Did Early Christians Reject Docetism?

Ignatius, Epistle to the Philadelphians (Long Version) Direct teaching

...yone confesses the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and praises the creation, but calls the incarnation merely an appearance and is ashamed of the passion, such a one has denied the faith, not less than the Jews who killed Christ. If anyone confesses these things, and that God the Word did dwell in a human body, being within it as the Word, just as the soul is in the body, because it was God that inhabited it, and not a human soul, but claims that unlawful unions are good, and places the highest happiness in pleasure, as does the man who is falsely called a Nicolaitan, this person can neither be a lover of God nor a lover of Christ, but is a corrupter of his own flesh, and therefore void of the Holy Spirit and a stranger to Christ. All such persons are only monuments and tombs of the dead, upon which are written only the names of dead men. Flee, therefore, the wicked devices and snares of the spirit which now works in the children of this world, lest at any time, being overcome, you grow weak in your love. But be all joined together with an undivided heart and a willing mind, "being of one accord and of one judgment," always having the same opinion about the same things,

Ignatius, Epistles of Ignatius Direct teaching

...he law and the prophets have proclaimed, this person is a tool of the devil. And he who rejects the incarnation and is ashamed of the cross for which I am in bonds, this person is antichrist. Moreover, he who claims Christ to be just a man is accursed, according to the prophet's declaration, since he does not place his trust in God, but in man. Therefore, he is also unfruitful, like the wild myrtle tree.

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Direct teaching

The Word, therefore, is incarnate; and this must be the point of our inquiry: How the Word became flesh — whether it was by having been transfigured, as it were, in the flesh, or by having really clothed Himself in flesh.

Ignatius, Epistles of Ignatius Direct teaching

...called the Angel of great counsel, Wonderful, Counselor, the strong and mighty God." Concerning His incarnation, they proclaim, "Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and shall bring forth a Son; and they shall call His name Immanuel." Regarding the passion, they declare, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before her shearers is silent, I also was an innocent lamb led to be sacrificed."

Ignatius, Epistles of Ignatius Direct teaching

For “the Word became flesh.” For “Wisdom builded for herself a house.” And God the Word was born as man, with a body, of the Virgin, without any intercourse of man.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

And I, returning to the discussion where I had paused earlier, when demonstrating that He was born of a virgin and that His birth from a virgin was foretold by Isaiah, quoted the same prophecy again. It is as follows: 'And the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, either from the depths below or the heights above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. And Isaiah said, Listen then, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to challenge people? How then do you challenge the Lord? Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat butter and honey; before he knows or prefers evil, he will choose the good. For before the child knows ill or good, he will reject evil by choosing good. For before the child knows how to call 'father' or 'mother,' he shall take possession of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria, in the presence of the king of Assyria. The land shall be forsaken, which you shall endure with difficulty because of the presence of its two kings. But God shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your fathe

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

...tion was complete, the kingdom of heaven was near, and He resided within those who believed in Him, born as Emmanuel of the Virgin. They confirm this, stating that before Joseph united with Mary, she remained a virgin and was "found with child by the Holy Spirit." The angel Gabriel told her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, the holy one to be born of you will be called the Son of God." The angel told Joseph in a dream, "This happened to fulfill what Isaiah the prophet spoke: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son." The elders interpreted Isaiah's words: "And the Lord said to Ahaz, Ask for yourself a sign from your Lord God from the depths below or the heights above. Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not test the Lord. Then he said, It is not a small thing for you to tire men; how does the Lord tire them? Therefore, the Lord will give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son; and you will call His name Emmanuel. He will eat butter and honey. Before He knows to reject evil, He will choose good; before He knows good or evil, He will not choose evil, so He may select what is good." The Hol

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

...m God promised David to raise up from the fruit of his belly as an eternal King is the same who was born of the Virgin, herself from David's lineage. For this reason, He promised that the King would be "of the fruit of his belly," which is the suitable term for a virgin conceiving, and not "of the fruit of his loins," nor "of the fruit of his reins," which is suitable for a man generating and a woman conceiving by a man. In this promise, therefore, the Scripture excluded any male influence; yet it does not mention that He who was born was not from the will of man. But it has established "the fruit of the belly," to declare the birth of Him who would be born from the Virgin, as Elisabeth testified when filled with the Holy Ghost, saying to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your belly;" the Holy Ghost pointing out to those willing to listen that the promise which God made, of raising up a King from the fruit of David's belly, was fulfilled in the birth from the Virgin, that is, from Mary. Let those, therefore, who alter the passage of Isaiah to "Behold, a young woman shall conceive," and who claim Him to be Joseph's son, also alter the form of the pro

Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians (Long Version) Supporting witness

but, as less than any of you, I desire to guard you beforehand, that ye fall not upon the hooks of vain doctrine, but that you may rather attain to a full assurance in Christ, who was begotten by the Father before all ages, but was afterwards born of the Virgin Mary without any intercourse with man.

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

But so that there may be no doubt in your mind about why we call Him Jesus Christ, who was born of God before the world and was born of man three hundred years ago, I will briefly explain the reason to you. The same person is the Son of God and the son of man. For He was born twice. First, He was born of God, in the spirit, before the beginning of the world. Afterward, He was born in human flesh, during the reign of Augustus. In this fact there is a great and glorious mystery. In it are contained the salvation of mankind, the religion of the Most High God, and all truth. For when the cursed and wicked worship of gods first crept in through the treachery of the demons, then the religion of God remained with the Hebrews alone. They observed the worship handed down to them through successive generations, not by any law, but according to the custom of their fathers, until the time when they went out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, the first of all the prophets. Through him the law was given to them by God, and afterward they were called Jews. Therefore they served God, being bound by the chains of the law. But they too gradually went astray to profane rites. They took up the wo

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Direct teaching

...as visible only in mystery and enigma, and became more clearly visible by His incarnation, even the Word who was also made flesh; while He is another whom no man has seen at any time, being none other than the Father, even Him to whom the Word belongs? Let us, in short, examine who it is whom the apostles saw. “That which we have seen with our eyes,” says John, “which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life,” 1 John 1:1. Now the Word of life became flesh, and was heard, and was seen, and was handled, because He was flesh who, before He came in the flesh, was the Word in the beginning with God the Father, John 1:1-2, and not the Father with the Word. For although the Word was God, yet He was with God, because He is God of God. And being joined to the Father, He is with the Father. “And we have seen His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,” John 1:14. That is, of course, the glory of the Son, even Him who was visible and was glorified by the invisible Father. And therefore, since he had said that the Word of God was God, in order that he might give no help to the presumption of the adversary, which pretended that he had seen the Fath

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

to have been predicted by the prophets; to have taken human flesh like our own, by a real incarnation.

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

...f His body, except the Word who is from the Father, who is with the Father, by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made; the imitator of His Father's works and powers; the image of the invisible God; who came down from heaven; who testified to the things He had seen and heard; who came not to do His own will, but rather the will of the Father, by whom He had been sent for this very purpose: that, being made the Messenger of Great Counsel, He might unfold to us the laws of the heavenly mysteries? And as the Word made flesh, He dwelt among us. From all this, this Christ is proved to be not only man, because He was the Son of man, but also God, because He is the Son of God. And if Christ is called by the apostle "the first-born of every creature," how could He be the first-born of every creature unless, according to His divinity, the Word came forth from the Father before every creature? And unless the heretics accept it in this way, they will be forced to show that Christ the man was the first-born of every creature, and they will not be able to do so. Either, therefore, He is before every creature, so that He may be the first-born of every creature, and He is

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

And so John also, describing the birth of Christ, says, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Moreover, His name is called the Word of God in Revelation 19:13, and not without reason. "My heart has emitted a good word." Afterward he then calls that word by the name of the King by implication: "I will tell my works to the King." For by Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made, as John 1:3 says. Whether they are thrones or dominions, or powers, or mights, visible things or invisible, all things subsist by Him, as the apostle says in Colossians 1:16. Moreover, this is that Word which came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. For the world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him, as John 1:10-11 says. Moreover, this Word was in the beginning with God, and God was the Word, as John 1:1 says. Who then can doubt, when it is said in the last clause, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," that Christ, whose birth is being described, is man because He was made flesh? And because He is the Word of God, who can shrink from declaring without hesitati

