Julian, Bishop of Halicarnassus,[1] then also at Alexandria, more consistently Monophysite, hotly maintained that it must be incorruptible. This approaches very near to Docetism, which is a fairly reasonable sequel of Monophysism. So Egypt is torn between the Phthartolatrai[2] and the Aphthartolatrai.[3] This controversy is of considerable importance in the history of the Coptic Church. We shall return to it (p. 219). Meanwhile, as part of this general sketch of the heresy, we may note that Philoxenos of Hierapolis was an ardent Aphthartolatres, and pushed this idea into pure Docetism; our Lord did not really suffer pain nor any other natural human weakness, he accepted only the appearance of these things. At the end of his life Justinian was converted to Aphthartolatry, and wanted to make all bishops in his empire subscribe to it.[4] But he died too soon (565), so the Church was spared at least this trouble. The Aphthartolatrai broke up into Ktisolatrai,[5] who conceded that Christ's body was created, and the Aktisnetai,[6] who denied this. Out of the Phthartolatrai came the sect of the Agnoetai[7] or Themistians, founded by a Monophysite monk of Alexandria called Themistios. These held that there were things which Christ did not know. Now the curious point about this sect is that it must abandon the whole Monophysite idea. If our Lord were ignorant of anything, he must have a nature which could be ignorant, which, therefore, is not identified with the essentially all-knowing Divine nature. So the Themistians were excommunicated by Monophysite Patriarchs of Alexandria, as being no better than the common enemy, the Dyophysites. They remain in Egypt as a sect till the 8th century. A Monophysite at Constantinople in the time of Justinian,
1 Halicarnassus in Asia Minor. Julian had been deposed for Monophysism during the Catholic reaction when Justin I became Emperor (p. 198). Like Severus and many Monophysites, he came to the harbour of his party, Alexandria. He arrived in 518, and apparently spent the rest of his life in Egypt.
2 (
Greek characters), worshippers of the corruptible.
3 (Greek characters), worshippers of the incorruptible; also called (Greek characters), believers in the incorruptible.
4 So Evagrius: Hist. Eccl. iv. 39 (P.G. lxxxvi. (2), 2781-2784).
5 (Greek characters), worshippers of the created.
6 (Greek characters), believers in the uncreated.
7 (Greek characters), not knowing.
