Hierakas

Hierakas or Hierax von Leontopolis (* between 245 and 270; † between 335 and 370) was an early Christian Egyptian scholar. He seems to have had an education in Greco-Egyptian sciences and presumably lived on calligraphy work in Lower Egyptian Leontopolis . There he gathered disciples and followers who were called Hierakites . From these he demanded the strictest asceticism and abstinence. Hierakas , who may have been influenced by his compatriot Origen , is said to have taught that the "resurrection" and the "paradise" are only to be understood in a figurative sense. The way there can only be achieved through asceticism and is therefore closed to married and also baptized children. Most of his works, Bible commentaries and psalms that he wrote himself, some in Greek and some in Coptic, have been lost. The surviving biographical knowledge about him comes mainly from Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis . His followers were regarded by early monasticism as serious competitors and therefore fiercely opposed.

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Hierakas. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 816.