Alogi
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The Alogi (ἄλογοι), also called Alogoi or Alogians, were a group of heterodox Christians in
Montanist leader in Rome.[4]
Beliefs
“St. Epiphanius (Haer. LI) gives a long account of the party of heretics who arose after the
Cataphrygians, Quartodecimans, and others, and who received neither the Gospel of St. John nor his Apocalypse.”[1];[5] they instead attributed the two New Testament books to the Gnostic Cerinthus, who was actually an enemy of John the Apostle
.
Regarding their beliefs, Epiphanius asserts that the Alogians denied the continuation of
John Gwynn, who published these fragments in English, likewise indicates that, "The objections of Caius are . . . those of a somewhat captious critic, and indicates little breadth of scriptural learning or of eschatological conceptions".[9]
Epiphanius argues that Cerinthus could not have written the Gospel of John because whereas Cerinthus denied the
Godhead. Epiphanius contemplates that they may not reject Christ's deity outright, but instead just the “Logos form under which the doctrine was presented in the Gospel”.[8] Epiphanius also asserts in regard to the Alogi, “they themselves seem to believe as we do.”[8] He therefore is not so much concerned with their Christology as much as he is concerned with their biblical criticism. Nevertheless, Epiphanius is harsh in his condemnation of them and asserts that the bottom line for the Alogi is that they deny the Gospel of John and consequently the Word-Flesh Logos doctrine. Epiphanius clearly distinguishes them from the Ebionites and from the Docetists
.
References
- ^ “Alogi,” ODCC, 45.
- ISBN 90-04-03763-2.
- ^ Cf. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3.28.2
- ^ Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 2.25.6
- ^ In particular Epiphanius traces their origin to Theodotus of Byzantium (Panarion 54.100.1).
- ^ Philip Schaff, “Alogi” in A Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D., with an Account of the Principal Sects and Heresies, by Henry Wace (Grand Rapids: CCEL, 2000), 34.
- ^ Gwynn, John (July 1888). "Commentary on Revelation". Hermantha. 6: 397–418.
- ^ a b c Alogi @ Catholic Encyclopedia; see also Philip Schaff, “Alogi” in Biographical Dictionary, 34.
- ^ Gwynn (July 1888), p. 405
Resources
- Gwynn, J. "Hippolytus and his “Heads against Caius”," Hermathena, 6 (1888), 397-418.
- Bludau, A. Die Ersten Gegner der Johannes-Schriften (Biblische Studien, 22, Hefte 1 and 2; 1925).
- Fisher, G. P. "Some Remarks on the Alogi," Papers of the American Society of Church History, 2,1 (1890), pp. 1–9.
- Hall, S. G. "Aloger," in Theologische Realenzyklopadia 2. Edited by G. Krause, G. Muller, et al. Berlin: 1977 ff., 290–95.
- The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis: Book II and III, Translated by Frank Williams. Leiden: Brill, 1997. ISBN 90-04-09898-4.
- Rose, V. “Question Johannine. Les Aloges asiatiques et les aloges romains,” Revue Biblique 6 (1897): 516–34.
- Smith, J. D. Gaius and the Controversy over the Johannine Literature (PhD diss.), Yale University, 1979.
- Trevett, Chr. Montanism: Gender, Authority and the New Prophesy (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 29, 66, 138–41, 262–3.
External links
- The article on the “Alogi” in Volume 1 of The Catholic Encyclopedia
- The article on the "Alogi" in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1:135.
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Montanists: Montanism in the West: "The old notion that the Alogi were an Asiatic sect (see ALOGI) is no longer tenable; they were the Roman Gaius and his followers, if he had any."