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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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CERINTHUS*

Gnostic heretic (died c. 100) whose heresy was condemned by the apostle John. Probably born in Egypt and reared a Jew, Cerinthus was leader of a group of Christians who had Gnostic tendencies. He apparently believed that the world was created not by God but by a lesser being (called the Demiurge) or by angels, one of whom gave the law to the Jews. Cerinthus also taught that Jesus was an ordinary man, upon whom “the Christ” descended at his baptism. This divine power revealed the transcendent and unknown God. This “Christ” abandoned Jesus before his crucifixion.

The church father Eusebius (c. 260–340) quotes a story from Irenaeus (who lived in the late second century), who heard it from Polycarp (a disciple of the apostle John). The story says that John heard that Cerinthus had come into an Ephesian bathhouse where he (John) was. John immediately rushed out of the bathhouse shouting, “The building will collapse because the enemy of truth is inside!” Some scholars believe that certain passages in John’s writings may have been directed against Cerinthus (see Jn 1:1-3, 14 OET JHN 1:1–3 · OET JHN 1:14; 1 Jn 4:1-3).