True Church Fathers Photinus

Photinus (Greek Φωτεινός; died 376),^[1] was a Christian heresiarch and bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia Secunda (today the town Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia), best known for denying the incarnation of Christ. His name became synonymous in later literature for someone asserting that Christ was not God. His teachings are mentioned by various ancient authors, like Ambrosiaster (Pseudo- Ambrose), saint Hilary of Poitiers, Socrates Scholasticus, Sozomen, saint Ambrose of Milan, Augustine of Hippo, John Cassian, Sulpicius Severus, Jerome (Eusebius Sophronius Hyeronymus), Vigilius of Thapsus (Vigillius Tapsensis) and many others.^[2]

None of his writings are extant and must be reconstructed through his critics

At the time Photinus voiced his own theological system, according to which Jesus was not divine and the Logos did not exist before the conception of Jesus.^[9] For Photinus the Logos was simply a mode of manifestation of the Father, hence he denied the pre-existence of Christ and saw theophanies in the Old Testament as of the father, and the image of the "Son of God" (actually, Son of man) in front of (and distinct from) the Ancient of Days as prediction only.^[10] As a matter of fact, Photinus' apprehension of God as Father, and his teachings about the nature of Jesus Christ are maybe more complex than has been thought.^[11]

The church historian Socrates Scholasticus identifies Photinus' beliefs with those of Sabellius, Paul of Samosata.^[ This also was presumably misapprehension of Photinus' doctrine about Jesus.^[14] Ambrose, among the many accusing Photinus of reducing Christ to a man adopted by God, notes that his favourite verses were 1 Timothy 2:5 and John 8:40.^[15] In the controversies against Polish Socinian influence in 18th-Century Photinus was repeatedly cast as a heretical predecessor of early Unitarians for his denial of the pre-existence of Christ.^[16]

He makes the Father and the Word one Person (prosopon). The Word is equally with the Father unbegotten, or is called a part of the Father, eternally in Him as our logos is in us. The latent Word (endiathetos) becomes the explicit Word (prophorikos) not, apparently, at the creation, but at the Incarnation, for only then is He really Son. The Divine Substance can be dilated and contracted (so St. Hilary translates platynesthai and systellesthai, while Mercator's version of Nestorius's fourth sermon gives "extended and collected"). This is exactly the wording of Sabellius, who said that God platynetai, is broadened out, into Son and Spirit. To Photinus the expansion forms the Son, who is not, until the human birth of Christ. Hence before the Incarnation there is no Son, and God is Father and Word, Logopator. The Incarnation seems to have been conceived after a Nestorian fashion, for Photinus declared the Son of Mary to be mere man, and this is the best-known point in his teaching. He was consequently classed with Paul of Samosata; Jerome even calls him an Ebionite, probably because, like Mercator, he believed him to have denied the Virgin birth. But this is perhaps an error. He certainly said that the Holy Ghost descended upon Christ and that He was conceived by the Holy Ghost. By His union with the prophoric Word, Christ was the Son. The Holy Ghost is identified like the Word with the Unbegotten; He is a part of the Father and the Word, as the Word is a part of the Father. It is evident that Photinus went so far beyond Marcellus that it is unfair to call him his follower.

True Church Fathers Theodotus of Byzantium

Theodotus of Byzantium

Theodotus of Byzantium (Ancient Greek: Θεoδoτoς; also known as Theodotus the Tanner, Theodotus the Shoemaker, lived late 2nd century) was an early Christian writer from Byzantium, one of several named Theodotus whose writings were condemned as heresy in the early church.

Theodotus believed that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit as a non-divine man, and though later "adopted" by God upon baptism (that is to say, he became the Christ), was not himself God until after his resurrection.

This doctrine, was declared Heresy by Pope Victor I, and Theodotus was excommunicated.

Condemned and excommunicated by Pope Victor in 190, Theodotus nevertheless continued to acquire disciples, forming his own Church community that lasted until the end of the 4th century.

This Church community of Theodotus held the original doctrine of the church which, had continued in-corrupted until Victor I came to the office of bishop of Rome, the truth being first perverted by Victor I and his successor Zephyrinus (c. 199).

Hippolytus reports that as to the Deity and the work of creation the doctrine of Theodotus was orthodox, but as to our Lord's person he agreed with Gnostic speculations, especially in distinguishing Jesus and Christ. The miraculous conception of Jesus he was willing to admit; but he held Him a man like others, though of the highest virtue and piety. He taught that at the baptism of Jesus, Christ descended on Him in the form of a dove, and that He was then able to work miracles, though He had never exhibited any before: but even so He was not God; though some of the sect were willing to acknowledge His right to the title after His resurrection.

Who Are the Quartodecimans?

Who are the Quartodecimans?

