Definition of Docetism in English:
Docetism
noun dəˈsiːtɪz(ə)mˈdəʊsɪˌtɪz(ə)mˈdōsi-
mass nounThe doctrine, important in Gnosticism, that Christ's body was not human but either a phantasm or of real but celestial substance, and that therefore his sufferings were only apparent.
Example sentencesExamples
- Cox rightly counters the anti-Semitism that separates Jesus from his Jewish roots and the Docetism that denies his humanity.
- Try explaining the soteriological danger of Docetism to your pewmate this Sunday and you'll see what I mean.
- Rome is more likely to inquire into the orthodoxy of theologians who work with a Christology from below than into the possible Docetism of theologians who follow a Christology from above.
- Indeed, this latter focus is an indispensable safeguard against the oldest and most enduring Christological heresy, Docetism: a Jesus removed from the travails of the flesh and the tragedies of history.
- A high Christology can implicitly convey a Docetism, the view that the Son of God only appeared to be human during his earthly life.
Derivatives
noun
Once you see that creation is not innately evil, then the other issue for Docetists is no longer a problem.
Example sentencesExamples
- The Docetists and their immoral practices are everywhere, honeycombing and corrupting the churches.
- Hence, the Docetists taught that since Christ is holy, He could never have had the defilement of human flesh.
- In particular, he wrote out against the Docetists, who denied the humanity of Christ and ascribed to Him a phantom body.
- Salvation, according to Docetists is a matter of coming to know the gnosis, the higher truth.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from medieval Latin Docetae (the name, based on Greek dokein 'seem', given to a group of 2nd-century Christian heretics) + -ism.