Faith & RitualGreek → English
Docetism
/doʊˈsiːtɪzəm/noun
The early Christian teaching that Christ's body and suffering were apparent rather than real.
The Greek roots
δοκεῖν
dokeîn
to seem, to appear
Literally: “the seeming-only doctrine”
Follow a root:δοκεῖν4 words
The story of the word
Ignatius of Antioch was already arguing around 110 AD against people who said Christ suffered τὸ δοκεῖν, in appearance only, and the label stuck to them. Serapion of Antioch used the name Docetae for the group about a century later. The same verb produced δόξα, opinion or repute, which is why orthodox, paradox and dogma all belong to this family.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Modern Latin → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
orthodoxparadoxdogmadoxology
In a sentence
The council rejected Docetism because a Christ who only seemed to bleed could save nobody.