We will begin this study with a reading from the Epistula Apostolorum or the Letter (Epistle) of the Apostles

this is how I will do it after going to the Father, and you, remember my death. When the Passover happens, (Epistula Apostolorum chapter 15)

A Quartodeciman, from Quartodecimani (‘fourteenther’) Quartodecimanism (from the Vulgate Latin where quarta decima refers to the ‘fourteenth’ day in Leviticus 23:5,) refers to the custom of some early Christians celebrating Passover beginning with the eve of the 14th day of Nisan

This post is about the historical date of Easter or Passover

Note this post does not support the false teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses who claim that the breaking of bread, the weekly celebratory or communal meal should be done once a year:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:42,44-46). 

The term "Quartodecimans" refers to those Christian communities in the early Church which celebrated Easter on the 14th of Nisan (die quarta decima ), the day of the Jewish Passover (Ex 12.6).

Some scholars recognized that these “Fourteenthers” were following the original apostolic pattern. One historian said: “As regards the day for observing the Pascha, the usage of the Quartodeciman churches of Asia was continuous with that of the Jerusalem church. In the 2nd century these churches at their Pascha on the 14th of Nisan commemorated the redemption effected by the death of Christ.”—Studia Patristica, Volume V, 1962, page 8.

While many in Asia Minor followed the apostolic practice, the churches in and around Rome changed to the practice of celebrating Easter always on the Sunday following first Full Moon following the vernal equinox, calling it "the day of the resurrection of our Saviour". About the year 155 C.E., Polycarp of Smyrna, a representative of the Asian Churches, visited Rome to discuss this and other problems. Unhappily, no agreement was reached on this matter.

Irenaeus of Lyons wrote in a letter: “Neither could Anicetus [of Rome] persuade Polycarp not to observe what he had always observed with John the disciple of our Lord and the other apostles with whom he consorted; nor yet did Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe it, for he said that he ought to hold to the custom of the elders before him.” (Eusebius, Book 5, chapter 24) Note that Polycarp reportedly based his stand on the authority of the apostles, whereas Anicetus appealed to the custom of previous elders in Rome.

however, reaching agreement. Pope victor (189–198) sought unity through a series of synods held in both East and West; all accepted the Roman practice except the Asiatic bishops.

Replying on behalf of those in Asia Minor, Polycrates of Ephesus refused to bow to this pressure. He said: “We keep the day without tampering with it, neither adding, nor subtracting.” He then listed many authorities, including the apostle John. “These all,” he maintained, “observed the fourteenth day for the Pascha according to the Gospel, in no way deviating therefrom.” Polycrates added: “I for my part, brethren, . . . am not affrighted by threats. For those better than I have said, We must obey God rather than men.”—Eusebius, Book 5, chapter 24.

When Victor attempted coercion by excommunication, St. irenaeus of lyons intervened to restore peace (eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.23–25). During the third century Quartodecimanism waned; it persisted in some Asiatic communities down to the fifth century.

In 314 C.E. the Council of Arles (France) tried to force the Roman arrangement and suppress any alternative. The remaining Quartodecimans held out. In order to settle this and other matters that were dividing the professed Christians in his empire, in 325 C.E. the pagan emperor Constantine called an ecumenical synod, the Council of Nicaea. It issued a decree that instructed all in Asia Minor to conform to the Roman usage.

It is interesting to note one of the principal arguments advanced for abandoning the observing of the Memorial of Christ’s death according to the date on the Jewish calendar. A History of the Christian Councils, by K. J. Hefele, states: “It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of all festivals, to follow the custom (the calculation) of the Jews, who had soiled their hands with the most fearful of crimes, and whose minds were blinded.” (Volume 1, page 322) To be in such a position was viewed as a “‘humiliating subjection’ to the Synagogue which irked the Church,” says J. Juster, quoted in Studia Patristica, Volume IV, 1961, page 412.

Anti-Semitism! Those who celebrated the Memorial of Jesus’ death on the same day that he died were viewed as Judaizers. It was forgotten that Jesus himself was a Jew and that he had given the day its meaning by then offering his life in behalf of mankind. From then on, the Quartodecimans were censured as heretics and schismatics and were persecuted. The Council of Antioch in 341 C.E. decreed that they were to be excommunicated. Nevertheless, there were still many of them in 400 C.E., and they persisted in small numbers long thereafter.


This does not mean that they only celebrated the Eucharist annually at this time, but that they observed Pascha on Passover rather than on Sunday as was the practice of many other Christians. Quartodecimans defended their Passover tradition against internecine efforts to eradicate it for at least a few hundred years beginning with the inception of Christianity.

It is uncertain whether Jewish Christian sects such as the Ebionites or Elcesaites could also be deemed Quartodecimans, but they probably observed the Passover in addition to other Jewish festivals, in connection with Jesus. 

