4.3 The Heresies – Docetics & Marcionites: Denying Christ's Humanity
For the second heresy, Dr. Papandrea examines the opposite extreme from the first: these are the Docetics, including the most famous docetic teacher, Marcion and his followers. They concluded that Christ was a god, not necessarily different from the many other gods or demigods in the Greco-Roman pantheon, but that he was not really a human.
Links
For more information on Polycarp of Smyrna, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 5: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-5-st-polycarp-and-social-network/
To read Polycarp of Smyrna’s Letter to the Philippians: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1626&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2365055
To listen to Polycarp of Smyrna’s Letter to the Philippians: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-polycarp-letter-to-philippians/
For more information on Ignatius of Antioch, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 4: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/
To read Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Smyrnaeans: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1633&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2365056
To listen to Ignatius of Antioch’s Letters to the Smyrnaeans: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-ignatius-antioch-letter-to-smyrnaeans/
For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 10: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/
For more detail on the heresy of docetism and the Marcionites, see the book: Reading the Early Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/
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To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church: https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch
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Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage: http://www.jimpapandrea.com
Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed: https://www.ccwatershed.org/
Way of the Fathers
A podcast about the Fathers of the Church—the foundational figures of Christian history. A production of CatholicCulture.org.
Currently covering all the Doctors of the Church!
Seasons 1-3 were hosted by Mike Aquilina. Seasons 4-5 are hosted by Dr. Jim Papandrea.
1: The Church Fathers
2: The Early Ecumenical Councils
3: Cities of God
4: Heresies
5: Doctors of the Churcch
Episodes marked as bonus are on miscellaneous topics.
- No. of episodes: 139
- Latest episode: 2025-04-21
- Religion & Spirituality History Christianity
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