Heracleon

Heracleon

▪ Gnostic philosopher

flourished 2nd century AD

      leader of the Italian school of Gnosticism, a dualistic doctrine of rival deities conceiving of salvation as an elitist enlightenment by secret knowledge, with fulfillment in the soul's eventual release from the body.

      Diverging from his contemporaries Valentinus and Ptolemaeus, Heracleon sought a conservative expression of Gnosticism divested of radical oriental theories; accordingly, in the first known exegetical commentary on the Gospel According to St. John, he expounded with allegorical emphasis his central doctrine of the three levels of being: Christ as the incarnate form of a fallen spirit or demiurge representing the “psychic” level that is intermediate between the superior or “pneumatic” category (Greek: “spirit,” comprising the “plenitude” of the Father) and the base level of the material world formed by the demigod of evil. Heracleon, moreover, commented on the Gnostic tradition of materializing their philosophical theory in their sacramental rites of initiation and in their interpretative use of early Christian literature.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Heracleon — was a Gnostic who flourished about AD 175, probably in the south of Italy. He is generally classed by the early heresiologists as belonging to the Valentinian school of Gnosticism.In his system he appears to have regarded the divine nature as a… …   Wikipedia

  • HERACLEON — Grammatitus Aegyptius, scripsit comm. in Homer. et Lyricos. Steph. Item, discip. Valentini, ministros suos iussit oleo peculiari, et balsamo, defunctotum cadavera inungere, ad mitigandas illorum poenas. Tertullian. de praescr. c. 49. Iren. l. 1.… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Heracleon, S. — S. Heracleon, (17. Sept.), Bischof und Martyrer. S. S. Heraclides3 …   Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon

  • Gnosticism — • History of Gnosticism from its pre Christian roots through its developed doctrines concerning cosmogony, the Sophia myth, soteriology, and eschatology. Includes information on rites, schools, and literature Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight.… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • GNOSTIQUES — Si la recherche sur la gnose et les gnostiques n’a jamais connu de période de latence, elle est, à l’époque contemporaine, frappée d’une crise de ferveur particulièrement intense. Travaux et congrès se multiplient. Nombre de chaires autrefois… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Demiurge — Part of a series on God General conceptions …   Wikipedia

  • Valentinus (Gnostic) — Valentinus (also spelled Valentius) (c.100 c.160CE) was the best known and for a time most successful early Christian gnostic theologian. He founded his school in Rome. Tertullian, in Adversus Valentinianos iv, said that Valentinus was a… …   Wikipedia

  • Fathers of Christian Gnosticism — The Church Fathers or Fathers of the Church is a term used in Catholic and Orthodox forms of Christianity to refer to the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church. The study of the Fathers is known as Patristics.… …   Wikipedia

  • Heraclides, SS. (3) — 3SS. Heraclides (Heracleon) et Myron, Epp. MM. (17. Sept.) Der hl. Heraclides wird zugleich mit dem hl. Myron in den griech. Menäen zu obigem Tage genannt. Sie waren beide Bischöfe von Tamasus (bei Bruzen Tamasso, Borgo di Tamasso, bei Famagusta; …   Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon

  • patristic literature — Body of literature that comprises those works (excluding the New Testament) written by Christians before the 8th century. It refers to the works of the Church Fathers. Most patristic literature is in Greek or Latin, but much survives in Syriac… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”