Acts 20:7 ¶  And upon the first [day] of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

And upon the first day of the week" — Some suggest that this was the "first sabbath" after Passover (v. 6), and that therefore the brethren only met once a year for communion on that day. But Paul had tarried at Philippi for the eight days of unleavened bread, and a further week in Troas after five days at sea (v. 6), indicating that this was the usual regular time for the weekly gathering of disciples.

On this first day of the week believers receive strength and encouragement through the word of exhortation; they are comforted by the fraternization that results from fellowship with brethren and sisters. Spiritual self discipline is invaluable, and is practised when unwavering devotion is given to the invariant keeping of this ordinance. And the grand example of the first Church is being imitated; for "they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42).

this is how I will do it after going to the Father, and you, remember my death. When the Passover happens, there is one of you who will be put into prison because of my name and and he will be in a state of grief and concern that you were keeping the Passover while he was in prison and not with you. For he will grieve that he was not keeping the Passover with you. For I will send my power in the likeness of Gabriel the angel. The gates of the prison will open. He will come to you and will keep a vigil (lit. a measure of watch) with you and stay with you until the cock crows. When you complete the remembrance which is for me  and the agapê, he will once again be put into prison as a witness until he comes forth and preaches the things I said to you." We said to him, "Lord, is it not necessary once again that we take the cup and drink ?" He said to us, "Yes, it is necessary until the day when I come together with those who have been killed for my sake."(Epistula Apostolorum chapter 15)

chapter 15 of the Epistula Apostolorum speaks suddenly and unexpectedly of the memorial of the death of Jesus which the apostles are to celebrate every Passover night (until the cock crows) as a Memorial consisting of the Eucharist and a fellowship meal called agape

The Didache, written shortly after the close of the first century, speaks of Christians coming together each Lord’s day and breaking bread (9:1-12; 14:1)

Chapter 14. Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day. But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one who is at odds with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: "In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations."

For the Valentinians celebrate the breaking of bread or Eucharist this is is confirmed by the Gospel of Philip. The Gospel of Philip in particular shows that Valentinians understood the flesh and the blood of the Savior to be symbolic thus, for instance, the “flesh” is the Logos and the “blood” is the Holy Spirit.

The Lord's Day once a week (bread prepared on a weekly basis for a celebratory or communal meal)

The Lord's Supper feast annually (feast annually in remembrance of Jesus and his Last Passover Supper.)

Did the Apostle Peter EVER Visit Rome?

Did the Apostle Peter EVER Visit Rome?

Fulfilling the instruction of the Lord to his disciples when faced with times of persecution (Mat. 10:23). Peter sought a place of greater safety, and is next mentioned as being present at the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15:7).

Peter, having fled Jerusalem, had gone to ‘another place’ (Acts 12:17). This place was not Rome, as is often thought. This idea is based on the book of Revelation, where Rome is compared with Babylon. However, the Babylon referred to at the end of 1Peter denotes an actual place. To ensure that Herod could not find him, the apostle had to leave the territory of the Roman Empire. For that reason, he went to Babylon, where there was a Jewish community. From there he writes to Gentile Christians in Asia Minor,

According to Peter’s own testimony, he composed his first letter while at Babylon. (1Pe 5:13) Possibly also from there he wrote his second letter. Available evidence clearly shows that “Babylon” refers to the city on the Euphrates and not to Rome, as some have claimed. Having been entrusted with ‘the good news for those who are circumcised,’ Peter could be expected to serve in a center of Judaism, such as Babylon. (Gal 2:8, 9)

There was a large Jewish population in Babylon. The Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem, 1971, Vol. 15, col. 755), when discussing production of the Babylonian Talmud, refers to Judaism’s “great academies of Babylon” during the Common Era. Since Peter wrote to “the temporary residents scattered about in [literal] Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1Pe 1:1), it logically follows that the source of the letter, “Babylon,” was the literal place by that name. The bible Never states that Peter was ever in Rome.

When Paul wrote to the Romans, sending greetings by name to many in Rome, he never mentions or refers to Peter. Had Peter been a leading bishop there, this would have been an unlikely exclusion. Also, Peter’s name is not included among those sending greetings in Paul’s letters written from Rome—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 2 Timothy, Philemon, Hebrews.

The Ecclesiastical Writers of the period succeeding the times of the New Testament, are not reliable. They all belonged to that class of men who set up for successors of the apostles with clerical authority; and where facts were wanting, did not hesitate to substitute conjecture. For our own part, we rely upon nothing ecclesiastical outside the Old and New Testaments. What they testify we believe; but whereon they are silent, we have no faith. Peter may refer to Rome in using Babylon; but there is no evidence that he certainly does. If by Babylon he do indeed mean Rome, it favours the supposition that the Apocalypse was written before his decease; because this is the only Scripture extant in which Rome is certainly comprehended in the name.