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

And so John also, while describing the birth of Christ, says, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” For His name is also called “the Word of God,” in Revelation 19:13, and not without reason. “My heart has uttered a good word.” He then afterward calls this word by the name of the King indirectly: “I will tell my works to the King.” For by Him all works were made, and without Him nothing was made, as John 1:3 says. “Whether,” says the apostle, “they are thrones or dominions, or powers, or mights, visible things and invisible, all things subsist by Him,” as Colossians 1:16 says. Moreover, this is that Word which came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. For the world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him, as John 1:10-11 says. Moreover, this Word was in the beginning with God, and God was the Word, as John 1:1 says. Who then can doubt, when in the last clause it is said, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” that Christ, whose birth is being described, is man because He was made flesh? And because He is the Word of God, who can shrink from declaring with

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

... were to ask us how we think we know God, and how we will be saved by Him, we would answer that the Word of God, which entered into those who seek Him, or who receive Him when He appears, is able to make known and to reveal the Father, whom no one had seen before the appearance of the Word. And who else can save the human soul and lead it to the God of all things, except God the Word, who, being in the beginning with God, became flesh for the sake of those who had clung to the flesh and had become like flesh? He did this so that He might be received by those who could not behold Him, since He was the Word, and was with God, and was God. And speaking in human form, and declaring Himself as flesh, He calls to Himself those who are flesh, so that He may first cause them to be transformed according to the Word that was made flesh, and afterward may lead them upward to behold Him as He was before He became flesh. So they, receiving the benefit, and ascending from their great introduction to Him, which was according to the flesh, say, "Even if we have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth we know Him no more." Therefore He became flesh, and having become flesh, He tabernacled a

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

Therefore He became flesh, and having become flesh, He tabernacled among us, not dwelling without us;

Methodius, Fragments Supporting witness

In the meanwhile the evangelist says with firmness, The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

Methodius, Concerning Free Will Supporting witness

In the meanwhile the evangelist says with firmness, The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

He took flesh, who was without flesh; He who was begotten before time, was born in time;

Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and took up his abode among us;

Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness

for the Word was made flesh on the earth.

Ignatius, Epistles of Ignatius Direct teaching

...the only true God," did not leave out what concerned our Lord, but wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." And concerning the incarnation: "The Word," says the Scripture, "became flesh and lived among us." And again: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." And those same apostles, who said "that there is one God," also said that "there is one Mediator between God and men." Nor were they ashamed of the incarnation and the passion. For what does one say? "The man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself" for the life and salvation of the world.

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Direct teaching

...led the Word of God." See then, brothers, how the garment sprinkled with blood showed in symbol the flesh, through which the impassible Word of God came under suffering, as the prophets also testify to me. For the blessed Micah speaks this way: "The house of Jacob provoked the Spirit of the Lord to anger. These are their pursuits. Are not His words good with them, and do they walk rightly? And they have risen up in enmity against His countenance of peace, and they have stripped off His glory." That means His suffering in the flesh. And in the same way the blessed Paul also says, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be shown in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." What Son of His own, then, did God send through the flesh but the Word, whom He addressed as Son because He was to become such, or be begotten, in the future? And He takes the common name for tender affection among men in being called the Son. For neither was the Word, before the incarnation and when by Himself, yet the perfect Son, although He was the perfect

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

There is one Son, both before the incarnation and after the incarnation. The same Son is both man and God, both together as one. The God the Word is not one person, and the man Jesus another person. Rather, the same one who existed as Son before was made one with flesh through Mary. In this way, He made Himself a perfect, holy, and sinless man, and used that divine arrangement for the renewal of mankind and the salvation of the whole world. God the Father, being Himself the perfect Person, thus has the perfect Word truly begotten from Him. He is not like a spoken word, nor like a son by adoption, in the sense in which angels and men are called sons of God, but as a Son who is by nature God. And there is also the perfect Holy Spirit, given by God through the Son to the sons of adoption, living and life-giving, holy and giving holiness to those who share in Him. He is not like an unsubstantial breath breathed into them by man, but is the living Breath proceeding from God. Therefore the Trinity is to be adored, glorified, honored, and reverenced. The Father is understood in the Son, just as the Son is of Him. And the Son is glorified in the Father, since He is of the Father, and is ma

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

We believe, therefore, that it was without any change in the Divinity that the incarnation of the Word took place with a view to the renewal of humanity.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

Moreover, the capital clement of our salvation is the incarnation of the Word.

Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness

...nd what impiety is contained in this claim of yours. For if your statement is true, that He was not born, then it will certainly follow that He did not suffer. For it is not possible for one to suffer who was not also born. But if He did not suffer, then the name of the cross is done away with. And if the cross was not endured, then Jesus did not rise from the dead. And if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then no other person will rise again. And if no one will rise again, then there will be no judgment. For it is certain that, if I am not to rise again, I cannot be judged. But if there is to be no judgment, then keeping God's commandments will be to no purpose, and there will be no occasion for abstinence. No, we may say, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die." For all these consequences follow when you deny that He was born of Mary. But if you acknowledge that He was born of Mary, then His passion will necessarily follow, and His resurrection will follow from His passion, and the judgment from His resurrection. And so the commands of Scripture will have their proper value for us. This, therefore, is not an idle question, but the greatest issues are involved in this

Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh Supporting witness

... clothed with the spirit. Now the apostle, by bringing forward this order separately in Adam and in Christ, clearly distinguishes between the two states in the very points where they differ. And when he calls Christ the last Adam, in 1 Corinthians 15:45, you may see from this how strongly he works throughout his teaching to establish the resurrection of the flesh, not of the soul. So then, the first man Adam was flesh, not soul, and only afterward became a living soul. And the last Adam, Christ, was Adam only because He was man, and man only because He was flesh, not because He was soul. So the apostle goes on to say, "However, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual," in 1 Corinthians 15:46, as in the case of the two Adams. Now, do you not think that he is distinguishing between the natural body and the spiritual body in the same flesh, after he has already made that distinction there in the two Adams, that is, in the first man and in the last? For from what substance do Christ and Adam have likeness with each other? No doubt it is from their flesh, although it may also be from their soul. However, it is with respe

Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh Supporting witness

... safe, since it is freed from the cause of death. For "the law," he says, "of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death"—that, surely, which he had previously mentioned as dwelling in our members. Our members, therefore, will no longer be subject to the law of death, because they cease to serve that of sin, from both of which they have been set free. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and through sin condemned sin in the flesh, in Romans 8:3—not the flesh in sin, for the house is not to be condemned with its inhabitant. He did indeed say that sin dwells in our body, in Romans 7:20. But the condemnation of sin is the acquittal of the flesh, just as the non-condemnation of sin subjects it to the law of sin and death. In the same way, he first called the carnal mind death, in Romans 8:6, and afterward enmity against God. But he never said this of the flesh itself. But to what then, you will say, must the carnal mind be ascribed, if not to the carnal substance itself? I will allow your objection, if you will prove to me that the flesh has any understan

Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ Supporting witness

It was simply this, that (He was born) of a virgin in the real manner which we have indicated, in order that our regeneration might have virginal purity — spiritually cleansed from all pollutions through Christ, who was Himself a virgin, even in the flesh, in that He was born of a virgin's flesh.

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Supporting witness

let him first consider that Christ, the heavenly man, when He appeared, bore the same form of limbs and the same image of flesh as ours, through which also He, who was not man, became man, that as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Peter of Alexandria, The Genuine Acts of Peter Supporting witness

let him first consider that Christ, the heavenly man, when He appeared, bore the same form of limbs and the same image of flesh as ours, through which also He, who was not man, became man, that as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Therefore He was born a second time as man, of a virgin, without a father, that, as in His first spiritual birth, being born of God alone, He was made a sacred spirit, so in His second and fleshly birth, being born of a mother only, He might become holy flesh, that through Him the flesh, which had become subject to sin, might be freed from destruction.

1 John 4:3 Direct teaching

and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

1 John 1:1 Direct teaching

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

John 1:14 Supporting witness

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Matthew 1:18 Supporting witness

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:35 Supporting witness

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

1 Timothy 3:16 Supporting witness

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

Romans 1:3 Supporting witness

Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

Matthew 1:23 Supporting witness

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.