused of being an Arian. For a short period, he had many followers in Sebaste. He failed to make his teachings widely popular and his sect died out soon after his death. Aerius of Sebaste is sometimes seen as an early proto-protestant, along with Jovinian, Helvidius and Vigiliantius.

Judah Kyriakos, also known popularly as Judas of Jerusalem, was the great-grandson of Jude, brother of Jesus, and the fifteenth Bishop of Jerusalem, according to Epiphanius of Salamis and Eusebius of Caesarea. According to those same chroniclers, he was the last Jew to hold the episcopate. He is sometimes regarded as the great-grandnephew of Jesus.

Menander was a first-century AD Samaritan Gnostic and magician. He belonged to the school of the Simonians, becoming its leader after the death of his master and instructor, Simon Magus, who was in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius.

Justus II of Jerusalem was a 2nd-century Jewish Christian bishop of Jerusalem.

Levis of Jerusalem was a 2nd-century Jewish Christian bishop of Jerusalem.

Quintilla was a Phrygian Christian prophetess within the movement known as Montanism. The sect of the Quintillians was named after her.

References

  1. Wellman, Paul Iselin (1953). The Female (a novel) . Doubleday. p.  308.
  2. The London Encyclopaedia. Vol. 22. 1829. p. 311.
  3. 1 2 William Smith; Samuel Cheetham (1880). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Christian Antiquities. J.B. Burr Publishing Company. p. 243.
  4. Epiphanius of Salamis. Panarion. p. 4.38.1–4.
  5. Edward B. Pusey (1857). The Councils of the Church. p.  59.