Right hand Left hand The Gospel of Truth

Right hand Left hand  The Gospel of Truth 

The Gospel of Truth 

He is the shepherd who left behind the ninety-nine sheep that had not strayed and went in search of that one which was lost. He rejoiced when he had found it. For ninety-nine is a number expressed with the left hand. The moment he finds the one, however, the whole number is transferred to the right hand. Thus it is with him who lacks the one, that is, the entire right hand, which attracts that in which it is deficient, seizes it from the left side, and transfers it to the right. In this way, then, the number becomes one hundred. This is the symbol of the sound of the numbers. It is the father.

In general right was considered fortunate and left unfortunate in ancient thought. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus is said to separate the sheep from the goats (that is, the righteous from the unrighteous) by putting the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.

In the Roman system of counting on the fingers, the numbers one to ninety-nine were counted on the left hand, and the number one hundred entailed switching to the right. In Valentinian thought those of the right are psychical, people of soul, and those of the left are material, people of flesh

Kendrick Grobel writes:

The queer "exegesis" extending from 31:4-17 rests upon a folk custom, once universal in Latin-speaking lands, of counting on the fingers-not the naïve one-to-ten finger counting of the primitives and of small children, but an ingenious system by which the two hands at rest (i.e. without making any second or third gesture) could indicate to a single glance any number from 1 to 9,999. The units were made by nine positions of the little finger and the two adjacent fingers of the left hand (fingers five, four, three in piano nomenclature), the tens by nine positions of the index finger and thumb of the left hand, the hundreds by thumb and index finger of the right hand and the thousands by the remaining three fingers of the right hand. Hence the greatest shift in the whole system lay between ninety-nine and one hundred. In no other case could the addition or subtraction of a mere one change the whole digital gesture from one hand to the other. But by a tradition from very ancient superstition the left hand was "sinister," the right hand favorable, not merely in the minds of Gnostics but in those of all Greeks and Romans and of most peoples. Renatus Massuet (d. 1716) gave the correct interpretation to this matter in connection with an allusion in Ireneus ("they avoid the place of ninety-nine, i.e. the lack— a type of the left hand— but endeavor to secure one more, which when added to the ninety and nine, has the effect of changing their reckoning to the right hand." Iren. 1.16.2— see Massuet note 2 in Migne Pat. G. 7, pt. 1, col. 633.) A thousand years earlier Beda had explained the whole system in De loquela per gestum digitorum et temporum ratione libellus and recognized that Jerome in his commentary on Matt. 13 had used this system in just as strange a way to "explain" the numbers one hundred, sixty, and thirty. On the whole subject fascinating details are offered by Karl Menninger, Zahlwort und Ziffer, pp. 140 ff. (A Valentinian Meditation on the Gospel by Kendrick Grobel )
Quite literally, fingers five, four, three, of the left hand lie folded over the palm, thus holding "nine," while the index finger touches the root of the thumb, thus holding "ninety"— and the whole left hand holding "ninety-nine," the highest number it can. (A Valentinian Meditation on the Gospel by Kendrick Grobel )

The next higher number is, of course, one hundred. But all the hundreds are gestures of the index and thumb of the right hand. Just as in our system the decimal place of one hundred moves over one place to the left, from ninety-nine, so here, only much more dramatically, for it moves from the unlucky left hand to the lucky right. (A Valentinian Meditation on the Gospel by Kendrick Grobel )

In Valentinian thought, those of the right are the are psychical people, as opposed to those of the left, who are the people of flesh. In the Gospel of Truth, reference is made to the Roman system of counting on the fingers of the left hand for numbers 1-99 and switching to the right hand at 100. 

Right and left are also referred to in the Gospel of Philip.

Domestic animals may be the bull and the donkey and other species. Others are wild and live in the deserts. A man plows the field with a domestic animal, and from the fruit of his labor he feeds himself and the animals, tame or wild.
Compare the perfect human. Through submissive powers he plows and prepares for everything to come into being. So his world holds together, good or evil, the right and the left. The holy spirit shepherds everyone and rules all the powers, those tame and wild and running loose. He gathers them and shuts them in so, like it or not, they cannot escape.

Those who receive the name of the father, son, and holy spirit and have accepted them must do this. If someone does not accept them, the name will also be taken from that person. A person receives them in the chrism [anointing] with the oil of the power of the cross. The apostles called this power the right and the left. This person is no longer a Christian but is Christ.

Right hand Left the chrism of the fullness of the power of the cross what is obtained is not a type and shadows but the reality of Father, son and holy spirit


called "the right and the left" [they comprehended the Christ consciousness, the “right” (the will of the Father) and the individual spirit consciousness in man, the “left” (who likes to go according to his own will) would need to be united (in our hearts)]." For this person is no longer a Christian but a Christ [“who does what he sees the Father doing” i.e. “not my will but yours” - AMEN!]. 

One becomes a Christ by finishing the baptism test throught the door of faith