Apelles (Gnostic)

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Apelles ( ancient Greek Ἀπελλῆς Apellés ) was a Gnostic , Christian thinker of the 2nd century AD. He was probably a student of Marcion , whom he met in the center of the Roman Empire in ancient Rome .

Live and act

About Apelles, data is primarily available via the counter-reports. Apelles, like his teacher, was opposed as a heretic by a number of authors : for example by Eusebius ( Historia ecclesiastica V 13). But also Tertullian ( De praescriptione haereticorum 6. 30. 33f .; Adversus Marcionem III 11. IV 17; De carne Christi 1. 6–8; De anima 23. 36), Pseudo-Tertullian ( Libellus adversus omnes haereses 19) and Hippolyt of Rome ( Philosophumena VII 38. X 20) wrote about him.

The Φανερώσεις are said not to have been a work of their own, but prophecies or revelations of a virgin Philumene whom he venerated. He is credited with Συλλογισμοί , a very extensive work which, with astute rational criticism, demonstrated the untrustworthiness of the books of Moses . Like Marcion, he was a dualist and an opponent of Jewish law ( Halacha , Hebrew הלכה), which, according to Marcion's idea, he derived as a creative result from a demiurge , ( ancient Greek δημιουργός dēmiourgós ). In this he was very close to a docetist position.

According to Rudolph (1994), Marcion's pupil had again oriented his teaching more towards contemporary Gnosis. So he attributed to the souls a pre-worldly existence with the “good God” and interpreted the demiurge as an angel created by the same, good God . With this he changed the Marcionite division between an “evil God” or “known God” and a “good God”, “unknown, strange God” or the God of love. The cause of the evil one has fallen angels locates in which he also the God Yahweh saw. Another good creative angel made the material world at the behest of God and for his glory. Thus the divine division of 'God' in Marcionite style was abandoned.

With this position he turned away from the Marcionite Church or interpretation of faith in Rome.

Towards the end of the 2nd century he fought a dispute with the theologian Rhodon from Asia Minor . Eusebius gave evidence of this. This was about the question of principles and their knowledge. According to Greschat (1999), the question of 'God' was one of the most difficult and darkest for Apelles in this conversation.

He is said to have been temporarily in Alexandria , where he developed his own teaching. His writing Φανερώσεις (= Phaneroseis) was created in exchange with the ecstatic virgin Philumene (in ancient Greek φιλουμέν philouménē ) with whom Appelles in Rome worked together. In addition, a more extensive work of at least 38 volumes with the title Συλλογισμοί (= syllogisms) is known.

His followers were called the Apellites (or also Apellians, Apellejans, Apellionarists).

Works (not preserved)

  • Συλλογισμοί (= syllogisms); 'Wrongness of the Books of Moses '
  • Φανερώσεις (= phaneroseis); 'Revelations of a Familiar Prophetess Philumene'

literature

  • Philip Smith: Apelles. In William Smith (ed.): A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. 1870, p. 223. [3]
  • Kurt Rudolph : The Gnosis. 3rd edition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1577-6 , p. 341 f.
  • August Neander : General History of the Christian Religion and Church: Which contains the history of the Christian cult, Christian life and part of the sect history. Volume 1, Edition 2, Friedrich Perthes, Hamburg 1826, pp. 803–807 ( [4] books.google.de)
  • Meike Willing : The new question from the Marcion student Apelles on the reception of Marcionite ideas. In: Gerhard May , Katharina Greschat, Martin Meiser: Marcion and his impact on church history. Vol. 150 texts and studies on the history of early Christian literature, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2002, ISBN 978-3-1101-7599-8 , pp. 221-234

Web links

  • Peter Kirby: Apelles. Early Christian Writings, 2006 [5]

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Katharina Greschat : Apelles and Hermogenes: Two theological teachers of the second century. Brill, Leiden 1999, ISBN 978-9-0041-1549-1 , p. 123 ( [1] books.google.de)
  2. ^ Adolf von Harnack : Marcion. The Gospel of the Stranger God. A monograph on the history of the foundation of the Catholic Church. New studies on Marcion. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1985, reprint JC Hinrich'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1924, ISBN 3-534-01837-0 , pp. 177-196
  3. ↑ Kurt Rudolph : The Gnosis. 3rd edition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1577-6 , p. 341
  4. ↑ Meike Willing : The new question of the Marcion student Apelles on the reception of Marcionite ideas. In: Gerhard May , Katharina Greschat, Martin Meiser: Marcion and his impact on church history. Vol. 150 texts and studies on the history of early Christian literature, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2002, ISBN 978-3-1101-7599-8 , p. 221 ( [2] books.google.de)
  5. ^ Adolf von Harnack : Marcion. The Gospel of the Stranger God. A monograph on the history of the foundation of the Catholic Church. New studies on Marcion. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1985, reprint JC Hinrich'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1924, ISBN 3-534-01837-0 , pp. 189–190
  6. ↑ see also Roman province Asia (province)
  7. ↑ Kurt Rudolph : The Gnosis. 3rd edition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1577-6 , p. 342
  8. ↑ Katharina Greschat : Apelles and Hermogenes: Two theological teachers of the second century. Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements, Brill, Leiden 1999, ISBN 978-9-0043-1314-9 pp. 74-81
  9. ^ Adolf von Harnack : Marcion. The Gospel of the Stranger God. A monograph on the history of the foundation of the Catholic Church. New studies on Marcion. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1985, reprint JC Hinrich'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1924, ISBN 3-534-01837-0 , pp. 178-179
personal data
SURNAME Apelles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἀπελλῆς
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Gnostic, Christian teacher, student of Marcion
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century